Dr. Casey Fiesler
@cfiesler.bsky.social
information science professor (tech ethics + internet stuff)
kind of a content creator (elsewhere also @professorcasey)
though not influencing anyone to do anything except maybe learn things
she/her
more: casey.prof
kind of a content creator (elsewhere also @professorcasey)
though not influencing anyone to do anything except maybe learn things
she/her
more: casey.prof
Just came across a pre-print paper that analyzes an AI boyfriend subreddit. There are images from the subreddit that appear to be real people. (Since you can use generative AI to create a new image based on a photo.) There's an ethics statement: "public subreddits carry no privacy expectations" :-\
November 11, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Just came across a pre-print paper that analyzes an AI boyfriend subreddit. There are images from the subreddit that appear to be real people. (Since you can use generative AI to create a new image based on a photo.) There's an ethics statement: "public subreddits carry no privacy expectations" :-\
I would kind of love if Apple was the tech company to be like “eh we don’t really need to compete on AI, let’s be the ones to champion human creativity instead.” youtube.com/shorts/C3uLR...
Apple TV’s new intro was done entirely practical, not CG 😮💨 #apple #appletv #tech #ios26 #iphone
YouTube video by 9to5Mac
youtube.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:31 PM
I would kind of love if Apple was the tech company to be like “eh we don’t really need to compete on AI, let’s be the ones to champion human creativity instead.” youtube.com/shorts/C3uLR...
Do I add this to my CV as an invited lecture? 🤔
November 8, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Do I add this to my CV as an invited lecture? 🤔
Spending all day at an AI+Copyright conference at the law school that I (nominally) helped organize, and thinking once again that I should hang out with law professors more. :)
November 7, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Spending all day at an AI+Copyright conference at the law school that I (nominally) helped organize, and thinking once again that I should hang out with law professors more. :)
If you're interested in learning about why ChatGPT seems to want to date you, the way that AI might actually be our doom (spoiler: it's not the robot wars), and why you shouldn't put glue on your pizza, you might enjoy watching an information science professor do standup comedy. youtu.be/4XdJ2xiPies
Standup comedy about AI ethics has to be a new level of dystopia right?
YouTube video by Casey Fiesler
youtu.be
October 30, 2025 at 9:34 PM
If you're interested in learning about why ChatGPT seems to want to date you, the way that AI might actually be our doom (spoiler: it's not the robot wars), and why you shouldn't put glue on your pizza, you might enjoy watching an information science professor do standup comedy. youtu.be/4XdJ2xiPies
I just got the video of the standup set I did a couple of weeks ago. :D (Currently working on getting it up on YouTube, hence the Canva screenshot haha.)
October 30, 2025 at 8:40 PM
I just got the video of the standup set I did a couple of weeks ago. :D (Currently working on getting it up on YouTube, hence the Canva screenshot haha.)
I'm workshopping my AI & Society course for next semester, and in particular what I've been calling the "conscientious objector" path through the class (though I've given it another name). Thoughts?
October 15, 2025 at 2:53 PM
I'm workshopping my AI & Society course for next semester, and in particular what I've been calling the "conscientious objector" path through the class (though I've given it another name). Thoughts?
the ick I get at Sam Altman describing Sora as fanfiction... copyrightlately.com/openai-backt...
October 7, 2025 at 6:20 PM
the ick I get at Sam Altman describing Sora as fanfiction... copyrightlately.com/openai-backt...
Sometimes I imagine what it might be like to teach an entire course on technology and intellectual property instead of just a single class. I feel like the students get the most absolutely chaotic but hopefully interesting brain dump from me in that class though haha.
October 7, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Sometimes I imagine what it might be like to teach an entire course on technology and intellectual property instead of just a single class. I feel like the students get the most absolutely chaotic but hopefully interesting brain dump from me in that class though haha.
In a great piece of work @404media.co (via @jasonkoebler.bsky.social ) analyzed court records "where a lawyer offered a formal explanation or apology" for problematic AI use: www.404media.co/18-lawyers-c... There is more blame on overwork than lack of knowledge, though...
A lawyer in my social media comments is telling me that it's "cruel" to suggest that lawyers should be ethically accountable for mistakes introduced by AI because the weight of technology's flaws shouldn't be on burned out lawyers.
And like, all sympathy to junior associates, but also...
And like, all sympathy to junior associates, but also...
October 6, 2025 at 5:53 PM
In a great piece of work @404media.co (via @jasonkoebler.bsky.social ) analyzed court records "where a lawyer offered a formal explanation or apology" for problematic AI use: www.404media.co/18-lawyers-c... There is more blame on overwork than lack of knowledge, though...
Not even so much about the change, but the *timing* of announcing was borderline cruel for:
(1) Students who assumed they were eligible and have already been preparing materials
(2) Students who assumed they could apply next year and have to scramble to apply now
www.science.org/content/arti...
(1) Students who assumed they were eligible and have already been preparing materials
(2) Students who assumed they could apply next year and have to scramble to apply now
www.science.org/content/arti...
‘Completely shattered.’ Changes to NSF’s graduate student fellowship spur outcry
The announcement comes months later than usual, leaving many would-be applicants stranded
www.science.org
October 6, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Not even so much about the change, but the *timing* of announcing was borderline cruel for:
(1) Students who assumed they were eligible and have already been preparing materials
(2) Students who assumed they could apply next year and have to scramble to apply now
www.science.org/content/arti...
(1) Students who assumed they were eligible and have already been preparing materials
(2) Students who assumed they could apply next year and have to scramble to apply now
www.science.org/content/arti...
An informal poll for fellow academics: What is an appropriate/typical range for numbers of papers to review on an annual basis? Either pure numbers or e.g. proportionate to the number of papers that you submit per year. I'm curious what folks' heuristics are for this.
October 4, 2025 at 4:14 PM
An informal poll for fellow academics: What is an appropriate/typical range for numbers of papers to review on an annual basis? Either pure numbers or e.g. proportionate to the number of papers that you submit per year. I'm curious what folks' heuristics are for this.
I'm working on some new standup material, and I have this joke about how thanks to my sadistic constitutional law professor who used cold calling and the socratic method I know way too much about constitutional law, and now every day since January has been a bad day.
October 4, 2025 at 1:28 AM
I'm working on some new standup material, and I have this joke about how thanks to my sadistic constitutional law professor who used cold calling and the socratic method I know way too much about constitutional law, and now every day since January has been a bad day.
I made the mistake on commenting on a random video I saw where someone was asking for opinions.
Anyway my opinion is that if parents choose to help their child pay for college, they are still not *entitled* to information about their *adult* child's grades. Apparently this is an unpopular opinion.
Anyway my opinion is that if parents choose to help their child pay for college, they are still not *entitled* to information about their *adult* child's grades. Apparently this is an unpopular opinion.
October 3, 2025 at 7:06 PM
I made the mistake on commenting on a random video I saw where someone was asking for opinions.
Anyway my opinion is that if parents choose to help their child pay for college, they are still not *entitled* to information about their *adult* child's grades. Apparently this is an unpopular opinion.
Anyway my opinion is that if parents choose to help their child pay for college, they are still not *entitled* to information about their *adult* child's grades. Apparently this is an unpopular opinion.
floating a thought for feedback:
if the liar's dividend is the benefit bad actors can receive from a world in which there is so much doubt about what is real and what isn't,
I was thinking about "the librarian's dividend" re: the value of the people and institutions who help us evaluate information
if the liar's dividend is the benefit bad actors can receive from a world in which there is so much doubt about what is real and what isn't,
I was thinking about "the librarian's dividend" re: the value of the people and institutions who help us evaluate information
September 29, 2025 at 4:00 PM
floating a thought for feedback:
if the liar's dividend is the benefit bad actors can receive from a world in which there is so much doubt about what is real and what isn't,
I was thinking about "the librarian's dividend" re: the value of the people and institutions who help us evaluate information
if the liar's dividend is the benefit bad actors can receive from a world in which there is so much doubt about what is real and what isn't,
I was thinking about "the librarian's dividend" re: the value of the people and institutions who help us evaluate information
I’m spending today at a big staff development event (few hundred people) for Arapahoe Libraries, focused on AI. I’m running sessions about ethics. Am really eager to get a sense of the vibe and what kinds of questions people have… (I also just love hanging out with librarians.)
September 26, 2025 at 3:38 PM
I’m spending today at a big staff development event (few hundred people) for Arapahoe Libraries, focused on AI. I’m running sessions about ethics. Am really eager to get a sense of the vibe and what kinds of questions people have… (I also just love hanging out with librarians.)
At any given time I am usually reading one audiobook, one physical book, and one book on my kindle. This is a pretty good representation of the variety of my tastes at the moment. :)
September 20, 2025 at 1:07 AM
At any given time I am usually reading one audiobook, one physical book, and one book on my kindle. This is a pretty good representation of the variety of my tastes at the moment. :)
I had the random realization the other day that cold calling with the socratic method is basically the same as comedians doing crowd work.
September 12, 2025 at 10:03 PM
I had the random realization the other day that cold calling with the socratic method is basically the same as comedians doing crowd work.
This is a really interesting article about theologians' reactions to sensationalized AI-generated videos of Bible stories. www.npr.org/2025/09/07/n...
Some of the debate here re: the power of the original text makes me think of LLMs turning complex scholarly works into pithy podcasts.
Some of the debate here re: the power of the original text makes me think of LLMs turning complex scholarly works into pithy podcasts.
Fantasy or faith? One company's AI-generated Bible content stirs controversy
"The AI Bible is a way to really bring these stories to life in a way that people have never seen before. Think of if we were like, the Marvel Universe of faith," said one of the site's creators.
www.npr.org
September 10, 2025 at 12:49 PM
This is a really interesting article about theologians' reactions to sensationalized AI-generated videos of Bible stories. www.npr.org/2025/09/07/n...
Some of the debate here re: the power of the original text makes me think of LLMs turning complex scholarly works into pithy podcasts.
Some of the debate here re: the power of the original text makes me think of LLMs turning complex scholarly works into pithy podcasts.
So when it comes to fiction skewering academia (re: Katabasis) I feel obligated to remind you that I once tweeted the plot for an entire first season of an academic murder mystery.
Sometimes I think I should write this as a cozy(ish) mystery novel. :)
www.tumblr.com/cfiesler/187...
Sometimes I think I should write this as a cozy(ish) mystery novel. :)
www.tumblr.com/cfiesler/187...
Post by @cfiesler · 3 images
💬 1 🔁 69 ❤️ 153 · the tenure-track detective agency · I tweeted about a dream, then realized it should be a television show, so I tweeted the whole first season plot. Featuring an academic who ha…
www.tumblr.com
September 7, 2025 at 9:36 PM
So when it comes to fiction skewering academia (re: Katabasis) I feel obligated to remind you that I once tweeted the plot for an entire first season of an academic murder mystery.
Sometimes I think I should write this as a cozy(ish) mystery novel. :)
www.tumblr.com/cfiesler/187...
Sometimes I think I should write this as a cozy(ish) mystery novel. :)
www.tumblr.com/cfiesler/187...
Only 8 pages into Katabasis so not really a spoiler…
But agreeing to give up 30 years of your life in exchange for a better shot at a tenure track job really puts the dark in dark academia. Or maybe it’s just peak regular academia.
But agreeing to give up 30 years of your life in exchange for a better shot at a tenure track job really puts the dark in dark academia. Or maybe it’s just peak regular academia.
September 6, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Only 8 pages into Katabasis so not really a spoiler…
But agreeing to give up 30 years of your life in exchange for a better shot at a tenure track job really puts the dark in dark academia. Or maybe it’s just peak regular academia.
But agreeing to give up 30 years of your life in exchange for a better shot at a tenure track job really puts the dark in dark academia. Or maybe it’s just peak regular academia.
I'm guessing this is news to most of you but I have a book coming out. :) I and three co-authors (all of whom are HCI researchers with law-adjacent degrees) wrote Human-Computer Interaction and U.S. Law, which will be out from Cambridge University Press in December. www.cambridge.org/core/books/h...
September 5, 2025 at 7:04 PM
I'm guessing this is news to most of you but I have a book coming out. :) I and three co-authors (all of whom are HCI researchers with law-adjacent degrees) wrote Human-Computer Interaction and U.S. Law, which will be out from Cambridge University Press in December. www.cambridge.org/core/books/h...
Some of you might remember that in 2017 I created a crowdsourced spreadsheet of tech ethics syllabi. It still exists! And there are presumably many more such classes now, so considering adding to it! cfiesler.medium.com/tech-ethics-...
Tech Ethics Curricula: A Collection of Syllabi
TL;DR: Here’s the spreadsheet. (Note that this is a recreation of the original version that was mistakenly marked as “dangerous” by…
cfiesler.medium.com
September 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Some of you might remember that in 2017 I created a crowdsourced spreadsheet of tech ethics syllabi. It still exists! And there are presumably many more such classes now, so considering adding to it! cfiesler.medium.com/tech-ethics-...
“If something happens really bad, just blame AI.” - the President of the United States
“liar’s dividend”: the benefit received by those spreading false information in an environment where it’s unclear what is true and what is not
“liar’s dividend”: the benefit received by those spreading false information in an environment where it’s unclear what is true and what is not
September 3, 2025 at 3:25 AM
“If something happens really bad, just blame AI.” - the President of the United States
“liar’s dividend”: the benefit received by those spreading false information in an environment where it’s unclear what is true and what is not
“liar’s dividend”: the benefit received by those spreading false information in an environment where it’s unclear what is true and what is not
It is absolutely wild to me that in an interview addressing criticism of AI use as "unfair," these executives disclosed that their own faces were deepfaked over actual human actors who were already unfairly uncredited in the original film.
www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/dig...
www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/dig...
James Dolan and David Zaslav Appear as “Two-Second Characters” in the Sphere’s ‘Wizard of Oz’
Dolan made the surprise reveal ahead of the immersive film's big opening night in Las Vegas.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
September 2, 2025 at 12:54 PM
It is absolutely wild to me that in an interview addressing criticism of AI use as "unfair," these executives disclosed that their own faces were deepfaked over actual human actors who were already unfairly uncredited in the original film.
www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/dig...
www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/dig...