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Levi Checketts

@lchecketts.bsky.social

74 followers 93 following 270 posts

Ethicist at Hong Kong Baptist University, focusing on intersection of poverty, new technologies, and Catholic social ethics. Author of Poor Technologies: Artificial Intelligence and the Experience of Poverty.

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Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · May 11

I don’t normally do a lot of self-promotion, but with Pope Leo XIV’s focus on AI and economic and labor justice, my work of the past 6 or so years is very timely. Starting off my monograph, which is specifically about poverty and AI.

www.jstor.org/stable/jj.57...

www.jstor.org

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Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 1d

Wait till the guy finds out about this wacko Jesus that Catholics worship…

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 3d

A couple years ago, I wrote a review of this book by a guy whose name suggests he knows a little something about high tech warfare, and his conclusion was the US military would *not* be interested in trusting AI to make combat decision. Whoops.

www.routledge.com/Law-Ethics-a...

Law, Ethics and Emerging Military Technologies: Confronting Disruptive Innovation

This book addresses issues of legal and moral governance arising in the development, deployment, and eventual uses of emerging technologies in military operations. Proverbial wisdom has it that law a...

www.routledge.com

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Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 3d

One thing I’m finding in a role as a guest editor is that getting reviewers is often hard. I invite 6 people who are all experts on the subject and 4 respond with “it’s not my area,” while 2 don’t respond. Unfortunately, that means who does respond may not be the best choice.

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 4d

The male Yoon
characters of
Oldboy
🤝
Doing something atrocious with you fellow high school alumni

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 4d

Alt plot to Oldboy

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 7d

Caesar, standing victorious over the Gauls with a heaping bowl of spaghetti bolognese: It’s a great wonder that our glorious civilization has both noodles from China and tomatoes from the Andes, and anyone who considers this to be anachronistic is not friend of Rome!

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 9d

But overall, it’s a more sensible reflection on the absolute chaos of the current American moment than anything I’ve seen recently. I left feeling a bit depressed, which may be why Anderson ends with such fantasy of the father-daughter family finding some stability. Maybe we need hope?
9/9

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 9d

Perhaps a complaint? The “modern” revolution is painted as “snowflakes” while DiCaprio’s GenX spirit is unsympathetic to other identities. Maybe a reflection on dulled leftist spirits, but it’s weird that the guy fighting for total liberation is transphobic and appropriates racist tropes.
8/9

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 9d

Most of all, morality is not settled in the film. We identify with the underdogs, but never fully. DiCaprio’s “Ghetto Pat” is likable but overeager before becoming a pothead. Del Toro’s character is perhaps the coolest, whole exucding absolute “dad” vibes. The nb character sells out their friend
7/9

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 9d

Sean Penn’s performance is perhaps the greatest in the film. As the simpering jackboot, he is utterly despicable. We may pity him in the first scene, but quickly loathe his on-screen presence. But Penn acts with his whole body: posture, facial ticks, gait, all portray him as weak man’s strongman
6/9

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 9d

Although she disappears after the 1st act, she remains a dominant presence throughout. We’re made to love her, to hate her, to sympathize with her and to pity her as we see how the various people connected to her tear each other apart and are torn apart.
5/9

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 9d

You never pity the revolutionaries, but you also aren’t made to fully valorize them. They remain complex, with noble, but impractical ideal. Perfidia is the paradigm: she leaves her family spouting revolutionary mantras that fall trite. Then after a botched bank robbery turns rat on her friends
4/9

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 9d

Because the last two acts feel like a more realistic portrayal of the current political state of the US, the saccharine ending feels like just fan service. The movie is filled with complex characters, and even if the conflicts are sensationalized, they offer rich imaginative fuel for the present
3/9

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 9d

The happy ending feels like pure fantasy.
In the current era of rising fascism, it’s hard to imagine wanted anti-fascists returning to any semblance of a normal life, especially returning to the home that was invaded by government thugs who arrested your close friends and contacts.
2/9

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 9d

I watched #OneBattleAfterAnother last night. Interesting to see it as an American living in Hong Kong. Obviously the cultural and political elements hit hard, but my geographical remoteness allows a viewing that’s perhaps less immediate.
Still processing, but some thoughts.
Slight spoilers
1/9

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 9d

Sees how Christianity is expanding in China and shrinking in the US: obviously China is a holy country and the US is damned.

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 14d

The thing about bigotry regarding humans that makes it bad is that it means denying basic dignity to human beings by dehumanizing them.
This person is talking about humanizing a non-human things and is mad at people who don’t want to play that game.

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 15d

Demon Seed. That’s a deep cut

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 16d

Guy whose definitely going to go 10 minutes over in his talk: we’re already a little late, so I’ll keep this brief

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 16d

I keep thinking about the snake oil metaphor with AI. Certain snake oils (mostly Chinese water snakes) do have medicinal properties (omega 3s), but hucksters who had no real experience with this capitalized to gullible crowds. Certainly AI does *some* thing, but definitely not what hucksters say.

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 18d

I’m attending a consultation for the Christian Conference of Asia on AI I. Malaysia. I’ve already done my portion, and we’re off to a good start!

www.cca.org.hk/news/interna...

International Consultation on ‘Artificial Intelligence and Posthumanism’ commences in Cyberjaya, Malaysia | CCA

Cyberjaya, Malaysia: The international consultation on ‘Artificial Intelligence and Posthumanism: Ethical and Theological Perspectives’ organised by the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) commenced in...

www.cca.org.hk

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 21d

#NihilismAndTechnology
This is bleak. Let’s burn the forests to make our students stupider in the name of capital.

Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 23d

OpenAI's VP for education recently said the company wanted to become "core infrastructure" for schools and universities. Any infrastructure, though, always depends on habituating users to its technical affordances - so I've been trying to track how it's doing that 🧵 www.nytimes.com/2025/06/07/t...

Welcome to Campus. Here’s Your ChatGPT.

www.nytimes.com

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 22d

When I went to Hong Kong to work, everyone I knew warned me about being careful what I say. Weird how a territory of China has more liberty than Texas

Texas Tribune @texastribune.org · 23d

Breaking: Texas Tech chancellor limits academic mentions of transgender and nonbinary identities at five universities.

Texas Tech chancellor limits academic mentions of transgender and nonbinary identities at five universities

Advocacy groups say the new state law, presidential executive order and gubernatorial letter Tedd Mitchell cited do not prohibit classroom discussions of particular LGBTQ+ identities.

www.texastribune.org

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 23d

Too often we academics think other people’s papers should be the papers we want to write. There’s a real problem of narcissism in blind reviews.

Levi Checketts @lchecketts.bsky.social · 25d

One of the surreal things about staying in hotels in different places in Asia is seeing what’s on TV. There seems to always be one English-language channel but it either only shows Australian programming or low-budget thrillers.