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Matthew Kirschenbaum

@mkirschenbaum.bsky.social

12K followers 800 following 4.5K posts

Critical tech and AI. Cats, letterpress printing, tabletop gaming. Distinguished University Professor at UMD; come January, Commonwealth Professor at UVA. I am speaking only for me, myself, and I—as a private citizen—here. Being a dick gets you blocked.

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Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · Jun 13

Wanted to share here that I have accepted an endowed chair offer from my Alma mater, the University of Virginia, where (after 25 wonderful years at UMD) I will be starting in January as Commonwealth Professor of Artificial Intelligence and English.

Mid selfie of me on UVA Lawn with Rotunda over my shoulder.

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Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 3h

A rare sub-subfield where this is manifest is textual editing.

Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 3h

We need a cannon emoji. 💣

Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 3h

Not accidental or incidental I’d say that perhaps the single most publicly legible “progress” the humanities has made—canon expansion—is *also* one of the most consistent vectors for outside attack. (NOT arguing against canon expansion!! But pointing out that observable progress has consequences.)

Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 3h

I agree of course, but I also think there are or should be ways of figuring progress that don't imply a linear march to some end point just over the horizon. I also don't think we should shy away from the term.

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Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 3h

We have generally not done a good job of being anti-positivist but simultaneously understanding what constitutes progress or progression in our fields and sub-fields. (Canon expansion being perhaps the great exception.)

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Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 3h

To go back to an earlier point in this excellent thread, the agonistic nature of much humanistic scholarship—I’m right, you’re wrong, or (more generously) here is a blind spot that only I can see—also mitigates greatly against field consensus, a sense of forward motion, etc. +

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Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 18h

Nothing new under the sun arguments are never as clever as they sound. You honestly don’t see anything different from a digital/postmodern culture of 50 years ago? Here are three key differences: push-button content creation/extreme representational fidelity/viral distribution via social media.

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Reposted by Matthew Kirschenbaum

#BruceSterling @bruces.bsky.social · 21h

*Speculative DARPA notions of the capacities of "artificial intelligence" back in 1982. It's pretty clear that modern LLMs have somehow blundered into doing all of that stuff, which was impossible back in the day

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Reposted by Matthew Kirschenbaum

Sara Partridge, Ph.D. @sarapartridge.bsky.social · 1d

There are reports that the *entire* office of special education at the US Dept of Education has been cut. These hardworking folks ensure kids with disabilities get equal access to a quality education.

America’s children deserve better than this.

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Reposted by Matthew Kirschenbaum

John Skiles Skinner @skiles.blue · 1d

I don't know if there's such a thing as a "world cyberwar" but I think we are in one? and the US is determined to lose it. 🧵

Today the admin is mass-firing the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the nation's cybersecurity protection across all levels of government.

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Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 1d

“Master-Blaster runs Bartertown.”

Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 1d

Everyone spending what money they do have on the same consultants.

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Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 1d

@friede.bsky.social

Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 1d

If anyone has hot takes on the implications of the just-announced 100% China
tariffs for the board game industry I guess I’m interested.

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Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 1d

It’s creeping higher at lots of places.

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Reposted by Matthew Kirschenbaum

Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social · 1d

aaand we are officially in the hide-your-neighbors stage

Sophie Sherry @sophiesherry.bsky.social · 2d

During a military-style raid on a building in Chicago’s South Shore, one resident heard a knock on his door.   It wasn’t the feds — it was a mom and her 7-year-old daughter, pleading for help.

He let them hide in his unit for the next 3 days.

chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

Neighbor shielded 7-year-old during South Shore federal raid: ‘I didn’t want them to take her’

During the Sept. 30 raid one tenant protected a terrified girl and her mom. Remnants at the complex, including a detailed map of all the units, offer clues to what authorities may have known before th...

chicago.suntimes.com

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Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 1d

Relieved I’m not the only one who thinks about this.

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Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 1d

If anyone at USC could comment—

Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 1d

Seeing a report—I have not verified it myself—that USC has just terminated all administrative staff in humanities departments, administrative functions to be consolidated in a centralized “hub” with a limited number of positions to which the now jobless may choose to apply.

Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 1d

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Reposted by Matthew Kirschenbaum

Dan Greene @dmgreene.bsky.social · 1d

DeSantis said they would "upend the monopoly of the woke accreditation cartels"

UNC System joins Florida, Texas to form new accrediting agency for public colleges

The states need an accreditor that “can work well with our public universities,” UNC System President Peter Hans said.

amp.newsobserver.com

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Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 1d

Forgot the “Sir.”

Reposted by Matthew Kirschenbaum

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 1d

USA Today network of publications signs deal with perplexity.

We partnered with AI-powered answer engine Perplexity. Here's why it matters.

The USA TODAY Network is teaming up with Perplexity to bring trusted local reporting into the AI era.

www.usatoday.com

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Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 2d

The more high-end the place the less likely they are to understand that the burger starts with the blend, not with whatever lump of meat they womp onto the grill.

Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 2d

“Please specify whether the rally was refereed or invited.”

Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 2d

When annual reports come around this year, gonna be a lot of university employees looking for the fields pertaining to “last stand organizing and advocacy activities aimed at protecting the few remaining basic core functions of the institution.”

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