Alondra Nelson
@alondra.bsky.social
Scholar, author, policy advisor
alondranelson.com
Science, Technology, and Social Values Lab
https://www.ias.edu/stsv-lab
alondranelson.com
Science, Technology, and Social Values Lab
https://www.ias.edu/stsv-lab
Pinned
Alondra Nelson
@alondra.bsky.social
· Sep 11
An ELSI for AI: Learning from genetics to govern algorithms
In the United States, the summer of 2025 will be remembered as artificial intelligence’s (AI’s) cruel summer—a season when the unheeded risks and dangers of AI became undeniably clear. Recent months h...
www.science.org
🧵 The summer of 2025 has been AI's "cruel summer"—wrongful deaths, dangerous therapy chatbots, medical misinformation, facial recognition failures. These aren't isolated glitches but predictable harms from systems deployed without adequate oversight. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
With temperatures dropping and snow in the forecast, New Yorkers struggling to afford the rising cost of heat can now apply for assistance from the HEAP program.
Learn more about eligibility and apply here: a069-access.nyc.gov/accesshra/
Learn more about eligibility and apply here: a069-access.nyc.gov/accesshra/
React App
The Human Resources Administration (HRA) ACCESS HRA website and free mobile app allow you to get information, apply for benefit programs, and view case information online.
a069-access.nyc.gov
December 3, 2025 at 11:03 PM
With temperatures dropping and snow in the forecast, New Yorkers struggling to afford the rising cost of heat can now apply for assistance from the HEAP program.
Learn more about eligibility and apply here: a069-access.nyc.gov/accesshra/
Learn more about eligibility and apply here: a069-access.nyc.gov/accesshra/
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
You know what to do baby ❤️
December 4, 2025 at 12:15 AM
You know what to do baby ❤️
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
Last week @theverge.com published my essay exploring the limitations of large-language models. This week, that same essay is cited by a federal judge in Michigan to distinguish the process of human reasoning from what these models do. Very, very gratifying.
h/t @robertfreundlaw.bsky.social
holy shit, an accurate legal critique of LLMs. LLMs don't reason because they're just stitching together plausible-looking sentences indifferent to the content
holy shit, an accurate legal critique of LLMs. LLMs don't reason because they're just stitching together plausible-looking sentences indifferent to the content
December 3, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Last week @theverge.com published my essay exploring the limitations of large-language models. This week, that same essay is cited by a federal judge in Michigan to distinguish the process of human reasoning from what these models do. Very, very gratifying.
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
Pure, unmitigated hate.
December 2, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Pure, unmitigated hate.
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
We're doing pogroms in America now
Officials prepare immigration operation in Minnesota that would focus on Somali immigrants, source tells AP, as Trump says he doesn't want Somalis in U.S.
Federal authorities plan operation in Minnesota focusing on Somali immigrants, AP source says
Federal authorities are preparing an immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota, focusing on Somali immigrants living unlawfully in the U.S.
bit.ly
December 3, 2025 at 4:50 AM
We're doing pogroms in America now
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
It's GIVING TUESDAY. Help us out and we will help the world! Thanks to Joseph Kunkel (Northern Cheyenne) and MASS Design Group! vimeo.com/1142541296/e...
251202-NBD-ReelSize-CMag
This is "251202-NBD-ReelSize-CMag" by MASS on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.
vimeo.com
December 3, 2025 at 12:29 AM
It's GIVING TUESDAY. Help us out and we will help the world! Thanks to Joseph Kunkel (Northern Cheyenne) and MASS Design Group! vimeo.com/1142541296/e...
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
The Introduction, “What is the Future We Yearn For?,” to my book, *The Future That Was*, is now live and freely available to all on the book’s @princetonupress.bsky.social website
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
The Future That Was
How Third World women seized the means of knowledge production to fight against rising authoritarianism and imagine a future freer than our present
press.princeton.edu
December 3, 2025 at 1:12 AM
The Introduction, “What is the Future We Yearn For?,” to my book, *The Future That Was*, is now live and freely available to all on the book’s @princetonupress.bsky.social website
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Done! Than you for your crucial work.
Hello Dr. Nelson, we know you've been a supporter. Please continue that support by sharing our Mission & Vision with the world. #GivingTuesday bsky.app/profile/nati...
bsky.app
December 3, 2025 at 1:04 AM
Done! Than you for your crucial work.
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
Absolutely stunned and honored to see THERE IS NO PLACE FOR US on this list.
I'm grateful beyond words to the five families who trusted me with their stories and allowed me to witness their struggle to secure a home.
I'm grateful beyond words to the five families who trusted me with their stories and allowed me to witness their struggle to secure a home.
The 10 Best Books of 2025
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Absolutely stunned and honored to see THERE IS NO PLACE FOR US on this list.
I'm grateful beyond words to the five families who trusted me with their stories and allowed me to witness their struggle to secure a home.
I'm grateful beyond words to the five families who trusted me with their stories and allowed me to witness their struggle to secure a home.
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
Preorder it here: www.harpercollins.com/products/a-s...
December 2, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Preorder it here: www.harpercollins.com/products/a-s...
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
Got my first pass pages!!! It’s coming!
December 2, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Got my first pass pages!!! It’s coming!
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
Art of the day
Saara Tikka (b.1942) - The Star Counter II. 1979. Gouache.
Saara Tikka (b.1942) - The Star Counter II. 1979. Gouache.
December 1, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Art of the day
Saara Tikka (b.1942) - The Star Counter II. 1979. Gouache.
Saara Tikka (b.1942) - The Star Counter II. 1979. Gouache.
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
I, for one, am glad to see more & more economists belatedly discovering that everything is political economy
"There is no good economics without good politics"--one of the principles of "The London Consensus," an interesting new book that is the subject of my latest column. 1/4
www.newyorker.com/news/the-fin...
www.newyorker.com/news/the-fin...
What Can Economists Agree on These Days?
A new book, “The London Consensus,” offers a framework for rethinking economic policy in a fractured age of inequality, populism, and political crisis.
www.newyorker.com
December 2, 2025 at 5:25 AM
I, for one, am glad to see more & more economists belatedly discovering that everything is political economy
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
I wrote about Oura's security and privacy practices earlier this year for this.weekinsecurity.com, and found:
• Oura rings *don't* end-to-end encrypt users' health data;
• Oura *can* access its users' data;
• Oura told me that the company *has* received U.S. government demands for users' data.
• Oura rings *don't* end-to-end encrypt users' health data;
• Oura *can* access its users' data;
• Oura told me that the company *has* received U.S. government demands for users' data.
November 28, 2025 at 3:15 PM
I wrote about Oura's security and privacy practices earlier this year for this.weekinsecurity.com, and found:
• Oura rings *don't* end-to-end encrypt users' health data;
• Oura *can* access its users' data;
• Oura told me that the company *has* received U.S. government demands for users' data.
• Oura rings *don't* end-to-end encrypt users' health data;
• Oura *can* access its users' data;
• Oura told me that the company *has* received U.S. government demands for users' data.
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
This World AIDS Day, we remember the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers lost to HIV and AIDS, and those living with HIV today. We must remind ourselves and each other that the fight isn’t over until the epidemic is over for everyone.
December 2, 2025 at 12:55 AM
This World AIDS Day, we remember the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers lost to HIV and AIDS, and those living with HIV today. We must remind ourselves and each other that the fight isn’t over until the epidemic is over for everyone.
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
“When researchers randomly displayed these flood risk estimates to 18M people browsing Redfin, those who saw the feature were more likely to search for homes w/ low flood risk, according to a working paper published in the Nat’l Bureau of Economic Research last Nov*.”🧪
* www.nber.org/papers/w33119
* www.nber.org/papers/w33119
November 30, 2025 at 2:27 PM
“When researchers randomly displayed these flood risk estimates to 18M people browsing Redfin, those who saw the feature were more likely to search for homes w/ low flood risk, according to a working paper published in the Nat’l Bureau of Economic Research last Nov*.”🧪
* www.nber.org/papers/w33119
* www.nber.org/papers/w33119
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
What a headline. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/n...
The Ex-President Whom Trump Plans to Pardon Flooded America With Cocaine
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 2:04 AM
What a headline. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/n...
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
NY’s new law requires companies to disclose when algorithms set prices. Though it doesn’t stop surveillance pricing, its real power may be giving researchers and watchdogs new ways to investigate algorithmic harms, argues Stephanie T. Nguyen, Fmr. Chief Technologist at the Federal Trade Commission.
How to Test New York’s Algorithmic Pricing Law | TechPolicy.Press
New York’s ADPA exposes algorithmic pricing. Stephanie T. Nguyen discusses how these disclosures could reveal fairness issues and potential consumer impacts.
buff.ly
November 27, 2025 at 2:30 PM
NY’s new law requires companies to disclose when algorithms set prices. Though it doesn’t stop surveillance pricing, its real power may be giving researchers and watchdogs new ways to investigate algorithmic harms, argues Stephanie T. Nguyen, Fmr. Chief Technologist at the Federal Trade Commission.
A certified classic
A profile of Paulina Borsook, as her 2000 book Cyberselfish, warning about Silicon Valley's love for "techno-libertarianism", finds a resurgence in interest (David Streitfeld/New York Times)
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
November 29, 2025 at 12:25 AM
A certified classic
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
The climate crisis won’t wait and neither will we. With this team, we’ll meet it head-on.
November 28, 2025 at 9:52 PM
The climate crisis won’t wait and neither will we. With this team, we’ll meet it head-on.
An alarming account of how dynamic-pricing algorithms undermine #affordability in gasoline, groceries, and more. In housing, AI tools advised landlords to price apartments above market rate and leave them empty rather than reduce rents. An urgent call for AI policy! www.nytimes.com/video/opinio...
Video: Opinion | Goodbye, Price Tags. Hello, Dynamic Pricing.
Shopping has always been a game. And now it’s being rigged against you.
www.nytimes.com
November 28, 2025 at 3:07 PM
An alarming account of how dynamic-pricing algorithms undermine #affordability in gasoline, groceries, and more. In housing, AI tools advised landlords to price apartments above market rate and leave them empty rather than reduce rents. An urgent call for AI policy! www.nytimes.com/video/opinio...
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
data centers are driving up electricity prices for households — and price relief may not be coming anytime soon… Residential retail electricity prices in September were up 7.4%, to about 18 cents per kilowatt hour, according the Energy Information Administration... www.cnbc.com/2025/11/26/a...
AI data center 'frenzy' is pushing up your electric bill — here's why
Energy-hungry data centers that underpin artificial intelligence are contributing to higher residential electricity bills, say experts.
www.cnbc.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:40 AM
data centers are driving up electricity prices for households — and price relief may not be coming anytime soon… Residential retail electricity prices in September were up 7.4%, to about 18 cents per kilowatt hour, according the Energy Information Administration... www.cnbc.com/2025/11/26/a...
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
This is my favorite piece on the Zero Units, the Afghan locals who actually fought the war under the direction of the CIA.
The Evacuation of the CIA’s Afghan Proxies Has Opened One of the War’s Blackest Boxes
Afghan Zero Units hold clues to many of the war’s mysteries, including how the CIA engineered deadly night raids that contributed to the Taliban’s victory.
theintercept.com
November 28, 2025 at 2:16 AM
This is my favorite piece on the Zero Units, the Afghan locals who actually fought the war under the direction of the CIA.
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
They did it again! NYC subway Thanksgiving 2025, via @scootercaster.com!
November 27, 2025 at 4:19 PM
They did it again! NYC subway Thanksgiving 2025, via @scootercaster.com!
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
Indigenous actor Elaine Miles of "Northern Exposure" was detained by ICE at a Redmond bus stop. When she showed them her Tribal ID, they told her it was fake.
Native American actress gave ICE agents her tribal ID. They called it 'fake,' she says
www.seattletimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Indigenous actor Elaine Miles of "Northern Exposure" was detained by ICE at a Redmond bus stop. When she showed them her Tribal ID, they told her it was fake.