Joe Litobarski
@joelitobarski.bsky.social
Historian of Digital Technology | PhD candidate in the history of public cybernetics, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS), Maastricht University
Pinned
Joe Litobarski
@joelitobarski.bsky.social
· Nov 17
www.euractiv.com
I wrote another opinion piece for @euractiv.com, this time about Albania's experiment with AI in government:
www.euractiv.com/opinion/how-...
www.euractiv.com/opinion/how-...
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
Now that's a prayer.
December 25, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Now that's a prayer.
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
Fine, whatever, this random cat is your new god of the winter solstice
December 24, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Fine, whatever, this random cat is your new god of the winter solstice
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
Sir Terry Pratchett is best understood as one of the most interesting, deeply ethical practical (I would say Pragmatist but I cede to actual experts) philosophers of the late 20th Century who just happened to work in deconstructed fantasy literature as his medium.
Discworld QOTD, from Hogfather
December 25, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Sir Terry Pratchett is best understood as one of the most interesting, deeply ethical practical (I would say Pragmatist but I cede to actual experts) philosophers of the late 20th Century who just happened to work in deconstructed fantasy literature as his medium.
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
A Christmas ghost story for those who know the Broads after dark – where water waits, roads vanish, and folklore remembers.
The past doesn’t rest quietly in Norfolk.
The past doesn’t rest quietly in Norfolk.
Christmas is coming. So too the strange, nightmare ghosts
On a lonely Christmas Eve drive through the Norfolk Broads, ghosts stir and refuse to stay buried...
eastangliabylines.co.uk
December 25, 2025 at 9:00 AM
A Christmas ghost story for those who know the Broads after dark – where water waits, roads vanish, and folklore remembers.
The past doesn’t rest quietly in Norfolk.
The past doesn’t rest quietly in Norfolk.
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
Merry Christmas! Please enjoy the opening to this Japanese Christmas concert special that I watch every year.
As far as I can tell, this has otherwise been scrubbed from the internet
As far as I can tell, this has otherwise been scrubbed from the internet
December 25, 2025 at 3:42 AM
Merry Christmas! Please enjoy the opening to this Japanese Christmas concert special that I watch every year.
As far as I can tell, this has otherwise been scrubbed from the internet
As far as I can tell, this has otherwise been scrubbed from the internet
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
Extremely funny to call the pope “holier-than-thou”
December 25, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Extremely funny to call the pope “holier-than-thou”
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
“There’s probably no Facebook (it’s all AI and bots). Now get the hell off it and enjoy your life!”
December 24, 2025 at 5:42 PM
“There’s probably no Facebook (it’s all AI and bots). Now get the hell off it and enjoy your life!”
I know @jonworth.eu worked on the Atheist Bus Campaign, back in 2008.
What would it take to set up a "Boycott US tech" public campaign? These US tech platforms are increasingly just becoming automated hate speech generators, and that's before we consider the techno-nationalist stuff US gov is doing
What would it take to set up a "Boycott US tech" public campaign? These US tech platforms are increasingly just becoming automated hate speech generators, and that's before we consider the techno-nationalist stuff US gov is doing
December 24, 2025 at 2:06 PM
I know @jonworth.eu worked on the Atheist Bus Campaign, back in 2008.
What would it take to set up a "Boycott US tech" public campaign? These US tech platforms are increasingly just becoming automated hate speech generators, and that's before we consider the techno-nationalist stuff US gov is doing
What would it take to set up a "Boycott US tech" public campaign? These US tech platforms are increasingly just becoming automated hate speech generators, and that's before we consider the techno-nationalist stuff US gov is doing
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
🧵/ How has political opinion changed over 2025?
In voting intention, Labour have made the biggest losses, while the Greens have gained most, and Reform UK have established a clear lead
Ref: 28% (+3 from 12-13 Jan)
Lab: 18% (-8)
Grn: 17% (+9)
Con: 17% (-5)
LD: 14% (=)
yougov.co.uk/politics/art...
In voting intention, Labour have made the biggest losses, while the Greens have gained most, and Reform UK have established a clear lead
Ref: 28% (+3 from 12-13 Jan)
Lab: 18% (-8)
Grn: 17% (+9)
Con: 17% (-5)
LD: 14% (=)
yougov.co.uk/politics/art...
December 18, 2025 at 10:26 AM
🧵/ How has political opinion changed over 2025?
In voting intention, Labour have made the biggest losses, while the Greens have gained most, and Reform UK have established a clear lead
Ref: 28% (+3 from 12-13 Jan)
Lab: 18% (-8)
Grn: 17% (+9)
Con: 17% (-5)
LD: 14% (=)
yougov.co.uk/politics/art...
In voting intention, Labour have made the biggest losses, while the Greens have gained most, and Reform UK have established a clear lead
Ref: 28% (+3 from 12-13 Jan)
Lab: 18% (-8)
Grn: 17% (+9)
Con: 17% (-5)
LD: 14% (=)
yougov.co.uk/politics/art...
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
Irony died once more. Nick Clegg (left Europe to be a top lobbyist for Facebook): Europe has a “very, very profound dilemma, which is that we’re not only completely dependent on US tech . . [but] when we have good people with good ideas, we export them to the US”. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Nick Clegg takes on venture capital role alongside Meta AI scientist Yann LeCun
Former lobbyist and UK deputy prime minister joins London-based Hiro Capital
giftarticle.ft.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Irony died once more. Nick Clegg (left Europe to be a top lobbyist for Facebook): Europe has a “very, very profound dilemma, which is that we’re not only completely dependent on US tech . . [but] when we have good people with good ideas, we export them to the US”. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
just out from @mitpress.bsky.social a new addition to the Engineering Studies series. lots for @engrstudies.bsky.social & especially @thatminesgirl.bsky.social
mitpress.mit.edu/978026255335...
mitpress.mit.edu/978026255335...
An Engineered World
An Engineered World examines the dramatic and global expansion of modern professional engineering between roughly 1870 and 1950. Over these decades, the numb...
mitpress.mit.edu
November 25, 2025 at 9:47 AM
just out from @mitpress.bsky.social a new addition to the Engineering Studies series. lots for @engrstudies.bsky.social & especially @thatminesgirl.bsky.social
mitpress.mit.edu/978026255335...
mitpress.mit.edu/978026255335...
"When it comes to modernising government you don't really want to run it like a start-up," said Litobarski. "I’m all for experimentation but let’s do it in a controlled, evidence-based way."
www.context.news/ai/albanias-...
www.context.news/ai/albanias-...
Albania's new AI bot minister: hype or help? | Context by TRF
'Incorruptible' or 'unconstitutional'? AI bot's appointment as anti-corruption minister in Albania sparks debate
www.context.news
November 28, 2025 at 9:44 AM
"When it comes to modernising government you don't really want to run it like a start-up," said Litobarski. "I’m all for experimentation but let’s do it in a controlled, evidence-based way."
www.context.news/ai/albanias-...
www.context.news/ai/albanias-...
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
How can Albanians get rid of their AI minister?
How can Albanians get rid of their AI minister?
Citizens should ask of power five questions: What power have you got? Where did you get it? In whose interests do you exercise it? To whom are you accountable? How can we get rid of you? In the case of Albania's AI minister, the answers are unclear
dlvr.it
November 17, 2025 at 5:10 AM
How can Albanians get rid of their AI minister?
I wrote another opinion piece for @euractiv.com, this time about Albania's experiment with AI in government:
www.euractiv.com/opinion/how-...
www.euractiv.com/opinion/how-...
www.euractiv.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:59 AM
I wrote another opinion piece for @euractiv.com, this time about Albania's experiment with AI in government:
www.euractiv.com/opinion/how-...
www.euractiv.com/opinion/how-...
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
Quick thread on the BBC and the political and societal significance of recent developments:
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
November 10, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Quick thread on the BBC and the political and societal significance of recent developments:
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
After a week in which Dems exceeded expectations in elections, Trump's popularity continues to tank, the GOP largely abandoned the task of governing (just as Thanksgiving travel approaches), I'm a bit surprised to see many more stories highlighting weakness in the Dem than in the GOP coalition.
This NYT framing is ludicrously overstated. Sure, there are primaries. But if anything, the results showed a lot of Dems that there's a way to unify the factions around anti-Trump and affordability politics (as I try to argue in the piece/thread below).
November 9, 2025 at 5:26 PM
After a week in which Dems exceeded expectations in elections, Trump's popularity continues to tank, the GOP largely abandoned the task of governing (just as Thanksgiving travel approaches), I'm a bit surprised to see many more stories highlighting weakness in the Dem than in the GOP coalition.
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
one for @nanobubbles.bsky.social. do we at least get to keep Imaginary Friends?
November 5, 2025 at 11:17 AM
one for @nanobubbles.bsky.social. do we at least get to keep Imaginary Friends?
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
"This is not literature as 'entertainment,' no. It’s literature as propaganda." Rachele Dini discusses OpenAI’s “A Machine-Shaped Hand” and an academic sector in crisis. https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/literature-is-not-a-vibe-on-chatgpt-and-the-humanities/
October 31, 2025 at 1:59 PM
"This is not literature as 'entertainment,' no. It’s literature as propaganda." Rachele Dini discusses OpenAI’s “A Machine-Shaped Hand” and an academic sector in crisis. https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/literature-is-not-a-vibe-on-chatgpt-and-the-humanities/
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
Forget diplomatic niceties: it's beyond time Europe denounced Trump's trashing of democracy in the US | Paul Taylor
Forget diplomatic niceties: it's beyond time Europe denounced Trump's trashing of democracy in the US | Paul Taylor
The convention to stay out of allies’ internal affairs does not apply. What happens in America does not stay in America, says Paul Taylor of the European Policy Centre
www.theguardian.com
October 28, 2025 at 6:44 AM
Forget diplomatic niceties: it's beyond time Europe denounced Trump's trashing of democracy in the US | Paul Taylor
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
Lithuania plans to close its border crossings with Belarus indefinitely, after flights at the capital's airport were repeatedly disrupted by suspected sightings of balloons.
PM Inga Ruginienė and her cabinet are expected to decide on Wednesday.
➡️ https://l.euronews.com/6nuk
PM Inga Ruginienė and her cabinet are expected to decide on Wednesday.
➡️ https://l.euronews.com/6nuk
October 27, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Lithuania plans to close its border crossings with Belarus indefinitely, after flights at the capital's airport were repeatedly disrupted by suspected sightings of balloons.
PM Inga Ruginienė and her cabinet are expected to decide on Wednesday.
➡️ https://l.euronews.com/6nuk
PM Inga Ruginienė and her cabinet are expected to decide on Wednesday.
➡️ https://l.euronews.com/6nuk
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
What the history of tech bubbles can tell us about AI
What the history of tech bubbles can tell us about AI
When the dot-com bubble burst, policymakers largely let it collapse, treating it as a market correction. Today’s accelerationist MAGA-AI boom is different
dlvr.it
October 27, 2025 at 5:16 AM
What the history of tech bubbles can tell us about AI
I wrote an opinion piece in @euractiv.com about the history of tech bubbles and the political economy of AI:
www.euractiv.com/opinion/what...
www.euractiv.com/opinion/what...
What the history of tech bubbles can tell us about AI | Euractiv
When the dot-com bubble burst, policymakers largely let it collapse, treating it as a market correction. Today’s accelerationist MAGA-AI boom is different
www.euractiv.com
October 27, 2025 at 9:37 AM
I wrote an opinion piece in @euractiv.com about the history of tech bubbles and the political economy of AI:
www.euractiv.com/opinion/what...
www.euractiv.com/opinion/what...
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
Nigel Farage's Reform UK is dealt crushing blow at Caerphilly by-election
Nigel Farage's Reform UK is dealt crushing blow as 'hope triumphs over division'
Reform UK pledged to "throw everything" to win the Caerphilly constituency but Nigel Farage's party was shafted at the by-election in south Wales on Thursday
www.mirror.co.uk
October 24, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Nigel Farage's Reform UK is dealt crushing blow at Caerphilly by-election
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
Great piece by @joelitobarski.bsky.social in @ourkindredfuture.bsky.social !
ourkindredfuture.com/the-eu-shoul...
ourkindredfuture.com/the-eu-shoul...
October 3, 2025 at 3:42 PM