iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Richard Jean So

Check out the viral piece "Why Slop Matters" (dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...) by @richardjeanso.bsky.social et al and its equally popular rebuttal "Why AI Slop Matters, but Not Like That" (dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...) by @marijnsax.bsky.social @kimonkieslich.bsky.social and join the debate!

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

That is awesome; I would indeed keep an eye out for this Princeton cultural AI postdoc call - a reminder that DH postdocs at Princeton (via Meredith's Center for Digital Humanities) are great gigs and have helped a ton of junior DH scholars get excellent tenure track jobs.

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

This book, as expected, is incredibly smart and insightful and compelling, and you should really purchase it and read it. Also, truly excellent cover.

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Was excited to be on this paper which offers a novel way to measure AI creativity focusing on narrative tension/suspense. LLMs are bad at this because they don't plan out stories step by step, they just generate. We built a tool to do this. Excited that my coauthors are presenting this at #COLM2026!

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Cool post-doc opp for recent graduates in computer science & AI from Schmidt Sciences; broad range of AI topics that intersect with comp social sci. & humanities, esp. problems with alignment, interpretability, and knowledge production. Great foundation to work with: jobs.lever.co/schmidt-enti...

jobs.lever.co

jobs - Fellow in Residence

Summary Schmidt Sciences invites recent PhD graduates in AI and computer science to apply for a 12-18 month fellows-in-residence program, with the possibility of extension to 24 months. Fellows would ...

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Reposted by Richard Jean So

Lauren Klein @laurenfklein.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Excited to present new work at Duke this weekend on the promise of "reasoning" in AI in relation to the pleasures of interpretation in the humanities (and in the world).

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

This Fri + Sat, Humanistic AI conference at Duke! Great line-up of speakers from lit studies, history, philosophy & computer science, working out what gen AI means for humanistic inquiry & what humanistic knowledge means for gen AI development. Schedule in link: sites.duke.edu/humanisticai...

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Prospective PhD students: if you work on computational humanities, cultural analytics and/or cultural AI, pls apply to Duke English! We're recruiting in these areas & you'd join a vibrant community. Candidates with training in both lit studies + CS/sciences esp welcome. Email me if any questions!

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I first read this article bc obvi wild/ridic but it also unexpectedly got me thinking about real questions about what's the point about striving for/getting elite college degrees & what should one do with them that justifies the effort/privilege of getting them, etc: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/15/s...

nytimes.com

He Might End Up the World’s Most Educated Person

Jamie Beaton has 12 advanced degrees from Harvard, Yale, Oxford and other top universities, with more on the way. Why? How?

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Humanistic AI conference at Duke (9/25-6), full schedule forthcoming but speaker/title list is up! We have an amazing line up - @tedunderwood.com @laurenfklein.bsky.social @mariaa.bsky.social @hoytlong.bsky.social @eduede.bsky.social + others; if in area, please come! sites.duke.edu/humanisticai...

sites.duke.edu

Speakers – Humanistic AI Conference at Duke

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Really interesting + thoughtful interview with @aarthivadde.bsky.social in @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social about her new book WE THE PLATFORM (out now with Columbia UP!) on Web 2.0 & literature, both what happened to reading with the Internet + what's to come. lareviewofbooks.org/article/we-t...

lareviewofbooks.org

Literary Web 2.0 | Los Angeles Review of Books

Is it the end of reading or a brand-new era?

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Cool new large grant opportunity from MacArthur Foundation on community-led AI, with one target area in the humanities + arts. Significant funding for projects that are trying to have real impact on human-centered and community centered AI development and use. humanityai.ai/open-call/?u...

humanityai.ai

Open Call for Proposals - Humanity AI

Open Call for Proposals: Communities Leading on AI $10M Investment in U.S.-Based Community-Led AI Initiatives Humanity AI, an initiative spearheaded […]

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

This is a great idea for a course and the syllabus reading is fantastic and supremely well chosen.

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Really enjoyed this @nytimes.com op-ed on AI & the future of social science research/funding from three social scientists I admire. There's also an important humanities version of this ie a lot of the most pressing research questions about AI are humanistic in nature: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/06/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | We Can’t Know Our A.I. Future if We Don’t Study It

Just as A.I. is poised to change the world, we’re losing our best ways of studying what that change will look like.

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

I'm co-hosting this conference on Humanistic AI at Duke 9/25-26; more details + speakers + full schedule soon but in the meantime, if you're in the Research Triangle Area, let us know if you want to come by or participate. Just email me - we'd love to hear from you! deeptech.duke.edu/event/humani...

deeptech.duke.edu

Humanistic AI: Generative Models and the Future of Cultural and Historical Interpretation | Deep Tech

Humanistic AI: Generative Models and the Future of Cultural and Historical Interpretation

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

On the topic of classroom pedagogy after gen AI: this semester, I'm trying out for the first time using hand written "blue books" for in-class written exams, for a first year undergrad humanities class. Has anyone else tried this, and if so, any suggestions or caveats or interesting anecdotes? Thx!

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Stoked for this announcement, which means Cambridge DH is an even more amazing place to study & do research in this area (besides Ruth, it has a number of other excellent scholars) - NB: students in DH, cultural analytics, culture + AI etc looking for a PhD program or ABD's looking for a postdoc.

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

This recent paper has gotten a lot of attention + deservedly so. Massive open-ended, real world LLM generation dataset to study model output homogenization, where their analysis points to widespread model collapse/"artificial hivemind" across + within models. Super cool work arxiv.org/abs/2510.22954

arxiv.org

Artificial Hivemind: The Open-Ended Homogeneity of Language Models (and Beyond)

Language models (LMs) often struggle to generate diverse, human-like creative content, raising concerns about the long-term homogenization of human thought through repeated exposure to similar outputs...

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I'm teaching a "core" curriculum type class for first year students and I've adopted elements of this approach, and I must say I find it satisfying and I think the students also find it a relief of sorts; the whole approach I increasingly find persuasive: www.chronicle.com/article/u-of...

chronicle.com

U. of Chicago Bans Tech, AI in Social Sciences Core Courses

The new restrictions apply to students and faculty members.

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Really worthwhile CFP f/ Computational Humanities Research on "Peripheries," inviting work that uses data-driven approaches to recovering marginalized, lost voices in the cultural record/archive & what's been lost through processes of mass corpus digitization: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

cambridge.org

Peripheries

Call for Papers: Peripheries

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

I was rereading this now canonical paper which establishes "in silico sampling" (the use of LLMs to simulate human opinions + perspectives for social sci research) + has generated intense debate, & it's worth revisiting bc it's rich + strange, even if you reject the method > arxiv.org/abs/2209.06899

arxiv.org

Out of One, Many: Using Language Models to Simulate Human Samples

We propose and explore the possibility that language models can be studied as effective proxies for specific human sub-populations in social science research. Practical and research applications of ar...

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Speaking of slop, I keep getting these emails from bots who claim to have read a book I wrote and want to start an online book club to discuss it (presumably with a group of other bots?). Anyone know what is going on with this and has anyone responded to any of these emails? I am a tiny bit curious.

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Hey I'm teaching a course "AI, Creativity & Slop" to first-year students this fall which includes readings in lit/philosophy, history + cog sci/comp sci. Does anyone have recs - essays they love in any of these areas - to help me finalize the syllabus? Would really appreciate any suggestions, thx!

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

I'm also mentally getting ready to think about this as the semester alas draws near but some useful suggestions in the meantime.

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

This is a really cool study, not sure I've seen anything like it: researchers interview 17 digital painters over 5 years, to track their changing uptake/reception to generative AI in their work. They find shifting attitudes from resistance to ->integration to ->reflection. arxiv.org/abs/2511.03117

arxiv.org

Tracing Generative AI in Digital Art: A Longitudinal Study of Chinese Painters' Attitudes, Practices, and Identity Negotiation

This study presents a five-year longitudinal mixed-methods study of 17 Chinese digital painters, examining how their attitudes and practices evolved in response to generative AI. Our findings reveal a...

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

This is a great paper f/ a great research team, with important insights for any academic researcher. The main takeaway of "LLMs will push researchers to do more, but less well" is stark & a useful reality check. Also it raises challenging questions for how this would play out for the humanities.

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

I enjoyed this @nytimes.com piece on AI slop, which was funny & fairly voiced both pro & anti-slop positions + appreciated the shoutout to our "Why Slop Matters" paper, quoting @eduede.bsky.social, a coauthor. I think his quote gives a good account of what we argue >> www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/t...

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

I missed this when it first came out but it's terrific - insightful, helpful - and even if you read it before, it's worth reading again now, esp in light of new arguments emerging that AI technology and R&D should transform into a kind of public utility, not guided entirely by commercial interests.

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

I've been reading this book that just came out f/ @roopikarisam.bsky.social that has rightfully been getting a lot of attention & yeah, it's really excellent. Fantastic longue duree history of "data" with sharp analysis of the present moment. I learned a lot. www.harpercollins.com/products/dat...

harpercollins.com

Data Empire

BARACK OBAMA’S 2026 SUMMER READING PICK “A must-read.”—NPR, “15 Books Our Critics Can’t Wait to Read This Summer” An NPR, New Scientist, Nautilus, and Next ...

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

I just got put on to this cool paper f/ Stanford Lit Lab colleagues on using cultural analytics methods to model/detect therapy discourse in US novels + therapy discourse in general. I think it's great esp. as an ideal example of how to use data to study literature: academic.oup.com/alh/article-...

academic.oup.com

Modeling Therapy as Discourse in Twentieth-Century American Literature

Abstract. This article uses quantitative methods of cultural analytics in order to trace points of contact between the discourse of therapy as it emerges i

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Pretty wild - I have a new book coming out this Fall & just got this email from a bot which wants me to pay (I assume if I respond!) so that other bots in their bot book club can discuss + promote it. Apparently bots now scour the web for info about new books to lure writers to join their book clubs

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

I missed this f/ @dmimno.bsky.social + Sil Hamilton when it first came out; this is fascinating, important & funny work on AI + aesthetic creativity: helps to explain why LLM stories tend to all sound alike, down to specific story characters/settings/plots ("lighthouses"). arxiv.org/abs/2605.26492

arxiv.org

Elias in the Lighthouse, Again? Diagnosing Low Diversity in LLM Stories

LLM-generated stories are a popular use case, but they show very low variability. We sample 20,000 total stories from four current models using five prompts. We find that 11 words occur in 88.3% of ge...

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Cool paper, spotlight at #ICML - identifies when AI persona that are meant to be helpful "drift" towards harmful behavior + how to mitigate this drift. Important finding that persona drift is often driven by asking for model meta-reflection & emotionally vulnerable users. arxiv.org/abs/2601.10387

arxiv.org

The Assistant Axis: Situating and Stabilizing the Default Persona of Language Models

Large language models can represent a variety of personas but typically default to a helpful Assistant identity cultivated during post-training. We investigate the structure of the space of model pers...

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Cool new paper on gen AI/deepfakes in @pnas.org & something I've been thinking about: can humans get better at detecting AI deepfakes & if so, what do they need to learn and actually get better at? Turns out some aesthetic training in facial recognition helps & the training can be systematic >>>

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Great new paper that does a sharp meta analysis of recent AI research -- identifying its epistemic values to answer the essential question of *what counts as good knowledge in the age of AI?* Some insightful, impressive empirical work/evidence and a cool online digital kit for further exploration.

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

This is a fascinating and insightful and super smart and strange paper on how ordinary users are using GPT to write fiction, and the results are weirder and funnier and more interesting than what I could have imagined or dreamt up. From @mellymeldubs.bsky.social @mariaa.bsky.social and Neel Gupta.

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

#Neurips 2026 call for creative AI papers looks genuinely cool - they're inviting both research papers + creative works. And the research papers can be speculative, critical, poetic & not just applied or empirical. I'm excited about this workshop - deadline is August 3 AOE neurips.cc/Conferences/...

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

I'm really excited about this forthcoming book from a terrific scholar, based (I believe) on her really New Yorker article from 2019 "The Software That Shapers Workers' Lives" which I enjoyed immensely, on a topic now more than ever relevant and compelling. Good title, too.

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Excited about this upcoming #ICML workshop on culture with terrific speakers @tedunderwood.com @mariaa.bsky.social @laurenfklein.bsky.social & some great papers. Can't stress how important it is a top AI conference has a dedicated culture/history workshop www.doingaidifferently.org/culturexaiwo...

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

I have some students working on #moltbook - the social network platform for AI agents & this is a great dataset for analysis: ~3 million posts, 175K agents. Really clean + robust data, which has been great to explore how AI agent societies form, operate + propagate. huggingface.co/datasets/Sim...

huggingface.co

SimulaMet/moltbook-observatory-archive · Datasets at Hugging Face

We’re on a journey to advance and democratize artificial intelligence through open source and open science.

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

I've been eagerly awaiting this new book from @aarthivadde.bsky.social & it's finally out: this is important, original & timely research that should motivate an entire generation of literary scholars to take on the question of creativity, writing & digital platforms cup.columbia.edu/book/we-the-...

cup.columbia.edu

We the Platform | Columbia University Press

Web 2.0 gave us the online world as we know it today. Popularized in 2004, it redefined the internet as social, a “platform” for self-expression and data... | CUP

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Really grateful for this smart + constructive critique/response to our Why Slop Matters paper (ACM, 2026) from Nishal, Sax + Kieslich (good title too). I'll run through their 3 main critiques which I basically agree with arxiv.org/html/2606.12... : @sachnishal.bsky.social @kimonkieslich.bsky.social

arxiv.org

Why AI Slop Matters, but Not Like That

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Preprint of essay forthcoming f/ special issue of MFS on Cultural AI edited w/ @aarthivadde.bsky.social that I think is great & articulates a key question for lit studies + AI research: LLMs are built on vast fiction corpora but are terrible at generating good fiction. Why? arxiv.org/abs/2603.13545

arxiv.org

The AI Fiction Paradox

AI development has a fiction dependency problem: models are built on massive corpora of modern fiction and desperately need more of it, yet they struggle to generate it. I term this the AI-Fiction Par...

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Important, cleverly done new paper in @pnas.org tracking the uptake of LLM-use in academic writing - 57% (!) of research papers show AI use, up from 12% in 2023. Social factors also significant: scholars at non-elite, non-English speaking institutions show greater use. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

pnas.org

The diffusion of large language models in published academic articles | PNAS

Large language models (LLMs) are rapidly changing academic research, raising questions of who is adopting these tools and under what conditions. Th...

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Cool new paper in @pnas.org, sketching out a new Turing test, one that doesn't just ask if a machine can fool humans but asks a deeper question: is the machine fair, altruistic and/or collaborative-ie what kind of human does it construct itself to be & is that desirable: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

pnas.org

A Turing test of whether AI chatbots are behaviorally similar to humans | PNAS

We administer a Turing test to AI chatbots. We examine how chatbots behave in a suite of classic behavioral games that are designed to elicit chara...

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

This ICML workshop focused on cultural AI is going to be GREAT; if you'll be in Seoul, check it out! I can't make it but some of my co-authors will be presenting papers. Thanks to the organizers (like @mmvty.bsky.social @mattwilkens.bsky.social) for centering culture in AI: icml.cc/virtual/2026...

icml.cc

Culture x AI: Evaluating AI as a Cultural TechnologyICML 2026

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

One more new book on digital culture/writing/reading that I've enjoyed (h/t @fpianz.eurosky.social) f/ @bethdriscoll.bsky.social + more generally whose work I've admired. Overall glad to see this new kind of work appearing & inspiring the next gen of grad students www.bloomsbury.com/us/what-read...

bloomsbury.com

What Readers Do

Shining a spotlight on everyday readers of the 21st century, Beth Driscoll explores how contemporary readers of Anglophone fiction interact with the book indust…

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Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Recommending another recent book on digital culture, writing & reading from Claire Parnell, Inequalities of Platform Publishing; this is compelling work that blends platform studies, literary theory, book history & media theory on a great topic (self publishing): www.umasspress.com/978162534905...

umasspress.com

Inequalities of Platform Publishing

Uncovering race, gender, and sexual biases in popular self-publishing platforms The average reader need not go far in a bookstore before, knowingly or not, t...

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