Benjamin Riley
@benjaminjriley.bsky.social
Founder of Cognitive Resonance, a new venture dedicated to helping people understand human cognition and generative AI. Advocate for humans.
Pinned
Is language the same as intelligence? The AI industry desperately needs it to be
The AI boom is based on a fundamental mistake.
www.theverge.com
Grateful to The Verge for publishing my essay on why large-language models are not going to achieve general intelligence nor push the scientific frontier.
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
Reposted by Benjamin Riley
Not rude things, a thread:
December 1, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Not rude things, a thread:
Interesting and erudite essay exploring the varied medieval forms of learning through dialogue and using that lens to explore AI. (Of course human interlocutors have minds and AI tools do not, that always should be remembered as well.)
I have a piece out today in Front Porch Republic, on LLMs and humanism in classroom assignments.
#AI
#education
#history
#medieval
#philosophy
www.frontporchrepublic.com/2025/12/larg...
#AI
#education
#history
#medieval
#philosophy
www.frontporchrepublic.com/2025/12/larg...
Large Language Models and the New Scholasticism - Front Porch Republic
In trying to systematize relationships between words and humans, both medieval scholasticism and today’s automated dialogue sterilize the sources of human vitality.
www.frontporchrepublic.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Interesting and erudite essay exploring the varied medieval forms of learning through dialogue and using that lens to explore AI. (Of course human interlocutors have minds and AI tools do not, that always should be remembered as well.)
It goes like this, the rhymes, the quips
the red team fails, the access lifts
The baffled poet prompting, I once knew ya
the red team fails, the access lifts
The baffled poet prompting, I once knew ya
November 30, 2025 at 4:15 PM
It goes like this, the rhymes, the quips
the red team fails, the access lifts
The baffled poet prompting, I once knew ya
the red team fails, the access lifts
The baffled poet prompting, I once knew ya
Thoughtful essay from a professor at Ohio State wondering why in the world universities are promoting tools of cognitive automation.
November 30, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Thoughtful essay from a professor at Ohio State wondering why in the world universities are promoting tools of cognitive automation.
I see more and more references to resistance to AI intrusion into education as a "moral panic." Yet @jesbattis.bsky.social isn't making this up, nor are the many educators who are seeing similar indicators of cognitive collapse.
We are in uncharted waters.
We are in uncharted waters.
An issue we're seeing at all levels of university is that many students are simply refusing to do *anything*. They aren't reading the syllabus, aren't following assignment guidelines, aren't engaging with material, ignoring deadlines. And this might seem like old news, but it truly has ramped up.
November 29, 2025 at 12:45 PM
I see more and more references to resistance to AI intrusion into education as a "moral panic." Yet @jesbattis.bsky.social isn't making this up, nor are the many educators who are seeing similar indicators of cognitive collapse.
We are in uncharted waters.
We are in uncharted waters.
America is committing mass murder as a matter of policy. There is video of two men clinging to a boat after being hit by a missile; Hegseth ordered these helpless men slaughtered by a second strike.
The depravity of it all.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
The depravity of it all.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:33 PM
America is committing mass murder as a matter of policy. There is video of two men clinging to a boat after being hit by a missile; Hegseth ordered these helpless men slaughtered by a second strike.
The depravity of it all.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
The depravity of it all.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
This is one of the most vile, racist diatribes I've ever read.
Authored by the President of the United States of America.
He brings such shame upon us.
Authored by the President of the United States of America.
He brings such shame upon us.
November 28, 2025 at 6:09 PM
This is one of the most vile, racist diatribes I've ever read.
Authored by the President of the United States of America.
He brings such shame upon us.
Authored by the President of the United States of America.
He brings such shame upon us.
I think it's interesting to observe that Google Gemini 3.0, hailed as an "exponential improvement" in AI models, manages to calculate the right answer here but then -- in very stochastic parroty fashion -- immediately says something wrong that doesn't align to its own output.
November 27, 2025 at 5:19 PM
I think it's interesting to observe that Google Gemini 3.0, hailed as an "exponential improvement" in AI models, manages to calculate the right answer here but then -- in very stochastic parroty fashion -- immediately says something wrong that doesn't align to its own output.
The French must have a word for the sudden rush of memories unlocked from childhood in an instant, the flood of re-experiencing something totally forgotten.
Whatever the word for that is, it just happened to me.
Whatever the word for that is, it just happened to me.
One of the most beautiful bits of english eccentricity and glorious design is coming back to Sotheby’s and should be bought by a musuem (or me) for THE NATION. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
Jewelled golden hare that sparked national treasure hunt set for auction
Artist and author Kit Williams hid a golden hare with clues to its precise location given in his 1979 book
www.independent.co.uk
November 27, 2025 at 2:47 PM
The French must have a word for the sudden rush of memories unlocked from childhood in an instant, the flood of re-experiencing something totally forgotten.
Whatever the word for that is, it just happened to me.
Whatever the word for that is, it just happened to me.
"We ate Elon first"
November 27, 2025 at 1:41 PM
"We ate Elon first"
"In perceiving and experiencing the world, we ‘smuggle in’ our own fundamental self-survival goals. This is something we share with cats and worms and viruses. Whether this is also something we share with artificial systems is another story."
- @annaciaunica.bsky.social
- @annaciaunica.bsky.social
What if thinking doesn’t begin in the brain, but in the ceaseless labour of our cells? Today’s essay rethinks the question of how we become minds, arguing that cognition begins not in the mind but in the collective processes that keep a body alive @annaciaunica.bsky.social
Why you need your whole body – from head to toes – to think | Aeon Essays
Contemplating the world requires a body, and a body requires an immune system: the rungs of life create the stuff of thought
buff.ly
November 27, 2025 at 12:36 PM
"In perceiving and experiencing the world, we ‘smuggle in’ our own fundamental self-survival goals. This is something we share with cats and worms and viruses. Whether this is also something we share with artificial systems is another story."
- @annaciaunica.bsky.social
- @annaciaunica.bsky.social
If you enjoyed The Verge essay, a new paper just dropped that further explores how our brains connect language to our broader understanding of the world. Shout out to @coltoncasto.bsky.social @neuranna.bsky.social @evfedorenko.bsky.social & @nancykanwisher.bsky.social for derailing my Wednesday.
November 26, 2025 at 5:46 PM
If you enjoyed The Verge essay, a new paper just dropped that further explores how our brains connect language to our broader understanding of the world. Shout out to @coltoncasto.bsky.social @neuranna.bsky.social @evfedorenko.bsky.social & @nancykanwisher.bsky.social for derailing my Wednesday.
Reposted by Benjamin Riley
An excellent and very clear piece on LLM's and thinking. See also Farrell et al. in Science, our piece making the point about LLM's as a form of communication rather than cognition. alisongopnik.com/Papers_Aliso...
November 25, 2025 at 9:44 PM
An excellent and very clear piece on LLM's and thinking. See also Farrell et al. in Science, our piece making the point about LLM's as a form of communication rather than cognition. alisongopnik.com/Papers_Aliso...
Reposted by Benjamin Riley
noam chomsky found dead in a ditch www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
Is language the same as intelligence? The AI industry desperately needs it to be
The AI boom is based on a fundamental mistake.
www.theverge.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:02 PM
noam chomsky found dead in a ditch www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
Curious what those tech execs say to you @reckless.bsky.social!
I’ve been running around asking tech execs and academics if language was the same as intelligence for over a year now - and, well, it isn’t. @benjaminjriley.bsky.social explains how the bubble is built on ignoring cutting-edge research into the science of thought www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
November 25, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Curious what those tech execs say to you @reckless.bsky.social!
Reposted by Benjamin Riley
Grateful to The Verge for publishing my essay on why large-language models are not going to achieve general intelligence nor push the scientific frontier.
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
Is language the same as intelligence? The AI industry desperately needs it to be
The AI boom is based on a fundamental mistake.
www.theverge.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Grateful to The Verge for publishing my essay on why large-language models are not going to achieve general intelligence nor push the scientific frontier.
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
"Responding to AI by doubling down on the humanity of the humanities appears to be working...[O]ur ever-greater reliance on nonhuman interlocutors and assistants has given new value to the very fact of face-to-face exchange between humans."
AI improves education by forcing human resistance.
AI improves education by forcing human resistance.
I’m a Professor. A.I. Has Changed My Classroom, but Not for the Worse.
www.nytimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:52 AM
"Responding to AI by doubling down on the humanity of the humanities appears to be working...[O]ur ever-greater reliance on nonhuman interlocutors and assistants has given new value to the very fact of face-to-face exchange between humans."
AI improves education by forcing human resistance.
AI improves education by forcing human resistance.
Hello! One of Enron's incredibly junior investment bankers here. One thing we discussed a lot at the time is that we couldn't trace the business model of the company due to its Byzantine accounting structure. But Enron was so high flying on Wall Street, we assumed we were missing something.
it's happening dot gif
November 25, 2025 at 12:45 AM
Hello! One of Enron's incredibly junior investment bankers here. One thing we discussed a lot at the time is that we couldn't trace the business model of the company due to its Byzantine accounting structure. But Enron was so high flying on Wall Street, we assumed we were missing something.
Report from the front lines of epistemological collapse. Of course this was happening on "X" at the very same time Grok was vomiting nonsense about Elon Musk as an infallible godhead.
If only there were physical spaces where humans were resisting this. We might call them "schools."
If only there were physical spaces where humans were resisting this. We might call them "schools."
I wrote about the fake account blowup on X this weekend. A genuine post-truth nightmare and proof that these companies have polluted their platforms so thoroughly and traded reality for profit that they've undermined the very idea of what the internet is supposed to be.
That MAGA Account Might Be a Troll From Pakistan
How X blew up its own platform with a new location feature
www.theatlantic.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Report from the front lines of epistemological collapse. Of course this was happening on "X" at the very same time Grok was vomiting nonsense about Elon Musk as an infallible godhead.
If only there were physical spaces where humans were resisting this. We might call them "schools."
If only there were physical spaces where humans were resisting this. We might call them "schools."
Reposted by Benjamin Riley
This is a genuinely shockingly bad essay - I would not accept reasoning and evidence this poor from the freshmen I teach.
I try not to do ad hominem around here, but this essay is so unbelievably stupid, I was stunned when I found it was authored by a NYT staffer.
There's a reason reporters generally have beats, so they actually know something about the topic they're writing about. This reporter simply does not.
There's a reason reporters generally have beats, so they actually know something about the topic they're writing about. This reporter simply does not.
November 24, 2025 at 2:44 PM
This is a genuinely shockingly bad essay - I would not accept reasoning and evidence this poor from the freshmen I teach.
I try not to do ad hominem around here, but this essay is so unbelievably stupid, I was stunned when I found it was authored by a NYT staffer.
There's a reason reporters generally have beats, so they actually know something about the topic they're writing about. This reporter simply does not.
There's a reason reporters generally have beats, so they actually know something about the topic they're writing about. This reporter simply does not.
November 24, 2025 at 2:23 PM
I try not to do ad hominem around here, but this essay is so unbelievably stupid, I was stunned when I found it was authored by a NYT staffer.
There's a reason reporters generally have beats, so they actually know something about the topic they're writing about. This reporter simply does not.
There's a reason reporters generally have beats, so they actually know something about the topic they're writing about. This reporter simply does not.
Cognitive automation for teachers poses the very same problems that cognitive automation poses for students. Astute observations here on how the cult of efficiency runs counter to just about everything we know about learning.
Why ChatGPT for Teachers Might Make Things Worse
I've spent the morning with the this new product and I have concerns...
carlhendrick.substack.com/p/why-chatgp...
I've spent the morning with the this new product and I have concerns...
carlhendrick.substack.com/p/why-chatgp...
Why ChatGPT for Teachers Might Make Things Worse
OpenAI have just released ChatGPT for Teachers which I have just spent the morning looking at it and I have concerns.
carlhendrick.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Cognitive automation for teachers poses the very same problems that cognitive automation poses for students. Astute observations here on how the cult of efficiency runs counter to just about everything we know about learning.
Despite all the hype around superintelligence or whatever, there's still a very simple thing that AI models are completely incapable of: obeying a time limit. Why? And what does this suggest about the human relationship with time?
All that plus some Ferris Bueller in my latest essay.
All that plus some Ferris Bueller in my latest essay.
On artificial time
Why can't you tell a chatbot how long to work on something?
open.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Despite all the hype around superintelligence or whatever, there's still a very simple thing that AI models are completely incapable of: obeying a time limit. Why? And what does this suggest about the human relationship with time?
All that plus some Ferris Bueller in my latest essay.
All that plus some Ferris Bueller in my latest essay.