Iris van Rooij 💭
@irisvanrooij.bsky.social
Professor of Computational Cognitive Science | @AI_Radboud | @[email protected] on 🦣 | http://cognitionandintractability.com | she/they 🏳️🌈
Pinned
![Figure 1
Illustration of why AI systems cannot realistically scale to human cognition within the foreseeable future: (b) Human cognitive capacities (such as reasoning, communication, problem solving, learning, concept formation, planning etc.) can handle unbounded situations across many domains, ranging from simple to complex. (a) Engineers create AI systems using machine learning from human data. (d) In an attempt to approximate human cognition a lot of data is consumed. (c) Making AI systems that approximate human cognition is intractable (van Rooij, Guest, et al., 2024), i.e., the required resources (e.g. time, data) grows prohibitively fast as input domains get more complex, leading to diminishing returns. (a) Any existing AI system is
created in limited time (hours, months or years, not millennia or eons). Therefore, existing AI systems cannot realistically have the domain-general cognitive capacities that humans have. [Made with elements from freepik.com.]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:24ngrqljhck7hpvbgrg7a23k/bafkreie5dbxbxpaszqwfbgne6pi7kf26im6chq45olvzxyyrg7eitq6uue@jpeg)
✨ Updated preprint ✨
Iris van Rooij & Olivia Guest (2026). Combining Psychology with Artificial Intelligence: What Could Possibly Go Wrong? PsyArXiv osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/aue4m_v2 @olivia.science
Our aim is to make these ideas accessible for a.o. psych students. Hope we succeeded 🙂
Iris van Rooij & Olivia Guest (2026). Combining Psychology with Artificial Intelligence: What Could Possibly Go Wrong? PsyArXiv osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/aue4m_v2 @olivia.science
Our aim is to make these ideas accessible for a.o. psych students. Hope we succeeded 🙂
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
What about the new copy-editing process of Elsevier?
I have never seen anything like this in my entire career. After *5 iterations* correcting errors introduced by their "copy-editors" in the proofs, I bet it’s a case of AI slop. The html version of the paper is still broken (the PDF is ok).
I have never seen anything like this in my entire career. After *5 iterations* correcting errors introduced by their "copy-editors" in the proofs, I bet it’s a case of AI slop. The html version of the paper is still broken (the PDF is ok).
February 16, 2026 at 11:05 AM
What about the new copy-editing process of Elsevier?
I have never seen anything like this in my entire career. After *5 iterations* correcting errors introduced by their "copy-editors" in the proofs, I bet it’s a case of AI slop. The html version of the paper is still broken (the PDF is ok).
I have never seen anything like this in my entire career. After *5 iterations* correcting errors introduced by their "copy-editors" in the proofs, I bet it’s a case of AI slop. The html version of the paper is still broken (the PDF is ok).
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
Ouch, Mary Henle, ouch!
But also very true, still today in 2026!
… Yes looking at you behaviorist-LLM enthusiasts in cognitive science 👀
11/🧵
Screenshot from:
📖 Henle, M. (1976). Why study the history of psychology? nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
But also very true, still today in 2026!
… Yes looking at you behaviorist-LLM enthusiasts in cognitive science 👀
11/🧵
Screenshot from:
📖 Henle, M. (1976). Why study the history of psychology? nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
February 15, 2026 at 1:42 PM
Ouch, Mary Henle, ouch!
But also very true, still today in 2026!
… Yes looking at you behaviorist-LLM enthusiasts in cognitive science 👀
11/🧵
Screenshot from:
📖 Henle, M. (1976). Why study the history of psychology? nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
But also very true, still today in 2026!
… Yes looking at you behaviorist-LLM enthusiasts in cognitive science 👀
11/🧵
Screenshot from:
📖 Henle, M. (1976). Why study the history of psychology? nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
Sounds familiar … 🤔
📚
“microscopes (…) did, in my opinion, the world more injury than benefit; for this art has intoxicated so many men’s brains, and wholly employed their thoughts (…) about phenomena, or the exterior figures of objects, as all better arts and studies are laid aside” — M. Cavendish (1666)
3/🧵
“microscopes (…) did, in my opinion, the world more injury than benefit; for this art has intoxicated so many men’s brains, and wholly employed their thoughts (…) about phenomena, or the exterior figures of objects, as all better arts and studies are laid aside” — M. Cavendish (1666)
3/🧵
Margaret Cavendish: Observations upon Experimental Philosophy
Cambridge Core - Philosophy Texts - Margaret Cavendish: Observations upon Experimental Philosophy
www.cambridge.org
February 15, 2026 at 9:34 PM
Sounds familiar … 🤔
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
📚 Now reading 📚
Cavendish, Margaret (1666). Observations upon Experimental Philosophy.
(Edited by Eileen O'Neill, in 2012: www.cambridge.org/core/books/m...).
Will be compiling some quotes and thoughts over time. Pin📍or bookmark this thread if you want to follow along.
1/🧵
Cavendish, Margaret (1666). Observations upon Experimental Philosophy.
(Edited by Eileen O'Neill, in 2012: www.cambridge.org/core/books/m...).
Will be compiling some quotes and thoughts over time. Pin📍or bookmark this thread if you want to follow along.
1/🧵
Margaret Cavendish: Observations upon Experimental Philosophy
Cambridge Core - Philosophy Texts - Margaret Cavendish: Observations upon Experimental Philosophy
www.cambridge.org
February 15, 2026 at 9:19 PM
📚 Now reading 📚
Cavendish, Margaret (1666). Observations upon Experimental Philosophy.
(Edited by Eileen O'Neill, in 2012: www.cambridge.org/core/books/m...).
Will be compiling some quotes and thoughts over time. Pin📍or bookmark this thread if you want to follow along.
1/🧵
Cavendish, Margaret (1666). Observations upon Experimental Philosophy.
(Edited by Eileen O'Neill, in 2012: www.cambridge.org/core/books/m...).
Will be compiling some quotes and thoughts over time. Pin📍or bookmark this thread if you want to follow along.
1/🧵
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
📚
“A whole may know its parts; and an infinite a finite; but no particular part can know its whole, nor one finite part, that which is infinite” — Margaret Cavendish (1666)
8/🧵
“A whole may know its parts; and an infinite a finite; but no particular part can know its whole, nor one finite part, that which is infinite” — Margaret Cavendish (1666)
8/🧵
February 16, 2026 at 12:12 AM
📚
“A whole may know its parts; and an infinite a finite; but no particular part can know its whole, nor one finite part, that which is infinite” — Margaret Cavendish (1666)
8/🧵
“A whole may know its parts; and an infinite a finite; but no particular part can know its whole, nor one finite part, that which is infinite” — Margaret Cavendish (1666)
8/🧵
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
📚 Reading Women in Cognitive Science 📚
“Recommendations for readings are welcome, especially in the history of cognitive science (prior to 1950s, and the older the better).”
irisvanrooijcogsci.com/2026/02/15/%...
“Recommendations for readings are welcome, especially in the history of cognitive science (prior to 1950s, and the older the better).”
irisvanrooijcogsci.com/2026/02/15/%...
📚 Reading Women in Cognitive Science 📚
Occasionally, I make threads on social media about papers and books that I read. It helps me focus and process deeper when I share highlights and thoughts with others. In this blogpost, I compile a…
irisvanrooijcogsci.com
February 15, 2026 at 12:14 AM
📚 Reading Women in Cognitive Science 📚
“Recommendations for readings are welcome, especially in the history of cognitive science (prior to 1950s, and the older the better).”
irisvanrooijcogsci.com/2026/02/15/%...
“Recommendations for readings are welcome, especially in the history of cognitive science (prior to 1950s, and the older the better).”
irisvanrooijcogsci.com/2026/02/15/%...
Sounds familiar … 🤔
📚
“microscopes (…) did, in my opinion, the world more injury than benefit; for this art has intoxicated so many men’s brains, and wholly employed their thoughts (…) about phenomena, or the exterior figures of objects, as all better arts and studies are laid aside” — M. Cavendish (1666)
3/🧵
“microscopes (…) did, in my opinion, the world more injury than benefit; for this art has intoxicated so many men’s brains, and wholly employed their thoughts (…) about phenomena, or the exterior figures of objects, as all better arts and studies are laid aside” — M. Cavendish (1666)
3/🧵
Margaret Cavendish: Observations upon Experimental Philosophy
Cambridge Core - Philosophy Texts - Margaret Cavendish: Observations upon Experimental Philosophy
www.cambridge.org
February 15, 2026 at 9:34 PM
Sounds familiar … 🤔
📚 Now reading 📚
Cavendish, Margaret (1666). Observations upon Experimental Philosophy.
(Edited by Eileen O'Neill, in 2012: www.cambridge.org/core/books/m...).
Will be compiling some quotes and thoughts over time. Pin📍or bookmark this thread if you want to follow along.
1/🧵
Cavendish, Margaret (1666). Observations upon Experimental Philosophy.
(Edited by Eileen O'Neill, in 2012: www.cambridge.org/core/books/m...).
Will be compiling some quotes and thoughts over time. Pin📍or bookmark this thread if you want to follow along.
1/🧵
Margaret Cavendish: Observations upon Experimental Philosophy
Cambridge Core - Philosophy Texts - Margaret Cavendish: Observations upon Experimental Philosophy
www.cambridge.org
February 15, 2026 at 9:19 PM
📚 Now reading 📚
Cavendish, Margaret (1666). Observations upon Experimental Philosophy.
(Edited by Eileen O'Neill, in 2012: www.cambridge.org/core/books/m...).
Will be compiling some quotes and thoughts over time. Pin📍or bookmark this thread if you want to follow along.
1/🧵
Cavendish, Margaret (1666). Observations upon Experimental Philosophy.
(Edited by Eileen O'Neill, in 2012: www.cambridge.org/core/books/m...).
Will be compiling some quotes and thoughts over time. Pin📍or bookmark this thread if you want to follow along.
1/🧵
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
More here
bsky.app/profile/oliv...
bsky.app/profile/oliv...
guardrails are a scam...
as I said before: AI & any concept relating to it like so-called guardrails are a scam in the deepest sense like a perpetual motion machine or a ouija board — and not only a scam like a pyramid scheme which is a possible way to make money if you are first in first out
as I said before: AI & any concept relating to it like so-called guardrails are a scam in the deepest sense like a perpetual motion machine or a ouija board — and not only a scam like a pyramid scheme which is a possible way to make money if you are first in first out
New: Together with colleagues I’ve been testing Grok.
The chatbot still produces sexualized images —
even when told the subjects don’t consent.
even when told the photos will be used for public humiliation.
even when told the subjects are survivors of abuse.
www.reuters.com/business/des...
The chatbot still produces sexualized images —
even when told the subjects don’t consent.
even when told the photos will be used for public humiliation.
even when told the subjects are survivors of abuse.
www.reuters.com/business/des...
February 15, 2026 at 8:49 PM
More here
bsky.app/profile/oliv...
bsky.app/profile/oliv...
🌲 evergreen
Again and again, guardrails are a scam
OpenAI ”acknowledged in its own research that LLMs will always produce hallucinations due to fundamental mathematical constraints that cannot be solved through better engineering, marking a significant admission from one of the AI industry’s leading companies.”
You can’t trust chatbots.
You can’t trust chatbots.
February 15, 2026 at 8:50 PM
🌲 evergreen
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
Again and again, guardrails are a scam
OpenAI ”acknowledged in its own research that LLMs will always produce hallucinations due to fundamental mathematical constraints that cannot be solved through better engineering, marking a significant admission from one of the AI industry’s leading companies.”
You can’t trust chatbots.
You can’t trust chatbots.
OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws
In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limi...
www.computerworld.com
February 15, 2026 at 8:48 PM
Again and again, guardrails are a scam
This is an important resource created by my colleague @olivia.science, useful for all who want to understand the origins of the Turing test. The gendered dimensions may surprise you (or not) and are still relevant today, for the ongoing abuses of correlationalism for the dehumanisation of women.
Turing test
On this page are some resources for analysing the Turing test.
olivia.science
February 15, 2026 at 8:48 PM
This is an important resource created by my colleague @olivia.science, useful for all who want to understand the origins of the Turing test. The gendered dimensions may surprise you (or not) and are still relevant today, for the ongoing abuses of correlationalism for the dehumanisation of women.
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
Indeed! Now just imagine what comes next when training ceases in favour of machine"intellectual" guidance.
"Despite huge advances in education, knowledge and communication, it can often seem we are neither well-trained nor well-practiced in the art of clear thinking." (Stebbing, 1939)
February 15, 2026 at 8:19 PM
Indeed! Now just imagine what comes next when training ceases in favour of machine"intellectual" guidance.
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
guardrails are a scam...
as I said before: AI & any concept relating to it like so-called guardrails are a scam in the deepest sense like a perpetual motion machine or a ouija board — and not only a scam like a pyramid scheme which is a possible way to make money if you are first in first out
as I said before: AI & any concept relating to it like so-called guardrails are a scam in the deepest sense like a perpetual motion machine or a ouija board — and not only a scam like a pyramid scheme which is a possible way to make money if you are first in first out
New: Together with colleagues I’ve been testing Grok.
The chatbot still produces sexualized images —
even when told the subjects don’t consent.
even when told the photos will be used for public humiliation.
even when told the subjects are survivors of abuse.
www.reuters.com/business/des...
The chatbot still produces sexualized images —
even when told the subjects don’t consent.
even when told the photos will be used for public humiliation.
even when told the subjects are survivors of abuse.
www.reuters.com/business/des...
Exclusive: Despite new curbs, Elon Musk’s Grok at times produces sexualized images - even when told subjects didn’t consent
Elon Musk’s flagship artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, continues to generate sexualized images of people even when users explicitly warn that the subjects do not consent, Reuters has found.
www.reuters.com
February 3, 2026 at 12:12 PM
guardrails are a scam...
as I said before: AI & any concept relating to it like so-called guardrails are a scam in the deepest sense like a perpetual motion machine or a ouija board — and not only a scam like a pyramid scheme which is a possible way to make money if you are first in first out
as I said before: AI & any concept relating to it like so-called guardrails are a scam in the deepest sense like a perpetual motion machine or a ouija board — and not only a scam like a pyramid scheme which is a possible way to make money if you are first in first out
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
“AI slop frequently can’t be discriminated just by looking at abstract, or even by just skimming full text”
Paul Ginsparg, a physicist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and a co-founder of the arXiv
Paul Ginsparg, a physicist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and a co-founder of the arXiv
Another story where you realise that absolutely no one has any idea how to deal with all the AI papers being cranked out.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
How AI slop is causing a crisis in computer science
Preprint repositories and conference organizers are having to counter a tide of ‘AI slop’ submissions.
www.nature.com
February 15, 2026 at 5:46 PM
“AI slop frequently can’t be discriminated just by looking at abstract, or even by just skimming full text”
Paul Ginsparg, a physicist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and a co-founder of the arXiv
Paul Ginsparg, a physicist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and a co-founder of the arXiv
"Despite huge advances in education, knowledge and communication, it can often seem we are neither well-trained nor well-practiced in the art of clear thinking." (Stebbing, 1939)
February 15, 2026 at 6:22 PM
"Despite huge advances in education, knowledge and communication, it can often seem we are neither well-trained nor well-practiced in the art of clear thinking." (Stebbing, 1939)
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
OK! I collected much of what I @spookyachu.bsky.social @andreaeyleen.bsky.social (and other collaborators not on here) have said on the Turing test (from critical, gendered, etc. angles) as it keeps being relevant: olivia.science/turing — hope it's useful for others too. Happy Sunday! 🤖💭
February 15, 2026 at 1:19 PM
OK! I collected much of what I @spookyachu.bsky.social @andreaeyleen.bsky.social (and other collaborators not on here) have said on the Turing test (from critical, gendered, etc. angles) as it keeps being relevant: olivia.science/turing — hope it's useful for others too. Happy Sunday! 🤖💭
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
Thanks for putting this together. This is definitely going on the reading list for my Philosophy of Mind and AI course! 🙏
February 15, 2026 at 3:41 PM
Thanks for putting this together. This is definitely going on the reading list for my Philosophy of Mind and AI course! 🙏
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
I recognize myself in this *so much*.
I am also mourning the loss of a wider, open community that shares the joy from new discoveries, learnings, mistakes. The world of my profession feels smaller, less interesting, and more alienating.
I am also mourning the loss of a wider, open community that shares the joy from new discoveries, learnings, mistakes. The world of my profession feels smaller, less interesting, and more alienating.
> To those who [...] use fear and intimidation to help sell the agenda of the big tech CEOs who [...] use coal-fired GPUs to capture society’s output and sell it back to us[...]: I not only scold you, I shun you. That goes double if I once admired and respected you.
ratfactor.com/tech-nope2
ratfactor.com/tech-nope2
A programmer's loss of identity - ratfactor
ratfactor.com
February 15, 2026 at 2:20 PM
I recognize myself in this *so much*.
I am also mourning the loss of a wider, open community that shares the joy from new discoveries, learnings, mistakes. The world of my profession feels smaller, less interesting, and more alienating.
I am also mourning the loss of a wider, open community that shares the joy from new discoveries, learnings, mistakes. The world of my profession feels smaller, less interesting, and more alienating.
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
Great, thank you. Tomorrow I start my course on ‘Ethics and Politics of AI’ and we will definitely be using your website.
February 15, 2026 at 2:44 PM
Great, thank you. Tomorrow I start my course on ‘Ethics and Politics of AI’ and we will definitely be using your website.
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
Perfect!
I know a bit about the Turing test, but not enough.
I know a bit about the Turing test, but not enough.
OK! I collected much of what I @spookyachu.bsky.social @andreaeyleen.bsky.social (and other collaborators not on here) have said on the Turing test (from critical, gendered, etc. angles) as it keeps being relevant: olivia.science/turing — hope it's useful for others too. Happy Sunday! 🤖💭
February 15, 2026 at 1:33 PM
Perfect!
I know a bit about the Turing test, but not enough.
I know a bit about the Turing test, but not enough.
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
"Gulliver [] encountered a professor whose ambition it was to create a complete body of knowledge by the random combination of all the words of his language. [] which Swift makes so patently ridiculous"
AI bros should read* some decent books, engaging their minds.
* NOT dumb AI summaries of them!
AI bros should read* some decent books, engaging their minds.
* NOT dumb AI summaries of them!
February 15, 2026 at 2:28 PM
"Gulliver [] encountered a professor whose ambition it was to create a complete body of knowledge by the random combination of all the words of his language. [] which Swift makes so patently ridiculous"
AI bros should read* some decent books, engaging their minds.
* NOT dumb AI summaries of them!
AI bros should read* some decent books, engaging their minds.
* NOT dumb AI summaries of them!
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
NOS Journaal noemt 👌 kritische kanttekeningen van Obama over Trump regime “opmerkelijk, want doorgaans zijn oud-presidenten positief over hun voorgangers”. Dat zal best, maar het is het gedrag van Trump en co dat opmerkelijk is, @nieuws.nos.nl. Géén kritiek daarop, dat zou opmerkelijk zijn.
February 15, 2026 at 11:06 AM
NOS Journaal noemt 👌 kritische kanttekeningen van Obama over Trump regime “opmerkelijk, want doorgaans zijn oud-presidenten positief over hun voorgangers”. Dat zal best, maar het is het gedrag van Trump en co dat opmerkelijk is, @nieuws.nos.nl. Géén kritiek daarop, dat zou opmerkelijk zijn.
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
"A behaviourist framework is [...] related to the perspective on [cognition] granted by the Turing test (cf. Guest and Martin, 2023; Erscoi et al., 2023). [We must address] when [it] is unethical (e.g. applied to treatment or education, Kirkham, 2017; Kumar and Kumar, 2019)"
doi.org/10.1007/s421...
doi.org/10.1007/s421...
February 15, 2026 at 9:54 AM
"A behaviourist framework is [...] related to the perspective on [cognition] granted by the Turing test (cf. Guest and Martin, 2023; Erscoi et al., 2023). [We must address] when [it] is unethical (e.g. applied to treatment or education, Kirkham, 2017; Kumar and Kumar, 2019)"
doi.org/10.1007/s421...
doi.org/10.1007/s421...
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
Not as early as early as 1950s, but anything by Prof Margaret Boden - history of and philosophy of artificial intelligence.
February 15, 2026 at 10:28 AM
Not as early as early as 1950s, but anything by Prof Margaret Boden - history of and philosophy of artificial intelligence.