Luke Stark
@lukestark.bsky.social
🏳️🌈 just a simple country AI ethicist | Assistant Professor, Western University 🇨🇦 | he/his/him | | no all-male panels |#BLM | 🏳️⚧️ ally | views my own
https://starkcontrast.co/
https://starlingcentre.ca/
https://starkcontrast.co/
https://starlingcentre.ca/
Pinned
Battle Hymn Of The Republic
YouTube video by Joan Baez - Topic
m.youtube.com
The Union anthem has always been understood as a call to freedom and against tyranny
m.youtube.com/watch?v=v4N2...
m.youtube.com/watch?v=v4N2...
Reposted by Luke Stark
trump's ability to commit astonishing, unprecedented crimes in full public view was self-sustaining: the failure of anyone to impose consequences was a demonstration of his impunity and convinced amoral pragmatists he must be accommodated
but if a few guys go "hm, seems risky to help," uh oh
but if a few guys go "hm, seems risky to help," uh oh
November 30, 2025 at 1:41 AM
trump's ability to commit astonishing, unprecedented crimes in full public view was self-sustaining: the failure of anyone to impose consequences was a demonstration of his impunity and convinced amoral pragmatists he must be accommodated
but if a few guys go "hm, seems risky to help," uh oh
but if a few guys go "hm, seems risky to help," uh oh
Reposted by Luke Stark
my “AI is over” anecdote is that my wife was hired over the summer to write scripts for a big tech company explaining how to use their AI tools and after many rounds of revisions, the latest notes said “we’re finding a lot of AI fatigue among our users” and to remove all references to AI
Anecdotally on twitter seeing a big shift the last few days from every AI slop account saying every other creative field is “over” and they’re in control now to now posting about how nobody likes them and it’s not fair and they’ll persevere and real artists respect and uplift eachother
November 30, 2025 at 12:27 AM
my “AI is over” anecdote is that my wife was hired over the summer to write scripts for a big tech company explaining how to use their AI tools and after many rounds of revisions, the latest notes said “we’re finding a lot of AI fatigue among our users” and to remove all references to AI
Reposted by Luke Stark
Relatedly, the real problem with any theory of change right now, whether that’s improving media or stopping tech harms or saving unis, is that the people in charge of making decisions at almost every institution or function in society do not give a damn and in fact want to be a part of the problem.
November 30, 2025 at 1:20 AM
Relatedly, the real problem with any theory of change right now, whether that’s improving media or stopping tech harms or saving unis, is that the people in charge of making decisions at almost every institution or function in society do not give a damn and in fact want to be a part of the problem.
Reposted by Luke Stark
Ahhhh it’s not as if people haven’t been yelling this at journalists for the last seven years
November 30, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Ahhhh it’s not as if people haven’t been yelling this at journalists for the last seven years
Reposted by Luke Stark
Really makes one wonder why certain institutions seem determined to hop on the bandwagon.
Three years into the generative-AI wave, demand for the technology seems surprisingly flimsy
Investors expect AI use to soar. That’s not happening
Recent surveys point to flatlining business adoption
econ.st
November 30, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Really makes one wonder why certain institutions seem determined to hop on the bandwagon.
Folks behind me in the movie concession line here in southwestern Ontario decrying war crimes by Hegseth and Trump's pardon of Honduran ex-President.
November 29, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Folks behind me in the movie concession line here in southwestern Ontario decrying war crimes by Hegseth and Trump's pardon of Honduran ex-President.
Reposted by Luke Stark
A great essay on why close reading is a more radical methodology than most people think and why university managers don’t like those of us who teach it!
I wrote an essay for @bostonreview.bsky.social about what I learned about close reading when I taught at West Virginia University
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
The Claims of Close Reading - Boston Review
Literary studies have been starved by austerity, but their core methodology remains radical.
www.bostonreview.net
November 29, 2025 at 7:55 PM
A great essay on why close reading is a more radical methodology than most people think and why university managers don’t like those of us who teach it!
Reposted by Luke Stark
A decade ago, a book agent reached out to see if I had thought of writing one. I pitched something, very rough, called "Under Insurgent Skies" which would trace non-state airforces from the dawn of human flight up until the then-expected proliferation of commercial drones as military tools. Ah, well
Suddenly, drones.
@economist.com on drone use by Colombian armed groups
www.economist.com/the-americas...
@economist.com on drone use by Colombian armed groups
www.economist.com/the-americas...
November 29, 2025 at 8:29 PM
A decade ago, a book agent reached out to see if I had thought of writing one. I pitched something, very rough, called "Under Insurgent Skies" which would trace non-state airforces from the dawn of human flight up until the then-expected proliferation of commercial drones as military tools. Ah, well
Reposted by Luke Stark
The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
Bookselling is like the most "people go to the store and buy what looks cool to them without a particular agenda" type business left, and your purchases have a huge influence on what is ordered, what is displayed, and what is recommended.
November 29, 2025 at 6:44 PM
The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
Reposted by Luke Stark
Do not blame institutions, which are many things to many people.
Do not blame the people who work there, who have little real say and are universally staunchly opposed. (Very often students too.)
Instead:
Blame leadership.
Blame alumni with fingers on scales.
Blame the media for normalizing.
Do not blame the people who work there, who have little real say and are universally staunchly opposed. (Very often students too.)
Instead:
Blame leadership.
Blame alumni with fingers on scales.
Blame the media for normalizing.
November 29, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Do not blame institutions, which are many things to many people.
Do not blame the people who work there, who have little real say and are universally staunchly opposed. (Very often students too.)
Instead:
Blame leadership.
Blame alumni with fingers on scales.
Blame the media for normalizing.
Do not blame the people who work there, who have little real say and are universally staunchly opposed. (Very often students too.)
Instead:
Blame leadership.
Blame alumni with fingers on scales.
Blame the media for normalizing.
Reposted by Luke Stark
I especially feel this when sociologists who study technology do this.
Y'all are supposed to take sociotechnical approaches to the study of technology. A throwaway AI-generated image does not help that credibility.
Y'all are supposed to take sociotechnical approaches to the study of technology. A throwaway AI-generated image does not help that credibility.
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
November 29, 2025 at 5:54 PM
I especially feel this when sociologists who study technology do this.
Y'all are supposed to take sociotechnical approaches to the study of technology. A throwaway AI-generated image does not help that credibility.
Y'all are supposed to take sociotechnical approaches to the study of technology. A throwaway AI-generated image does not help that credibility.
Reposted by Luke Stark
‘Carney doesn’t actually want a pipeline or think one will get built, he’s just a duplicitous weasel’ is not the defence you think it is.
November 29, 2025 at 5:58 PM
‘Carney doesn’t actually want a pipeline or think one will get built, he’s just a duplicitous weasel’ is not the defence you think it is.
Reposted by Luke Stark
Canada needs money so desperately the government is going after low income people who took pandemic benefits in good faith.
But it doesn't need money desperately enough to keep the luxury tax on yachts, or the slightly higher tax rate on capital gains Carney cancelled.
But it doesn't need money desperately enough to keep the luxury tax on yachts, or the slightly higher tax rate on capital gains Carney cancelled.
Canadians fight back as CRA cracks down on pandemic benefit recipients
Federal Court swamped as Canada Revenue Agency allegedly targets thousands of low-income Canadians over pandemic benefit errors
www.biv.com
November 29, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Canada needs money so desperately the government is going after low income people who took pandemic benefits in good faith.
But it doesn't need money desperately enough to keep the luxury tax on yachts, or the slightly higher tax rate on capital gains Carney cancelled.
But it doesn't need money desperately enough to keep the luxury tax on yachts, or the slightly higher tax rate on capital gains Carney cancelled.
Reposted by Luke Stark
it's interesting because right wingers won't shut up about triggering the libs, liberal tears, etc etc but on a deep level what they want isn't for us to be angry, what they want is for us to apologize and admit they were right all along
Like 30% of the country is absolutely enraged because they thought they were going to be able to be utter shitbirds without anyone being allowed to call them shitbirds, but here we are, calling them shitbirds.
November 29, 2025 at 6:26 PM
it's interesting because right wingers won't shut up about triggering the libs, liberal tears, etc etc but on a deep level what they want isn't for us to be angry, what they want is for us to apologize and admit they were right all along
Reposted by Luke Stark
Stoppard's stage directions for the desk clutter in Arcadia lives rent free in my head. A playwright and director who truly understood all parts of a theatre production working together to make magic. Rest in peace.
November 29, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Stoppard's stage directions for the desk clutter in Arcadia lives rent free in my head. A playwright and director who truly understood all parts of a theatre production working together to make magic. Rest in peace.
Reposted by Luke Stark
Something that often gets overlooked in the discussion of university politics is just how devoted upper admin are to union busting. This extends to almost any form of unsanctioned faculty and staff solidarity/organizing. When we were mobilizing support for BDS last year, the fear of reprisal was...
November 29, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Something that often gets overlooked in the discussion of university politics is just how devoted upper admin are to union busting. This extends to almost any form of unsanctioned faculty and staff solidarity/organizing. When we were mobilizing support for BDS last year, the fear of reprisal was...
Reposted by Luke Stark
part of the reason i am genuinely irritated with the gAI/AGI cult is because there is real societal benefits in using ML techniques in medical care + weather analysis, and instead people get annoyed with anything that gets lumped in with the plagiarism machine
November 29, 2025 at 5:43 PM
part of the reason i am genuinely irritated with the gAI/AGI cult is because there is real societal benefits in using ML techniques in medical care + weather analysis, and instead people get annoyed with anything that gets lumped in with the plagiarism machine
Reposted by Luke Stark
One is that teaching university students *well* requires much more work (and frankly, compassion) now than it did when I started nine years ago. 2/
November 29, 2025 at 4:20 PM
One is that teaching university students *well* requires much more work (and frankly, compassion) now than it did when I started nine years ago. 2/
Reposted by Luke Stark
Enter generative AI in general and ChatGPT in particular. If your idea of learning is scrolling through content and perhaps shuffling it around a little before submitting it back online for your credential, it must seem like a kind of liquid-metal coursework Terminator. Why *wouldn’t* it appeal?
November 29, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Enter generative AI in general and ChatGPT in particular. If your idea of learning is scrolling through content and perhaps shuffling it around a little before submitting it back online for your credential, it must seem like a kind of liquid-metal coursework Terminator. Why *wouldn’t* it appeal?
Reposted by Luke Stark
I think back of all of it is credentialism, the idea that the degree and the GPA are the point, the insistence on the shortest path to both for market reasons; at the upper end university is a Student Experience and at the lower end it certifies you for data entry. This corrodes the desire to learn.
November 29, 2025 at 2:55 PM
I think back of all of it is credentialism, the idea that the degree and the GPA are the point, the insistence on the shortest path to both for market reasons; at the upper end university is a Student Experience and at the lower end it certifies you for data entry. This corrodes the desire to learn.
Reposted by Luke Stark
Do CEOs know how much this says about their work specifically
A study by Dayforce shows 87% of executives use AI for work, compared to 57% of managers and just 27% of employees.
I think this explains the massive disconnect we see in how CEOs talk about AI versus everyone else. It also raises the question of how useful it truly is for frontline work?
I think this explains the massive disconnect we see in how CEOs talk about AI versus everyone else. It also raises the question of how useful it truly is for frontline work?
Execs are embracing AI more than their employees are, new research suggests
Research from HR software company Dayforce suggests that executives are leaning into AI far more than their employees.
www.businessinsider.com
November 29, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Do CEOs know how much this says about their work specifically
Reposted by Luke Stark
This gets at the fundamentally flawed approach of the federal government: they are trying to find a policy solution to an identity problem.
It is part of the polarized, populist identity to be opposed to an Ottawa and Liberal Canada are not them. No policy will change that, as TMX revealed.
It is part of the polarized, populist identity to be opposed to an Ottawa and Liberal Canada are not them. No policy will change that, as TMX revealed.
Danielle Smith gets booed at UCP convention after mentioning working with Canada
November 29, 2025 at 4:32 PM
This gets at the fundamentally flawed approach of the federal government: they are trying to find a policy solution to an identity problem.
It is part of the polarized, populist identity to be opposed to an Ottawa and Liberal Canada are not them. No policy will change that, as TMX revealed.
It is part of the polarized, populist identity to be opposed to an Ottawa and Liberal Canada are not them. No policy will change that, as TMX revealed.
Reposted by Luke Stark
As someone who was pretty ADHD before it was cool, what you’re describing here is ADHD. Like this kind of how I did the first two years of college before finding something (history) that absolutely seized my attention.
Why is everyone constantly acting like they have ADHD? WHY INDEED?
Why is everyone constantly acting like they have ADHD? WHY INDEED?
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 4:04 PM
As someone who was pretty ADHD before it was cool, what you’re describing here is ADHD. Like this kind of how I did the first two years of college before finding something (history) that absolutely seized my attention.
Why is everyone constantly acting like they have ADHD? WHY INDEED?
Why is everyone constantly acting like they have ADHD? WHY INDEED?
Reposted by Luke Stark
BREAKING: The majority of executives and upper management are totally talentless hacks.
A study by Dayforce shows 87% of executives use AI for work, compared to 57% of managers and just 27% of employees.
I think this explains the massive disconnect we see in how CEOs talk about AI versus everyone else. It also raises the question of how useful it truly is for frontline work?
I think this explains the massive disconnect we see in how CEOs talk about AI versus everyone else. It also raises the question of how useful it truly is for frontline work?
Execs are embracing AI more than their employees are, new research suggests
Research from HR software company Dayforce suggests that executives are leaning into AI far more than their employees.
www.businessinsider.com
November 29, 2025 at 3:51 PM
BREAKING: The majority of executives and upper management are totally talentless hacks.