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Ro Encarnación

@rone.bsky.social
112 followers 126 following 46 posts

PhD in progress at Penn HCI. I work on HCI + algorithmic justice + public sector AI policy. roencarnacion.com

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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 8h
Looking forward to presenting "𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗟𝗟𝗠𝘀 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗪𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴: 𝗔𝗻 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝗔𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀" tommorow at the Trust and Safety Research Conference! Catch this talk at the tail end of the 10am session in the Fisher Room. I'll share a post-audit update :) #TSRConf Check out the paper here.
dl.acm.org
Auditing LLM Responses in a Complex Policy Landscape: Abortion Law in the United States | Proceedings of the 2026 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency
You will be notified whenever a record that you have chosen has been cited.
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B! 🐝 Cavello (they/them) @b-cavello.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Look, ma, I'm in a magazine!! 🤩✨ I got to speak with @motherjones.com about #PublicAI and how access, accountability, & sustainability are about more than just shareholding. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
What AI regulation and ownership could be
Public ownership of AI isn't just about disentangling it from giant, for-profit startups.
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
exactamente!! La ciencia lenta respeta el proceso y el tiempo que toma investigar problemas complicados.
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Can't wait to read this!
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
It’s unfortunate that gen AI providers can continue to dismiss evidence of something going awry in their models bc the “newest” version wasn’t used (even if the model used is still in prod). Research can’t keep up and newer models cost more per token/API call. This era of AI evals is expensive!
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Please reach out/message me if you’d like to join!
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Curiosity mixed with rage is really undersold as a motivator for sociotechnical research.
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James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Everyone who says that you need to learn and use AI heavily right now to avoid being permanently left behind is telling you that they believe the future will feature profound and inescapable inequality and they’re okay with that.
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Thank you so much for sharing our work! 🙌
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
So happy for my home district 13!!
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Serena Booth @reniebird.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Policymakers by and large don't read academic papers! If you're looking for policy impact, you need to show up. First you need to learn _how_ to show up. Excited to cohost this #FAccT2026 craft session with @rone.bsky.social, @narijohnson.bsky.social, Cynthia Bailey, and Danaé Metaxa.
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Yet another reason why a 97.8888% AI eval score is meaningless. Even just ONE error like this is insane.
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
At this point, I would rather see a flyer made with clip art and typed with Papyrus or Comic Sans than have to look at another AI-generated flyer.
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Lisa Rice @itslisarice.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
The move from open regulatory processes that engage the public to clandestine, executive decisions about technology isn’t deregulation. It’s just a rose by another name. Folks, the brilliant @alondra.bsky.social
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Here we go with dragnet practices again, courtesy of data broker loopholes (and data brokers in general).
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Today in horrific news: House Republicans introduced the "Clean Water for All Life Act" requiring a health provider present for medication abortions. First, the bill opens with "chemical abortion" which is not even the correct term. So that should tell you a lot about this garbage bill. >> 🧵
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Hakeem Jefferson @hakeemjefferson.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Thanks for continuing to read, cite, and share this paper. It remains controversial in some corners of the discipline, but I stand by it completely. Many Black folks don’t use terms “liberal” and “conservative,” which makes the liberal-conservative scale a noisy tool for studying Black politics.
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Josh Dzieza @joshdzieza.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
AI companies are paying screenwriters, lawyers, and other white-collar professionals to produce the training data needed to automate their jobs. I spoke with more than 30 workers about conditions inside this fast-growing and extremely secretive new gig economy.
theverge.com
The laid-off lawyers and PhDs training AI to steal their careers
Experienced white-collar workers are now part of a miserable gig economy.
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Suresh Venkatasubramanian @geomblog.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
It's been a journey of nearly 3 years, but I'm very excited to announce the CNTR AISLE Portal! 🚀 cntr-aisle.org It’s a new way to review and evaluate the 1,000+ AI bills introduced in the U.S. over the last three years. Check out the Bill Library and our Profiles#AIPolicy #OpenData
cntr-aisle.org
CNTR AISLE
CNTR AISLE Portal
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Kate Kaye @katekaye.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
In Portland, the Water Bureau is piloting an algorithmic pricing system to automate bill discount levels. I've reported extensively on this otherwise ignored project. Lawmakers in CA have introduced several bills to regulate algo pricing, a very nuanced area. My reporting and more on CA follows:
redtailmedia.org
Leaving Money on the Table: Inside Portland Water Bureau’s Algorithmic Pricing Program
Portland is testing a machine learning algorithm for water bill pricing that promises both affordability and higher revenues. Here’s the first in-depth analysis of the program and the tech be…
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
With such low AI literacy rates (and low literacy rates in general -- another convo on critical thinking) and inequitable information access, can we move beyond putting the onus on consumers of these tools to be more responsible?
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Margaret Mitchell @mmitchell.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
Meanwhile, ChatGPT guided this teen on how to maximize his drug “trips” until he died from it. www.sfgate.com/tech/article...
sfgate.com
A Calif. teen trusted ChatGPT for drug advice. He died from an overdose.
"Who on earth gives that advice?"
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
We're getting closer and closer to making tech dystopia novel, "The Marriage Act" by John Marrs, a reality: www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
washingtonpost.com
Heritage paper on families calls for ‘marriage bootcamp,’ more babies
The conservative think tank aims to boost U.S. marriage and births through discouraging online dating, restricting pornography and creating tax credits for families.
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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 02/01/2026
this is irresponsible reporting. a neural network can't comment on why it produced CSAM. a neural network can't be held answerable for generating CSAM. accountability lies within the fascist ceo and the team willing to work for him www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...
reuters.com
Grok says safeguard lapses led to images of 'minors in minimal clothing' on X
Elon Musk's xAI artificial intelligence chatbot Grok said on Friday lapses in safeguards had resulted in "images depicting minors in minimal clothing" on social media platform X and that improvements ...
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J. Nathan Matias @natematias.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Can public involvement in AI evaluation improve the science? Or does it compromise quality, speed, cost? In @pnas.org, Megan Price & I summarize challenges of AI evaluation, review strengths/weaknesses, & suggest how participatory methods can improve the science of AI www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
How public involvement can improve the science of AI | PNAS
As AI systems from decision-making algorithms to generative AI are deployed more widely, computer scientists and social scientists alike are being ...
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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
Another day when the assimilation of the internet into a tiny number of hands becomes obvious. AWS (Amazon web services) goes down and takes half the internet with it!
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
I'm convinced that many current "safety guardrails" in generative AI systems are merely financial and political risk mitigation strategies. They are meant to protect companies first, not users.
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Dr. Jens Foell @jensfoell.de · 15/10/2025
When it comes to AI, ignore what Sam Altman says and instead listen to @abeba.bsky.social @timnitgebru.bsky.social @olivia.science @irisvanrooij.bsky.social @karenhao.bsky.social
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Oops, $1.5 billion to Prime subscribers! Another $1 billion to the FTC.
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Amazon has to pay $1.8 billion due to deceptive Prime subscription practices and change those same practices as part of an FTC settlement. It’s time to screenshot for posterity and wait for Amazon to use the settlement to raise Prime. Penalizing customers for what they did TO them.
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
The dark patterns in abortion crisis pregnancy center websites are a special level of insidious and predatory. The "For Men" section in some of these websites goes to show how far they'll go. This screenshot is an example. The "Your" here is not referring to the pregnant person.
A snippet of text from an abortion crisis pregnancy center website's "For Men" section.
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Heavily considering replacing bedtime stories with dramatic readings of research papers. Work smarter not harder yk?
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michelle⁷ @poisonivy47.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
is your workplace trying to force ai on you? is a family member giving ai too much power in their life? are you sick of billionaires destroying the environment and making life worse for everyone? here's a list of resources 10+ pages long to help you fight back: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com
Questioning AI Resource List
Excellent summary of major problems with companies’ focus on AI written by expert in machine learning: https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/i-will-fucking-piledrive-you-if-you-mention-ai-again/ Another g...
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Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
Google is also trying to lock in schools to a particular set of ideas that it claims to be based on "learning science" with its new LearnLM/Guided learning bot. It's a *theory lock-in* to a very attenuated version of learning theory. blog.google/outreach-ini...
blog.google
Guided Learning in Gemini: From answers to understanding
Guided Learning is a new mode in Gemini that helps you learn and study by building a deep understanding instead of just getting answers.
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
I want to see more of this! One person close to me who works as a SWE at a major company explained how bad it is right now. They are forced to have "AI goals", have full-day meetings teaching folks how to vibe code, and no one has tracked actual productivity.
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Hellina Hailu Nigatu @hellinanigatu.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
Are you an HCI researcher from or who studies the Global Majority? Reviewed research about Global Majority for HCI venues? @farhana-shahid.bsky.social & I are conducting research on peer review experience of research by and about Global Majority. participation form: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com
Review Experience of Global Majority Scholars
We invite scholars who are either from the Global Majority or conduct research in the Global Majority to share their experiences of publishing in interdisciplinary venues such as CHI, CSCW, FAccT, Ubi...
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B! 🐝 Cavello (they/them) @b-cavello.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
How can we ensure that #AI is ACTUALLY helpful for the BIG challenges we face, like #ClimateChange and #WorldHunger? We need to listen to the experts who understand these problems best! That's why @aspendigital.bsky.social is surveying people in #FoodSecurity: www.aspendigital.org/event/food-s...
aspendigital.org
Feeding the Future
We don’t just need smarter tech, we need smarter goals. Take the survey so your insight can shape the future of AI in food security.
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
I'm incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with this team. Truly one of the best collaborative experiences I have had to date (special s/o to our MVP @mkgerchick.bsky.social for leading this)! Check out Marissa's talk on our paper "auditing the audits" if you're at #FAccT2025! ⬇️
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David Andersen @daveandersen.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
The leeway permitted by "automated decision systems" alone should terrify anyone regardless of their views about "AI".
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Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
More than 700K Americans died from COVID after he wrote this. We still have not achieved herd immunity.
WSJ OPINION
M
We'll Have Herd Immunity by April

Covid cases have dropped 77% in six weeks.
Experts should level with the public about the good news.
By Marty Makary
Feb. 18, 2021 12:35 pm ET
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
I know the FTC is already fighting this but I’m gathering more receipts for my own purposes. Amazon did try to subscribe me again after I cancelled. I then deleted all my payment options. So why did they try charging my card this morning?? Looks like they don’t delete your payment info either.
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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 08/04/2025
Would say “these systems don’t work” but the actual work of these systems is to more fully embed and perpetuate the racism of carceral systems, and thus they work exactly as intended.
theguardian.com
UK creating ‘murder prediction’ tool to identify people most likely to kill
Exclusive: Algorithms allegedly being used to study data of thousands of people, in project critics say is ‘chilling and dystopian’
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Amazon is trying to trap me into a subscription after I cancelled them last month. My partner cancelled last year and just learned he’s been charged every month since. I tried deleting all my payment methods just now and I can’t for another 2 hours.
Screenshot of Amazon wallet deletion error
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Chokely Carmichael🥋 @stewartcoles.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
This is what we mean when we talk about racism being baked/coded into technological systems.
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Coryn Wolk @corynwolk.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
This is an expansion of methods/infrastructure that have been going on for +-10 years. Not in a "this isn't new!" way, but in a "they are maximizing existing systems" way. Ruha Benjamin and Dorothy Roberts have laid it out well. psmag.com/social-justi...
psmag.com
Gang Databases Are a Life Sentence for Black and Latino Communities
Ending up on a gang database if you're brown or black is easy—you only have to be suspected of association. Getting off a gang database? That's much harder.
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Oliver Haimson @haimson.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
🤐 Have you ever wanted a simple webpage that displays the so-called "woke" and "DEI-related" words that the current administration wants to censor, one at a time, in random order? I did, so I created ForbiddenWordsUSA.com. Enjoy! 🤐 Source: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
forbiddenwordsusa.com
Banned in the USA
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Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
The DOGE firings have nothing to do with “efficiency” or “cutting waste.” They’re a direct push to weaken federal agencies perceived as liberal. This was evident from the start, and now the data confirms it: targeted agencies overwhelmingly those seen as more left-leaning. 🧵⬇️
Scatterplot titled “Empirical Evidence of Ideological Targeting in Federal Layoffs: Agencies seen as liberal are significantly more likely to face DOGE layoffs.”
	•	The x-axis represents Perceived Ideological Leaning of federal agencies, ranging from -2 (Most Liberal) to +2 (Most Conservative), based on survey responses from over 1,500 federal executives.
	•	The y-axis shows Agency Size (Number of Staff) on a logarithmic scale from 1,000 to 1,000,000.

Each point represents a federal agency:
	•	Red dots indicate agencies that experienced DOGE layoffs.
	•	Gray dots indicate agencies with no layoffs.

Key Observations:
	•	Liberal-leaning agencies (left side of the plot) are disproportionately represented among red dots, indicating higher layoff rates.
	•	Notable targeted agencies include:
	•	HHS (Health & Human Services)
	•	EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)
	•	NIH (National Institutes of Health)
	•	CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau)
	•	Dept. of Education
	•	USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development)
	•	The National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE), despite its conservative leaning (+1 on the scale), is an exception among targeted agencies.
	•	A notable outlier: the Department of Veterans Affairs (moderately conservative) also faced layoffs despite its size.

Takeaway:

The figure visually demonstrates that DOGE layoffs disproportionately targeted liberal-leaning agencies, supporting claims of ideological bias. The pattern reveals that layoffs were not driven by agency size or budget alone but were strongly associated with perceived ideology.

Source: Richardson, Clinton, & Lewis (2018). Elite Perceptions of Agency Ideology and Workforce Skill. The Journal of Politics, 80(1).
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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 18/02/2025
I was in Paris last week for the #AIActionSummit & was honoured to participate in the “AI in public interest” panel. 👇🏾 my thoughts & reflections on what AI in public interest is/isn’t & some concrete steps/initiatives for `bending the arc of AI towards the public interest' aial.ie/pages/aiparis/
aial.ie
Bending the arc of AI towards the public interest
By Abeba Birhane, 18/02/2025 Following the first in Bletchley Park in 2023 and the second in Seoul in 2024, the third AI Action Summit took place in February 2025 in Paris. In the context of previous ...
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Ro Encarnación @rone.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
In less important news: I had a brief out of body experience when I heard myself saying “we have food at home” to my mom. We’ve come full circle.
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