Alex Hanna
@alexhanna.bsky.social
Director of Research, @dairinstitute.bsky.social
Roller derby athlete
https://alex-hanna.com
Book: thecon.ai
Pod+newsletter: https://dair-institute.org/maiht3k
🇪🇬ⲙⲉⲧⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ
🏳️⚧️ she/هي
📸 @willtoft.bsky.social
Rep📘 @ianbonaparte.bsky.social
Roller derby athlete
https://alex-hanna.com
Book: thecon.ai
Pod+newsletter: https://dair-institute.org/maiht3k
🇪🇬ⲙⲉⲧⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ
🏳️⚧️ she/هي
📸 @willtoft.bsky.social
Rep📘 @ianbonaparte.bsky.social
Pinned
Alex Hanna
@alexhanna.bsky.social
· May 13
On the Very Real Dangers of the Artificial Intelligence Hype Machine
As long as there’s been research on AI, there’s been AI hype. In the most commonly told narrative about the research field’s development, mathematician John McCarthy and computer scientist Marvin M…
lithub.com
It's book press day! The AI Con is available where ever you find fine books! Check out thecon.ai for details.
@emilymbender.bsky.social and I think we wrote a damn fine book, and we hope you'll enjoy it too.
For a taste, check out the preview of Chapter 1, graciously published by LitHub.
@emilymbender.bsky.social and I think we wrote a damn fine book, and we hope you'll enjoy it too.
For a taste, check out the preview of Chapter 1, graciously published by LitHub.
@joelleforestier.bsky.social it's AO3, put some goddamn respect on her name
December 9, 2025 at 2:29 AM
@joelleforestier.bsky.social it's AO3, put some goddamn respect on her name
Reposted by Alex Hanna
404 Media is making a print zine! About the surveillance technologies used by ICE. 16 pages, riso printed. Shipping early January. Features reworked versions of our best reporting and a few new things. We're very excited! And hope to do more if people like it:
www.404media.co/404-media-is...
www.404media.co/404-media-is...
404 Media Is Making a Zine
We are publishing a risograph-printed zine about the surveillance technologies used by ICE.
www.404media.co
December 8, 2025 at 3:42 PM
404 Media is making a print zine! About the surveillance technologies used by ICE. 16 pages, riso printed. Shipping early January. Features reworked versions of our best reporting and a few new things. We're very excited! And hope to do more if people like it:
www.404media.co/404-media-is...
www.404media.co/404-media-is...
Oooh this cover goes hard. Congrats!
Coming May 19, 2026 from Amistad Books and HarperCollins
THE OVERSEER CLASS:
A Manifesto
by Steven W. Thrasher
cover art by Jamaal Barber
Available for pre-order now www.harpercollins.com/products/the...
THE OVERSEER CLASS:
A Manifesto
by Steven W. Thrasher
cover art by Jamaal Barber
Available for pre-order now www.harpercollins.com/products/the...
December 9, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Oooh this cover goes hard. Congrats!
What I've always wanted, to spend 6 hours sitting next to a CrossFitter who just did a gnarly WOD and is now pounding 160 grams of lean protein
Duffy on what he's doing to improve the airport experience for travelers: "Maybe I want a workout area where people might get some blood flowing doing some pull ups or step ups in the airport."
December 8, 2025 at 10:44 PM
What I've always wanted, to spend 6 hours sitting next to a CrossFitter who just did a gnarly WOD and is now pounding 160 grams of lean protein
Reposted by Alex Hanna
Reposted by Alex Hanna
🎧TODAY: Tune in to the livestream of the Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 podcast 🎧
@emilymbender.bsky.social and @alexhanna.bsky.social will be digging into one recent attempt to define so-called "AGI"...
TODAY, December 8, noon Pacific
www.twitch.tv/dair_institute
@emilymbender.bsky.social and @alexhanna.bsky.social will be digging into one recent attempt to define so-called "AGI"...
TODAY, December 8, noon Pacific
www.twitch.tv/dair_institute
dair_institute - Twitch
Twitch account for The Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR).
www.twitch.tv
December 8, 2025 at 5:10 PM
🎧TODAY: Tune in to the livestream of the Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 podcast 🎧
@emilymbender.bsky.social and @alexhanna.bsky.social will be digging into one recent attempt to define so-called "AGI"...
TODAY, December 8, noon Pacific
www.twitch.tv/dair_institute
@emilymbender.bsky.social and @alexhanna.bsky.social will be digging into one recent attempt to define so-called "AGI"...
TODAY, December 8, noon Pacific
www.twitch.tv/dair_institute
I need Venjent to turn this into a drum and bass song immediately
can't stop watching this clip of a tesla Optimus teleoperator taking his headset off before properly logging out the robot
December 8, 2025 at 1:33 PM
I need Venjent to turn this into a drum and bass song immediately
Reposted by Alex Hanna
can't stop watching this clip of a tesla Optimus teleoperator taking his headset off before properly logging out the robot
December 8, 2025 at 9:29 AM
can't stop watching this clip of a tesla Optimus teleoperator taking his headset off before properly logging out the robot
This is from assimilating a Spartan race, who just thought they looked fucking sick
Okay but why does the Borg hive mind need him to have a six pack plate?
December 8, 2025 at 5:14 AM
This is from assimilating a Spartan race, who just thought they looked fucking sick
Reposted by Alex Hanna
discussed this in seminar yesterday, albeit with reference to “race science” generally. If you understand science as a historical phenomenon then the question is what was science then, not whether it would count as science now, and the implication is that what science is now is not forever, either
1. Historically, eugenics was not a pseudoscience. It was *science* Almost every scientist, social scientist, academic, etc. believed in the validity of eugenics. You would have to search far & wide to find a scientist that didn't believe in some form of it. They taught it in college!
December 4, 2025 at 1:24 PM
discussed this in seminar yesterday, albeit with reference to “race science” generally. If you understand science as a historical phenomenon then the question is what was science then, not whether it would count as science now, and the implication is that what science is now is not forever, either
Milton Friedman's grandson poo poos the suggestion that network-state projects in Africa would be colonizing, although he says that people from their prospective sites would need to be resettled.
This is all very on the nose.
This is all very on the nose.
December 8, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Milton Friedman's grandson poo poos the suggestion that network-state projects in Africa would be colonizing, although he says that people from their prospective sites would need to be resettled.
This is all very on the nose.
This is all very on the nose.
Reposted by Alex Hanna
STS/Communications scholar Morgan Ames (whom these authors don't cite) has repeatedly demonstrated that OLPC was ineffective at best, and harmful at worst, including in an award-winning book published in 2019.
The real question is why economists don't acknowledge work in other fields.
The real question is why economists don't acknowledge work in other fields.
December 7, 2025 at 11:18 PM
STS/Communications scholar Morgan Ames (whom these authors don't cite) has repeatedly demonstrated that OLPC was ineffective at best, and harmful at worst, including in an award-winning book published in 2019.
The real question is why economists don't acknowledge work in other fields.
The real question is why economists don't acknowledge work in other fields.
Walking past a sports bar in O'Hare as the Packers scored that TD has filled me with enough schendenfraude to get through the end of the year.
December 8, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Walking past a sports bar in O'Hare as the Packers scored that TD has filled me with enough schendenfraude to get through the end of the year.
Scratch a definition of general intelligence, find a eugenicist. That and more on tomorrow's Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000!
One problem with all the “AGI” discourse is that “AGI” isn’t actually defined.
Someone tried recently … and predictably it didn’t go well. Join us for the next Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 livestream, in which @alexhanna.bsky.social and I dig into the attempt:
Monday, December 8, noon Pacific
Someone tried recently … and predictably it didn’t go well. Join us for the next Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 livestream, in which @alexhanna.bsky.social and I dig into the attempt:
Monday, December 8, noon Pacific
dair_institute - Twitch
Twitch account for The Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR).
twitch.tv
December 7, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Scratch a definition of general intelligence, find a eugenicist. That and more on tomorrow's Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000!
Folks could have read Morgan Ames's book and came to the same conclusion. But good to have the econometricians confirm.
mitpress.mit.edu/978026253744...
mitpress.mit.edu/978026253744...
December 7, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Folks could have read Morgan Ames's book and came to the same conclusion. But good to have the econometricians confirm.
mitpress.mit.edu/978026253744...
mitpress.mit.edu/978026253744...
Reposted by Alex Hanna
For the Tech Policy Press podcast, I spoke to Joris van Hoboken, a professor at the Institute for Information Law (IViR) at the University of Amsterdam and part of the core team of the Digital Services Act (DSA) Observatory. We discussed the overall politics of the EU's enforcement against Musk's X:
Unpacking the Politics of the EU's €120M Fine of Musk’s X | TechPolicy.Press
A conversation with Joris van Hoboken, a professor at the Institute for Information Law (IViR) at the University of Amsterdam and part of the DSA Observatory.
www.techpolicy.press
December 7, 2025 at 4:51 PM
For the Tech Policy Press podcast, I spoke to Joris van Hoboken, a professor at the Institute for Information Law (IViR) at the University of Amsterdam and part of the core team of the Digital Services Act (DSA) Observatory. We discussed the overall politics of the EU's enforcement against Musk's X:
Reposted by Alex Hanna
Director of Barnard Archives and Special Collections barnard.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Staff/... Salary range: $120,000–$125,000 annually, commensurate with experience. Please submit your application by January 5, 2026 to be considered.
PASS IT ON 📚 📜
PASS IT ON 📚 📜
Director of Barnard Archives and Special Collections
If you are a current Barnard College employee, please use the internal career site to apply for this position. Job: Director of Barnard Archives and Special Collections Position Summary The Director o...
barnard.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
December 4, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Director of Barnard Archives and Special Collections barnard.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Staff/... Salary range: $120,000–$125,000 annually, commensurate with experience. Please submit your application by January 5, 2026 to be considered.
PASS IT ON 📚 📜
PASS IT ON 📚 📜
Reposted by Alex Hanna
2 Waymo robots barely or nearly crashed in San Francisco, then more Waymo robots complicated the scene, as they often do.
Roboclot and prob the second Waymo+Waymo crash.
Here are 3 videos of this incident post crash, inc the robots being assisted by humans (prob inc telops).
OP: tiktok.chii_rinna
Roboclot and prob the second Waymo+Waymo crash.
Here are 3 videos of this incident post crash, inc the robots being assisted by humans (prob inc telops).
OP: tiktok.chii_rinna
December 7, 2025 at 2:50 PM
2 Waymo robots barely or nearly crashed in San Francisco, then more Waymo robots complicated the scene, as they often do.
Roboclot and prob the second Waymo+Waymo crash.
Here are 3 videos of this incident post crash, inc the robots being assisted by humans (prob inc telops).
OP: tiktok.chii_rinna
Roboclot and prob the second Waymo+Waymo crash.
Here are 3 videos of this incident post crash, inc the robots being assisted by humans (prob inc telops).
OP: tiktok.chii_rinna
George A. Miller??? Of WordNet fame???
7 +/- 2 was a once popular theory in psychology for how much we can hold in our *short term* memory, but defining short term memory capacity in terms of fixed capacity doesn’t really hold up.
The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
December 7, 2025 at 3:30 PM
George A. Miller??? Of WordNet fame???
This is fascinating. Wondering if this is an age thing. Please also fill out this age survey:
[ ] 18-25
[ ] 26-33
[ ] 34-41
[ ] 42-49
[ ] 50+
[ ] None of your business
[ ] 18-25
[ ] 26-33
[ ] 34-41
[ ] 42-49
[ ] 50+
[ ] None of your business
Do you have a credit card number of yours memorized? I'm trying to see something...
December 7, 2025 at 3:18 PM
This is fascinating. Wondering if this is an age thing. Please also fill out this age survey:
[ ] 18-25
[ ] 26-33
[ ] 34-41
[ ] 42-49
[ ] 50+
[ ] None of your business
[ ] 18-25
[ ] 26-33
[ ] 34-41
[ ] 42-49
[ ] 50+
[ ] None of your business
Do you have a credit card number of yours memorized? I'm trying to see something...
December 7, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Do you have a credit card number of yours memorized? I'm trying to see something...
Zotero really is the only good software.
I cannot evangelize enough for @zotero.org for citation management. It's a game changer. If you're a student, and you're writing a paper right now, and you're NOT using Zotero, I ask you...why? Why are you making things harder than they need to be?
a woman is sitting at a desk with her arms outstretched in front of a map on the wall .
ALT: a woman is sitting at a desk with her arms outstretched in front of a map on the wall .
media.tenor.com
December 7, 2025 at 5:48 AM
Zotero really is the only good software.
The Hoosiers are back baby. Basketball is headed back to Indi... wait this is FOOTBALL?? Gahahaha
BREAKING: No. 2 Indiana beats No. 1 Ohio State 13-10 for its first Big Ten championship since 1967 and likely lock up the top seed in the playoff.
No. 2 Indiana beats No. 1 Ohio St. 13-10 to end Big Ten title drought, lock up top playoff seed
Fernando Mendoza’s 17-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Sarratt gave No. 2 Indiana the lead midway through the third quarter and the Hoosiers' stingy defense pitched a shutout the rest of the way to beat No. 1 Ohio State 13-10 for their first Big Ten championship since 1967 while likely locking up the t
bit.ly
December 7, 2025 at 5:11 AM
The Hoosiers are back baby. Basketball is headed back to Indi... wait this is FOOTBALL?? Gahahaha
Reposted by Alex Hanna
a type of content that makes me want to launch myself into space and is huge part of why everything is so bad: TikToker goes down a “rabbit hole,” makes 9-minute video. The “rabbit hole” was she found an Eater article. The Eater journalist did all the work: www.tiktok.com/t/ZTruBS8cp/
allow me to take you on a journey where, once again, we learn we have no idea what’s in our food. at least we know corporations are pure of heart so I’m sure it’s fine🫶🏼🤡
TikTok video by kaelin
www.tiktok.com
December 7, 2025 at 1:10 AM
a type of content that makes me want to launch myself into space and is huge part of why everything is so bad: TikToker goes down a “rabbit hole,” makes 9-minute video. The “rabbit hole” was she found an Eater article. The Eater journalist did all the work: www.tiktok.com/t/ZTruBS8cp/
Reposted by Alex Hanna
By “sovreignty” he means “states should be weak enough so that billionaires like me should be able to treat them as feudal vassals” bsky.app/profile/lora...
Elon Musk is against the European Union being the European Union —he posted this after X (fka Twitter) was fined for violations of the EU’s Digital Services Act.
December 6, 2025 at 10:16 PM
By “sovreignty” he means “states should be weak enough so that billionaires like me should be able to treat them as feudal vassals” bsky.app/profile/lora...