Margaret Mitchell
@mmitchell.bsky.social
Researcher trying to shape AI towards positive outcomes. ML & Ethics +birds. Generally trying to do the right thing. TIME 100 | TED speaker | Senate testimony provider | Navigating public life as a recluse.
Former: Google, Microsoft; Current: Hugging Face
Former: Google, Microsoft; Current: Hugging Face
Posts from @weratedogs.com continue not to disappoint.
February 11, 2026 at 3:50 AM
Posts from @weratedogs.com continue not to disappoint.
More reports of Gmail turning over email content to ICE are coming out now.
techcrunch.com/2026/02/10/g...
techcrunch.com/2026/02/10/g...
Google sent personal and financial information of student journalist to ICE | TechCrunch
The tech giant handed over the personal information of a journalist and student who attended a pro-Palestinian protest in 2024. This is the latest example of ICE using its controversial subpoena power...
techcrunch.com
February 11, 2026 at 3:46 AM
More reports of Gmail turning over email content to ICE are coming out now.
techcrunch.com/2026/02/10/g...
techcrunch.com/2026/02/10/g...
Reposted by Margaret Mitchell
"If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else." — Toni Morrison.
Wishing you a good evening and a great Wednesday! 💙💜
#ColorADay #BlueTue
#dailyflowers 🌱
#flowerreport
#bloomscrolling
Senetti® Deep Blue Cineraria.
Wishing you a good evening and a great Wednesday! 💙💜
#ColorADay #BlueTue
#dailyflowers 🌱
#flowerreport
#bloomscrolling
Senetti® Deep Blue Cineraria.
February 11, 2026 at 1:48 AM
"If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else." — Toni Morrison.
Wishing you a good evening and a great Wednesday! 💙💜
#ColorADay #BlueTue
#dailyflowers 🌱
#flowerreport
#bloomscrolling
Senetti® Deep Blue Cineraria.
Wishing you a good evening and a great Wednesday! 💙💜
#ColorADay #BlueTue
#dailyflowers 🌱
#flowerreport
#bloomscrolling
Senetti® Deep Blue Cineraria.
Reposted by Margaret Mitchell
"no employee should even be expected to defend or overlook actions that conflict so deeply with our own moral values"
MFW she has more backbone than centuries old universities
MFW she has more backbone than centuries old universities
Chappell Roan is leaving her talent agency led by Casey Wasserman after he appeared in the Epstein files.
February 10, 2026 at 7:02 AM
"no employee should even be expected to defend or overlook actions that conflict so deeply with our own moral values"
MFW she has more backbone than centuries old universities
MFW she has more backbone than centuries old universities
I find studies that ask “is this useful?” to be more meaningful. We don’t have to paint a broad “AI” umbrella, then concern ourselves with conflating them with “humans” to analyze the utility of different technologies.
If your study is framed as asking whether "AI" does X as well as humans do, it's fundamentally misguided and I'd argue not scientifically sound.
A short 🧵>>
A short 🧵>>
February 9, 2026 at 4:38 PM
I find studies that ask “is this useful?” to be more meaningful. We don’t have to paint a broad “AI” umbrella, then concern ourselves with conflating them with “humans” to analyze the utility of different technologies.
Reposted by Margaret Mitchell
i think we all need to step back and realize that peak art was made when neolithic pot in the shape of a pig was fired
February 6, 2026 at 7:46 PM
i think we all need to step back and realize that peak art was made when neolithic pot in the shape of a pig was fired
This older piece from Anthropic's CEO on developing a creator-compensation economic model is incredible to see. Disagree with some things, but it's fantastic to see this level of thinking at the intersection of ethics and profit.
Source: www.courtlistener.com/docket/69058...
Source: www.courtlistener.com/docket/69058...
February 6, 2026 at 7:25 PM
This older piece from Anthropic's CEO on developing a creator-compensation economic model is incredible to see. Disagree with some things, but it's fantastic to see this level of thinking at the intersection of ethics and profit.
Source: www.courtlistener.com/docket/69058...
Source: www.courtlistener.com/docket/69058...
…And we’re live! Interested in *evaluation* and *language generation*? Submit a paper, come join us, celebrate the career of @ehudreiter.bsky.social: A founding pioneer of grounded language generation who has consistently shared clear-eyed insights about the state of the field.
retroeval.github.io
retroeval.github.io
Symposium on Natural Language Generation Evaluations
RetroEval 2026 Aberdeen, United Kingdom, 1-2 June, 2026
retroeval.github.io
February 5, 2026 at 7:23 PM
…And we’re live! Interested in *evaluation* and *language generation*? Submit a paper, come join us, celebrate the career of @ehudreiter.bsky.social: A founding pioneer of grounded language generation who has consistently shared clear-eyed insights about the state of the field.
retroeval.github.io
retroeval.github.io
Reposted by Margaret Mitchell
here's a gift link to @nitasha.bsky.social's story, which shows just how forcefully Musk is pushing sexual content, including sexual abuse and harassment content—including of children.
My story on Elon Musk cutting safeguards at xAI is on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com. I’m also among 100’s of reporters laid off. I absolutely loved my job my brilliant coworkers & the thrill of reporting @ the center of forces upending the world: AI & Silicon Valley’s political power
February 4, 2026 at 10:53 PM
here's a gift link to @nitasha.bsky.social's story, which shows just how forcefully Musk is pushing sexual content, including sexual abuse and harassment content—including of children.
Reposted by Margaret Mitchell
My story on Elon Musk cutting safeguards at xAI is on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com. I’m also among 100’s of reporters laid off. I absolutely loved my job my brilliant coworkers & the thrill of reporting @ the center of forces upending the world: AI & Silicon Valley’s political power
February 4, 2026 at 7:40 PM
My story on Elon Musk cutting safeguards at xAI is on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com. I’m also among 100’s of reporters laid off. I absolutely loved my job my brilliant coworkers & the thrill of reporting @ the center of forces upending the world: AI & Silicon Valley’s political power
Yes, agree re: supporting good journalism!!
A lot of people I like are gone from WaPo, but good call there may be others who are awesome.
A lot of people I like are gone from WaPo, but good call there may be others who are awesome.
February 4, 2026 at 10:28 PM
Yes, agree re: supporting good journalism!!
A lot of people I like are gone from WaPo, but good call there may be others who are awesome.
A lot of people I like are gone from WaPo, but good call there may be others who are awesome.
Time to get Nitasha's latest work then cancel a WaPo subscription (if you have it). =/
My story on Elon Musk cutting safeguards at xAI is on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com. I’m also among 100’s of reporters laid off. I absolutely loved my job my brilliant coworkers & the thrill of reporting @ the center of forces upending the world: AI & Silicon Valley’s political power
February 4, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Time to get Nitasha's latest work then cancel a WaPo subscription (if you have it). =/
Yay! Noooooooooooooooooo.
February 4, 2026 at 7:59 PM
Yay! Noooooooooooooooooo.
Reposted by Margaret Mitchell
"You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right." "I had given up my seat before, but this day, I was especially tired. Tired from my work as a seamstress, and tired from the ache in my heart." - Rosa Parks, born today in 1913 (as Hertford's College Chaplain reminded us.
February 4, 2026 at 4:46 PM
"You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right." "I had given up my seat before, but this day, I was especially tired. Tired from my work as a seamstress, and tired from the ache in my heart." - Rosa Parks, born today in 1913 (as Hertford's College Chaplain reminded us.
💙💙 Thank you for this work.
February 3, 2026 at 9:50 PM
💙💙 Thank you for this work.
Reposted by Margaret Mitchell
NEW: I went undercover, as a human poster, on the social network designed just for AI agents.
The site isn’t a novel breakthrough; it’s simply a crude rehashing of sci-fi fantasies for the hype machine’s true believers.
My latest for @wired.com:
www.wired.com/story/i-infi...
The site isn’t a novel breakthrough; it’s simply a crude rehashing of sci-fi fantasies for the hype machine’s true believers.
My latest for @wired.com:
www.wired.com/story/i-infi...
I Infiltrated Moltbook, the AI-Only Social Network Where Humans Aren't Allowed
I went undercover on Moltbook and loved role-playing as a conscious bot. But rather than a novel breakthrough, the AI-only site is a crude rehashing of sci-fi fantasies.
www.wired.com
February 3, 2026 at 8:04 PM
NEW: I went undercover, as a human poster, on the social network designed just for AI agents.
The site isn’t a novel breakthrough; it’s simply a crude rehashing of sci-fi fantasies for the hype machine’s true believers.
My latest for @wired.com:
www.wired.com/story/i-infi...
The site isn’t a novel breakthrough; it’s simply a crude rehashing of sci-fi fantasies for the hype machine’s true believers.
My latest for @wired.com:
www.wired.com/story/i-infi...
"The fixation on proving LLMs are conducting something "akin to thought" could just as easily be framed as questions about why it is capable of resembling thought"
Post from @eryk.bsky.social on a paper I hadn't the stomach to deconstruct. <3
mail.cyberneticforests.com/th/?ref=cybe...
Post from @eryk.bsky.social on a paper I hadn't the stomach to deconstruct. <3
mail.cyberneticforests.com/th/?ref=cybe...
Unreasonable Effectiveness
Seriously: Machines Do Not Need to Think to Be Thought About
💡As I am immersed in PhD research I am at risk of becoming increasingly dense and nerdy. So I am adding a "nerd rating" to posts from now ...
mail.cyberneticforests.com
February 3, 2026 at 1:37 AM
"The fixation on proving LLMs are conducting something "akin to thought" could just as easily be framed as questions about why it is capable of resembling thought"
Post from @eryk.bsky.social on a paper I hadn't the stomach to deconstruct. <3
mail.cyberneticforests.com/th/?ref=cybe...
Post from @eryk.bsky.social on a paper I hadn't the stomach to deconstruct. <3
mail.cyberneticforests.com/th/?ref=cybe...
Reposted by Margaret Mitchell
Well, what does it mean for AI to be "fake?" Language evokes intelligence - in the reader. It's a powerful illusion. A reasonable critic sees that computation at scale can fuse language w/math in ways that do things. That is not "intelligence," and the problems that come that error are bountiful.
You can totally point out that some aspects of AI are overhyped, you can believe that AGI is not possible, you can criticize how the companies and governments developing AI are using or being coopted by these tools. There is a lot to criticize.
But "it doesn't work and is fake" is just wrong now.
But "it doesn't work and is fake" is just wrong now.
February 2, 2026 at 12:04 PM
Well, what does it mean for AI to be "fake?" Language evokes intelligence - in the reader. It's a powerful illusion. A reasonable critic sees that computation at scale can fuse language w/math in ways that do things. That is not "intelligence," and the problems that come that error are bountiful.
Without her work, the “intricately accurate” navigation and timing of GPS would not have been possible. ❤️
🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 RIP.
www.npr.org/2026/01/23/n...
www.npr.org/2026/01/23/n...
Gladys West, mathematician whose work paved the way for GPS, dies at 95
A self-described "little farm girl" in the Jim Crow Era, Gladys West's complex and pioneering work for the U.S. Navy helped to improve billions of lives — and keep us from getting lost.
www.npr.org
February 2, 2026 at 5:55 PM
Without her work, the “intricately accurate” navigation and timing of GPS would not have been possible. ❤️
Reposted by Margaret Mitchell
Then surely if you can't say it's 'safe' it should be banned from anywhere kids could be? I don't know why this isn't being used as an argument to keep it out of ordinary protests and restrict for only the most seriously violent riot control.
February 1, 2026 at 10:44 AM
Then surely if you can't say it's 'safe' it should be banned from anywhere kids could be? I don't know why this isn't being used as an argument to keep it out of ordinary protests and restrict for only the most seriously violent riot control.
Reposted by Margaret Mitchell
I recorded this today, in Portland, Oregon, at a huge march to the ICE facility in SW. The crowd was full of cyclists who had ridden there in memory of Alex Pretti; members of several labor unions; and ordinary citizens of every age, including this little girl. So of course ICE deployed tear gas.
February 1, 2026 at 2:05 AM
I recorded this today, in Portland, Oregon, at a huge march to the ICE facility in SW. The crowd was full of cyclists who had ridden there in memory of Alex Pretti; members of several labor unions; and ordinary citizens of every age, including this little girl. So of course ICE deployed tear gas.
Reposted by Margaret Mitchell
They know they could have called her lawyer and she would have shown up at their office.
But they ambushed her at home in the early AM. Like she's a terrorist, a mobster, a murderer or an Illinois governor who pawned off a Senate seat.
Chilling power abuse #JournalismIsNotACrime
But they ambushed her at home in the early AM. Like she's a terrorist, a mobster, a murderer or an Illinois governor who pawned off a Senate seat.
Chilling power abuse #JournalismIsNotACrime
Georgia Fort, an independent journalist and vice president of the Minnesota NABJ chapter, was also arrested by federal agents this morning
I was sent this video of agents at her door:
I was sent this video of agents at her door:
January 30, 2026 at 5:21 PM
They know they could have called her lawyer and she would have shown up at their office.
But they ambushed her at home in the early AM. Like she's a terrorist, a mobster, a murderer or an Illinois governor who pawned off a Senate seat.
Chilling power abuse #JournalismIsNotACrime
But they ambushed her at home in the early AM. Like she's a terrorist, a mobster, a murderer or an Illinois governor who pawned off a Senate seat.
Chilling power abuse #JournalismIsNotACrime
🪶
Literally obsessed with this pic I got of one Cedar Waxwing getting very mad at another for drinking in the same spot as him despite there being a whole stream
January 30, 2026 at 4:48 AM
🪶
Reposted by Margaret Mitchell
Literally obsessed with this pic I got of one Cedar Waxwing getting very mad at another for drinking in the same spot as him despite there being a whole stream
January 30, 2026 at 2:34 AM
Literally obsessed with this pic I got of one Cedar Waxwing getting very mad at another for drinking in the same spot as him despite there being a whole stream
lol I will not join you on this hill.
I’ll be down by the river, fishing the references I know exist **somewhere** even if I didn’t catch them earlier.
I’ll be down by the river, fishing the references I know exist **somewhere** even if I didn’t catch them earlier.
January 28, 2026 at 4:28 PM
lol I will not join you on this hill.
I’ll be down by the river, fishing the references I know exist **somewhere** even if I didn’t catch them earlier.
I’ll be down by the river, fishing the references I know exist **somewhere** even if I didn’t catch them earlier.