Joseph Kohlmann
@jkohlmann.bsky.social
He / him · #Manhattan #NYC · Staff software engineer · Design+eng, #HCI, #DesignSystems, listening, empathy, #house #music, video #games, #photography, #cats, Black feminism, trans rights, Palestinian liberation, antiwhiteness, broken systems, #union labor
Pinned
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
How many whistles have been 3D printed by the left in the last several months?
is there a technology that "the left" is excited about?
www.transformernews.ai/p/the-left-i...
www.transformernews.ai/p/the-left-i...
The left is missing out on AI
As a movement, it has largely refused to engage seriously with AI, ceding debate about a threat and opportunity to the right
www.transformernews.ai
February 18, 2026 at 9:14 PM
How many whistles have been 3D printed by the left in the last several months?
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
The AI discourse has been particularly unhinged lately. Here are five things I think are behind it:
www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/five-takea...
www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/five-takea...
Five takeaways from an unhinged AI discourse
What's behind the feverish AI discourse? Who thinks "AI is fake"? Is "the left" wrong to dismiss AI? Is that even what's happening? What's really going on with AI in 2026.
www.bloodinthemachine.com
February 18, 2026 at 6:39 PM
The AI discourse has been particularly unhinged lately. Here are five things I think are behind it:
www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/five-takea...
www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/five-takea...
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
if you want AI but it's not AI that anyone recognizes as AI, then you want something else. i'm sorry, but just because you called hamburgers "meat space ships" doesn't mean you ask for that at a diner
February 18, 2026 at 3:33 PM
if you want AI but it's not AI that anyone recognizes as AI, then you want something else. i'm sorry, but just because you called hamburgers "meat space ships" doesn't mean you ask for that at a diner
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
if you advocated for "more policing" but you didn't mean any kind of policing that has ever existed in history with all the state violence and everything, and which is defined *in contradiction* to all of the historical examples of policing in living memory, then why are you calling it policing?
February 18, 2026 at 3:33 PM
if you advocated for "more policing" but you didn't mean any kind of policing that has ever existed in history with all the state violence and everything, and which is defined *in contradiction* to all of the historical examples of policing in living memory, then why are you calling it policing?
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
if we're talking about any kind of thing that has actually existed, that people have ever called AI in the past 70 or 80 years, then that's one thing. if we're talking about a kind of thing that has never existed, and calling it AI, then i literally don't know what we're talking about.
February 18, 2026 at 3:33 PM
if we're talking about any kind of thing that has actually existed, that people have ever called AI in the past 70 or 80 years, then that's one thing. if we're talking about a kind of thing that has never existed, and calling it AI, then i literally don't know what we're talking about.
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
in retrospect, this probably warrants more. if we're going to criticize one another for a lack of imagination about AI, then we should be honest about the commonalities of disparate historical AI efforts. that isn't necessarily machine learning, but it does seem to include eg administrative violence
one of the issues with generative AI or any of the ML implementations that depend on massive datasets is that a couple of things get dragged along/implicated just to get off the ground:
- massively intensive resource usage
- data theft
- capital/political power mobilization to justify the expenses
- massively intensive resource usage
- data theft
- capital/political power mobilization to justify the expenses
February 18, 2026 at 3:33 PM
in retrospect, this probably warrants more. if we're going to criticize one another for a lack of imagination about AI, then we should be honest about the commonalities of disparate historical AI efforts. that isn't necessarily machine learning, but it does seem to include eg administrative violence
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
Wow it really can replace an intern
Seeing an amazing emergent behavior where a document review agent finds internal wiki pages about the struggles of getting LLMs to understand our esoteric internal systems. The agent then decides its won’t be able to do the current task and aborts with a depressive note about its incompetence.
February 18, 2026 at 2:57 PM
Wow it really can replace an intern
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
A new report finds that of 154 specific claims about how AI will benefit the climate, just a quarter cited academic research. A third included no evidence at all. www.wired.com/story/big-te...
Big Tech Says Generative AI Will Save the Planet. It Doesn't Offer Much Proof
A new report finds that of 154 specific claims about how AI will benefit the climate, just a quarter cited academic research. A third included no evidence at all.
www.wired.com
February 18, 2026 at 3:23 PM
A new report finds that of 154 specific claims about how AI will benefit the climate, just a quarter cited academic research. A third included no evidence at all. www.wired.com/story/big-te...
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
Nothing has made me feel more like the old man yelling at the cloud quite like "video podcast" as a concept.
Podcasts are audio! If it's a video podcast it's just a vlog!
Podcasts are audio! If it's a video podcast it's just a vlog!
February 18, 2026 at 3:30 PM
Nothing has made me feel more like the old man yelling at the cloud quite like "video podcast" as a concept.
Podcasts are audio! If it's a video podcast it's just a vlog!
Podcasts are audio! If it's a video podcast it's just a vlog!
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
Seeing guys claim that AI is *already* intelligent and capable of original thought really gives the game away. It’s not about waiting for the technology to miraculously become better, it’s about convincing you it’s something that it’s not
February 18, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Seeing guys claim that AI is *already* intelligent and capable of original thought really gives the game away. It’s not about waiting for the technology to miraculously become better, it’s about convincing you it’s something that it’s not
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
Otherwise, the task of Leftists isn't to argue about LLMs are "good" or not. It is to understand what workers are fighting for, to understand how the glut of synthetic information is undermining democracy, and to mitigate the harms when the house of cards the economy has been built upon falls.
February 18, 2026 at 11:18 AM
Otherwise, the task of Leftists isn't to argue about LLMs are "good" or not. It is to understand what workers are fighting for, to understand how the glut of synthetic information is undermining democracy, and to mitigate the harms when the house of cards the economy has been built upon falls.
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
As Brian puts it: "It fails to account for the fact that most of the dismissals of AI are not related to the technology, but AI’s political economy... Developed and sold by SV oligopolies, for the benefit of tech billionaires, with the intent of surveilling, deskilling, and eroding labor."
February 18, 2026 at 11:14 AM
As Brian puts it: "It fails to account for the fact that most of the dismissals of AI are not related to the technology, but AI’s political economy... Developed and sold by SV oligopolies, for the benefit of tech billionaires, with the intent of surveilling, deskilling, and eroding labor."
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
I would add that the "Left" discourse is a well-timed intervention by Anthropic-aligned EAs and that folks who are keen to trail that discourse should do the nominal digging into who published that article.
These folks were never "on the left".
These folks were never "on the left".
February 18, 2026 at 11:14 AM
I would add that the "Left" discourse is a well-timed intervention by Anthropic-aligned EAs and that folks who are keen to trail that discourse should do the nominal digging into who published that article.
These folks were never "on the left".
These folks were never "on the left".
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
A good response to the AI ~discourse~ by @bcmerchant.bsky.social. A few choice top-line quotes:
1. "We’re in the midst of another concerted, industry-led hype cycle, this time driven more visibly by Anthropic, which just landed a $30 billion investment round."
1. "We’re in the midst of another concerted, industry-led hype cycle, this time driven more visibly by Anthropic, which just landed a $30 billion investment round."
February 18, 2026 at 11:14 AM
A good response to the AI ~discourse~ by @bcmerchant.bsky.social. A few choice top-line quotes:
1. "We’re in the midst of another concerted, industry-led hype cycle, this time driven more visibly by Anthropic, which just landed a $30 billion investment round."
1. "We’re in the midst of another concerted, industry-led hype cycle, this time driven more visibly by Anthropic, which just landed a $30 billion investment round."
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
Not All Dog Owners, but also yeah the shitbergs are revolting
Dog owners seem to have taken January’s snowstorm as carte blanche to violate an already tenuous social contract: They have simply stopped picking up their pets’ waste. Now that the snow is melting, weeks’ worth of animal excrement is thawing out. Who's responsible for cleaning it up?
The Sidewalks Are Covered in Snow-Poop. Who’s Going to Clean It Up?
The ice is melting, but a secondary problem has emerged.
www.curbed.com
February 18, 2026 at 3:02 PM
Not All Dog Owners, but also yeah the shitbergs are revolting
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
I am not anti-technology. I have solar panels on my house, I drive an EV, I use heat pumps, I have benefitted from mRNA vaccines, I love my smart watch because it can track my workouts. What I hate is techlord assholes telling me I have to be their digital serf, lawmaker inaction that enables them.
February 18, 2026 at 2:57 PM
I am not anti-technology. I have solar panels on my house, I drive an EV, I use heat pumps, I have benefitted from mRNA vaccines, I love my smart watch because it can track my workouts. What I hate is techlord assholes telling me I have to be their digital serf, lawmaker inaction that enables them.
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
It’s annoying how Silicon Valley tech lords have swindled the public into associating “technology” with the surveillance and IP theft driven spyware they insist constitutes the real innovation economy. Their gadgets and LLMs pale in the face of mRNA vaccines, heat pumps, solar, wind power, EVs, etc
February 18, 2026 at 2:54 PM
It’s annoying how Silicon Valley tech lords have swindled the public into associating “technology” with the surveillance and IP theft driven spyware they insist constitutes the real innovation economy. Their gadgets and LLMs pale in the face of mRNA vaccines, heat pumps, solar, wind power, EVs, etc
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
as expected it's shaping up to be an all time day for people saying "i already knew that" to something they assumed to be true but didnt actually know to be true. maybe a record breaking day
February 18, 2026 at 2:57 PM
as expected it's shaping up to be an all time day for people saying "i already knew that" to something they assumed to be true but didnt actually know to be true. maybe a record breaking day
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
I talk to anyone about how Chinese photovoltaic cells are so cheap that they’re practically paying for themselves and that it’s a matter of moronic foreign policy that we can’t import them and make incredible gains in our clean energy grid
February 18, 2026 at 2:58 PM
I talk to anyone about how Chinese photovoltaic cells are so cheap that they’re practically paying for themselves and that it’s a matter of moronic foreign policy that we can’t import them and make incredible gains in our clean energy grid
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
the internet is a great place to spend 24+ hours seeing people engaging with some controversial document and then when you look at the document yourself it's an eight-year-old's blog where they wrote "if i swallowed a grape whole without chewing it could i poop it out and wash it and eat it again"
February 18, 2026 at 2:50 PM
the internet is a great place to spend 24+ hours seeing people engaging with some controversial document and then when you look at the document yourself it's an eight-year-old's blog where they wrote "if i swallowed a grape whole without chewing it could i poop it out and wash it and eat it again"
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
the denial of climate change, which happened purely out of willful, spontaneous ideology and had no political apparatus! the denial of climate change, which famously has destroyed the right's electoral credibility and given the left a permanent edge over them through their work in fighting it! yes
February 18, 2026 at 2:45 PM
the denial of climate change, which happened purely out of willful, spontaneous ideology and had no political apparatus! the denial of climate change, which famously has destroyed the right's electoral credibility and given the left a permanent edge over them through their work in fighting it! yes
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
"We're just going to do some stalking for cops who abuse their spouses" wait no don't write that down.
Scoop: Ring's CEO told staff Search Party is not going to be just for dogs, according to a leaked email I obtained. Said it is "first for finding dogs" before suggesting it would be expanded to be used for crime:
www.404media.co/leaked-email...
www.404media.co/leaked-email...
Leaked Email Suggests Ring Plans to Expand ‘Search Party’ Surveillance Beyond Dogs
Ring's CEO told staff the feature is “first for finding dogs,” indicating a plan to expand.
www.404media.co
February 18, 2026 at 2:46 PM
"We're just going to do some stalking for cops who abuse their spouses" wait no don't write that down.
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
My thoughts on how critical fully funded public libraries are to any Left political project in the U.S. open.substack.com/pub/prisoncu...
Mayor Mamdani Breaks His Promise to NYC Public Libraries
The Struggle Against Defunding Libraries Continues...
open.substack.com
February 18, 2026 at 2:32 PM
My thoughts on how critical fully funded public libraries are to any Left political project in the U.S. open.substack.com/pub/prisoncu...
Reposted by Joseph Kohlmann
