Janet Murray | Lightnews

Janet H Murray

@janethmurray.bsky.social

1.5K followers 670 following 190 posts

Professor Emerita of Digital Media, Georgia Tech, graduate of Bx Science HS, author "Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace" (MIT Press updated edition 2017) . Current book in progress:"Digital Delusions" . .. more

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Janet Horowitz Murray is an American professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Before coming to Georgia Tech in 1999, she was a Senior Research Scientist in the Center for Educational Computing Initiatives at MIT, where she taught humanities and led advanced interactive design projects since 1971. She is well known as an early developer of humanities computing applications, a seminal theorist of digital media, and an advocate of new educational programs in digital media. .. more

Computer science 28%

Political science 22%

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Janet H Murray @janethmurray.bsky.social · 1h

Outrageous! NEH has been and hopefully will again be a national treasure.

Reposted by Janet Murray

Jennifer Ouellette @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social · 6h

Revised Definitions of the Verb “To Google”: supposed to be SATIRE but eg, "To look something up quickly and then spend twenty minutes fact-checking the AI summary, only to find out that it was absolutely wrong." That's just reality now. www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/rev...

Revised Definitions of the Verb “To Google”

1. To look something up quickly and then spend twenty minutes fact-checking the AI summary, only to find out that it was absolutely wrong. 2. To se...

www.mcsweeneys.net

Reposted by Janet Murray

britt paris @hellobrittparis.bsky.social · 7h

👀 Education Department spokesperson confirmed Palantir is a subcontractor to update the foreign funding portal, to monitor potential foreign influence in American schools...in a time when Federal funding is being revoked and watchwords are in place...👇
fedscoop.com/palantir-edu...

Palantir quietly lands in Education Department through foreign funding portal

The company is not publicly listed as part of the new portal project in federal spending records.

fedscoop.com

Reposted by Cas Mudde, Janet Murray, Mark Rice , and 3 more Cas Mudde, Janet Murray, Mark Rice, Martin Drenthen, Greg O’Brien, Aleksandra Urman

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 1d

“AI models not only point some users to false sources but also cause problems for researchers and librarians, who end up wasting their time looking for requested nonexistent records…”

AI Slop Is Spurring Record Requests for Imaginary Journals

The International Committee of the Red Cross warned that artificial intelligence models are making up research papers, journals and archives

www.scientificamerican.com

Spencer Ackerman @attackerman.bsky.social · 1d

They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.

Torture Techniques from CIA Black Sites Were Used at Alligator Alcatraz

Amnesty International, interviewing migrant detainees, identifies use of the confinement box. There can be no denying it is a torture prison

www.forever-wars.com

Janet H Murray @janethmurray.bsky.social · 1d

As snowbird residents of the Yorkville neighborhood of NYC, Tom and I are very happy to hear about our soon-to-be neighbors !!!

THE CITY @thecity.nyc · 1d

NEW: Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and his wife will move into Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence, after he’s sworn in next month, he announced Monday.

www.thecity.nyc/2025/12/08/z...

Mamdani Will Move Into Gracie Mansion

The mayor-elect plans to leave his rent-stabilized Astoria apartment for the historic Upper East Side residence.

www.thecity.nyc

Reposted by Janet Murray

THE CITY @thecity.nyc · 1d

NEW: Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and his wife will move into Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence, after he’s sworn in next month, he announced Monday.

www.thecity.nyc/2025/12/08/z...

Mamdani Will Move Into Gracie Mansion

The mayor-elect plans to leave his rent-stabilized Astoria apartment for the historic Upper East Side residence.

www.thecity.nyc

Reposted by Linda J. Skitka, Janet Murray, David R. Miller , and 1 more Linda J. Skitka, Janet Murray, David R. Miller, David Darmofal

Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 1d

Justice Jackson nails it, but that this has to be spelled out is so depressing.

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 1d

Justice Jackson to Solicitor General Sauer (just now, in Trump v. Slaughter arguments):

"I guess I have a very different view of the dangers and real-world consequences of your position than what you explored with Justice Kavanaugh. My understanding was that independent agencies exist because Congress has decided that some issues, some matters, some areas should be handled in this way by nonpartisan experts—that Congress is saying that expertise matters with respect to aspects of the economy and transportation and the various independent agencies that we have.

"So having a president come in and fire all the scientists and the doctors and the economists and the PhDs and replacing them with loyalists and people who don't know anything is actually not in the best interest of the citizens of the United States."

Janet H Murray @janethmurray.bsky.social · 2d

George Miller “The Magic Number 7” classic cog sci paper -

Reposted by Karen Davis, Michael J. Allen, Janet Murray

ProPublica @propublica.org · 2d

NEW: In a five-part series, “Sick in a Hospital Town,” ProPublica’s @gingerthompson.bsky.social pursues the question:

Why are people in Albany, Georgia, so sick when its most powerful institution is a hospital?

Start with Part 1 here:

Sick in a Hospital Town, Part 1: The Business of Care

Welcome to Albany, Georgia, where one hospital dominates the political and economic landscape. The story of Phoebe Putney Memorial is the story of American health care.

projects.propublica.org

Janet H Murray @janethmurray.bsky.social · 3d

Contemporary oligarchs aspire to the full aristocracy level sociopathology.

Reposted by Shannon Vallor, Rebecca Solnit, Will Jennings , and 22 more Shannon Vallor, Rebecca Solnit, Will Jennings, Brendan Nyhan, Thomas Backhaus, Christopher Wright, Robert W. Wallace, Alex Callinicos, Fabián Muniesa, Sanford F. Schram, Göran Bolin, Janet Murray, Alan Richardson, Aaron Sojourner, Margot C. Finn, Bessma Momani, Stephen Ryan, David Murakami Wood, Aleksandra Urman, Prokla Redaktion, Karen O’Leary, Césari Laurent, Tobias Singelnstein, Nathan P. Kalmoe, David Darmofal

Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 3d

A Palantir billionaire just called for public hangings.

“It's time to bring back masculine leadership to protect our most vulnerable,” writes Joe Lonsdale.

This is where Silicon Valley authoritarianism is heading:

www.thenerdreich.com/joe-lonsdale...

Joe Lonsdale Calls For Public Hangings

Silicon Valley radicalization escalates

www.thenerdreich.com

Reposted by Janet Murray

ProPublica @propublica.org · 3d

📽️ WATCH: The most powerful institution in Albany, Georgia, is its hospital: Phoebe Putney Memorial. Yet for decades, the city’s residents have suffered some of the nation’s worst health disparities.

“Sick in a Hospital Town,” our new 5-part series, drops tomorrow, Dec. 7.

Sick in a Hospital Town: A Story of American Health Care | Story Trailer

YouTube video by ProPublica

www.youtube.com

Reposted by Janet Murray

Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 3d

One problem with all the “AGI” discourse is that “AGI” isn’t actually defined.

Someone tried recently … and predictably it didn’t go well. Join us for the next Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 livestream, in which @alexhanna.bsky.social and I dig into the attempt:

Monday, December 8, noon Pacific

dair_institute - Twitch

Twitch account for The Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR).

twitch.tv

Reposted by Janet Murray

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 4d

Oh no, we can't loose the strict adherence to traditional ideas of gender and sexuality that the Looney Tunes cartoons were so famous for.

Janet H Murray @janethmurray.bsky.social · 4d

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a... worth listening to - with @jraden.bsky.social

Higher ed’s rush to adopt AI with Justin Raden

Podcast Episode · American Campus Podcast · 11/26/2025 · 37m

podcasts.apple.com

Reposted by Janet Murray

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 4d

Breaking news story via @statnews.com from @helenbranswell.bsky.social sky.social.

As the subtitle makes clear:
"The change is likely to increase the number of people who develop chronic infections and liver cancer."

"Breaking" is the correct adjective.

www.statnews.com/2025/12/05/c...

CDC panel recommends delaying birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine

The CDC's ACIP panel voted to recommend delaying the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine, ending a policy that has reined in the virus.

www.statnews.com

Reposted by Janet Murray

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 5d

"Vaccines must be a potential culprit, because they became ubiquitous along that timeline.” -RFK Jr

'Culprit' -> for asthma, allergies, autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders

Data? -> no evidence of any link, but that has not stopped RFK Jr & allies.

🎁
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...

Kennedy’s Methodical 2-Decade Quest to Dismantle Vaccine Policy

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Steve Peers, Michael A. Clemens, American Library Association , and 8 more Steve Peers, Michael A. Clemens, American Library Association, Martin Paul Eve, Janet Murray, Rebecca Tushnet, Sharon S. Dawes, Larry W. Hunter, Kecia M. Thomas, Farah Mendlesohn, Jesse R. Lasky

American Library Association @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social · 6d

NEWS: The Institute of Museum & Library Services has restored ALL previously canceled federal grants to libraries, following a ruling by a federal judge in Rhode Island last month.

This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!

Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...

ALL IMLS grants restored in every state & territory.

In response to a ruling from a federal judge in Rhode Island, the Institute of Museum and Library Services reinstated all previously canceled grants in every state and territory. It's a huge win for libraries and our communities.

"The reinstatement of all IMLS grants means that libraries across the country will be able to resume vital services for learning, imagination, and economic opportunity. We are breathing a sigh of relief, but the fight is not over." ALA President Sam Helmick. Show up for our libraries, American Library Association.

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Janet Murray

Benjamin Riley @benjaminjriley.bsky.social · 6d

Last week @theverge.com published my essay exploring the limitations of large-language models. This week, that same essay is cited by a federal judge in Michigan to distinguish the process of human reasoning from what these models do. Very, very gratifying.

ali alkhatib @ali-alkhatib.com · 6d

h/t @robertfreundlaw.bsky.social

holy shit, an accurate legal critique of LLMs. LLMs don't reason because they're just stitching together plausible-looking sentences indifferent to the content

What happens when ChatGPT cites to a real case but misstates what the case stands for?

That doesn't fly for Judge Behm in Michigan.

The court says that while a litigant could make the same error based on faulty reasoning, LLMs can't, because they can't reason.

And while a litigant might get away with similar overstatements because they could, perhaps, reason their way to showing how a case's stated holding might extend to novel situations, an LLM does not reason in the way a litigant must. To put it in a slightly different way, LLMs do not perform the metacognitive processes that are necessary to comply with Rule 11.

When an LLM overstates a holding of a case, it is just piecing together a plausible-looking sentence

Janet H Murray @janethmurray.bsky.social · 6d

Demis Hassabis likes concrete, useful, and benchmarkable deliverables that address specific human tasks — and he can think beyond LLMs. The other guys are blinded by greed & committed to magical thinking. So Google DeepMind may outlast the bubbleheads.

www.businessinsider.com/fun-video-ga...

Fun and (video) games with Google's Gemini 3 AI model

BI reporter Hugh Langley tried out Google's Gemini 3 AI model. Here's what he found.

www.businessinsider.com

Reposted by Shannon Vallor, Meredith Broussard, Robert W. Wallace , and 4 more Shannon Vallor, Meredith Broussard, Robert W. Wallace, Janet Murray, R. M. Wilson, Aleksandra Urman, Elisa Freschi

Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 6d

New from 404 Media: ChatGPT told a violent stalker to continue running his misogynistic and threat-filled podcast despite the “haters,” and to visit more gyms to find women. The man stalked women in multiple states, including touching and following from work

www.404media.co/chatgpt-spot...

ChatGPT Told a Violent Stalker to Embrace the 'Haters,' Indictment Says

A newly filed indictment claims a wannabe influencer used ChatGPT as his "therapist" and "best friend" in his pursuit of the "wife type," while harassing women so aggressively they had to miss work a...

www.404media.co

Reposted by Janet Murray

Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 6d

We are glad to see @sanders.senate.gov pushing back against the tech broligarchy, but we wish he would base his arguments on reality rather than Hinton's fantasies.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

We take apart the report he cites here:

Reposted by Marc Lynch, Gavin A. Schmidt, Richard Ashby Wilson , and 8 more Marc Lynch, Gavin A. Schmidt, Richard Ashby Wilson, Melanie C. Green, Janet Murray, McKenzie Wark, Gerald Friedman, Kent Johnson, Ann Bartow, Mary Jane Curry, Peter Bergman

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 7d

Last week, ICE arrested and separated a father and son after a routine check-in. Six-year-old Yuanxin had just enrolled in the first grade at an elementary school in Astoria. Now he's in custody, alone. ICE won't say where. This cruelty serves no one. It must end.

claudia irizarry aponte @clauirizarry.bsky.social · 7d

A 6-year-old boy is missing after ICE arrested him and his dad in NYC last week and shipped them off to separate facilities. www.thecity.nyc/2025/12/02/i... @thecity.nyc @gwynnefitz.bsky.social

ICE Arrested and Separated Chinese Father From 6-Year-Old Son, Advocates Say

The father and son were detained at an ICE check-in on Nov. 26, advocates say. The son’s location is currently unknown, while the father is being held at an upstate ICE facility.

www.thecity.nyc

Janet H Murray @janethmurray.bsky.social · 8d

Phase two: Pete Who?

Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 9d

Translation: Pete may well go down for this. But I’m not going with him.

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 9d

Reporter: If there were a second strike that killed wounded people, would that be legal?

Trump: I don’t know that happened and Pete said he did not even know what people were talking about. I wouldn’t have wanted a second strike. The first strike was very lethal. It was fine.

Reposted by Janet Murray

ProPublica @propublica.org · 8d

After a college student finally found a treatment that worked for his ulcerative colitis, UnitedHealthcare decided it wouldn’t pay for the costly drugs.

His fight to get coverage exposed the insurer’s hidden procedures for rejecting claims.

(Published Feb. 2023)