Hamish van der Ven
@profhvdv.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Sustainable Business Mgmt
@forestry.ubc.ca. Interested in tech/business/environment. Here rarely. Outside often.
@forestry.ubc.ca. Interested in tech/business/environment. Here rarely. Outside often.
Pinned
Does artificial intelligence bias perceptions of environmental challenges? - IOPscienceSearch
Does artificial intelligence bias perceptions of environmental challenges?, Hamish van der Ven, Diego Corry, Rawie Elnur, Viola Jasmine Provost, Muh Syukron, Niklas Tappauf
doi.org
❗New OA paper❗Does artificial intelligence bias perceptions of environmental challenges?
We find systematic biases in chatbot responses to questions about the causes, consequences, and solutions to environmental challenges.
doi.org/10.1088/1748...
We find systematic biases in chatbot responses to questions about the causes, consequences, and solutions to environmental challenges.
doi.org/10.1088/1748...
Reposted by Hamish van der Ven
Finally something on this argument current and future school teachers keep throwing at me - no, underserved groups are not currently or ever going to benefit from LLMs.
They love to say it's a way to help underserved groups of children too. Extra scary.
Forbes, S. H. & Guest, O. (2025). To Improve Literacy, Improve Equality in Education, Not Large Language Models. Cognitive Science. doi.org/10.1111/cogs...
PDF: philpapers.org/archive/FORT...
Forbes, S. H. & Guest, O. (2025). To Improve Literacy, Improve Equality in Education, Not Large Language Models. Cognitive Science. doi.org/10.1111/cogs...
PDF: philpapers.org/archive/FORT...
To Improve Literacy, Improve Equality in Education, Not Large Language Models
Huettig and Christiansen in an earlier issue argue that large language models (LLMs) are beneficial to address declining cognitive skills, such as literacy, through combating imbalances in educationa....
doi.org
November 23, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Finally something on this argument current and future school teachers keep throwing at me - no, underserved groups are not currently or ever going to benefit from LLMs.
Reposted by Hamish van der Ven
Resisting GenAI and Big Tech in Higher Education - Tuesday 25th Nov, free registration, great panel, big focus on climate justice. Register here: lmula.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
November 21, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Resisting GenAI and Big Tech in Higher Education - Tuesday 25th Nov, free registration, great panel, big focus on climate justice. Register here: lmula.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Reposted by Hamish van der Ven
I awoke to the headline this morning that Ottawa and Alberta are reportedly “close” to a deal that includes a new heavy oil pipeline to the northwest coast of BC…
It feels timely to share that my book is out now with UBC Press, available open access
www.ubcpress.ca/mega-pipelin...
It feels timely to share that my book is out now with UBC Press, available open access
www.ubcpress.ca/mega-pipelin...
Mega Pipelines, Mega Resistance
Mega Pipelines, Mega Resistance - Tar Sands, Social Movements, and the Politics of Energy Infrastructure; Mega Pipelines, Mega Resistance reveals how and why social movements have frustrated major pip...
www.ubcpress.ca
November 19, 2025 at 5:32 PM
I awoke to the headline this morning that Ottawa and Alberta are reportedly “close” to a deal that includes a new heavy oil pipeline to the northwest coast of BC…
It feels timely to share that my book is out now with UBC Press, available open access
www.ubcpress.ca/mega-pipelin...
It feels timely to share that my book is out now with UBC Press, available open access
www.ubcpress.ca/mega-pipelin...
Reposted by Hamish van der Ven
💬 Reminder to save your spot for "AI and the Politics of Extraction" at UBC's Centre for Climate Justice. I'm on a panel moderated by Carol Liao, and we will be discussing the complex political and legal issues raised by AI-enabled resource extraction.
🗓️Nov. 20
🕰️2-3:30pm
📍In-Person & Zoom
🗓️Nov. 20
🕰️2-3:30pm
📍In-Person & Zoom
UBC
climatejustice.ubc.ca
November 17, 2025 at 12:02 AM
💬 Reminder to save your spot for "AI and the Politics of Extraction" at UBC's Centre for Climate Justice. I'm on a panel moderated by Carol Liao, and we will be discussing the complex political and legal issues raised by AI-enabled resource extraction.
🗓️Nov. 20
🕰️2-3:30pm
📍In-Person & Zoom
🗓️Nov. 20
🕰️2-3:30pm
📍In-Person & Zoom
Reposted by Hamish van der Ven
Can the world quit #coal?
#COP30 #energy #ActOnClimate #Brazil #China #India
@matpaterson.bsky.social @leahstokes.bsky.social
theconversation.com/can-the-worl...
#COP30 #energy #ActOnClimate #Brazil #China #India
@matpaterson.bsky.social @leahstokes.bsky.social
theconversation.com/can-the-worl...
Can the world quit coal?
Nearly a third of all countries worldwide have pledged to phase out their unabated coal-burning power. But China and India are still adding coal plants – for now.
theconversation.com
November 14, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Reposted by Hamish van der Ven
Whoever said that digital tech is neither bad nor good, just depends on how you use it, should read this article.
www.404media.co/google-has-c...
www.404media.co/google-has-c...
Google Has Chosen a Side in Trump's Mass Deportation Effort
Google is hosting a CBP app that uses facial recognition to identify immigrants, while simultaneously removing apps that report the location of ICE officials because Google sees ICE as a vulnerable gr...
www.404media.co
November 13, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Whoever said that digital tech is neither bad nor good, just depends on how you use it, should read this article.
www.404media.co/google-has-c...
www.404media.co/google-has-c...
November 5, 2025 at 8:24 PM
I believe this is what those in the biz call a 'flywheel.' Basis for a paper?
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/t...
November 3, 2025 at 11:03 PM
I believe this is what those in the biz call a 'flywheel.' Basis for a paper?
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/t...
Do you find the environmental polycrisis spooky? 👻 🎃 You're not alone. Check out my latest article with Peter Dauvergne: Surging Eco-Anxiety: Consequences for Global Environmental Politics. Our conclusions will haaaaaauunt you. 🧛 👿
doi.org/10.1162/GLEP...
doi.org/10.1162/GLEP...
Surging Eco-Anxiety: Consequences for Global Environmental Politics
Abstract. Eco-anxiety is surging as environmental crises escalate. As the ecopsychology literature reveals, the effects and intensity of eco-anxiety vary across cultures, circumstances, and personalit...
doi.org
October 31, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Do you find the environmental polycrisis spooky? 👻 🎃 You're not alone. Check out my latest article with Peter Dauvergne: Surging Eco-Anxiety: Consequences for Global Environmental Politics. Our conclusions will haaaaaauunt you. 🧛 👿
doi.org/10.1162/GLEP...
doi.org/10.1162/GLEP...
Reposted by Hamish van der Ven
Pretends to be shocked
www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...
www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...
October 23, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Pretends to be shocked
www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...
www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...
Reposted by Hamish van der Ven
“AI will help us solve climate change”
October 16, 2025 at 1:13 PM
“AI will help us solve climate change”
Reposted by Hamish van der Ven
Great business model! They have to turn a profit somewhere, right? Get the audience (of lonely and poorly socialized males) addicted on an investor-subsidized product (of personalized porn) and then, slowly but inevitably, turn up the cost.
Sam Altman says ChatGPT will soon sext with verified adults
Sam Altman says ChatGPT will soon sext with verified adults
ChatGPT is about to get flirty.
buff.ly
October 14, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Great business model! They have to turn a profit somewhere, right? Get the audience (of lonely and poorly socialized males) addicted on an investor-subsidized product (of personalized porn) and then, slowly but inevitably, turn up the cost.
Reposted by Hamish van der Ven
Proposals to build data centers are facing growing opposition across the country.
Local leaders are weighing concerns about data centers’ water and electricity use with the hefty community investments that developers often offer to sweeten their deals.
Local leaders are weighing concerns about data centers’ water and electricity use with the hefty community investments that developers often offer to sweeten their deals.
Towns are saying no to AI data centers. One got sued over it.
A developer sued a Michigan township after it voted against a data center proposal. Cities in Ohio and Missouri have explored data center bans.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 13, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Proposals to build data centers are facing growing opposition across the country.
Local leaders are weighing concerns about data centers’ water and electricity use with the hefty community investments that developers often offer to sweeten their deals.
Local leaders are weighing concerns about data centers’ water and electricity use with the hefty community investments that developers often offer to sweeten their deals.
Nice to be interviewed by CBC's The House. Catch me talking about the environmental impacts of AI around minute 30 here:
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/t...
Will AI make or break Canada?
Podcast Episode · The House · 2025-10-11 · 49m
podcasts.apple.com
October 11, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Nice to be interviewed by CBC's The House. Catch me talking about the environmental impacts of AI around minute 30 here:
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/t...
Reposted by Hamish van der Ven
I saw the dot coms crash from a front row seat. AI is running out of money way faster.
The evangelism is insecurity from people who made the wrong bet. I’ve seen it before. futurism.com/future-socie...
The evangelism is insecurity from people who made the wrong bet. I’ve seen it before. futurism.com/future-socie...
AI Data Centers Are an Even Bigger Disaster Than Previously Thought
An investment manager realized he made a crucial mistake — and that his grim prediction about AI investments may not have been cynical enough.
futurism.com
October 11, 2025 at 6:46 AM
I saw the dot coms crash from a front row seat. AI is running out of money way faster.
The evangelism is insecurity from people who made the wrong bet. I’ve seen it before. futurism.com/future-socie...
The evangelism is insecurity from people who made the wrong bet. I’ve seen it before. futurism.com/future-socie...
Reposted by Hamish van der Ven
David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)
October 9, 2025 at 4:42 AM
David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)
Reposted by Hamish van der Ven
🚨🚨Conference Alert! Abstract Submissions Due Soon!🚨🚨 “Globalizing Political Economy: Launching the Global Political Economy Network", Happening July 2026, University of British Columbia. Open to all Topics Within a GPE Framework. Lots of Travel Funding Available. Details: tinyurl.com/2nv8st73
Climate & Society Lab - Call for Papers: Globalizing Political Economy
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
July 21 – July 23, 2026
With financial support from the World Society Foundation (Zurich, Switzerland) and the Climate & Society Lab at the Universi...
tinyurl.com
October 9, 2025 at 5:14 AM
🚨🚨Conference Alert! Abstract Submissions Due Soon!🚨🚨 “Globalizing Political Economy: Launching the Global Political Economy Network", Happening July 2026, University of British Columbia. Open to all Topics Within a GPE Framework. Lots of Travel Funding Available. Details: tinyurl.com/2nv8st73
Reposted by Hamish van der Ven
—>the report estimated that emerging technologies "could destroy nearly 100 million U.S. jobs in a decade," replacing 47 percent of truck drivers, 64 percent of accountants and 89 percent of fast food and counter workers.
AI could ‘destroy nearly 100 million jobs,’ Senate report finds
The report identified 20 jobs at significant risk from AI, 15 of which could see more than half of their positions replaced.
www.newsweek.com
October 8, 2025 at 4:47 PM
—>the report estimated that emerging technologies "could destroy nearly 100 million U.S. jobs in a decade," replacing 47 percent of truck drivers, 64 percent of accountants and 89 percent of fast food and counter workers.
Reposted by Hamish van der Ven
Newsletter: This is The Case Against Generative AI, a comprehensive analysis of a financial collapse built on myths I’ll dispel, the markets’ unhealthy obsession with NVIDIA's growth, and the fact that there is not enough money in the world to fund OpenAI.
www.wheresyoured.at/the-case-aga...
www.wheresyoured.at/the-case-aga...
The Case Against Generative AI
Soundtrack: Queens of the Stone Age - First It Giveth
Before we go any further: This is, for the third time this year, the longest newsletter I've ever written, weighing in somewhere around 18,500 wo...
www.wheresyoured.at
September 29, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Newsletter: This is The Case Against Generative AI, a comprehensive analysis of a financial collapse built on myths I’ll dispel, the markets’ unhealthy obsession with NVIDIA's growth, and the fact that there is not enough money in the world to fund OpenAI.
www.wheresyoured.at/the-case-aga...
www.wheresyoured.at/the-case-aga...
For those looking for ways to push back against the blind adoption of AI in universities, I recommend this piece: zenodo.org/records/1706...
Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia
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 col...
zenodo.org
September 28, 2025 at 5:19 PM
For those looking for ways to push back against the blind adoption of AI in universities, I recommend this piece: zenodo.org/records/1706...
Reposted by Hamish van der Ven
🚨 New paper: Will global environmental governance survive Trump?
@rakhyunkim.bsky.social and I argue that its high complexity makes it more resilient than other governance systems. We give hegemonic stability theory a complexity science twist.
📖 Open Access: doi.org/10.1111/1758...
@rakhyunkim.bsky.social and I argue that its high complexity makes it more resilient than other governance systems. We give hegemonic stability theory a complexity science twist.
📖 Open Access: doi.org/10.1111/1758...
Too Complex to Fail: The Stability of Global Environmental Governance Beyond Hegemony
The recent US disengagement from global governance has revived concerns—first theorized in the 1970s and 1980s—about the vulnerability of international institutions to hegemonic decline. While these ...
doi.org
September 26, 2025 at 11:31 AM
🚨 New paper: Will global environmental governance survive Trump?
@rakhyunkim.bsky.social and I argue that its high complexity makes it more resilient than other governance systems. We give hegemonic stability theory a complexity science twist.
📖 Open Access: doi.org/10.1111/1758...
@rakhyunkim.bsky.social and I argue that its high complexity makes it more resilient than other governance systems. We give hegemonic stability theory a complexity science twist.
📖 Open Access: doi.org/10.1111/1758...
Reposted by Hamish van der Ven
Lmaooooooo
Education report calling for ethical AI use contains over 15 fake sources
Experts find fake sources in Canadian government report that took 18 months to complete.
arstechnica.com
September 23, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Lmaooooooo
Reposted by Hamish van der Ven
This is very generous and a nice writeup of some of the tech critical media crowd, including yours truly
Got a new piece in @goodtape.com on some of the best journos & podcasters covering AI right now: like @bcmerchant.bsky.social @parismarx.com @404media.co @edzitron.com & more. Check it ouuuut....
Nobody Wants the Future Anymore
As AI comes for podcasting (and everything else), humans are equipping listeners with research, nuance, and ways to fight back.
share.google
September 24, 2025 at 9:21 PM
This is very generous and a nice writeup of some of the tech critical media crowd, including yours truly
Reposted by Hamish van der Ven
Social media was once positioned as the great connecting force that would improve our world. If it ever did that, it certainly isn’t now.
We must rein in these platforms, and deceptive narratives aimed at stopped regulation isn’t helping. Age restrictions are an experiment worth trying.
We must rein in these platforms, and deceptive narratives aimed at stopped regulation isn’t helping. Age restrictions are an experiment worth trying.
Social media causes more harm than good
We need to stop falling for anti-regulation hysteria if we’re to get control of digital harms
disconnect.blog
September 19, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Social media was once positioned as the great connecting force that would improve our world. If it ever did that, it certainly isn’t now.
We must rein in these platforms, and deceptive narratives aimed at stopped regulation isn’t helping. Age restrictions are an experiment worth trying.
We must rein in these platforms, and deceptive narratives aimed at stopped regulation isn’t helping. Age restrictions are an experiment worth trying.
Reposted by Hamish van der Ven
This article from @bryancurtis.bsky.social is bang on. Institutions bowing to Trump doesn't work. It only stokes a positive feedback loop based largely on a false perception of strength and inevitability.
www.theringer.com/2025/09/19/p...
www.theringer.com/2025/09/19/p...
September 19, 2025 at 3:39 PM
This article from @bryancurtis.bsky.social is bang on. Institutions bowing to Trump doesn't work. It only stokes a positive feedback loop based largely on a false perception of strength and inevitability.
www.theringer.com/2025/09/19/p...
www.theringer.com/2025/09/19/p...