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Chris Fourie

@robobonobo.bsky.social
204 followers 660 following 7 posts

MLOps / research engineer in digital health, medical doctor Research interests: collective intelligence, complexity science, NeuroAI Grassroots independent research community co-founder, SisonkeBiotik More at www.chrisfourie.africa

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Reposted by Chris Fourie
hardmaru @hardmaru.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Our Neuroevolution textbook is finally in print! Free online edition: neuroevolutionbook.com Pre-order: a.co/d/06DpkH9h I am incredibly grateful to my co-authors Sebastian Risi, Yujin Tang, and Risto Miikkulainen for making this happen. Thread:
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Many Minds podcast @manymindspod.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
News!! 🎉🎉🎉 We've officially re-launched our newsletter! Our first post is a "starter pack"—a brief orientation for newcomers to the show, with suggested episodes on different themes. Feel free to make alternate suggestions in the comments! manymindspodcast.substack.com/p/many-minds...
manymindspodcast.substack.com
Many Minds podcast: A starter pack
A guide for new listeners
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Terence Tao @teorth.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
A group of 25 Fields Medalists, including myself, have made a joint declaration on Math and AI: mathandai.org . We welcome additional signatories. See also this article in the Economist announcing the declaration: www.economist.com/science-and-...
mathandai.org
Declaration — Math and AI
Read the declaration and add your name.
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Timnit Gebru @timnitgebru.blacksky.app · 26/07/2026
I never called things that happened in my circuits "rogue systems." I called it "bad design on my part." But here we are.
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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 18/05/2026
Big AI’s most powerful regulatory tool may be narrative capture -> Epistemic & Discourse Influence: getting regulators to adopt industry talking points as common sense. Close behind is Elusion of law: violations and contentious interpretations of antitrust, privacy, copyright and labour laws 5/
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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 18/05/2026
Not just lobbying! our new paper maps 27 mechanisms of regulatory capture used by Big AI + 11 narrative framings that rationalise capture. “Big AI’s Regulatory Capture: Mapping Industry Interference and Government Complicity” will be presented at #FAccT2026 next month arxiv.org/abs/2605.068... 1/
Title: Big AI’s Regulatory Capture: Mapping Industry Interference and Government Complicity

abstract: Over the past decade, the AI industry has come to exert an unprecedented economic, political and societal power and influence. The well-functioning of regulatory and oversight structures and processes that govern the industry thus have paramount ramifications for everything from fostering public trust in systems marketed as AI, the credibility of scientific knowledge, educational and healthcare services and products, information ecosystems, the environment, rule of law and integrity of democratic process. In this paper, we first develop a taxonomy of mechanisms enabling capture to provide a comprehensive understanding of the problem. Grounded in design science research (DSR) methodologies and extensive scoping review of existing literature and media reports, our taxonomy of capture consists of 27 mechanisms across five categories. We then develop an annotation template incorporating our taxonomy, and manually annotate and analyse 100 news articles. The purpose behind this analysis is twofold: validate our taxonomy and provide a novel quantification of capture mechanisms and dominant narratives. Our analysis identifies 249 instances of capture mechanisms, often co-occurring with narratives that rationalise such capture. We find that the most recurring categories of mechanisms are Discourse & Epistemic Influence, concerning narrative framing, and Elusion of law, related to violations and contentious interpretations of antitrust, privacy, copyright and labour laws. We further find that Regulation stifles innovation, Red tape and National Interest are the most frequently invoked narratives used to rationalise capture. We emphasize the extent and breadth of regulatory capture by coalescing forces — Big AI and governments — as something policy makers and the public ought to treat as an emergency.
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Sol Messing @solmg.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
New in Nature: LLMs give "the party line" in the languages of authoritarian regimes. This works when they control the media, which feeds pretraining data. We show more state control over the media means less critical LLMs. 6 studies spanning 38 languages & 13 models. Details ↓
Scatter plot of 38 countries plus China showing the proportion of LLM responses favorable to the regime in the local language vs. World Press Freedom Index score. Lower press freedom predicts more regime-favorable responses; all production models pooled.
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Angry @angrystaffer.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
Oh. So they want Obama’s nuclear deal minus Obama’s signature. Got it.
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Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute #DISI @divintelligence.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Application review begins in one week (Mar 16)! (Review will continue until all spots are filled.)
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Santa Fe Institute @sfiscience.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Applications open for SFI’s 2026 UCR program. Are you fascinated by transdisciplinary questions that transcend or combine disciplines? UCR is a fully funded, 10-week summer research experience for undergraduates curious about complexity science. Apply by Jan 14, 2026 santafe.edu/ucr
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The Distributed AI Research (DAIR) Institute @dairinstitute.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
You can still catch the recording of today's MAITH3k livestream on our twitch channel: www.twitch.tv/dair_institute.
twitch.tv
dair_institute - Twitch
Twitch account for The Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR).
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Institute for Replication @i4replication.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
We have 8 replication games over the next 13 weeks (Tilburg, Bordeaux, Brno, Galway, Berlin, Paris, Lyon and Ottawa)! Not too late to register to any of these events: i4replication.org/games.html
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Libro.fm @libro.fm · 14/03/2025
Hi, we are an alternative to Amazon-owned Audible 👋🏻 With us, you select the independent bookshop you want to support (we have 3,000+ partners across the globe), and we share profits from your purchase with them. We're also employee-owned and a registered Social Purpose Corporation.
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Ricard Solé @ricardsole.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
How does agency change as life evolves from single cells to complex bodies? This review by Stuart Newman and colleagues examines the surprising roles of development, microbes, and even cancer in reshaping what organisms can do. @multicellgenome.bsky.social www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1...
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Chris Fourie @robobonobo.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
This looks absolutely superb 🤩🥳 There will be a focus on AI accountability and corporate governance 🗓️ Date: 2nd–15th August 2025 (Virtual) 🔗 pacfaie.org/summer-schoo... 📌 Deadline to apply: 5th July 2025 For questions: Info@pacfaie.org
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Teanna Barrett @bound4nostar.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Wow, really excited to have our paper highlighted by Alondra Nelson! I'll be presenting this paper at @facct.bsky.social next Thursday at 9am (local time) for anyone interested in learning more! A paper thread is soon to come 👀
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Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
In the spring of 2008, I feared America was on the verge of war with Iran — and, believing that it’s good style to get to know people before you bomb them, I made “Rick Steves’ Iran,” a one-hour special that could (and would) only debut on PBS. Sadly, this special has become pertinent again today.
ricksteves.com
Iran
Join Rick as he explores the most surprising and fascinating land he's ever visited: Iran. In a one-hour, ground-breaking travel special on public television, you'll discover the splendid monuments of...
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Chris Fourie @robobonobo.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
🚀 Pioneering South-South collaboration seminar CIDACS (Brazil) + WC-PHDC (South Africa) federated analysis 🔬 Maternal health data + OMOP common data model 🔒 No data transfer needed 🌐 Translation PT/EN/ES 8+ world-class speakers Register bit.ly/mcdwebinar #DataScience #MaternalHealth
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Mike Levin @drmichaellevin.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
New preprint, with Richard Watson (www.richardawatson.com) on machine, computational, and cognitive metaphors in cell, developmental, and evolutionary biology: osf.io/preprints/os... "Machines All the Way Up and Cognition All the Way Down: Updating the machine metaphor in biology"
osf.io
OSF
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Anna Clark @annaleighclark.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Oh man. A legend.
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DevConf @devconf.co.za · 29/05/2025
Registration is open and we are ready for an amazing day in Cape Town. #DevConf2025
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Luke Moffett @lukemoffett.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
Namibia to mark German colonial genocide for first time with memorial day as claims for reparations continue www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Namibia to mark German colonial genocide for first time with memorial day
Concentration camps and pseudoscientific experiments were used by German officials to torture and kill.
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Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute #DISI @divintelligence.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
New postdoc positions at the (DISI-affiliated) Center for Possible Minds at Indiana University. Looking for scholars interested in interdisciplinary research on the nature of biological, artificial, and collective intelligence. Please share widely! indiana.peopleadmin.com/postings/29547
indiana.peopleadmin.com
Center for Possible Minds Postdoctoral Fellow
The Center for Possible Minds at Indiana University, Bloomington, invites applications for Postdoctoral Fellows to join its Program for Advanced Research in Diverse Intelligences. The fellowship provi...
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Signal News und Tipps @aboutsignal.de · 23/05/2025
Neuer Beitrag auf signal-news.de: 🆕 👇 Signal blockiert Microsoft Recall www.signal-news.de/signal-block... #SignalApp
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Open Knowledge Foundation @okfn.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
🕵 We are still looking for #AI specialists to work on the #OpenDataEditor. But not just any experts: we want those who know about #opensource, local #LLMs, and privacy-preserving strategies. Know anyone? Please share! buff.ly/7VYBHwE 🏃🏽‍♀️ Deadline: 30 May
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Ricard Solé @ricardsole.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
How can biological systems anticipate future events? In our new paper with @jordiplam.bsky.social, we show how a simple genetic circuit can predict future trends through a simple (and perhaps widespread) mechanism @drmichaellevin.bsky.social @koseskalab.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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Ricard Solé @ricardsole.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
What is possible in the space of organs, organoids and organisms? How can synthetic biology help designing new types of tissues and even novel organs? How can cognition be engineered from scratch? Check our paper @jordiplam.bsky.social @drmichaellevin.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Chris Fourie @robobonobo.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
Looking forward to this evening's online seminar from the SisonkeBiotik community!! 🤩🤖🩺 African AI 4 Health ftw!! 🥳 Accelerating Medical Insights with RAG: From Patient Data to Precision Care Speaker: Elisha Bere Date: Thursday, May 22 Time: 7PM GMT+2 Register now cassyni.com/events/S2frq...
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Chris Stringer @chrisbstringer.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
The entangled brain The brain is much less like a machine than it is like the murmurations of a flock of starlings or an orchestral symphony aeon.co/essays/how-t...
aeon.co
How the human brain is like a murmuration of starlings | Aeon Essays
The brain is much less like a machine than it is like the murmurations of a flock of starlings or an orchestral symphony
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Open Data Institute @odihq.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
We’re excited to be back with Solid World on 9 June 16:00 BST for a dynamic session covering the latest updates, progress, and community news! Special guest speaker @otherjackson.bsky.social‬ 2nd speaker to be announced soon! Chair ‪@jeswr.bsky.social‬ buff.ly/Yfx6UTA #Webinar #FreeEvent
buff.ly
Solid World: June 2025
Join us Monday 9 June 16:00 BST for the latest news on Solid World!
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Open Data Institute @odihq.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
Our recent data-centric AI webinar took a deep dive into how AI can be used for industries with strict data regulations. Watch it again now. #Data #AI
youtu.be
DCAI Webinar#8
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Konrad Kording @kordinglab.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
How does this magic work? bsky.app/profile/did:... - like this is some great magic!
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
*** NOTE SPECIAL TIME *** For the next Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, @alexhanna.bsky.social and I are looking forward to discussing border and immigration technologies with @petramolnar.com Join us as we navigate these heavy issues with our ridicule as praxis: Monday, May 5, 1pm Pacific
twitch.tv
dair_institute - Twitch
Twitch account for The Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR).
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Simons Computational Neuroscience Imbizo @imbizo.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Want to spend 3 weeks in South Africa for an unforgettable summer school experience? Imbizo 2026 (imbizo.africa) student applications are OPEN! Lectures, new friends, and Noordhoek beach await. Apply by July 1! More info and apply: imbizo.africa/apply/ #Imbizo2026 #CompNeuro
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Deep Learning Indaba @deeplearningindaba.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
🪘The 2024 Impact Report is here! Our last Indaba’s theme, Xam Xamlé (Wolof for "To Gather Knowledge and Share It"), beautifully reflected our mission: Empowering and educating through African AI. Read our report 🔗https://deeplearningindaba.com/blog/2025/04/xam-xamle-our-latest-indaba-impact-report/
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Siobhan Mackenzie Hall @smhall97.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
🪘 I am extremely excited to share that @deeplearningindaba.bsky.social has joined us here! it's giving early Twitter 🐦 See below for the 2024 Impact Report ⬇️ Stay tuned. I personally can't wait to see all that the amazing Deep Learning Indaba community will do ⭐
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Sara Hooker @sarahooker.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
It is critical for scientific integrity that we trust our measure of progress. The @lmarena.bsky.social has become the go-to evaluation for AI progress. Our release today demonstrates the difficulty in maintaining fair evaluations on the Arena, despite best intentions.
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Many Minds podcast @manymindspod.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
In the two decades since it was first introduced, the "free energy principle" has had enormous influence. But is the central idea really so new? Just one of the topics discussed in our latest episode, w/ @kathrynnave.bsky.social! Listen: disi.org/life-free-en...
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EarthlyEducation @earthlyeducation.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
Lichens aren’t one organism, but a collaboration of fungi, algae, and sometimes bacteria. They grow on bare rock and survive nuclear fallout (even space). They’re a living metaphor: strength doesn’t always come from dominance, but from symbiosis. From slow growth and listening to each other.
A burst of colourful lichen (shades of blue, green, yellow) on a branch
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Lorenzo Betti @loreb92.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
Happy to see this finally out in @natcomms.nature.com! 🎉 "The dynamics of leadership and success in software development teams" www.nature.com/articles/s41... Amazing collaboration with @lgajo.bsky.social, @johanneswachs.bsky.social and @fede7j.bsky.social
nature.com
The dynamics of leadership and success in software development teams - Nature Communications
Understanding how team dynamics impact performance in collaborative environments remains an open question. Here, authors use fine-grained activity data from software projects to characterize team evol...
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Paris Marx @parismarx.com · 21/04/2025
The days of Google Docs are ending; we enter the age of Docs, made by France's Interministerial Directorate for Digital Affairs and Germany's Center for Digital Sovereignty of Public Administration. We need more governments to collaborate on public software projects to achieve digital sovereignty.
techspot.com
France and Germany unveil Docs, a homegrown alternative to Google Docs
The Trump administration has set out to drastically reshape the relationship between the US and Europe. In response, Brussels is scrambling to adapt to this new reality,...
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Evan Greer @evangreer.bsky.social · 20/04/2025
wish i knew the artist to credit, but this badger has some damn good advice
Poster that reads: 10 lessons for stronger movements: imperfeft allies aren't enemies. Critique to build, not tear down.l Organize, don't just argue. movements win, not individuals, perfection is the enemy of progress. Ego kills movements. Plan for the long game. Meet people where they are. Division is a weapon used by elites, don't play along.
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Karl Rohe @karlrohe.bsky.social · 19/04/2025
The massive success of p-values has been under-theorized. they were invented just like any other statistical idea... and have been adopted across all sciences. in particular, statisticians under-appreciate how remarkable that is.
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Konrad Kording @kordinglab.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
So I am leading this group building great teaching materials for scientific rigor (c4r.io). Their first unit is really coming together and I will teach it (Monday, April 21, 2025, 12:00 -1:00pm EST) to see how well it works. Join us: forms.monday.com/forms/7d978e...
c4r.io
Community for Rigor
Reliable research can be complicated to create. So we made a network of essential resources to help you better understand the principles and practices of scientific rigor.Why trust us? Because we’re a...
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Chris Fourie @robobonobo.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
thecon.ai in case the link below also isn't working for one 💚 buttondown.com/maiht3k/arch...
buttondown.com
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Robert (Bob) Kubinec @rmkubinec.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Instead of de-activating your X account, consider pinning a post to your page stating that you've moved to Bluesky. That will probably do more to get people off of X.
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Allison F @ablington.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
yes
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