Brigitte Nerlich
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bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich
@bnerlich.bsky.social
2.3K followers 500 following 7.9K posts

Metaphor hunter, linguist, social scientist, blogger

blog: https://makingsciencepublic.com/
also sorted into categories at https://wakelet.com/@bnerlich
ORCID: 0000-0001-6617-7827

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Psychology 23%
Communication & Media Studies 23%
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bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · Nov 17
So, I have created a starter pack for people interested in #metaphor. I bet I left a lot of people out. Please let me know if you want to be added. go.bsky.app/DvxejFX

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 48m
For weekend readers, the last post in my trilogy about metaphors for AI, this one trying to discern some general trends emerging in recent years #AI #metaphors
makingsciencepublic.com/2025/11/28/o...
Observing shifts in metaphors for AI: What changed and why it matters
In my previous two posts I have made the case for an AI metaphor observatory and surveyed the recent academic landscape of studies dealing with metaphors for AI in the sense of GenAI and LLMs. In t…
makingsciencepublic.com

Reposted by Brigitte Nerlich

cmlittlejohn.bsky.social
Clayton Littlejohn @cmlittlejohn.bsky.social · 7h
I have news. Wonderful news.

New paper on #disinformation. The title is the thesis. Think of disinformation as content that functions to optimise the decisions of the audience for the disinformant. This doesn't require deception or content that induces false belief.

philpapers.org/rec/LITDIF
Clayton Littlejohn, Disinformation is for Degrading the Value of Information, not Confirming Falsehoods - PhilPapers
According to a recent account of disinformation, disinformation is content that “generates ignorance” (Simion 2024a; 2024b). The view improves upon previous accounts that focused upon the potential fo...
philpapers.org

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 13h
I know - you have to write it!

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 14h
found this but not sure it will help in this instance
www.humanrightsresearch.org/post/misinfo...
Misinformation and Disinformation 101
Authors: Nyra Wise, Nathalie Gullo, and Renee D. Jean, MAMarch 12, 2025Misinformation and Disinformation: What are the differences?Misinformation is inaccurate or misleading information that is not sp...
www.humanrightsresearch.org

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 17h
How could that have passed me by. Thanks!

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 19h
I like this "Through AI, we are gradually cannibalising ourselves, becoming incorporated as pieces into the action."

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 20h
Could one call 'différance engine' a theory-constitutive metaphor (Richard Boyd) of LLMs? (as opposed to communicative, pedagogical etc.)

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 21h
Yes, Saussure would be proud!

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 22h
You poor thing. I am still fiddling with missing hyperlinks etc after my transition to a new platform

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 22h
I am so glad you enjoy it. (I enjoy writing it, but one never knows....)

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 22h
Oh man that's tense

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 23h
love that metaphor: "humanity feels like a Promethean collective in which some will play with fire in the hope of coming out of the inferno unfried"

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 1d
If you could put these into the comments I would be honoured. Or if that's too difficult, I could do that for you.

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 1d
me too

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 1d
Good point!!

Reposted by Garry Peterson, Massimiliano Simons

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 1d
This is my last post in the 'metaphors for AI' trilogy. I never thought there was so much to say about it all. But this is it for now! Comments welcome. #AI #metaphor makingsciencepublic.com/2025/11/28/o...
Observing shifts in metaphors for AI: What changed and why it matters
In my previous two posts I have made the case for an AI metaphor observatory and surveyed the recent academic landscape of studies dealing with metaphors for AI in the sense of GenAI and LLMs. In t…
makingsciencepublic.com

Reposted by Dorothy Bishop, Brigitte Nerlich, Wolfgang Crämer , and 1 more

jacksonwryan.com
Jack Ryan 🙏🧪 @jacksonwryan.com · 1d
On the Factor Fexcectorn and autism bicycle AI slop study: I got an answer from Springer Nature this morning that this scientific paper will be retracted! 🧪

Full story: nobreakthroughs.substack.com/p/riding-the...
Riding the Autism Bicycle to Retraction Town
Does anyone *really* know their Factor Fexcectorn?
nobreakthroughs.substack.com

Reposted by Brigitte Nerlich, Carl T. Bergstrom, Mark J. Brandt , and 12 more

socarxiv.bsky.social
SocArXiv @socarxiv.bsky.social · 1d
In light of record submission rates and a large volume of AI-generated slop, SocArXiv recently implemented a policy requiring ORCIDs linked in the OSF profile of submitting authors, and narrowing our focus to social science subjects. Today we are taking two more steps:
/1

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 1d
I was sitting in a car with an elderly person (not using social media) and we happened to catch a bit of the Media Show and I said 'Do you want me to tell you the line?' and the other person said 'No need, I know it'....

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 1d
From contamination to collapse: On the trail of a new AI metaphor – Making Science Public share.google/l3UvVo0ExR5Z...
From contamination to collapse: On the trail of a new AI metaphor
I wrote my first ever post about AI and ChatGPT on 6 January 2023. Amongst other things, I talked about the danger of ‘knowledge pollution’. I wanted to highlight the dangers of a gradual corruptio…
share.google

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 1d
In the olden days you needed an education to acquire knowledge, now you need an education to recognise knowledge....

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 1d
What about metaphors that map meanings between cognitive domains, for example, your example of "Meg breezed through security before arriving at her gate…" (in this case a rather stable and conventional mapping between a breeze and ease, so to speak)

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 2d
I can't find anything, but this was quite interesting lexiconia.art?page_id=362
AI Slop – LEXICONIA
lexiconia.art

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 2d
Ah in German it is, I think, "KI-Müll", "KI-Mist", or "KI-Schrott" (junk, scrap...) - this loses the sloppiness a bit but still

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 2d
So cool!

Reposted by Cas Mudde, Kim L. Scheppele, Lisa W. Fazio , and 25 more

killgrove.bsky.social
Kristina Killgrove @killgrove.bsky.social · 2d
NEW from me - NSF cancels grant scheme for social science research.

Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Today's biggest science news: Doomed comet explodes | Comet 3I/ATLAS course alteration | Dark matter detected?
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025: Your daily feed of the biggest discoveries and breakthroughs making headlines.
www.livescience.com

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, Dorothy Bishop, Brigitte Nerlich , and 9 more

smutclyde.bsky.social
Smut Clyde, X-Ray Haruspex @smutclyde.bsky.social · 2d
Rate your score on Factor Fexcectorn.

Well done, Scientific Reports. pubpeer.com/publications...

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 2d
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflati... - when they first talked about it under Biden I was VERY confused
Inflation Reduction Act - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org

bnerlich.bsky.social
Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 2d
I wrote this about 'red and blue AI' in 2023.... the questions I ask are still worth asking now and with more urgency makingsciencepublic.com/2023/08/25/r...
Red and blue AI?
This is another post about artificial intelligence or AI, but it’s what one may call a bit ‘experimental’. I happened to think about an analogy and ran with it, but it might be a completely inappro…
makingsciencepublic.com

Reposted by Brigitte Nerlich, Dean Eckles, Richard Pettigrew

scientificdiscovery.dev
Saloni @scientificdiscovery.dev · 2d
Imagine you lived in the 18th century.

Smallpox kills 1 in 3 cases. Yet you can’t culture pathogens, don’t know germ theory, and have no idea what a virus is. How would you invent a vaccine?

In a new episode of HARD DRUGS, we trace the history of vaccines!
The history of vaccines
open.spotify.com