Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
@olivia.science
https://olivia.science
assistant professor of computational cognitive science · she/they · cypriot/kıbrıslı/κυπραία · σὺν Ἀθηνᾷ καὶ χεῖρα κίνει
assistant professor of computational cognitive science · she/they · cypriot/kıbrıslı/κυπραία · σὺν Ἀθηνᾷ καὶ χεῖρα κίνει
Pinned
CAIL = prerequisite knowledge for a critical perspective, such as to tell apart nonsense hype from true theoretical computer scientific claims. For example, the idea that human-like systems are a sensible or possible goal is the result of circular reasoning and anthropomorphism. olivia.science/ai
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Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
Well, besides the engagement baiting via controversy/skinner boxing.
That was and is "ML". Twitter, YouTube feeds, and absolutely anything Mark Zuckerberg Touches suck so bad in no small part thanks to ML (or as I've seen a bunch of people call it, "the algorithm").
That was and is "ML". Twitter, YouTube feeds, and absolutely anything Mark Zuckerberg Touches suck so bad in no small part thanks to ML (or as I've seen a bunch of people call it, "the algorithm").
December 26, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Well, besides the engagement baiting via controversy/skinner boxing.
That was and is "ML". Twitter, YouTube feeds, and absolutely anything Mark Zuckerberg Touches suck so bad in no small part thanks to ML (or as I've seen a bunch of people call it, "the algorithm").
That was and is "ML". Twitter, YouTube feeds, and absolutely anything Mark Zuckerberg Touches suck so bad in no small part thanks to ML (or as I've seen a bunch of people call it, "the algorithm").
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
I feel doubtful. I am no expert but if we are writing the routines and algos these things follow, would it not mean we could deduce at least a little from where it is getting its ideas? It's not quantum computing. I know that I have a couple AI mutuals. I feel this is a cop out. @olivia.science
'We don’t really know how AI reaches its conclusions – even the programmers admit as much. Nor can we verify its reasoning against clear, objective criteria. So when we follow AI’s advice, we are not guided by reason. We are back in the realm of faith.'
Our king, priest and feudal lord – how AI is taking us back to the dark ages | Joseph de Weck
Since the Enlightenment, we’ve been making our own decisions. But now AI may be about to change that, says Joseph de Weck, a fellow with the Foreign Policy Research Institute
www.theguardian.com
December 26, 2025 at 3:34 PM
I feel doubtful. I am no expert but if we are writing the routines and algos these things follow, would it not mean we could deduce at least a little from where it is getting its ideas? It's not quantum computing. I know that I have a couple AI mutuals. I feel this is a cop out. @olivia.science
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
I’ve seen the ‘crank’ claim used too much by people unwilling to ‘yank’ their head out of their ass.
Put more politely, they’re too enamoured with the supposed consistency of their ideology or way of thinking, that they cannot stand someone saying confidently that they’re flat-out wrong.
Put more politely, they’re too enamoured with the supposed consistency of their ideology or way of thinking, that they cannot stand someone saying confidently that they’re flat-out wrong.
December 26, 2025 at 4:34 PM
I’ve seen the ‘crank’ claim used too much by people unwilling to ‘yank’ their head out of their ass.
Put more politely, they’re too enamoured with the supposed consistency of their ideology or way of thinking, that they cannot stand someone saying confidently that they’re flat-out wrong.
Put more politely, they’re too enamoured with the supposed consistency of their ideology or way of thinking, that they cannot stand someone saying confidently that they’re flat-out wrong.
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
i think I'll start with metatheory.space but first i need to figure out how @olivia.science made the links gay
metatheory.space
metatheory.space
December 26, 2025 at 5:10 PM
i think I'll start with metatheory.space but first i need to figure out how @olivia.science made the links gay
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
Got my CS degree early 90s and misogyny was rampant in the department. Dept head was known for it. One of my fellow students who later went to work for NSF did prescreening of grant applications and let’s just say one with his name may have found its way to the bit bucket. She had no regrets ;)
December 26, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Got my CS degree early 90s and misogyny was rampant in the department. Dept head was known for it. One of my fellow students who later went to work for NSF did prescreening of grant applications and let’s just say one with his name may have found its way to the bit bucket. She had no regrets ;)
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
I felt the same way as him at the end of last year. Thanks to people like @olivia.science, @irisvanrooij.bsky.social, @emilymbender.bsky.social and @alexhanna.bsky.social, I've changed my mind.
December 26, 2025 at 10:24 AM
I felt the same way as him at the end of last year. Thanks to people like @olivia.science, @irisvanrooij.bsky.social, @emilymbender.bsky.social and @alexhanna.bsky.social, I've changed my mind.
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
"AI is already in classrooms. (...)
Ignoring or banning it is not an effective approach."
A colleague said in an Instagram video.
I commented: Banning it is indeed an approach. We cannot passively accept it. Academia can do more. We ban many things. Do you let your students cheat on tests?
Ignoring or banning it is not an effective approach."
A colleague said in an Instagram video.
I commented: Banning it is indeed an approach. We cannot passively accept it. Academia can do more. We ban many things. Do you let your students cheat on tests?
December 26, 2025 at 10:21 AM
"AI is already in classrooms. (...)
Ignoring or banning it is not an effective approach."
A colleague said in an Instagram video.
I commented: Banning it is indeed an approach. We cannot passively accept it. Academia can do more. We ban many things. Do you let your students cheat on tests?
Ignoring or banning it is not an effective approach."
A colleague said in an Instagram video.
I commented: Banning it is indeed an approach. We cannot passively accept it. Academia can do more. We ban many things. Do you let your students cheat on tests?
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
Others may just go "but Olivia, superficially it looks like you are saying the earth is flat" 🫠
bsky.app/profile/iris...
bsky.app/profile/iris...
They're still going. It is all quite bizar.
Argument seems to be "but superficially it seems that what you write is creationist"
Folks don't seem to realise they are telling on themselves and the superficiality of their own reading/understanding
Argument seems to be "but superficially it seems that what you write is creationist"
Folks don't seem to realise they are telling on themselves and the superficiality of their own reading/understanding
Totally normal, no? 🧐
December 26, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Others may just go "but Olivia, superficially it looks like you are saying the earth is flat" 🫠
bsky.app/profile/iris...
bsky.app/profile/iris...
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
I’ve been reading a lot of Mary Midgley lately & she nails what happening on here. It’s very strange to be reading her right now, because things she brings up in the books I’m reading appear ‘in the wild’ as it were.
December 26, 2025 at 10:17 AM
I’ve been reading a lot of Mary Midgley lately & she nails what happening on here. It’s very strange to be reading her right now, because things she brings up in the books I’m reading appear ‘in the wild’ as it were.
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
I guess you gotta *checks notes* apparently under no circumstances do you gotta hand it to him.
H/T dril.
H/T dril.
December 26, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I guess you gotta *checks notes* apparently under no circumstances do you gotta hand it to him.
H/T dril.
H/T dril.
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
even his own baby daughter??
I unfollowed Arson after he posted about using ai to train on his baby daughter's face and generate fake images of her (a baby!) in different situations she never actually lived, just to mess with her later on in life. What a sick fuck to even have that thought about his own daughter.
December 26, 2025 at 9:23 AM
even his own baby daughter??
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
Okay I think this guy basically just hates women who're smarter than him 🤷 utterly rank vibes
December 26, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Okay I think this guy basically just hates women who're smarter than him 🤷 utterly rank vibes
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
STILL no trans people or drag queens implicated in the Epstein Files.
Plenty of TERFs though.
It’s almost as though every “gender-critical” transphobe is trying to protect cis men who abuse women and girls by helping them distract from the real threat.
Plenty of TERFs though.
It’s almost as though every “gender-critical” transphobe is trying to protect cis men who abuse women and girls by helping them distract from the real threat.
December 26, 2025 at 1:58 AM
STILL no trans people or drag queens implicated in the Epstein Files.
Plenty of TERFs though.
It’s almost as though every “gender-critical” transphobe is trying to protect cis men who abuse women and girls by helping them distract from the real threat.
Plenty of TERFs though.
It’s almost as though every “gender-critical” transphobe is trying to protect cis men who abuse women and girls by helping them distract from the real threat.
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
They are upset by work that I published and seem to think I cannot possibly be an expert in my area and that I am a creationist 🙃
bsky.app/profile/oliv...
bsky.app/profile/oliv...
I cannot ever be surprised by tech sector people calling women stupid or whatever else because I did a compsci degree and saw this stuff daily. But this is a little bit extra funny because they are getting increasingly completely detached, as most such people do sadly, by calling her a creationist.
Totally normal, no? 🧐
December 25, 2025 at 11:40 PM
They are upset by work that I published and seem to think I cannot possibly be an expert in my area and that I am a creationist 🙃
bsky.app/profile/oliv...
bsky.app/profile/oliv...
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
Spiritually? Sounds a bit creationist to me 😉
December 26, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Spiritually? Sounds a bit creationist to me 😉
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
It's all just extraction and so much of it is invisible by design. I mean the bullying is so exhausting because many people don't even seem to realize they're in an abusive relationship with their phone, and even when they do, they maintain some mental gymnastic to justify why they stay on even X.
December 26, 2025 at 9:36 AM
It's all just extraction and so much of it is invisible by design. I mean the bullying is so exhausting because many people don't even seem to realize they're in an abusive relationship with their phone, and even when they do, they maintain some mental gymnastic to justify why they stay on even X.
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
We still can see even trans and migrant organizers using WhatsApp for their groups??? While Palantir and Meta are using it to target them and the profits made off the time and data they input into these apps are used to fund the far-right.
December 26, 2025 at 9:36 AM
We still can see even trans and migrant organizers using WhatsApp for their groups??? While Palantir and Meta are using it to target them and the profits made off the time and data they input into these apps are used to fund the far-right.
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
We have dozens studies of studies that these platforms algorithmically obliterate your mental health and people even seem to understand that colloquial. But despite this, despite all of this and so so so much more.
December 26, 2025 at 9:36 AM
We have dozens studies of studies that these platforms algorithmically obliterate your mental health and people even seem to understand that colloquial. But despite this, despite all of this and so so so much more.
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
Like wdym, Meta is being sued for enabling genocide in Myanmar and people are still posting about Palestine on Instagram with accounts made with gmails while Google directly works on Autonomous weapons being used on children today.
December 26, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Like wdym, Meta is being sued for enabling genocide in Myanmar and people are still posting about Palestine on Instagram with accounts made with gmails while Google directly works on Autonomous weapons being used on children today.
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
This bully analogy excellent applies to big tech and data also. It's so hard to watch the ways in which so willingly and easily cede our own agency and labour to these companies because most don't even have basic data literacy skills.
December 26, 2025 at 9:36 AM
This bully analogy excellent applies to big tech and data also. It's so hard to watch the ways in which so willingly and easily cede our own agency and labour to these companies because most don't even have basic data literacy skills.
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
Because it's literally not good enough to do all those things. It makes a "first attempt" and then requires almost more work to fix where it's all effed up. Pretending like it does these things perfectly is just carrying water for all the feckless billionaires.
December 20, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Because it's literally not good enough to do all those things. It makes a "first attempt" and then requires almost more work to fix where it's all effed up. Pretending like it does these things perfectly is just carrying water for all the feckless billionaires.
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
here's a list of readings on the myth of job replacement by AI. i might turn this into a blog post as a sort of lesson plan for anyone who wants to use it, but it's just a reminder that every time we see "self-driving" cars or delivery robots, invisibilized workers are always behind the scenes.
December 26, 2025 at 8:28 AM
here's a list of readings on the myth of job replacement by AI. i might turn this into a blog post as a sort of lesson plan for anyone who wants to use it, but it's just a reminder that every time we see "self-driving" cars or delivery robots, invisibilized workers are always behind the scenes.
Exactly. Not only is education not the problem in this context but no amount of changing syllabi or exams can ever please AI bullies anyway.
Bullies don't abuse to improve their victims but to harm & extract from them. Giving them your lunch money directly without a beating is still being bullied.
Bullies don't abuse to improve their victims but to harm & extract from them. Giving them your lunch money directly without a beating is still being bullied.
Public discourse on this subject has utterly failed to direct citizens' attention to the actual problem, which is that a commercial industry is assaulting education. So every week we get another thoughtless op-ed on blue books or the death of the college essay, etc etc.
December 26, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Exactly. Not only is education not the problem in this context but no amount of changing syllabi or exams can ever please AI bullies anyway.
Bullies don't abuse to improve their victims but to harm & extract from them. Giving them your lunch money directly without a beating is still being bullied.
Bullies don't abuse to improve their victims but to harm & extract from them. Giving them your lunch money directly without a beating is still being bullied.
Reposted by Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
No one says to legit business owners, "hey I see there's an underground market selling toxic knock-offs of your product: how will you incorporate the toxic product AND protect your customers against its harms?" But apparently it's fine to make this suggestion to educators with respect to AI.
December 24, 2025 at 7:56 PM
No one says to legit business owners, "hey I see there's an underground market selling toxic knock-offs of your product: how will you incorporate the toxic product AND protect your customers against its harms?" But apparently it's fine to make this suggestion to educators with respect to AI.