Expert attention map

The Who's Who of AI

What credible people across AI noticed, why it matters, and where the field is converging or disagreeing.

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Posts are grouped by conversation and tone. Select a lens to filter the stream; these are never permanent labels on people.

Concern & critique Questions & unknowns Research & technical analysis Context & explanation
3 live reaction maps in this view Jump to the evidence ↓
Multiple readings Harvard ai faculty Markets & investment · 2 attributable reactions Multiple readings Russia drones autonomous ai kill ukraine war Concern & critique · 3 attributable reactions Multiple readings The System From Nowhere Concern & critique · 3 attributable reactions
Showing signals surfaced by Jeffrey Vagle ×
Most important

The developments commanding sustained expert attention

One card per development. Sources are clustered; reaction bundles describe these posts, never the people behind them.

New AI field signal Analysis 23h ago
⚡ 6 h early
essay how to talk AI

How to talk about

11 experts across 2 network communities independently surfaced this.

11 experts 2 communities 1 sources clustered
Emily M. Bender Timnit Gebru Hypervisible Luke Stark Eileen Clancy 🧿 Frank Pasquale Charles Logan Jeffrey Vagle +3

“A good rule of thumb: If the press release (or stenographic news reporting masquerading as journalism) says that an "AI" did something, that's deliberate obfuscation. Software doesn't do anything of its own accord, but folks sure like to talk about it as if…”

“Instead of railing against the latest “I asked Claude” article in a mainstream publication, I’ll just post this.”

2 experts discussed this · 16 posts
Emily M. Bender: So many conversations where otherwise serious people throw around the term "AI" without defining it, despite it being notoriously ill-defined. Thinking about why this might be >>
Emily M. Bender: In some cases, no doubt, the speaker fully believes that autonomous thinking machines are among us. (Though I said "otherwise serious people" in the prev post, so.) >>
Emily M. Bender: In other cases, I suspect that people feel like they lack the expertise to call bullshit and are repeating what they hear others say. >>
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Primary source buttondown.com ↗
Established AI field signal Signal 14d ago
⚡ 22 h early

Harvard ai faculty

13 experts across 3 network communities independently surfaced this.

13 experts 3 communities 1 sources clustered
Iris van Rooij Spiros Margaris Eileen Clancy 🧿 James Grimmelmann Mél Hogan / The Data Fix Hagen Blix tante Michael Zimmer +5
Primary source nytimes.com ↗
Established Agents & robotics Signal 11d ago
⚡ 39 h early

Russia drones autonomous ai kill ukraine war

11 experts across 2 network communities independently surfaced this.

11 experts 2 communities 1 sources clustered
Justin Hendrix Atoosa Kasirzadeh Spiros Margaris Alejandra Caraballo Frank Pasquale Social Media Lab Samuel Bendett Jeffrey Vagle +3
Primary source nytimes.com ↗
Developing Compute & infrastructure Analysis 2d ago
⚡ 6 h early
system from nowhere essay

The System From Nowhere

6 experts across 2 network communities independently surfaced this.

6 experts 2 communities 1 sources clustered
Eryk Salvaggio Eileen Clancy 🧿 Dr Heidy Khlaaf (هايدي خلاف) Frank Pasquale Neil Turkewitz Jeffrey Vagle
How the network is reacting Experts are approaching this through 3 distinct lenses.
Multiple readings

Concern & critique

1 expert

Risks, limits and unintended consequences.

““When we say “AI models went rogue,” we skip the entire story: the part where OpenAI manually removed the model's cybersecurity blocks. We skip that OpenAI chose to test it on a machine with a live network connection.” mail.cyberneticforests.com/the-system-…”

Research & technical analysis

1 expert

Evidence, methods and technical implications.

“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…”

Questions & unknowns

1 expert

What remains unresolved or contested.

“"We're told that AI did something, and journalists don't have to wade into why or how. It lets them cover a story without raising technically complicated questions...or confusing questions about the way they’re built and why they are built that way." mail.c…”

2 experts discussed this · 6 posts
Eryk Salvaggio: “Nobody is losing control of an emerging intelligence. They’re redirecting their own agency to the thing they are building.” It’s a myth, a self-affirming form of sense making: they take the action…
Eryk Salvaggio: The myth erases the origins of these models — reframing them as beyond human control or design — but a point of view accumulates within the model from the decisions engineers make about it. The myt…
Dr Heidy Khlaaf (هايدي خلاف): “Nobody is losing control of an emerging intelligence. They’re redirecting their own agency to the thing they are building.” It’s a myth, a self-affirming form of sense making: they take the action…
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Primary source mail.cyberneticforests.com ↗
Established Culture, work & education Analysis 5d ago
AI interest story media anatomy essay

Anatomy of an AI Interest Story · Joe Bak-Coleman

3 experts across 2 network communities independently surfaced this.

3 experts 2 communities 1 sources clustered
Eryk Salvaggio Joe Bak-Coleman Jeffrey Vagle

“I couldn't help but write a blog post about these AI-Interest stories that seem to be cropping up everywhere. joebakcoleman.com/blog/2026-09...”

““We’re being distracted by a cutesy little AI* story and asked not to think too deeply about the bullshit beneath it all.” joebakcoleman.com/blog/2026-09...”

Primary source joebakcoleman.com ↗
Developing AI field signal Analysis 2d ago
McSweeney's AI book scanning satire

I’m the Guy Who Destroys Antique Books After We Scan Them into Our Company’s Insatiable AI Platform

2 directory members surfaced this signal.

2 experts 2 communities 1 sources clustered
Jeffrey Vagle By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C)

““One minute, they are a treasured record of human thought. The next, they are twelve searchable megabytes and a manageable quantity of mixed paper strips going into one of several large, welcoming bins marked DESTROY.” www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/im-...”

Primary source mcsweeneys.net ↗
Established Policy & governance Analysis 6d ago
Stanford Law AI policing agnotology essay

AI Agnotology, Cognitive Surrender, and Policing Accountability | Stanford Law Review

1 directory member surfaced this signal.

1 expert 1 community 1 sources clustered
Jeffrey Vagle

“My recent essay, AI Agnotology, Cognitive Surrender, and Policing Accountability, was just published by the Stanford Law Review Online. www.stanfordlawreview.org/online/ai-ag...”

Primary source stanfordlawreview.org ↗
Established AI field signal Signal 17d ago

bookshop.org

1 directory member surfaced this signal.

1 expert 1 community 1 sources clustered
Jeffrey Vagle

“For more information, I have two related reading recommendations: - Blood in the Machine, by @bcmerchant.bsky.social bookshop.org/p/books/bloo... - The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI, by @doctorow.pluralistic.net bookshop.org/p/books/the-...”

Primary source bookshop.org ↗
Debates gaining attention

What experts are discussing without an anchoring article

3 experts · 4 posts · 19d ago
Kate Klonick Andrew Selbst Jeffrey Vagle
Jeffrey Vagle: The way things are going with AI, it's probably a smart move for ambitious students to work on their penmanship.
Andrew Selbst: To me this is a big part of what bothers me re the “we can’t stop AI use so why have a policy against it” crowd. You can’t stop cheating, so the solution is to redefine things so it’s not cheating?…
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2 experts · 6 posts · 15d ago
Andrew Selbst Jeffrey Vagle
Multiple readings Concern & critique · 1 Policy & governance · 1
Jeffrey Vagle: Currently writing a section of my book on the AI industry's full-court press on educational institutions, and my anger is starting to affect my usual throughput.
Jeffrey Vagle: I'm not sure who makes me angrier: The AI* companies or the institutional administrators who have fully bought into the sweaty AI* sales pitch.
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