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Patrick Lin

@patricklin1.bsky.social
307 followers 288 following 17 posts

Cal Poly philosophy professor, former US National Space Council advisor, other affiliations. Frontier ethics (e.g., outer space, Arctic) and technology ethics (e.g., AI, security & defense, etc.). Bio: philosophy.calpoly.edu/faculty/patr…

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Patrick Lin @patricklin1.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
For teachers who want a convo-starter or to explain why students shouldn't use AI, here's my big article again for the 2026 academic term. It's basically a letter to persuade my students to give their education an honest shot with their own brain. 🧠 (Lots of new stuff in here, as a living doc.)
emergingethics.substack.com
Why We’re Not Using AI in This Course, Despite Its Obvious Benefits
A reading for your students
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Patrick Lin @patricklin1.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
TEACHERS: If you're looking for a reading to assign, to help explain why you're banning AI from your classroom, here ya go. There didn't seem to be one article that rounds up all the major issues. I tried to do that here, so it's a long read. Feel free to use/share as you like.
emergingethics.substack.com
Why We’re Not Using AI in This Course, Despite Its Obvious Benefits
A reading for your students
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Patrick Lin @patricklin1.bsky.social · 06/07/2025
Holy schnikes! I hope you recover quickly, Shannon, and that this never, ever happens again. And this reminds me to take better care of myself...I suppose we all could do that, esp. in these deeply troubled times, ongoing pandemic, and work demands. Time to go for a walk...
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Patrick Lin @patricklin1.bsky.social · 01/06/2025
"The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters." — Antonio Gramsci
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Patrick Lin @patricklin1.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
"In the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go, but what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye." — Yann Martel
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Patrick Lin @patricklin1.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
This is what's happening right now:
"We do not have to invade the United States, we will destroy you from within." ~ Nikita Khrushchev
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Patrick Lin @patricklin1.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
"To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears.

To be led by a fool is to be led by the opportunists who control the fool.

To be led by a thief is to offer up your most precious treasures to be stolen.

To be led by a liar is to ask to be lied to.

To be led by a tyrant is to sell yourself and those you love into slavery."

- Octavia Butler, Parable of the Talents, 1998
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Patrick Lin @patricklin1.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
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Patrick Lin @patricklin1.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
A meditation for the New Year:
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Patrick Lin @patricklin1.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
A reminder that AI/LLMs have no intrinsic connection to the truth, only statistical predictions of what the next words should be, which depend on its training data.
If you torture chatbots long enough, it will confess to anything.
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Patrick Lin @patricklin1.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
"You meet saints everywhere. They can be anywhere. They are people behaving decently in an indecent society." — Kurt Vonnegut
"You meet saints everywhere. They can be anywhere. They are people behaving decently in an indecent society." — Kurt Vonnegut
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Patrick Lin @patricklin1.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
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Patrick Lin @patricklin1.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
"Competition is the law of the jungle, but cooperation is the law of civilization.” — Pyotr Kropotkin
"Competition is the law of the jungle, but cooperation is the law of civilization.” — Pyotr Kropotkin
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Patrick Lin @patricklin1.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
"The Center for the Study of Space Crime, Piracy, and Governance Forms Advisory Board" Another one of my projects. We may be too early in thinking about this, but it's much better than being too late. (And the odds of being right on time are slim to none.) cscpg.org/news/the-cen...
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Patrick Lin @patricklin1.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
And here's our report from this past summer on how to imagine novel scenarios for space cyberattacks: spacecybersecurity.org
spacecybersecurity.org
Outer Space Cyberattacks: Generating Novel Scenarios to Avoid Surprise
The Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group is a non-partisan organization focused on the risk, ethical, and social impact of emerging technologies.
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Patrick Lin @patricklin1.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Glad to see more imaginative scenarios in conversations about space security now. They help to bring hidden threats to life and underscore the urgency to be prepared. Abstract scenarios (e.g., "someone hacked our satellite") can't really do that work.
satellitetoday.com
A Frightening Future: Experts Outline the Growing Threat of Cyber Attacks Against Space Systems
Ransomware in space and the possibility of satellite kidnapping were just two of the scary future threats against space systems discussed at the CyberSat conference.
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Patrick Lin @patricklin1.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Setting expectations with my first post here:
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