iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Tom Williams @tomwilliams.phd · 18/02/2026

Boston! Mark your calendars for 3/23: Come grab a beer and learn about my new book! Book Talk: Degrees of Freedom: On Robotics and Social Justice Date: Mar 23 • 17:00 • Lamplighter www.eventbrite.com/e/book-talk-...

eventbrite.com

Book Talk: Degrees of Freedom: On Robotics and Social Justice

Join us to learn about "Degrees of Freedom: On Robotics and Social Justice", featuring a book talk and Q/A.

001

Tom Williams @tomwilliams.phd · 18/02/2026

Denverites: • Excited by the anti-flock protests? • Thrilled that Palantir is OUT of Denver? Let's set our sights on drone surveillance next. Read why in my op-ed in Colorado's favorite independent newspaper (@coloradosun.com) coloradosun.com/2026/02/17/o...

coloradosun.com

Opinion: Denverites want Flock license plate cameras out of town. Air surveillance should be next to go.

Denver police are flying hundreds of drone missions over the city, but with little outrage as seen with Flock.

001

Reposted by Tom Williams

Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

When the CIA did this to the Senate it was one of the biggest intel scandals of the 21st century. But here it’s not just a huge scandal, it’s dumb: Pam Bondi is so bad at her job she brought the evidence herself to an open congressional hearing. www.theguardian.com/world/2014/j...

theguardian.com

CIA admits to spying on Senate staffers

John Brennan issues apology after acknowledging that agency spied on Senate intelligence committee’s staff members

5530781199

Reposted by Tom Williams

Joe Robertson @joro.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

More than 400 people, including hundreds of citizens, were “sorted” at gun point into racial and ethnic groups by 200 ICE agents who fired flash-bang grenades into cars with people inside, pointed guns at children & demanded their zip tied parents not comfort them. apple.news/Ausdx6kWtT0e...

apple.news

Idaho families sue over immigration raid that swept up hundreds, including U.S. citizens — NBC News

About 400 people, including children and U.S. citizens, were detained for four hours while they were denied food and water in the raid, according to the lawsuit.

23475523923

Tom Williams @tomwilliams.phd · 03/02/2026

Thank you to Alex Miller from @onstagecolorado.bsky.social for having me on the Pod to discuss this Friday's ROBOT RIOT Comedy show + Dramatheurgy! onstagecolorado.com/podcast-a-ro...

onstagecolorado.com

Podcast: A Robot Riot in Denver

Talking with robot researcher and improv comedian Dr. Tom Williams,

000

Reposted by Tom Williams

Dr. Casey Fiesler @cfiesler.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

Great article interviewing @tomwilliams.phd about the AI-themed comedy show happening at RISE Comedy in Denver this Friday... including me performing stand up! (Also brb adding "headliner" to my CV.) www.westword.com/arts-culture...

westword.com

Robot Riot Brings Comedy and Science to RISE Comedy

New monthly show at RISE Comedy, Robot Riot, blends improv, standup and ethics for a uniquely Denver night of comedy and tech.

1123

Reposted by Tom Williams

Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

I cannot tell you how much doubt was consistently directed at the Gaza Health Ministry’s casualty numbers and how much pressure was put on news organizations to couch those numbers as unreliable. Biden himself said they were fabricated! www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

haaretz.com

IDF accepts Gaza Health Ministry death toll of over 71,000 Palestinians killed in the war

Although Many International Experts Have Accepted the Health Ministry's Data as Reliable, and Even Conservative Relative to the True Death Toll, Israel Had Refused to Accept the Health Ministry's Coun...

15862252159

Tom Williams @tomwilliams.phd · 22/01/2026

Getting served a RING add on this story about Flock cameras being operated in Denver despite the lack of a legal contract is just too perfect. I discuss Ring and police surveillance in Chapter 6 of Degrees of Freedom. direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...

020

Reposted by Tom Williams

MIT Press @mitpress.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

"True to an engineering ethos of ’doing better,’ [Degrees of Freedom] explores the foundational aspects of power that invisibly shape robot design and ... how to build robots better suited for advancing social justice." — Ericka Johnson Available #OpenAccess: mitpress.mit.edu/978026255402...

Hands holding a copy of "Degrees of Freedom: On Robotics and Social Justice" by Tom Williams. The cover features an illustration of a humanoid robot pulling a cart.

1156

Reposted by Tom Williams

Civic and Responsible AI Lab (CRAIL) @civicandresponsibleai.com · 19/12/2025

3/n: "Should Delivery Robots Intervene if They Witness Civilian or Police Violence?" by T.Seassau surveys public opinion on this question, finding mixed support for intervention, and a need to codesign w/ victims of (police) violence. @tomwilliams.phd #ROMAN2025 #HRI #robots doi.org/10.1109/ro-m...

122

Reposted by Tom Williams

Asawin Suebsaeng @swin24.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

“For starters, the president claimed to have brought peace to the Middle East for the first time in “3,000 years.” It feels bizarre to even try to fact-check that, as it would be akin to fact-checking a president saying that the moon is made of Velveeta.”

24629111

Reposted by Tom Williams

The Internet is Crack Podcast @theinternetiscrack.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

The Complicated Origins of “Ethical” Robotics Roboticist Dr. Tom Williams @tomwilliams.phd examines how early robot ethics reflected power and control — and why robotics should serve society, not just tech elites. 🎙️ Full episode: youtu.be/zs8zEJI4lEA #Podcast #DegreesOfFreedom #podcast

021

Reposted by Tom Williams

The Internet is Crack Podcast @theinternetiscrack.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

Who’s responsible when AI makes decisions? Dr. Tom Williams @tomwilliams.phd explains why deploying algorithms is still a human choice—even when we don’t fully understand the system. Full episode here 👉 youtu.be/zs8zEJI4lEA #EthicalAI #Robotics #TechResponsibility #DegreesOfFreedom

011

Tom Williams @tomwilliams.phd · 12/12/2025

Another reason to call for #NoJusticeNoRobots! I discuss the significant surveillance risks of police drone programs in Chapter 6 ("End Effector") of my new book, "Degrees of Freedom" from @mitpress.bsky.social www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/798105...

251

Tom Williams @tomwilliams.phd · 12/12/2025

Excited to say that I'll be running more robot comedy events this spring! ROBOT RIOT brings together roboticists, ethicists, and some of Denver's funniest comedians, to inform the public about risks of AI and Robotics while making them laugh. Our first show is 2/6/26:

061

Reposted by Tom Williams

Jeet Heer @jeetheer.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

It's fitting that the cover on AI mindlessly apes an earlier creation and also displaces workers while elevating Silicon Valley plutocrats.

602718767

Reposted by Tom Williams

The Internet is Crack Podcast @theinternetiscrack.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

Should Robots Ever Be Soldiers? Dr. Tom Williams @tomwilliams.phd questions whether robots can make war more ethical at all. He argues the real goal isn’t better battles — it’s preventing conflict and ensuring robotics serves people, not the powerful. 👉 Full episode: youtu.be/zs8zEJI4lEA #podcast

021

Reposted by Tom Williams

The Internet is Crack Podcast @theinternetiscrack.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Why Ethical Reasoning in Robots Is Non-Negotiable Humans assign moral intent to machines, even when it isn’t there. Dr. Tom Williams @tomwilliams.phd explains how robots influence human judgment and why ethical AI is essential to preventing real-world harm. Full episode → youtu.be/zs8zEJI4lEA

011

Reposted by Tom Williams

The Internet is Crack Podcast @theinternetiscrack.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

Bias Isn’t a Glitch — It’s Human Input with @tomwilliams.phd Robots absorb our norms and assumptions. The challenge is designing responsibly. The episode explores robotics built with empathy and ethics at the core. 🎧 Watch here: youtu.be/zs8zEJI4lEA #Robotics #TechResponsibilityBias #podcast

031

Reposted by Tom Williams

The Internet is Crack Podcast @theinternetiscrack.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Robots: machines or new life? Dr. Williams @tomwilliams.phd breaks down why seeing robots as social beings shapes how we think and act. His mission: robots with empathy and ethics that serve the public, not just tech elites. Watch here: youtu.be/zs8zEJI4lEA #Robotics #AIEthics #TechForGood

021

Reposted by Tom Williams

MIT Press @mitpress.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

In "Degrees of Freedom," @tomwilliams.phd explores why the field of robotics tends to reinforce white patriarchal systems of power—and how roboticists can work to change these systems: mitpress.mit.edu/978026255402...

A copy of "Degrees of Freedom: On Robotics and Social Justice" by Tom Williams on a plain background. The cover is orange with an illustration of a robotic man attached to a handcart.

152

Tom Williams @tomwilliams.phd · 09/12/2025

IT'S OUT! Degrees of Freedom is out on shelves as of today! TODAY ONLY the book is 30% off with code MITP30 at www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/798105.... Please share! If you got a copy, please post about it on your favorite platform, and tag me and MIT Press!

163

Tom Williams @tomwilliams.phd · 08/12/2025

Degrees of Freedom (@mitpress.bsky.social) launches tomorrow! As a final preview, check out my episode of @theinternetiscrack.bsky.social! Other recent guests incl. @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy, @michaelzimmer.bsky.social, @davidgunkel.bsky.social Watch: lnkd.in/gbTh5vvj Listen: lnkd.in/ge9hy7Qd

040

Reposted by Tom Williams

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

This is what government censorship actually looks like: defunding entire fields, deporting researchers, and quite effectively chilling speech that helps people understand how our information systems are being exploited and calls out powerful people and platforms for their bullshit.

181413685

Reposted by Tom Williams

Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

The actual reasoning, of course, is the Roberts court thinks racial gerrymanders should be legal, and that GOP power outweighs the text of legal statutes. But they appealed to the worst of Lawyer Brain. You're never allowed to call BS, and must treat bad faith as good, no matter how obvious it is.

935541

Reposted by Tom Williams

Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Texas clearly did a racial gerrymander, which is illegal. A district court found that Texas did a racial gerrymander, rejecting the new map because it is illegal. But the Supreme Court reversed it. Because? Must assume the gerrymanderers were acting in good faith (despite the evidence otherwise).

Based on our preliminary evaluation of this case, Texas
satisfies the traditional criteria for interim relief. See Indi-
ana State Police Pension Trust v. Chrysler LLC, 556 U. S.
960 (2009) (per curiam). Texas is likely to succeed on the
merits of its claim that the District Court committed at
least two serious errors. First, the District Court failed to
honor the presumption of legislative good faith by constru-
ing ambiguous direct and circumstantial evidence against
the legislature. Contra, Alexander v. South Carolina State
Conference of the NAACP, 602 U. S. 1, 10 (2024). Second,
the District Court failed to draw a dispositive or near-
dispositive adverse inference against respondents even...

57927276

Reposted by Tom Williams

ElieNYC @elienyc.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

If we're not at war, Pete Hegseth is a murderer. If we are at war, Pete Hegseth is still a murderer. He's a murderer. And you don't need to go to The Hague to hold him accountable because there are perfectly good, American laws AGAINST MURDER. My latest in @thenation.com

thenation.com

Pete Hegseth Should Be Charged With Murder

No matter how you look at the strikes on alleged “drug boats”—as acts of war or attacks on civilians—Hegseth has committed a crime and should be prosecuted.

25291812645

Tom Williams @tomwilliams.phd · 02/12/2025

We're one week from release of Degrees of Freedom, from @mitpress.bsky.social! tomwilliamsphd.beehiiv.com/p/degrees-of...

081

Reposted by Tom Williams

Sam Menefee-Libey @sml47.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

A corollary of this is if this “compact” doesn’t spark an immediate faculty strike at a crippling scale, with most of that 99.3% making themselves and the university ungovernable, no matter the whining about the fait accompli of binding contracts, what power could they ever possibly get back?

0122

Reposted by Tom Williams

Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

Harvard Law School’s Jack Goldsmith: “In short, if the Post’s facts are correct, it appears that Special Operations Forces committed murder when the ‘two men were blown apart in the water, as the Post put it.’” open.substack.com/pub/executiv...

11:19
14
in shot, i the Post's facts are correct it appears
that Special Operations Forces committed murder when the "two men were blown apart in the water," as the Post put it.
It is unclear from the Post's Seporting precisely what role Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth

12162921955

Reposted by Tom Williams

Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

Insanely stupid and short-sighted choice. I didn't even know they were still trying to run this racket. You put more universities in danger with this shit you idiots!

25876391231

Tom Williams @tomwilliams.phd · 23/11/2025

It's unboxing day for DEGREES OF FREEDOM from @mitpress.bsky.social! :D

3182

Tom Williams @tomwilliams.phd · 22/11/2025

I'm wildly excited for tonight. Why? I'm running my first ROBOT COMEDY event tonight and it's already SOLD OUT! Check out this lineup 🤩🧵➡️

150

Reposted by Tom Williams

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

Very simple lesson here: Faculty governance will defend academic values, like academic freedom, even when it is unpopular. Political appointees who serve as Regents will blow with the ideological winds, which in Texas are anti-speech.

628970

Reposted by Tom Williams

Matt Seybold @mattseybold.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

Holy f@$k! “ChatGPT exhibits the highest level of anti-Black racism ever experimentally recorded.” This whole video is jaw-dropping.

8471171

Reposted by Tom Williams

Ruha Benjamin @ruha9.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

I need everyone, esp anyone working in education or tech (but really everyone) to WATCH THIS CLIP of @drtanksley.bsky.social discussing the technologies infiltrating our schools & psyches and how she is addressing it with our young people. youtu.be/5mtcSL4S3HQ

youtu.be

Howard University AI Panel

YouTube video by Tiera Tanksley

9593289

Reposted by Tom Williams

Emily Sandoval @sandovalemily.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

“(CU) has definitely been repressing student activists, which is already in itself a horrible thing for them to do … but repressing journalists is a new low for them, honestly.” Agreed. www.dailycamera.com/2025/11/20/c...

dailycamera.com

CU Boulder bans student journalists from campus after they covered a pro-Palestine protest

The University of Colorado Boulder banned three student journalists from campus and charged them with code of conduct violations after they covered a pro-Palestine protest in October.

14021

Reposted by Tom Williams

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

Any President who calls for the opposition party to be hanged should be immediately impeached and removed from office.

10551681342

Reposted by Tom Williams

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

No one knows how many people die in Mississippi's jails, in part, because many of the state’s hundreds of local law enforcement agencies find reporting requirements burdensome, state officials say

themarshallproject.org

No One Knows How Many People Die in Mississippi’s Jails. Here’s Why.

From medical neglect to suicide, the lack of information on jail deaths can allow the same deadly problems to lead to more deaths.

9469220

Reposted by Tom Williams

AAUP @aaup.org · 14/11/2025

"It is cruelty & political indoctrination. I'd need to tell my students that ‘What you came here to learn, I’m unable to tell you, because I’m restricted to tell you that information, even though such knowledge is available at every major university in this world.’" — Leonard Bright, AAUP TAMU

insidehighered.com

Texas A&M Requires Approval for Courses That “Advocate” Certain Ideologies

Many faculty members decried the new restrictions on race- and gender-related courses as an assault on academic freedom. Meanwhile, the board also discussed a once-per-semester systemwide course revie...

34829

Reposted by Tom Williams

Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

With new documentation already surfacing in the aftermath of Spanberger’s win in VA, what everyone already knows will be made plain: there and elsewhere, the Trump DOJ is engaged in a direct extortion campaign against institutions of higher learning. There is no better time to organize and fight.

1278

Tom Williams @tomwilliams.phd · 13/11/2025

Thank you @umich.edu Robotics for hosting me today to talk about my forthcoming book! One of the most rewarding campus visits I've ever had in terms of sheer number of identified collaboration opportunities for proposals and papers!

070

Reposted by Tom Williams

Nana Porter-Honicky @narmph.info · 12/11/2025

Just attended a talk by the author of this book @tomwilliams.phd. Really great break down of how white supremacy misogyny and robotics intersect. mitpress.mit.edu/978026255402...

mitpress.mit.edu

Degrees of Freedom

In Degrees of Freedom, Tom Williams explores critical questions at the intersection of robotics and social justice. He considers the ways in which roboticist...

111

Reposted by Tom Williams

Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

Kyle Kingsbury is not a journalist. He is not an op-ed writer. He is a computer safety researcher. And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine. In under 1600 words. aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...

I Want You to Understand Chicago
Politics Chicago
2025-11-08

I want you to understand what it is like to live in Chicago during this time.

Every day my phone buzzes. It is a neighborhood group: four people were kidnapped at the corner drugstore. A friend a mile away sends a Slack message: she was at the scene when masked men assaulted and abducted two people on the street. A plumber working on my pipes is distraught, and I find out that two of his employees were kidnapped that morning. A week later it happens again.

An email arrives. Agents with guns have chased a teacher into the school where she works. They did not have a warrant. They dragged her away, ignoring her and her colleagues’ pleas to show proof of her documentation. That evening I stand a few feet from the parents of Rayito de Sol and listen to them describe, with anguish, how good Ms. Diana was to their children. What it is like to have strangers with guns traumatize your kids. For a teacher to hide a three-year-old child for fear they might be killed. How their relatives will no longer leave the house. I hear the pain and fury in their voices, and I wonder who will be next.

Understand what it is to pray in Chicago. On September 19th, Reverend David Black, lead pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, was praying outside the ICE detention center in Broadview when a DHS agent shot him in the head with pepper balls. Pepper balls are never supposed to be fired at the head because they can seriously injure, or even kill. “We could hear them laughing as they were shooting us from the roof,” Black recalled. He is not the only member of the clergy ICE has assaulted. Methodist pastor Hannah Kardon was violently arrested on October 17th, and Baptist pastor Michael Woolf was shot with pepper balls on November 1st.

Understand what it is to sleep in Chicago. On the night of September 30th, federal agents rappelled from a Black Hawk helicopter to execute a raid on an apartment building on the South Sho…

117102855626

Reposted by Tom Williams

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

Easily the most interesting (and optimistic) thing I've read in a while climatedrift.substack.com/p/why-solarp...

climatedrift.substack.com

Why Solarpunk is already happening in Africa

Or: How Africa is building the future by skipping the past

36718

Reposted by Tom Williams

Laurel Powell @laurelpowell.net · 10/11/2025

My family has been without half our income for 40 days. It has been.. very hard. We are willing to feel that pain so people can have health care next year, or to undo these illegal recissions. We are not willing to have been put through this for NOTHING.

480254426492

Tom Williams @tomwilliams.phd · 09/11/2025

*Degrees of Freedom* from @mitpress.bsky.social will be on shelves ONE MONTH FROM TODAY! To celebrate, I have a new newsletter post out (tomwilliamsphd.beehiiv.com/p/degrees-of...) re: how to get 30% off the book on release, and 20% off the book any date thereafter.

030