The AI industry, corporate censorship & the destruction of knowledge: "But with all the world’s literature as its training data, why do LLMs seem to default so often to the lighthouse? It comes down to how model makers try to safety-align and sanitize their outputs." www.404me…
Who's Who of AI
Teresa Heffernan
Literature prof; author; current project: how literal readings of fiction by the tech industry are destroying the world. Let's read/interpret fiction as fiction. Boycott generative AI (chatbots etc); Website: https://www.socialrobotfutures.com/
What they're sharing
Chatbots Keep Telling Stories About Lighthouse Keeper 'Elias Thorne'. We Might Know Why 404media.co
I’m a Professional Fact-Checker. AI Is Wrong More Often Than You Think | WIRED wired.com
Majority of US’s new AI datacenters to be built on drought-hit land theguardian.com
Is AI Profitable Yet? isaiprofitable.com
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Tokenminimizing: Meta Moves to Curb Employee AI Usage as AI Costs Reach Billions theinformation.com
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bloodinthemachine.com
Anthropic CEO Doesn’t Know If Claude Used in Iran School Strike bloomberg.com
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cbc.ca
AI Just Isn’t Right wired.com
How VCs and founders use inflated ‘ARR’ to crown AI startups | TechCrunch techcrunch.com
Canadian employers are paying the price after AI proves unable to replace laid off staff theglobeandmail.com
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Peter Thiel’s AI Palantir Is Supercharging Trump’s Lawfare thedailybeast.com
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Articles & links
Disinformation machines: "A March 2025 study from the Tow Center for Digital Journalism found that more than 60 percent of responses from AI-powered search engines were inaccurate. A BBC study puts the wrongness of chatbots closer to 45 percent" www.wired.com/story/fact-c...?
"AI" is not the future: "Worldwide, three-quarters of people could face drought impacts by 2050 all while datacenters use 9.3tn liters of water in the coming decade, enough to meet the drinking water needs of the planet’s human population for over year" www.theguardian.com/us-…
Teresa Heffernan reposted
Now we can keep track of the money being sunk into AI rather than climate change, healthcare, or education. isaiprofitable.com
Teresa Heffernan reposted
The Information reports that Meta is planning to curb its employees' AI spending mere weeks after encouraging them to token-maxx. Meta is on track to spend billions on internal use alone. Anthropic and OpenAI cannot afford for their customers to slow down. www.theinformation.c…
www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/how-anthro...
Teresa Heffernan reposted
Let’s check in on the “ethical” ai company….
great time for Canada to jump on board the sinking ship... (www.cbc.ca/news/politic...)
Disinformation machines: "A March 2025 study from the Tow Center for Digital Journalism found that more than 60 percent of responses from AI-powered search engines were inaccurate. A BBC study puts the wrongness of chatbots closer to 45 percent" www.wired.com/story/fact-c...?
Teresa Heffernan reposted
Are AI companies inflating their annual recurring revenue? There’s a lot of nuance, and accounting minutiae involved…but there are many reasons to look at big AI revenue claims with an equally large grain of salt.
AI Weekly's analysis
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- One VC told TechCrunch that CARR at some AI startups runs 70% above actual recognized revenue.
- Counting full-year value of monthly opt-out contracts and logging free pilots as paid are the two primary inflation tactics.
- ARR is not a GAAP metric, making these practices legal and currently immune to audit requirements.
Read full analysis →
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Teresa Heffernan reposted
“Oh no who could’ve possibly seen this coming??” take #53,865 😐
Teresa Heffernan reposted
“Peter Thiel’s AI Palantir Is Supercharging Trump’s Lawfare” In May, Trump’s FHFA Director Bill Pulte announced a “partnership” w/ Palantir to “establish an ‘AI-powered Crime Detection Unit (CDU).’” The CDU promptly began “work at the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fan…
Their own posts
Recent commentary
The AI industry, subject to little regulation, has made billions by promising a forever-coming mythical “superintelligence”; its products crucially involve overhauling & locking us into a global infrastructure, perfecting the model of marketing the idea of individual freedom while shutting it down.
Just to be clear: "Automation, surveillance, the degradation of labour, the destruction of the environment, and the upward transfer of wealth--not intelligence--are the backbone of the resource-intensive AI industry."
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In Teresa Heffernan's orbit
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