Sign in

Sarah Badr

@sarahbadr.bsky.social
1.4K followers 1K following 11 posts

technical artist, composer; ixdm hgk @fhnw.ch rīga · basel · القاهرة · london 🪼 sarahbadr.com

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Edward Ongweso Jr @edwardongwesojr.com · 01/09/2026
This essay talks about the left's vision for technology, the "alliance" between left and right-wing anti-data center movements, politics of refusal, democratic control over the AI infrastructure buildout, China, industrial policy, and more. www.thetechbubble.info/p/the-future...
thetechbubble.info
The Future Is Not Tech-Forward
On artificial intelligence, data centers, technological politics, and who gets to build the future.
410137
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Mel Andrews @bayesianboy.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
At times I feel that the issue is more that the reactionary right often adequately diagnoses the failures of neoliberalism and then proffers a more extremified neoliberalism as antidote.
0272
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Eric Rauchway @rauchway.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
“The undergraduate social-sciences division will also ban in-class audio or video recording and prohibit faculty members from using generative AI to assist in grading”
chronicle.com
U. of Chicago Bans Tech, AI in Social Sciences Core Courses
The new restrictions apply to students and faculty members.
35315
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 24/08/2026
what does @tonychemero.bsky.social's new book 'Intertwined Creatures' have to offer to the “AI consciousness” debate? here is my take on it www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Can AI ever be conscious? The question stems from a misconception
A book outlines how the fields of artificial intelligence, psychology and philosophy have neglected a key aspect of consciousness: the body.
79649
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Dave Karpf @davekarpf.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Oh. My. God. The book galleys have arrived. And they are GLORIOUS.
My book, Vaporware, Inc.: How Silicon Valley Sells the Future to Control the Present.
481317119
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Eryk Salvaggio @eryk.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
The System From Nowhere is a media problem: What (the system) is optimized to do; what training data shapes it; what counts as a valid response: these are mechanisms put in place by human decisions. Good reporting on AI would discuss them. Instead, they “no-sides” it, as if it weren’t designed.
mail.cyberneticforests.com
The System From Nowhere
When Accountability Goes Rogue 💡I recently spoke with Dr. Zena Assaad for her podcast, Responsible Bytes. Video is above, below is an essay adapted from the conversation. "The system from nowhere" i...
1294
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Mel Andrews @bayesianboy.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
If you are producing scholarship with AI and your work could plausibly be accessed in the EU, you are now legally compelled to disclose the nature and extent of your AI use. A tremendous win for scholarly integrity. www.lexacademic.com/blog/the-sta...
lexacademic.com
The Stamp of Shame: What Claude’s New Legal Watermark Means for your Research - Lex Academic®
8717207
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Mel Andrews @bayesianboy.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
​Now is the correct time for institutions of higher education to invest in cross-disciplinary centres, institutions, initiatives, and curricula focussed on ethics and artificial intelligence, data and society, humanity and emerging technologies, etc.
1313
Sarah Badr @sarahbadr.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
🙂
010
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Naomi Saphra @nsaphra.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
I've been unsettled lately when reading messages and papers. It feels like I'm dissociating. Everything seems a bit alien, even if it's completely human. I've had a realization: When our simulations finally exited the Uncanny Valley, they brought the Uncanny with them.
nsaphra.net
Life on the Uncanny Precipice | Naomi Saphra
We were wrong about the Uncanny Valley.
1026461
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Mel Andrews @bayesianboy.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
My contribution to the Diverse Intelligences Workshops at Princeton can be viewed here. I talk about objectivity, induction, AI for science, and the theory-free ideal youtu.be/JXZ4IOekPxI
youtu.be
Mel Andrews - Perspectives on scientific objectivity
YouTube video by Princeton Natural and Artificial Minds
1294
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Karim Wafa-Al Hussaini @karimwafa.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
I don’t know who needs to hear this but never in human history have those who burned books been the good guys.
7653001102
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Eric Umansky @ericumansky.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
A State dept map misplaced every African country it named. Reuters found a watermark made by OpenAI. x.com/ReutersAfric...
46834
Reposted by Sarah Badr
John Herrman @jwherrman.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
The AI industry is prone to massive, frequent, and intensifying narrative mood swings. Part of this is typical of a boom. But I think it's also intrinsic to the tech itself nymag.com/intelligence...
There are plenty of reasons for this pattern. We're going through a massive investment cycle in a new technology, which understandably produces questions about bubbles, polarizes the economic discourse, and invites trader-brained, boom-or-bust interpretations of new developments. The economic stakes are now unavoidably high, and whatever happens is genuinely everyone's problem. Relatedly, while there's plenty of coverage of Al that tracks and contributes to these swings, the dominant mood of the industry - up to and including the communicative styles of AI CEOs
— is substantially determined in the tech hothouse of
X, where it's happening and nothing ever happens appear to be the only available positions, or at least the only ones that get engagement. At the same time, fears of job loss, talk of automation, the visibility of obvious externalities like slop content and cheating in school, and emerging worries about data-center construction have given tech's latest investment cycle an unusually powerful ethical and political dimension and turned the potential success or failure of the broadly defined object of AI into mainstream rooting interests.For one, despite its obsession with forecasts and timelines, this is an industry without a good predictive theory of what its product will soon be good at. It wouldn't be unfair to say that the industry's actual approach to figuring out where things are going is to train a model and see, which gives AI researchers, and their companies, a genuinely unusual relationship to their products: They're building them, sure, but they experience their actual capabilities
- like a sudden aptitude for advanced math after a long stretch of profound innumeracy — as something similar to discoveries. This was clear in the way that Anthropic talked about the cybersecurity capabilities of Mythos as a strange, emergent phenomenon of training general-purpose models. (Contrast that with the development cycle in the nearby and similarly high-stakes semiconductor industry, for example, where swings in sentiment are comparatively mild or at least further apart.)
33811
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Jon Ippolito @jonippolito.net · 17/07/2026
Updated yesterday's Substack after news broke of Trump's teleprompter making $100k on Kalshi. This administration has certainly set a new low bar for self-dealing, but prediction markets are supercharging anonymous corruption at the highest levels of government. open.substack.com/pub/jonippol...
Screenshot from ABC News with photo of Trump at podium and headline "White House teleprompter operator made more than $100K betting on Trump's speeches: Sources"
331
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
This is the weirdest request for input that I've seen in a while. It's almost like the ACM is sitting at the table with the "change my mind" sign. So, let's do it. Short thread with the input I gave them:
8229112
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Data & Society @datasociety.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
“Not only is the ratio of AI’s resource rapacity to its productive utility indefensibly and irremediably skewed, AI-made material is itself a waste product: flimsy, shoddy, disposable, a single-use plastic of the mind.” www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/the...
nplusonemag.com
Large Language Muddle | The Editors
The AI upheaval is unique in its ability to metabolize any number of dread-inducing transformations. The university is becoming more corporate, more politically oppressive, and all but hostile to the ...
03916
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Jendrik Illner @jendrikillner.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Graphics Programming weekly - Issue 444 - June 28th, 2026 www.jendrikillner.com/post/graphic...
15618
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Fabian Offert @zentralwerkstatt.org · 12/05/2026
This neat site assembles all kinds of ancient OSs (more like window managers) which reminded me of the hyper-obscure one that I learned Desktop computing on, called GeoWorks Ensemble. It pretends to be Windows but if you poke anything it crumbles back into DOS. Glorious. www.typewritten.org/Media/
1244
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Molleindustria FUTURE? NO THANKS! OUT NOW @molleindustria.org · 01/07/2026
I posted my History of Games keynote: - A materialist reexamination of the canonical game crises from a developer's POV - Thoughts on the ongoing game industry restructuring - Indiepocalypse, AAApocalypse, deprofessionalization, games at the knitting stage www.molleindustria.org/HistoryOfGam...
molleindustria.org
A History of Games Through Mass Extinctions
A transcript of Paolo Pedercini’s History of Games Conference keynote (2026).
3245106
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Mel Andrews @bayesianboy.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
As philosophy rushes to claim expertise on AI, AI companies rush to control the philosophical narrative. Unlike other disciplines, philosophy has no standards for reporting conflicts of interest. This petition endeavors to change that: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com
Open Letter about Industry Funding and Disclosure in Philosophy
*For full list of signatories, updated every few hours, please click here.* In recent years, philosophical writing on areas such as climate change, technology, misinformation, and artificial intellige...
416678
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
The Supreme Court just effectively gutted two key laws for suing tech over human rights abuses, says Tech Justice Law's Madeline Batt. The result in Doe v. Cisco leaves companies and executives "less constrained by liability fears"—and victims with fewer pathways to redress.
techpolicy.press
Supreme Court Decimates Key Remedies for Tech Complicity in Human Rights Abuse
Following the ruling in Doe v. Cisco, victims are left searching for new pathways to redress, writes Tech Justice Law legal fellow Madeline Batt.
23217
Sarah Badr @sarahbadr.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
good piece that quietly undercuts the naive and self-mythologizing narrative these two have been pushing for years
031
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Nathan Tankus @nathantankus.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
So one I would emphasize that these kinds of people talk the same behind closed doors as they do in public. What was, in fact, the striking thing was how much a rich or powerful person talk like they tweet.
244773
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Mel Andrews @bayesianboy.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Industry is parasitic on academia for research, innovation, and training. The sweeping attacks on academia currently underway in the US are going to gut industry in the years to come. hbr.org/2026/06/the-...
hbr.org
The U.S. Research Talent Pipeline Is in Trouble
Policy shifts, funding instability, and visa uncertainty are causing a sharp decline in the willingness of young scientists trained in the United States to stay in academia—or even remain in the count...
05318
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Nadim Kobeissi @nadim.computer · 10/04/2026
Today, for the third time in my mother's life and for the second in my own life, we lost a home due to it being bombed by the Israeli army.
23430
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Helen Kaplinsky @hkaplinsky.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
"I would position AI as a post-enlightenment project. Stripped of an enlightenment telos and shorn of its commitment to absolute knowledge, what remains is a logocentric husk which reveals a distinct mode of explanation that stubbornly resists universalisation." @cavvia.bsky.social just brilliant.
084
Reposted by Sarah Badr
onion person @junlper.beer · 30/03/2026
great article about the failure of the US media chomping at the bit and believing every single piece of bullshit said by CEOs and the billionaire class
karlbode.com
"CEO Said A Thing!" Journalism
"CEO said a thing!" journalism involves parroting the claims of a business leader or executive with absolutely no context, correction, or challenge whatsoever, no matter how elaborate the delusion.
182046387
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Shibley Telhami @stelhami.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
New US Missile Hit Iranian Sports Hall and School, Analysis Shows: Pentagon used untested missiles in combat in deadly attack that struck civilian sites near military compound, according to visual evidence examined by The Times and weapons experts. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/29/w...
nytimes.com
New U.S. Missile Hit Iranian Sports Hall and School, Analysis Shows
143
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Ami Fields-Meyer @fieldsmeyer.com · 15/03/2026
You should know that just after the invasion of Ukraine, Russia enacted two laws that criminalized independent war reporting and protesting the war. The laws made it illegal to spread “fake news” about Russia’s military or call for an end to its deployment. Penalties up to 15 yrs in prison.
hrw.org
Russia Criminalizes Independent War Reporting, Anti-War Protests
New laws are part of Russia’s ruthless effort to suppress all dissent and make sure the population does not have access to any information that contradicts the Kremlin’s narrative about the invasion o...
3194105
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Erin Cunningham @erinmcunningham.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Businesses in the Persian Gulf have lost access to their networks after Iranian drones damaged Amazon data centers. And they can’t reach company reps to get key materials they have stored on Amazon’s cloud. “It’s been a black box.” www.nytimes.com/2026/03/13/t...
nytimes.com
U.S. Tech Giants Flocked to the Persian Gulf. Now They Are Targets.
45829
Reposted by Sarah Badr
LPE Blog @lpeblog.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
In @equatormag.bsky.social, Melinda Cooper discusses how the billionaire patriarchs of the American far-right want to rule an economy of masters and servants.
equator.org
Epstein Family Values • EQUATOR
The billionaire patriarchs of the American far-right want to rule an economy of masters and servants
3119
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Ms. Wong @mauiwong.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
"Israel has become the model of impunity to follow, the prodigal son that has been raised up past the image of its father. Its spectacular violence has subdued its regional rivals for now; but military dominance eventually provokes resistance from within and from without."
045
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Bloomberg News @bloomberg.com · 03/03/2026
Prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket are showing a darkly modern pathway for users to bet on war and other morbid outcomes.
bloom.bg
A Darkly Modern Guide to Betting on War
The Iran conflict, and the way Kalshi and Polymarket handled wagers, shows weaknesses in prediction markets.
364
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Erin Cunningham @erinmcunningham.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
"The reporting of wars seems to have been inverted; what the powerful say and do is being reported first, and the killing of innocents is mentioned in passing, if at all.” www.cjr.org/the_media_to...
cjr.org
Blackout Iran.
When the Trump administration launched a major attack on Iran, news organizations had to navigate a shaky environment for communications—and moral clarity.
24616
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 03/03/2026
How AI fakes are turning satellite images into war misinformation ft.trib.al/gemBmLZ
ft.trib.al
How AI fakes are turning satellite images into war misinformation
Modified images of strikes circulate as fighting intensifies across the Middle East
33621
Reposted by Sarah Badr
bree bird 🇨🇦 @goose.ski · 03/03/2026
this is an almost comically stupid idea
810410
Reposted by Sarah Badr
expanso🍝 @ment.tools · 27/02/2026
In retrospect it will look like we’re pulling the ladder up with ourselves, when in the moment it’s more like we keep Indiana-Jones-rolling under one closing heavy stone door after another.
032
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Ingrid Burrington @lifewinning.com · 23/02/2026
I think the shift towards "this technical literacy will lead to a six figure income at a government approved monopoly" contributes to its reframing as compliance training
061
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Paris Marx @parismarx.com · 20/02/2026
if generative ai takes down the cloud, i might finally have something good to say about it
419522
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Karen Hao @karenhao.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Ben Goertzel, popularizer of the term AGI and creator of the Sophia robot, congratulating Jeffrey Epstein the day after Epstein was released from prison. Goertzel is mentioned in the files nearly 800 times, including well after the Miami Herald investigation in 2018.
Email from Epstein to Goertzel: "free and home"

Goertzel replies: ";-))) Congratulations!!!! Actually, I was just about to send you an email summarizing my recent progress, current situation, and future hypothetical plans...I'll probably do so tomorrow. I'm sure you're super-swamped, but it would be great to get together when you have the chance... ben"

Goertzel continues: "p.s. Also, the Singularity Summit (futurist conference, but with some good scientific speakers this year) will be in NY this year, Oct 3-4...and Oct 5-6, afterwards, there will be a brainstorming workshop I think you might enjoy (where, basically, the ~20 speakers from the Summit will get together and try to make conceptual progress on various future-science issues). I'll remind you again when the date gets closer!"
9736283
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Mel Andrews @bayesianboy.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
every post I encounter about LLMs reeks of a society incapable of the experience of shame or embarassment
0221
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 16/02/2026
“As it ponders perhaps its greatest privacy intrusion yet, Meta is betting on people looking the other way. No matter the touted benefits of facial recognition in Meta’s smart glasses, the trade-off isn’t worth it.”
bloomberg.com
Meta Is Wrong to Try to Sneak Into Privacy Intrusion
Meta Platforms Inc. thinks we’re too distracted for a proper debate on facial recognition in a civilized society. It’s imperative we prove the company wrong.
511129
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Radio free killed the video star @brandongoer.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
Everyone should be asking this question all the time. Unfortunately it mostly seems to be gambling websites and cryptocurrency scams.
0206
Reposted by Sarah Badr
wells @wells.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
for all this social media research we have we sure don't actually use it to inform the social media we build
412814
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Ambrose @ambrosia-engine.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
Dealing with this constantly. We all make our own choices and are responsible for what happens in our communities. It's a choice to keep using these platforms even when you know the atrocities they continuously inflict on our brains, our democracies, and the planet itself.
021
Reposted by Sarah Badr
julián gómez-delgado @juliangomezdelgado.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
Is infrastructure sabotage always a destructive act led by seditious individuals? no my new article in Human Geography studies Colombian public sector workers ‘breaking’ infrastructure to oppose privatization in 1992, and argues sabotage can reshape policies, politicize society & more
23314
Reposted by Sarah Badr
Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
mom they’re roasting the US economy on mastodon again
Jennifer
@JenYetAgain@beige.party
in 2017 a popular twitter game was to type a partial phrase then see what your phone auto-completes it with.
this proved so popular that it is now the only business model in the US.
Feb 9, 2026 at 4:35:18PM
Boosted by 968:
Favourited by 1324:
40117192693