Kelly Sovacool
@kelly.sova.cool
Bioinformatics Software Engineer. PhD from Schloss Lab at UMich.
https://sovacool.dev
🏃🏻♀️🚴🏻♀️🧗🏻♀️
#python #rstats #nextflow #snakemake
she/her
My views are my own.
https://sovacool.dev
🏃🏻♀️🚴🏻♀️🧗🏻♀️
#python #rstats #nextflow #snakemake
she/her
My views are my own.
Reposted by Kelly Sovacool
tech bro: i have made Artificial General Intelligence
programmer: you fucked up a perfectly good calculator is what you did. look at it. it's got anxiety
programmer: you fucked up a perfectly good calculator is what you did. look at it. it's got anxiety
I’ve been running around asking tech execs and academics if language was the same as intelligence for over a year now - and, well, it isn’t. @benjaminjriley.bsky.social explains how the bubble is built on ignoring cutting-edge research into the science of thought www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
November 25, 2025 at 5:12 PM
tech bro: i have made Artificial General Intelligence
programmer: you fucked up a perfectly good calculator is what you did. look at it. it's got anxiety
programmer: you fucked up a perfectly good calculator is what you did. look at it. it's got anxiety
Reposted by Kelly Sovacool
Some of us have been advocating this going back since chatGPT launched. It also has other benefits: correcting someone else's work is actually a really good way to learn something yourself.
November 23, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Some of us have been advocating this going back since chatGPT launched. It also has other benefits: correcting someone else's work is actually a really good way to learn something yourself.
“Enjoy your legs!”
I was out hiking and a mountain biker passed.
Me: have a nice ride!
Him: you too!
Him: *flustered realizing I wasn’t riding*
Him: *processing*
Him: *processing*
Him: enjoy your legs!
Well that settles that for my new trail greeting.
Me: have a nice ride!
Him: you too!
Him: *flustered realizing I wasn’t riding*
Him: *processing*
Him: *processing*
Him: enjoy your legs!
Well that settles that for my new trail greeting.
November 23, 2025 at 11:59 PM
“Enjoy your legs!”
Reposted by Kelly Sovacool
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 5:32 PM
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
Reposted by Kelly Sovacool
Nobody wants this shit. Nobody.
The hostile reaction has been so pronounced, in fact, that it feels like a company announcing it would never force AI into its products would carve out a pretty good chunk of the market.
The hostile reaction has been so pronounced, in fact, that it feels like a company announcing it would never force AI into its products would carve out a pretty good chunk of the market.
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Nobody wants this shit. Nobody.
The hostile reaction has been so pronounced, in fact, that it feels like a company announcing it would never force AI into its products would carve out a pretty good chunk of the market.
The hostile reaction has been so pronounced, in fact, that it feels like a company announcing it would never force AI into its products would carve out a pretty good chunk of the market.
Reposted by Kelly Sovacool
do they make electric cars with a pretend manual transmission because they should
November 15, 2025 at 11:20 PM
do they make electric cars with a pretend manual transmission because they should
Reposted by Kelly Sovacool
absolutely. which is why this was the definition for AI that @mjcrockett.bsky.social and I included in our recent TiCS article
November 11, 2025 at 2:00 PM
absolutely. which is why this was the definition for AI that @mjcrockett.bsky.social and I included in our recent TiCS article
Reposted by Kelly Sovacool
When people celebrate the individual genius of folks in science, they should also
mourn the collective loss of genius of folks who were actively discouraged or disadvantaged from a career in science because of the same person(s)
mourn the collective loss of genius of folks who were actively discouraged or disadvantaged from a career in science because of the same person(s)
November 7, 2025 at 11:43 PM
When people celebrate the individual genius of folks in science, they should also
mourn the collective loss of genius of folks who were actively discouraged or disadvantaged from a career in science because of the same person(s)
mourn the collective loss of genius of folks who were actively discouraged or disadvantaged from a career in science because of the same person(s)
I'm sitting on the couch crying actual tears reading the docs for this 😂
Do you teach #rstats? Do your students complain about how lame and old-fashioned dplyr is? Don't worry: I have the solution for you: github.com/hadley/genzp....
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
GitHub - hadley/genzplyr: dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap
dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap. Contribute to hadley/genzplyr development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:45 AM
I'm sitting on the couch crying actual tears reading the docs for this 😂
Reposted by Kelly Sovacool
Do you teach #rstats? Do your students complain about how lame and old-fashioned dplyr is? Don't worry: I have the solution for you: github.com/hadley/genzp....
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
GitHub - hadley/genzplyr: dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap
dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap. Contribute to hadley/genzplyr development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Do you teach #rstats? Do your students complain about how lame and old-fashioned dplyr is? Don't worry: I have the solution for you: github.com/hadley/genzp....
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
I highly recommend URSSI! Check them out if you want to level up your skills in research software development:
Apply for the next #URSSI winter school on research software engineering, 15-17 Dec in Portland, OR: urssi.us/blog/2025/11...
For: grad students, postdocs, & other early career researchers (or beyond!) looking to increase your software dev. skills.
Applications close 21 Nov, so apply soon!
For: grad students, postdocs, & other early career researchers (or beyond!) looking to increase your software dev. skills.
Applications close 21 Nov, so apply soon!
URSSI Blog
urssi.us
November 6, 2025 at 4:50 PM
I highly recommend URSSI! Check them out if you want to level up your skills in research software development:
At this point whenever I’m googling around looking for recipes, DIY tips, etc., any websites I come across that I don’t recognize as existing before 2-3 years ago I just assume are AI slop farms. And it seems like those fill up at least the first page of search results 😭
November 5, 2025 at 12:09 AM
At this point whenever I’m googling around looking for recipes, DIY tips, etc., any websites I come across that I don’t recognize as existing before 2-3 years ago I just assume are AI slop farms. And it seems like those fill up at least the first page of search results 😭
Reposted by Kelly Sovacool
Wrote up a little intervention post/explanation for my class about why using LLMs for trying to learn programming (as first time learners!) is bad and detrimental datavizf25.classes.andrewheiss.com/news/2025-11...
November 2, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Wrote up a little intervention post/explanation for my class about why using LLMs for trying to learn programming (as first time learners!) is bad and detrimental datavizf25.classes.andrewheiss.com/news/2025-11...
Reposted by Kelly Sovacool
Shower beer after a 5h trail run
a cartoon character is giving the ok sign and saying perfection .
ALT: a cartoon character is giving the ok sign and saying perfection .
media.tenor.com
November 2, 2025 at 5:42 AM
Shower beer after a 5h trail run
Reposted by Kelly Sovacool
remember when computers did what you told them to
October 29, 2025 at 10:19 PM
remember when computers did what you told them to
...Now taking suggestions for a note taking app that's:
- cross-platform compatible (macOS, iOS, windows, android)
- has a web clipper (for saving web pages as notes)
- cross-platform compatible (macOS, iOS, windows, android)
- has a web clipper (for saving web pages as notes)
Don't know if any of you have ever been tempted to use Evernote, but any company that eliminates their free tier AND makes current users subscribe to extract their own data is little better than a protection racket in my book.
October 29, 2025 at 4:14 PM
...Now taking suggestions for a note taking app that's:
- cross-platform compatible (macOS, iOS, windows, android)
- has a web clipper (for saving web pages as notes)
- cross-platform compatible (macOS, iOS, windows, android)
- has a web clipper (for saving web pages as notes)
Reposted by Kelly Sovacool
This thread makes a point I find myself coming to often these days.
It's hard to make this point in a way that doesn't sound like a threat, but it's just a fact that for centuries the wealthy in America worried that the mob would come get them and did all they could to avoid that fate.
It's hard to make this point in a way that doesn't sound like a threat, but it's just a fact that for centuries the wealthy in America worried that the mob would come get them and did all they could to avoid that fate.
lol what the wealthy today don't seem to understand is part of staying wealthy in society is not pissing off the masses.
There's a reason why Carnegie and the Rockefellers poured money into institutions. Gutting institutions and making it harder for the masses to survive is a...choice.
There's a reason why Carnegie and the Rockefellers poured money into institutions. Gutting institutions and making it harder for the masses to survive is a...choice.
October 27, 2025 at 6:36 PM
This thread makes a point I find myself coming to often these days.
It's hard to make this point in a way that doesn't sound like a threat, but it's just a fact that for centuries the wealthy in America worried that the mob would come get them and did all they could to avoid that fate.
It's hard to make this point in a way that doesn't sound like a threat, but it's just a fact that for centuries the wealthy in America worried that the mob would come get them and did all they could to avoid that fate.
Reposted by Kelly Sovacool
i made a helpful reference
September 24, 2025 at 3:23 PM
i made a helpful reference
Reposted by Kelly Sovacool
Wim Vanderbauwhede: “You give an input and it ‘guesses’ the answer a user would want to get, based on the input and the data it was trained on. The ‘machines’ don’t think; they generate something plausible, something that seems acceptable.” apache.be/2025/10/24/b...
Belgian AI scientists resist the use of AI in academia
Several AI scientists have published an open letter calling for a ban on AI use by students.
apache.be
October 24, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Wim Vanderbauwhede: “You give an input and it ‘guesses’ the answer a user would want to get, based on the input and the data it was trained on. The ‘machines’ don’t think; they generate something plausible, something that seems acceptable.” apache.be/2025/10/24/b...
Reposted by Kelly Sovacool
“Reality” is a shared agreement upon a set of facts.
When people’s understanding of facts are inconsistent or warped, coming to terms on policy, or any structure larger than a single person becomes compromised.
When people’s understanding of facts are inconsistent or warped, coming to terms on policy, or any structure larger than a single person becomes compromised.
Yet again, we can't afford to let LLMs become a source of epistemic grounding for society.
Largest study of its kind shows AI assistants misrepresent news content 45% of the time – regardless of language or territory
An intensive international study was coordinated by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and led by the BBC
www.bbc.co.uk
October 24, 2025 at 12:29 PM
“Reality” is a shared agreement upon a set of facts.
When people’s understanding of facts are inconsistent or warped, coming to terms on policy, or any structure larger than a single person becomes compromised.
When people’s understanding of facts are inconsistent or warped, coming to terms on policy, or any structure larger than a single person becomes compromised.
Reposted by Kelly Sovacool
I understand it emotionally, when I decide I like something or have decided to support something, it's hard to give that up/realize I was wrong. But it's an adolescent perspective to be unwilling let go the idea of something when confronted with the reality of it.
October 23, 2025 at 2:59 AM
I understand it emotionally, when I decide I like something or have decided to support something, it's hard to give that up/realize I was wrong. But it's an adolescent perspective to be unwilling let go the idea of something when confronted with the reality of it.
Do you have an R package that pins a dependency to a max version? Have you figured out a decent way to handle installation with pak/renv/something else for continuous integration, etc? Teach me your ways! forum.posit.co/t/advice-on-...
#rstats
#rstats
Advice on using maximum dependency versions
I have a package that needs to pin a maximum version for some of its dependencies. I do not plan to submit this package to CRAN, it's primarily for internal use. Imports: dplyr, ggplot2 (< 4...
forum.posit.co
October 22, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Do you have an R package that pins a dependency to a max version? Have you figured out a decent way to handle installation with pak/renv/something else for continuous integration, etc? Teach me your ways! forum.posit.co/t/advice-on-...
#rstats
#rstats
Reposted by Kelly Sovacool
🥹 I miss old stats twitter. Some of the smartest, most knowledgeable statisticians were in the weeds of shitpost replies, teaching people best practices in statistics.
October 15, 2025 at 4:28 AM
🥹 I miss old stats twitter. Some of the smartest, most knowledgeable statisticians were in the weeds of shitpost replies, teaching people best practices in statistics.
If someone could invent a way to filter out AI slop websites from search engine results, that would be great…
October 10, 2025 at 11:25 PM
If someone could invent a way to filter out AI slop websites from search engine results, that would be great…
Reposted by Kelly Sovacool
and before, "but itati, what else are we supposed to do?" you are supposed to counter organize. you are supposed to pressure your universities to stop accruing capital in endowments and use that money to actually invest in itself and not football. You are supposed to engage in conflict.
October 7, 2025 at 2:08 PM
and before, "but itati, what else are we supposed to do?" you are supposed to counter organize. you are supposed to pressure your universities to stop accruing capital in endowments and use that money to actually invest in itself and not football. You are supposed to engage in conflict.