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Thiago Krause

@thiagokrause.bsky.social
6.9K followers 856 following 2.2K posts

Associate Professor of History & African American Studies, Wayne State University. Brazilian historian in the US. Interested in LLMs for research and wary of its impacts on learning and society. Opinions are my own and do not reflect my employer. PT/ENG.

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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 4m
“We don’t really understand the long-term economic implications, but the underlying commercial assumptions seem rather heroic. And we’ve all, deliberately or otherwise, hitched our fortunes to the idea that it will work out just fine. We’d better be right”
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 8m
“the AI trade… has morphed into “the” theme — a vast, suffocating blob slathered on top of the global financial system, starving everything else of oxygen, distorting market reactions and leaving every portfolio, everywhere, alarmingly reliant on the fortunes of just one bet”
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 18h
OpenAI has promised to fund workshops and stuff like that, but that's peanuts. The bare minimum would be endowed professorships and postdoctoral positions in public universities across the country - say, $300 million spread over 5 years could fund dozens of positions. I won't hold my breath, though.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 18h
It seems clear by now that there are significant advances in the OpenAI proofs, but dumping slop is not the same as advancing human knowledge. This is just a marketing ploy that is upending an established field, but real people will have to deal with the intellectual and human consequences.
theverge.com
‘Pure insanity’: Mathematicians will need years to make sense of OpenAI’s latest drop
Careers upended overnight, academics will have to separate solutions from slop while OpenAI moves on.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 18h
Dá, né?
static.klipy.com
Make It Rain Money
ALT: Make It Rain Money
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 22h
I understand why the US is cutting off its nose to spite its face regarding the university sector, but for a nominally center-left administration in the UK to double down on that is just baffling. I mean, we all know why, but it is extraordinarily dumb nevertheless.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
A conclusão inevitável do celular do Vorcaro é que ele é burro e tosco (mas pelo menos o era em privado, diferente de outros ricos e famosos que mostram isso nas redes sociais).
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Fascinating!
activehistory.ca
Can You Read Two Million Pages? An LLM Can Help.
In my MA thesis, I built one example of how GraphRAG can work for historians. From 20,000 early modern documents, I constructed a knowledge graph of 218,000 entities and 692,000 relationships, then…
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Usually they just kick an adjunct or PTF off a course to open space for you. That’s how I ended up teaching the first half of the US History survey in the winter of 2024 when my African history course failed to enroll. But another colleague ended up having to teach in the summer.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
WTF. Here they just cancel courses.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
It’s always astonishing when I realize my students were born after the specific cultural or political event I’m referencing (this week was the Pirates of the Caribbean movie, in a class about pirates).
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Well, at least your students come to office hours!
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
I wonder how easy it would be maintaining contracts in the case of bankruptcy, but you’re probably right. And well, subsidized subscriptions are definitely going away at some point.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Of course - but it might become more complicated to run inference then, I guess?
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
If OpenAI/Anthropic/Space X collapsed, Gemini would still exist (Alphabet is not going anywhere) and open models would have more of an incentive for UX/harnessing in ways that would be easier to use. Anyway, the point is that these things are not going away, as you said.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
I haven't used open-weight models except for a couple of weeks in April, but it feels like the main problem is usability - for which there is not that much incentive when closed models are clearly better at that.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
What I find most striking is that many of these “papers” are incomprehensible. I guess I just don’t get math, but it feels like mathematicians will mostly have to focus on understanding what LLMs do, because in terms of getting results, they are already superhuman. That’s a scary thought.
nytimes.com
‘Breathtaking,’ ‘Devastating’: Mathematics Reels After New OpenAI Release (Gift Article)
Hundreds of new A.I.-generated findings moved the frontiers of higher math in a single day — dispelling any doubt that the field is forever changed.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
I really want to read a historian of science about this - Steven Shapin at the @lrb.co.uk, perhaps? Or Matthew Jones?
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
This sounds like sci-fi, I assume because there’s plenty of sci-fi in the training data. It did not change agent behavior and disappeared, but still! It will be kind of funny if the sci-fi apocalypse comes because LLMs and their creators read too much sci-fi and ignored the cautionary tales.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Eu definitivamente não entendo mais nada.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Acho que é mais incompetência que ocultamente…
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Flavio vai nomear 5 - vaga do Barroso que Lula deixou, as aposentadorias, e vaga do Xandão impichado. Douglas Ruas é claramente podre, pode nem dizer que quer mudança, que era juiz (como Witzel), etc. Flavinho Desmaio não tem nem o carisma tosco do pai e é mais evidentemente corrupto. Assustador.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Eu estou fora, mas acho muito mais difícil de entender 2026 que 2018, quando antipetismo e novidade explicavam. É muito pior porque dessa vez o bolsonarismo vai vir muito mais forte. Centrão profissional ajudou a segurar Jair. STF ajudou a segurar Jair. Agora Flávio vai dominar Câmara, Senado e STF.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Agreed.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Very different - almost the opposite. The Biden administration was often innovative, policy-wise, while the third Lula administration was a desert of ideas. Biden was in clear decline, while Lula remain vigorous and sharp.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Assustador demais. E dessa vez por desânimo e niilismo. Primeira vez como tragédia, segundo como farsa (mas ainda mais trágica).
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Yeah, exactly. And like here, this time feels like it will be much worse.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Just delaying the disaster.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
O Mike Rodgers tem tanto dinheiro pra fazer campanha negativa contra o Abdul aqui em Michigan que em todos os intervalos do Foro de Teresina dessa semana eu ouvi a mesma propaganda acusando-o de querer "defund the police" e soltar presos violentos... @npto.bsky.social, bloqueia esses anúncios aí!
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
She overstates the impact of LLMs (some trends are much older), blue collar salaries, college costs, etc. It consistently compares the worst margin of college with the best margin of the trades. And again, the value of education is more than short-term ROI.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Lowrey is generally a good writer and a sharp thinker, but this piece is really bad. It cherry picks and misrepresents data, and treats college’s worth solely through the prism of short-term economic gains, extrapolating from current trends.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Very good explanation on how to use LLMs for serious research.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
(And the agent actually did it much better than I would have done it, using functionalities I didn’t even know existed).
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Yeah, that sounded bizarre to me as well. I also spent at most a couple of hours per class on Canvas - but now I spend one minute, so…
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I’m not sure I buy the larger argument, but a) LLM-agent coordination is impressive. Seeing it spinning hundreds of agents to index millions of pages of transcriptions was great. 2) dot seems to be really useful. It is organizing my transcriptions; also caught mistakes like double-booked meetings.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Interesting description of using an LLM agent to do one of the most boring tasks ever: populating Canvas. I did it this semester, but in a simpler way - I wrote the syllabi and prepared the folders with the readings, rubrics, primary sources, then an agent upload and organize everything.
computationalhistory.substack.com
How AI Saved One Professor from Drudgery
Implications for Administrators
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I’m envious! Haven’t played in a dozen years or so…
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Isso resolve a questão: super inteligência foi alcançada! Genial em todos os sentidos. PS: fiquei orgulhoso que pesquei todas as referências econômicas (Daron, Baumol, Solow, etc) e preocupado que também pesquei todas de AÍ (quem são Gary, Yann, godfather, etc).
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I generally shrug at your video demonstrations, but this is one is actually impressive.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Especialmente aqui nos EUA…
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
“Part of how A.I. is making us dumber,” says Dr. Adam Green, a cognitive neuroscientist at Georgetown University, is “undercutting the development of learning how to think in younger people that now have an alternative.”
nytimes.com
Will A.I. Make Your Brain Lazy? Here’s What the New Research Actually Shows.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Will write soon!
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Reposted by Thiago Krause
Esther Liberman Cuenca @estherlcuenca.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
We're hiring a TT position in U.S. History (open field) at Texas A&M University-Victoria! We're looking for those willing to teach applied history. Review of apps begins 10/24. Not on the search committee but can answer any questions as dept chair. tamus.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/TAMUV_...
tamus.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
Assistant Professor - History
Job TitleAssistant Professor - History Agency Texas A&M University - Victoria Department College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Proposed Minimum SalaryCommensurate Job LocationVictoria, Tex...
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Reposted by Thiago Krause
Manisha Sinha @profmsinha.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Academic here, yeah I know it’s September still!
Tintin cartoon
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Call for proposals for a workshop, my people! Slavery and transimperial trade next March at William & Mary. Please spread it far and wide: I want to read your many great proposals!
atlanticexchanges.wm.edu
2027 Workshop Call for Proposals - Atlantic Exchanges Workshop
Atlantic Exchanges 2027 Slavery and the Commercial Machinery of Empires The Atlantic Exchanges Workshop invites proposals for its second edition, […]
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Holy fuck - I read this yesterday, and said paragraph was not there. There was no mention to him being trans.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Good overview of the scale of investment in data centers/AI, and how unlikely it is to pay off in the short term. A bust is likely.
thenextrecession.wordpress.com
AI: the biggest economic bet in US history
The US economy continues to expand faster than other G7 economies, but the driver is the humungous investment in AI models, data centres and all the AI-related chips and technology.  The US co…
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I know what it means and I have even used it, but I still don’t understand its origin. My head canon is that it is because baseball makes no sense at all.
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
As chance would have it, next week we’re discussing a chapter of your book in my class! Happy to invite you for a class visit + book talk next semester if you want to come to Detroit…
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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Worth reading this post about it.
generativehistory.substack.com
Gemini 3 Solves Handwriting Recognition and it’s a Bitter Lesson
Testing shows that Gemini 3 has effectively solved handwriting on English texts, one of the oldest problems in AI, achieving expert human levels of performance.
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