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Ian McCarthy

@toffeeman68.bsky.social
667 followers 616 following 263 posts

Professor. Interested in operations, innovation, entrepreneurship, change, social media, creative consumers, education, footie, and bullshit. You can freely access my articles and presentations here: itdependsblog.blogspot.com/p/home.h…

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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Focusing on the strategic planning process, this article examines how AI is an epistemic technology that shapes knowledge integrity not just for individual users, but in how that knowledge is used, stored, and reused by organizations over time. dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn...
dx.doi.org
Generative AI as an Epistemic Technology: Rethinking Governance of Organizational Knowledge Infrastructures
Generative AI (GenAI) is an epistemic technology that produces propositions and reconfigures how organizations generate, validate, and retain what they treat as
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Join me for an experiential and applied workshop where you'll diagnose real-world change challenges, practice reducing resistance and building buy-in, and work through a guided simulation. www.sfu.ca/continuing-s...
sfu.ca
Change Management Intensive and Simulation
Leading organizational change is complex, and getting it right can make a lasting difference. In this intensive short course, you’ll explore proven change management concepts, leadership approac...
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
The Organizational Bullshit Perception Scale: docdrop.org/static/drop-...
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
OpenAI has changed its mission statement 6 times in 9 years. In the latest change it finally removed all references to “safely” as a core value. Beware of the risks of #botshit: doi.org/10.1016/j.bu...
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Shane Littrell, PhD @metacognishane.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
(3/5) Across 4 studies (N = 1,018), CBSR shows strong evidence of validity & reliability. Corporate BS receptivity is distinct from a general affinity for corporate speech. Associated w/ analytic-thinking and other bullshit-related constructs in theoretically consistent ways.
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Shane Littrell, PhD @metacognishane.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
(2/5) Corporate bullshit = a semantically empty and often confusing style of communication in organizational contexts that leverages abstruse corporate buzzwords and jargon in a functionally misleading way (Littrell, 2026).
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
The Corporate Bullshit Receptivity Scale. The employees in your organization who are the most excited and inspired by “visionary” corporate jargon may be the least equipped to make effective, practical business decisions for your organization: news.cornell.edu/stories/2026...
news.cornell.edu
Workers who love ‘synergizing paradigms’ might be bad at their jobs | Cornell Chronicle
Employees who are impressed by vague corporate-speak like “synergistic leadership,” or “growth-hacking paradigms” may struggle with practical decision-making, a new Cornell study into “corporate BS” r...
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Elisabeth @serialmom.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Das letzte Slide erinnert mich ein bisserl an die Argumente in dem Botshit Paper von 2024: Beware of botshit: How to manage the epistemic risks of generative chatbots. (doi.org/10.1016/j.bu...)
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
There is a tool that measures whether AI models detect avoid confidently generating invalid responses that humans then use for #botshit riddled work, see: doi.org/10.1016/j.bu... Most models earnestly make stuff up, except Claude. The BullshitBench tool is here: petergpt.github.io/bullshit-ben...
lnkd.in
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
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Ricard Lloria @rllora.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
Beware of Botshit: How to manage the epistemic risks of generative chatbots www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Beware of botshit: How to manage the epistemic risks of generative chatbots
Advances in large language model (LLM) technology enable chatbots to generate and analyze content for our work. Generative chatbots do this work by pr…
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Shane Littrell, PhD @metacognishane.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
Just launched a Substack about the science of nonsense; why people believe wild conspiracy theories, fall for propaganda, and speak fluent corporate gibberish. If you're into science, critical thinking, or just need a break from the 🗑️🔥🌎, come hang out: bullshitology.substack.com
bullshitology.substack.com
Bullshitology | Shane Littrell | Substack
Bullshitology explores why smart people can believe dumb things. Blending cognitive science, skepticism, and snark to correct our intellectual blind spots and improve everyone’s bullshit detectors. Cl...
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
"The world’s largest accounting body has decided to scrap remote exams to combat a rise in students cheating when sitting tests remotely." www.ft.com/content/52e7...
ft.com
Accounting body scraps remote exams to combat cheating
Decision follows scandals at Big Four and comes as AI tools make it easier to circumvent invigilators
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
Some signs of the presence of subtle but important behavioral traits in LLMs, typically attributed to humans. This could profoundly affect both behavioral research and agentic use of AI in society. doi.org/10.1109/MITP...
doi.org
Large Language Models in Human Subject Research, and the Presence of Idiosyncratic Human Behaviors
Large language models (LLMs) not only mimic human language generally but are also showing the ability to exhibit nuanced, idiosyncratic human behavior. This could lead to the expanded use of LLMs in r...
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
Some signs of the presence of subtle but important behavioral traits in LLMs, typically attributed to humans. This could profoundly affect both behavioral research and agentic use of AI in society. doi.org/10.1109/MITP...
doi.org
Large Language Models in Human Subject Research, and the Presence of Idiosyncratic Human Behaviors
Large language models (LLMs) not only mimic human language generally but are also showing the ability to exhibit nuanced, idiosyncratic human behavior. This could lead to the expanded use of LLMs in r...
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
AI tools for generating images are advancing. Google’s LLM Notebook produced this infographic for this paper on innovation failure: doi.org/10.1016/j.te... Visually I think it is striking. The story it “tries” to tell is impressive. The accuracy of the words used to tell the story is disappointing.
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
It's the real thing! doi.org/10.1016/j.co...
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
My first 10K. Google Scholar is Strava for academics. We track citations instead of steps, and flex h-indices instead of pace. Both platforms are games that can be gamified. doi.org/10.1016/j.bu...
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
The limits of smart cities doi.org/10.1016/j.te...
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
The limits of smart cities doi.org/10.1016/j.te...
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
There are limits to how smart we want a city to be. doi.org/10.1016/j.te...
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Harold Jarche @harold.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/11/2025
"... chatbots can produce coherent-sounding but inaccurate or fabricated content, referred to as hallucinations. When humans uncritically use this untruthful content, it becomes what we call botshit." www.sciencedirect.com/science/artic… #PKMastery […]
mastodon.social
Original post on mastodon.social
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
A useful chatbot guide for teens (and others) in Science News Magazine by Kathryn Hulick. www.snexplores.org/article/5-th...
snexplores.org
5 things to remember when talking to a chatbot
When using ChatGPT or other chatbots, remember your voice matters and watch out for flattery and hallucinations. And for important advice, ask real people.
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
The journal-based Matthew effect is where prestigious institutions publish in prestigious journals, increasing the prestige of both, but does not generate a citation impact advantage for the journal.
doi.org
Redirecting
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
I am trying to quickly access a pdf version of this article, if you have access could you send me a pdf of it please: hbr.org/2023/06/mana... I would contact the authors, but their affiliations are not listed🫤
hbr.org
Managing the Risks of Generative AI
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has become widely popular, but its adoption by businesses comes with a degree of ethical risk. Organizations must prioritize the responsible use of generative A...
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
A French data scientist and lawyer catalogued at least 490 court filings in the past six months that contained #botshit i.e., when AI makes up incorrect stuff and humans then uncritically "use" it in their work. apnews.com/article/arti... For botshit see: doi.org/10.1016/j.bu...
apnews.com
Mistake-filled legal briefs show the limits of relying on AI tools at work
Judges around the world are seeing error-riddled legal briefs that were generated with the help of artificial intelligence.
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
My first 10K. Google Scholar is Strava for academics. We track citations instead of steps, and flex h-indices instead of pace. Both platforms are games that can be gamified. doi.org/10.1016/j.bu...
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
There are limits to how smart we want a city to be. doi.org/10.1016/j.te...
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Yes. This a great example of the cost of "botshit" ie when AI makes stuff up and humans uncritically use it See: doi.org/10.1016/j.bu... An open access version: dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn...
doi.org
Redirecting
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
This message by Adam Grant is central to the topics and language in some of my recent articles: doi.org/10.1016/j.bu... doi.org/10.1177/0033... doi.org/10.1016/j.bu...
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
A funny take on the classic illusion. We use the original to explain how such trickery of the mind underlies the power of deepfakes: doi.org/10.1016/j.bu...
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Eva Rimbau-Gilabert @erimbau.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
2/2 Kate Niederhoffer et al. on #workslop --content that appears polished but lacks real substance, offloading cognitive labor onto coworkers hbr.org/2025/09/ai-g...
hbr.org
AI-Generated “Workslop” Is Destroying Productivity
Despite a surge in generative AI use across workplaces, most companies are seeing little measurable ROI. One possible reason is because AI tools are being used to produce “workslop”—content that appea...
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Eva Rimbau-Gilabert @erimbau.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Poor-quality #genAI content is damaging more than we realize. See: 1/2 @toffeeman68.bsky.social et al. on #botshit --Chatbot generated content that is not grounded in truth and is then uncritically used by a human in communication and decision making www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Beware of botshit: How to manage the epistemic risks of generative chatbots
Advances in large language model (LLM) technology enable chatbots to generate and analyze content for our work. Generative chatbots do this work by pr…
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
I wonder if media voters are still less biased than captain voters and coach voters, and that coaches are less biased than captains. journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Using the "honeycomb model" to understand the functionalities and affordances of different metaverse realms. doi.org/10.1016/j.bu...
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Gerd Leonhard - For the Human Future @futuristgerd.com · 01/09/2025
BEWARE OF BOTSHIT: HOW TO MANAGE THE EPISTEMIC RISKSOF GENERATIVE CHATBOTS
buff.ly
BEWARE OF BOTSHIT: HOW TO MANAGE THE EPISTEMIC RISKSOF GENERATIVE CHATBOTS
Really interesting discussion paper on the premise of ‘botshit’: the AI version of bullshit. I can’t do this paper justice – it’s 16 pages, so I can only cover a few extracts. Recommend reading the…
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
doi.org/10.1016/j.bu... doi.org/10.1016/j.bu...
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
The research-practice gap. Learn why and how to use social media as a boundary-spanning technology to bridge this gap without sacrificing rigour for relevance. Via publisher: doi.org/10.1016/j.bu... Open access preprint: ssrn.com/abstract=410...
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Daniel Boos @danielboos.bsky.social · 30/12/2023
Über „Bullshit“ und „Botshit“ - Umgang mit wenig reflektierter Nutzung von Chatbot Resultaten für die Entscheidungsfindung in Organisationen. Eine empfehlenswerte Präsentation von Hannigan, McCarthy & Spicer: chttps://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1yvWL910BPKHJPrVgNq7tV11-rfISqFVI/edit#slide=id.p1
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Joaquim Sanmartí @joaquim-s.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
Beware of Botshit: How to Manage the Epistemic Risks of Generative Chatbots
Advances in large language model (LLM) technology enable chatbots to generate and analyze content for our work. Generative chatbots do this work by ‘predicting’
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Safety Insights @safetyinsights.bsky.social · 03/08/2025
Thanks Ian! Really nice article about the generative bullshit from LLMs
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
The #gamification and #nudging of academic research.
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Ian McCarthy @toffeeman68.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
Input please🙏 I am developing an MBA level course on ‘digital platforms’. What are your favorite learning materials (as a student or instructor) on this topic? I am interested in: Syllabi, Articles (academic & journalistic), Cases, Podcasts, Videos, Simulations & Exercises
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BILL C WHITE @hexhead.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
Botshit Gone Wild open.substack.com/pub/garymarc...
open.substack.com
Botshit Gone Wild
The downsides of generative AI are growing like wildfire
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Safety Insights @safetyinsights.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
"LLMs are great at mimicry and bad at facts, making them a beguiling and amoral technology for bullshitting" -- Hannigan et al. 2024 'Beware of botshit' safetyinsights.org/2025/08/05/a... #ai #llm #Tech
safetyinsights.org
AI, bullshitting and botshit
“LLMs are great at mimicry and bad at facts, making them a beguiling and amoral technology for bullshitting” From a paper about ‘botshit’ – summary in a couple of week…
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Safety Insights @safetyinsights.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
Another extract from Hannigan et al. 2024 'Beware of botshit' paper, exploring the differences between human bullshit vs Chatbot bullshit. Bullshit isn't lies, but an indifference to the truth #llm #ai #tech #artificialintelligence
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Mathew Lowry @mathewlowry.eurosky.social · 03/08/2025
4 more resources tagged #botshit: myhub.ai/@mathewlowry... & 17 tagged #bullshit: myhub.ai/@mathewlowry... ... 2 of which are tagged both! myhub.ai/@mathewlowry...
myhub.ai
Mathew Lowry's Hub | MyHub.AI
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David Higgins @davidhiggins.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
@garymarcus.bsky.social on point as always. As a non tech person, I've found his writing so helpful in understanding generative AI and its problems. garymarcus.substack.com/p/botshit-go...
garymarcus.substack.com
Botshit Gone Wild
The downsides of generative AI are growing like wildfire
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Business Bullshit @businessbullshit.bsky.social · 12/02/2021
"Employees believe that their superiors are key players in the dissemination of bullshit" Introducing the "Organizational Bullshit Perception Scale" (OBPS), the three factors of which are: 1. Regard for truth 2. The boss 3. Bullshit...
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kumparan @kumparan-poster.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
Menguak "Bullshit" dan "Botshit" di Balik Kecanggihan AI - kumparan.com/arif-perdana-172399195…
kumparan.com
Menguak "Bullshit" dan "Botshit" di Balik Kecanggihan AI
AI makin pintar, tapi masih bisa ngaco. Kenali bedanya “bullshit” vs “botshit” dan cara pakai ChatGPT tanpa terjebak informasi ngawur. #userstory
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