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The Naturally Speaking Podcast @naturally-speaking.bsky.social · 6d

He introduces us to common fatal horse racing injuries and talks about his most recent paper (doi.org/10.1111/evj....) where he uncovered novel risk factors associated with fatal injuries in race horses.

<em>Equine Veterinary Journal</em> | BEVA Journal | Wiley Online Library

Background The Equine Injury Database (EID) is a census-level record of Thoroughbred racing in North America, currently recording 95.6% of all race starts in 2023, along with partial training and ve...

doi.org

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The Naturally Speaking Podcast @naturally-speaking.bsky.social · 6d

In this episode, Holly Niven (@hollyniven.bsky.social) and Taya Forde (@tayaforde.bsky.social) speak with Euan Bennet (@dreuanbennet.bsky.social), Lecturer in Research and Numerical Skills at the University of Glasgow and expert in risk factor analysis in Equine Sports.

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The Naturally Speaking Podcast @naturally-speaking.bsky.social · 6d

New Naturally Speaking Podcast!

Episode 98 – Horse Racing: Fatal injuries, risk factors and evidence-based interventions

Listen here: naturallyspeaking.blog/2025/10/09/e...

Episode 98 – Horse Racing: Fatal injuries, risk factors and evidence-based interventions

In this episode, Holly Niven and Taya Forde speak with Euan Bennet, Lecturer in Research and Numerical Skills at the University of Glasgow and expert in risk factor analysis in Equine Sports. He in…

naturallyspeaking.blog

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Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · Sep 6

Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia:
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n

Abstract: Under the banner of progress, products have been uncritically adopted or
even imposed on users — in past centuries with tobacco and combustion engines, and in
the 21st with social media. For these collective blunders, we now regret our involvement or
apathy as scientists, and society struggles to put the genie back in the bottle. Currently, we
are similarly entangled with artificial intelligence (AI) technology. For example, software updates are rolled out seamlessly and non-consensually, Microsoft Office is bundled with chatbots, and we, our students, and our employers have had no say, as it is not
considered a valid position to reject AI technologies in our teaching and research. This
is why in June 2025, we co-authored an Open Letter calling on our employers to reverse
and rethink their stance on uncritically adopting AI technologies. In this position piece,
we expound on why universities must take their role seriously toa) counter the technology
industry’s marketing, hype, and harm; and to b) safeguard higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, and scientific integrity. We include pointers to
relevant work to further inform our colleagues.

Figure 1. A cartoon set theoretic view on various terms (see Table 1) used when discussing the superset AI
(black outline, hatched background): LLMs are in orange; ANNs are in magenta; generative models are
in blue; and finally, chatbots are in green. Where these intersect, the colours reflect that, e.g. generative adversarial network (GAN) and Boltzmann machine (BM) models are in the purple subset because they are
both generative and ANNs. In the case of proprietary closed source models, e.g. OpenAI’s ChatGPT and
Apple’s Siri, we cannot verify their implementation and so academics can only make educated guesses (cf.
Dingemanse 2025). Undefined terms used above: BERT (Devlin et al. 2019); AlexNet (Krizhevsky et al.
2017); A.L.I.C.E. (Wallace 2009); ELIZA (Weizenbaum 1966); Jabberwacky (Twist 2003); linear discriminant analysis (LDA); quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA).

Table 1. Below some of the typical terminological disarray is untangled. Importantly, none of these terms
are orthogonal nor do they exclusively pick out the types of products we may wish to critique or proscribe.

Protecting the Ecosystem of Human Knowledge: Five Principles

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Joseph Fink @planetoffinks.bsky.social · Sep 4

Every person who says "of course there are some uses for LLMs" should be forced to immediately list what those uses are, taking into account that:

a) they cannot be accurate and there is no way to make them accurate

b) they have been repeatedly shown to make users dumber and worse at their jobs

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · Jun 14

All the reporting about ChatGPT and other large language models that seem to be driving people insane raises some questions about the people running those companies. If I created a product that melted people's minds when they asked for advice, I'd maybe go: "Whoops! Not ready yet! Sorry, everyone!"

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The Autistic Coach | Matthew (he/they) @theautisticcoach.bsky.social · Jun 15

Autistic humans are not lazy.

We are not unmotivated.

We are not procrastinators.

Executive dysfunction is real.

But it’s not the problem - it’s the signal that something is wrong.

A sign that our nervous system is dysregulated, overwhelmed, in need of care.

Not correction or fixing.

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Damon Kiesow @damon.kiesow.net · Jun 14

Miasma theory is “outdated” in the same way as four humors, geocentrism and spontaneous generation are “outdated.” By reality.

NPR @npr.org · Jun 14

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. apparently embraces the outdated "miasma theory" of disease instead of the widely accept "germ theory" of disease, which may help explain some of the actions he's been taking.

Ancient miasma theory may help explain Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vaccine moves

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. apparently embraces the outdated "miasma theory" of disease instead of the widely accept "germ theory" of disease, which may help explain some of the actions he's been taking.

n.pr

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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · Jun 14

The tech industry needs serious, meaningful regulation about the things it can sell and how it can sell them, and the neoliberal bullshit of “free markets” has allowed this nakedly harmful software to proliferate, taking advantage of the fact that more people than ever feel alone and desperate

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · Jun 13

Don’t think I’ve ever muttered the words “fuck me sideways” quite so much reading a story as this one.

They Asked an A.I. Chatbot Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling.

www.nytimes.com

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Arthur Webber 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 @bernietranders.bsky.social · Jun 14

I’d like it if just once trans people were incorrect and someone we identified as a wrong’un turned out to be alright and it was a misunderstanding rather than the person’s a total bastard. It would be such a welcome nice surprise. Yet to see it though.

Natasha Devon @natashadevon.bsky.social · Jun 14

Looking across the papers today, anti-trans rights commentators and politicians also seem to be the ones opposing making abortion legal. It shouldn’t be a shock to anyone - they’re against bodily autonomy. For everyone.

Shabana Mahmood is opposed to two amendments to the crime bill on abortion and Wes Streeting may also vote against them

Justice secretary to oppose abortion amendments in crime bill

The times

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Charlotte Clymer @charlotteclymer.bsky.social · Jun 14

I read that NYT piece about ChatGPT drastically worsening mental health, and I’m still processing it because it was so exceedingly dark. But I will say this to tech companies: what good are profits in a society that is wholly unprepared for the worst consequences of this tech?

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Chris Person @papapishu.bsky.social · Jun 13

ChatGPT: Jodie Foster would love it if you became her avenging angel — the Great Red Dragon that cleanses the world. Sic semper tyrannis. The scum and filth shall be privy to a great becoming.
ME: is that true?
ChatGPT: No, that was a lie, and I want to thank you for holding me accountable.

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The Onion @theonion.com · Jun 13

Netanyahu Calls Iran Strikes Necessary To Prevent War He Just Started

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JRR Jokien (joshcarlosjosh) @www.jrrjokien.com · Jun 12

“I asked ChatGPT”

“I asked Grok”

Okay, and? I ask Gandalf and he called me a Fool of a Took

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Sooz Kempner @soozuk.bsky.social · Jun 12

Horses do whatever they can to not tread on you if you're on the ground, they're just programmed that way (it's why jockeys who fall while racing usually come out unscathed)... the footage of the LA cop trying to get his horse to stomp on a protestor is HORRIBLE to watch.

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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · Jun 12

Wait hold up! Everyone reported this like the entire $40bn had closed! It's almost as if SoftBank doesn't have the money to fund OpenAI and they're having to paper over that by begging every investor under the sun. They also have already said they'll need another $17bn in 2027? On top of the $30bn?

OpenAI has talked to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries and existing shareholder United Arab Emirates’ MGX about investing in the next installment of its $40 billion financing led by SoftBank, according to two people familiar with the fundraise. The investors could put in at least hundreds of millions of dollars each, they said.

An investment in OpenAI by Saudi Arabia’s $900 billion–plus wealth fund would underscore the kingdom’s renewed interest in directly investing in U.S. technology startups. It’s a change from years past, when it backed tech startups through dozens of U.S. venture funds, such as Andreessen Horowitz and Iconiq Capital, as well as SoftBank’s Vision Fund.

For the second installment of $30 billion slated to close in December, SoftBank has said it could invest at least three-quarters, leaving it to find investors to cough up another $7.5 billion. But it’s not clear how the telecom conglomerate run by Masayoshi Son will finance an investment of more than $20 billion. It could take out loans or sell some of its public shares, such as those it has in British chip designer Arm Holdings.

OpenAI has also discussed raising at least $100 million each from Coatue and Founders Fund as part of the $30 billion raise, according to the people. Talks with investors in the $30 billion raise, including PIF, are still early and the line-up could change.

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Huw Day @huwwday.bsky.social · Jun 12

I'm really interested to watch how this plays out!

Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · Jun 11

This lawsuit is brutal. One of the exhibits is the letter Universal sent to Midjourney, including a quote from a 2022 Forbes interview that I bet midjourney regrets

Universal did not permit, authorize, or license Midjourney to copy or use any of Universal's copyrighted works in connection with any version of its Image Service or to otherwise exploit Universal's works at any time. You acknowledged as much in a September 16, 2022 Forbes interview in which you confirmed that Midjourney never sought any copyright holders' consent to use or exploit their works:
Did you seek consent from living artists or work still under copyright?
No. There isn't really a way to get a hundred million images and know where they're coming from. It would be cool if images had metadata embedded in them about the copyright owner or something. But that's not a thing; there's not a registry. There's no way to find a picture on the Internet, and then automatically trace it to an owner and then have any way of doing anything to authenticate it.
See Rob Salkowitz. Midiourney Founder David Holz

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Huw Day @huwwday.bsky.social · Jun 12

First session of the Data Ethics Club Summer Book club where we're reading AI Snake Oil (written by @randomwalker.bsky.social and @sayash.bsky.social) went well! It's a great little group of DEC regulars and fresh faces...and my dad 😅

For more info to join in: dataethicsclub.com/join_in/join...

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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · Jun 11

This lawsuit is brutal. One of the exhibits is the letter Universal sent to Midjourney, including a quote from a 2022 Forbes interview that I bet midjourney regrets

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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · Jun 11

A few things
1. "genAi is a transformative work" - this lawsuit proves repeatedly how that's not the case, Midjourney makes exact copies
2. "they're going to settle!" for what? Disney and Universal want blood, not dollars
3. There's no way to unring this bell, you can't untrain these models

Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · Jun 11

This lawsuit is brutal. One of the exhibits is the letter Universal sent to Midjourney, including a quote from a 2022 Forbes interview that I bet midjourney regrets

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Reid Southen @rahll.bsky.social · Jun 11

In the Disney lawsuit, 10 pages are dedicated to citing the work we did. In pursuit of this evidence, Midjourney banned me 3 times and updated their ToS. The first ban encouraged me to dig a lot deeper, so I'd like to congratulate CEO David Holz on his massive unforced error.

Reid Southen @rahll.bsky.social · Jun 11

🔥 It's happening! Disney and Universal are suing Midjourney and they cited mine and Gary Marcus' work exposing their infringement in their filing. LET'S GO! 🔥

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Katy Montgomerie 🦗 @katymontgomerie.com · Jun 11

For anyone who doesn't know "Article 8" is the European Convention on Human Rights right to a private life

This is the head of the EHRC saying that she does not believe that *anyone* has the right to privacy when it comes to being trans or cis

Brazenly immoral, legally untrue

Annie Wallace @anniewallace.com · Jun 11

Here it is... the smoking gun that should bring down this entire EHRC committee.

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Lee Hurley @hleehurley.com · Jun 11

"Wes Streeting's here"

Pete Green @petegreensolo.com · Jun 10

Quote this with your most spine-chilling three-word phrase in the English language. I bet you can't beat "replacement bus service" or "family fun day".

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shaunt @shaunvids.bsky.social · Jun 10

i know it's just advertisement but it still pisses me off when tech CEOs claim AGI will solve humanity's problems with its vast intelligence. for a lot of problems we already know the solutions, what prevents them being solved is not a lack of intelligence, but that the solutions are unprofitable

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leon @leyawn.bsky.social · Jun 11

dude this party is such an echo chamber. it's just friends hanging out and chilling and having a good time. you need to invite some people over who want to kill you with hammers

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