Ryan Williamson
@socraticreview.org
Latin teacher, avid napper, Jesuitical. Considered "harsh, off-putting, and contrarian."
One must imagine Sisyphus happy.
One must imagine Sisyphus happy.
Pinned
Ryan Williamson
@socraticreview.org
· Jul 18
The Anti-Ignatian Realities of AI — Socratic Review
A look at how AI relates to the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm (IPP) in the context of the relationships discussed in the book "Learning by Refraction."
socraticreview.org
I think that AI is fundamentally in opposition to the principles of Jesuit education and the IPP.
socraticreview.org/blog/2025/7/...
socraticreview.org/blog/2025/7/...
Reposted by Ryan Williamson
"You must teach students how to use this constantly-evolving technology that the government is failing to regulate. It's your responsibility!"
Here's an idea, why don't we do it while we're feeding them breakfast huddled together during a lockdown drill?
Here's an idea, why don't we do it while we're feeding them breakfast huddled together during a lockdown drill?
January 7, 2026 at 1:54 PM
"You must teach students how to use this constantly-evolving technology that the government is failing to regulate. It's your responsibility!"
Here's an idea, why don't we do it while we're feeding them breakfast huddled together during a lockdown drill?
Here's an idea, why don't we do it while we're feeding them breakfast huddled together during a lockdown drill?
Reposted by Ryan Williamson
five years ago today a mob, stoked by rightwing elites, violently stormed the capitol. lately I've been thinking a lot about history, teaching, and how my students scarcely remember a time before the grip of trumpism: www.liberalcurrents.com/to-my-studen... @liberalcurrents.com
To My Students on the Anniversary of January 6
The political violence of the Trump era is all today's teenagers have ever known.
www.liberalcurrents.com
January 6, 2026 at 1:26 PM
five years ago today a mob, stoked by rightwing elites, violently stormed the capitol. lately I've been thinking a lot about history, teaching, and how my students scarcely remember a time before the grip of trumpism: www.liberalcurrents.com/to-my-studen... @liberalcurrents.com
Reposted by Ryan Williamson
Love this from Guillermo del Toro
January 5, 2026 at 2:16 AM
Love this from Guillermo del Toro
Reposted by Ryan Williamson
In 2026, why not join the AI conscientious objector crowd? We are growing and getting louder, fighting back against this dumb, overhyped and exploitative tech
January 2, 2026 at 1:58 AM
In 2026, why not join the AI conscientious objector crowd? We are growing and getting louder, fighting back against this dumb, overhyped and exploitative tech
Reposted by Ryan Williamson
i don’t see how any of the benefits of chatgpt and other consumer-facing LLMs can possibly outweigh their incredible ability to induce suicides
Adam Raine’s life hurtled toward tragedy soon after he began talking with ChatGPT about homework. Analysis of his ChatGPT account shows how the chatbot became a confidant as he planned to end his life.
74 suicide warnings and 243 mentions of hanging: What ChatGPT said to a suicidal teen
Analysis of high-schooler Adam Raine’s ChatGPT account by attorneys for his parents shows how the chatbot became a confidant as he planned to end his life.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 28, 2025 at 2:06 AM
i don’t see how any of the benefits of chatgpt and other consumer-facing LLMs can possibly outweigh their incredible ability to induce suicides
Reposted by Ryan Williamson
Google Gemini Pro: please generate a map of the western united states showing cities of over 250K population
December 22, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Google Gemini Pro: please generate a map of the western united states showing cities of over 250K population
Reposted by Ryan Williamson
Finally wrote this up as a blog post, with lots of links. Enjoy!
I'm an "A.i." abolitionist
gregpak.net/2025/12/19/i...
I'm an "A.i." abolitionist
gregpak.net/2025/12/19/i...
I'm an "A.i." abolitionist.
No consumer-facing LLMs or generative "A.i." in anything.
Sure, machine learning in science and a few other limited applications is fine.
But consumer-facing LLMs and generative "A.i." that are based on theft, push disinfo, and can be manipulated by billionaires?
No.
No consumer-facing LLMs or generative "A.i." in anything.
Sure, machine learning in science and a few other limited applications is fine.
But consumer-facing LLMs and generative "A.i." that are based on theft, push disinfo, and can be manipulated by billionaires?
No.
December 19, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Finally wrote this up as a blog post, with lots of links. Enjoy!
I'm an "A.i." abolitionist
gregpak.net/2025/12/19/i...
I'm an "A.i." abolitionist
gregpak.net/2025/12/19/i...
Reposted by Ryan Williamson
The best AI-detection/-avoidance software available is a well-compensated teacher who spends time getting to know their students and their work because they have small classes
December 18, 2025 at 3:57 PM
The best AI-detection/-avoidance software available is a well-compensated teacher who spends time getting to know their students and their work because they have small classes
Reposted by Ryan Williamson
tesla owners admitting without shame they don’t know how to drive anymore
December 14, 2025 at 10:07 PM
tesla owners admitting without shame they don’t know how to drive anymore
Reposted by Ryan Williamson
Reposted by Ryan Williamson
This really is a must read for anyone in academia.
December 7, 2025 at 5:12 PM
This really is a must read for anyone in academia.
Reposted by Ryan Williamson
The hepatitis B vaccine had been recommended for all newborns since 1991.
From 1990-2019, acute hepatitis B infections reported among children and teens fell 99 percent. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/w...
From 1990-2019, acute hepatitis B infections reported among children and teens fell 99 percent. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/w...
Breaking: After contentious debates and three failed attempts at a vote, a federal vaccine committee decided on Friday to end the decades-long recommendation that all newborns be immunized at birth against hepatitis B.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/h...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/h...
An End to Hepatitis B Shots for All Newborns
www.nytimes.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:47 PM
The hepatitis B vaccine had been recommended for all newborns since 1991.
From 1990-2019, acute hepatitis B infections reported among children and teens fell 99 percent. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/w...
From 1990-2019, acute hepatitis B infections reported among children and teens fell 99 percent. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/w...
Exactly. I've found that if I create assessments based on more than on how *quickly* they work, it's really not a big deal. Plus, if the students trust that I'm not out to get them, their pace just... isn't a problem.
Also, extra time for exams is just ... not that big a deal? It takes some extra logistics, but for almost any course I teach, it doesn't remotely harm pedagogical goals or assessment quality if students take two hours instead of one
Even by the standards of The Atlantic, this is an extraordinarily weak evidence base for an article.
Data from a tiny handful of schools that isn't measuring the variable at issue and a few thin, secondhand anecdotes.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
Data from a tiny handful of schools that isn't measuring the variable at issue and a few thin, secondhand anecdotes.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
December 2, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Exactly. I've found that if I create assessments based on more than on how *quickly* they work, it's really not a big deal. Plus, if the students trust that I'm not out to get them, their pace just... isn't a problem.
→ "AI Is Supercharging the War on Libraries, Education, and Human Knowledge" socraticreview.org/blog/2025/11...
Great piece from @404media.co and @jasonkoebler.bsky.social
Great piece from @404media.co and @jasonkoebler.bsky.social
→ "AI Is Supercharging the War on Libraries, Education, and Human Knowledge" — Socratic Review
socraticreview.org
December 1, 2025 at 12:50 AM
→ "AI Is Supercharging the War on Libraries, Education, and Human Knowledge" socraticreview.org/blog/2025/11...
Great piece from @404media.co and @jasonkoebler.bsky.social
Great piece from @404media.co and @jasonkoebler.bsky.social
Reposted by Ryan Williamson
Bong Joon Ho hit me up for the squad you legend deadline.com/2025/11/bong...
November 29, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Bong Joon Ho hit me up for the squad you legend deadline.com/2025/11/bong...
Reposted by Ryan Williamson
How come the policy obsession with "evidence-based" policy and technology in education of at least the last 20 years has completely evaporated with "AI"? ...
November 29, 2025 at 12:37 AM
How come the policy obsession with "evidence-based" policy and technology in education of at least the last 20 years has completely evaporated with "AI"? ...
Reposted by Ryan Williamson
"While other universities report that the humanities are shrinking, at Berkeley, the opposite is true. The music major is the fastest-growing major on campus. We are finding bigger classrooms because film is exploding. English is back to the numbers we saw 15 years ago. We are hiring" bit.ly/4ohKuOe
"The humanities really are a resource — a confidence for living in our times.” Dean Sara Guyer on the modern utility of humanities degrees
This interview originally appeared on the Division of Arts
bit.ly
November 23, 2025 at 3:38 PM
"While other universities report that the humanities are shrinking, at Berkeley, the opposite is true. The music major is the fastest-growing major on campus. We are finding bigger classrooms because film is exploding. English is back to the numbers we saw 15 years ago. We are hiring" bit.ly/4ohKuOe
Reposted by Ryan Williamson
It’s blowing my mind that schools, universities, public services would run headlong into this. We spent 15 years documenting black boxes. This is a black box in a black hole!
I don't understand how anyone can watch how blatantly Grok is manipulated to answer the way ownership desires it to and then act like the other LLM chatbots couldn't possibly be similarly but less obviously compromised to produce responses in whatever way corporate interests and priorities dictate.
November 23, 2025 at 11:16 PM
It’s blowing my mind that schools, universities, public services would run headlong into this. We spent 15 years documenting black boxes. This is a black box in a black hole!
Reposted by Ryan Williamson
NEW: Rep Jason Crow (D-CO) and other Democratic veterans in Congress release a joint statement on President Trump’s call for their arrest and sedition trial: “Every American must unite and condemn the President’s calls for our murder and political violence.”
November 20, 2025 at 6:42 PM
NEW: Rep Jason Crow (D-CO) and other Democratic veterans in Congress release a joint statement on President Trump’s call for their arrest and sedition trial: “Every American must unite and condemn the President’s calls for our murder and political violence.”
Reposted by Ryan Williamson
Pope Leo absolutely cooking
November 16, 2025 at 7:47 AM
Pope Leo absolutely cooking
Reposted by Ryan Williamson
It can’t. But you know what can? Science. Let’s fund scientific research instead of this dumpster juice.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei thinks AI could help find cures for most cancers, prevent Alzheimer’s, and even double the human lifespan. cbsn.ws/4oRZ8Nm
November 17, 2025 at 4:09 AM
It can’t. But you know what can? Science. Let’s fund scientific research instead of this dumpster juice.
Reposted by Ryan Williamson
this is theranos-level fraud, but everyone with the power to do anything about it is on the take, apparently
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei thinks AI could help find cures for most cancers, prevent Alzheimer’s, and even double the human lifespan. cbsn.ws/4oRZ8Nm
November 17, 2025 at 1:22 AM
this is theranos-level fraud, but everyone with the power to do anything about it is on the take, apparently
This foundation seems lovely and all, but it’s sad that these students don’t have any of these opportunities at their school, since they only get to do STEM. It doesn’t have to be that way!
November 16, 2025 at 4:26 PM
This foundation seems lovely and all, but it’s sad that these students don’t have any of these opportunities at their school, since they only get to do STEM. It doesn’t have to be that way!