Samuel Pizelo
@spizelo.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Game Studies at ICCIT, U Toronto Mississauga. Researches games, systems, AI/ML, and digital media. www.samuelpizelo.com
Reposted by Samuel Pizelo
"AI didn't just increase its footprint in Washington in 2025. It ate tech lobbying whole." www.axios.com/2026/01/23/a...
January 24, 2026 at 2:16 PM
"AI didn't just increase its footprint in Washington in 2025. It ate tech lobbying whole." www.axios.com/2026/01/23/a...
Reposted by Samuel Pizelo
jack asked if i would sketch up a poster to tell people in nearby neighborhoods about the partnership between flock and ring, and this is what i came up with. it can be printed on an 8.5x11 sheet of paper.
![YOUR RING CAMERA IS AN ICE AGENT
[a drawing of a ring camera with an ice agent dragging a person away in its field of vision]
"In October of 2025, Amazon's Ring announced its partnership with FLOCK, an A.I. surveillance group that freely shares its footage with ICE, the secret service, and the navy. Flock customers can use A.I. tools to sift through footage to assist in all manner of operations (like raids and deportations) without a warrant. Unplug Ring! Melt ICE! Protect your neighbors!
See: https://blog.ring.com/about-ring/ring-expands-community-requests-to-additional-community-safety-partners/
https://www.404media.co/ice-secret-service-navy-all-had-access-to-flocks-nationwide-network-of-cameras/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp9MwZkHiMQ
https://www.aclum.org/campaigns-initiatives/get-the-flock-out-resource-guide/](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:p2aefnvhb3zmkrazk67dppxw/bafkreic7teyeocg7k5qcqxnc666k7clyiislh2zfi6iopcz6fs3e3lt6xy@jpeg)
January 19, 2026 at 8:15 PM
jack asked if i would sketch up a poster to tell people in nearby neighborhoods about the partnership between flock and ring, and this is what i came up with. it can be printed on an 8.5x11 sheet of paper.
Reposted by Samuel Pizelo
Córy Doctorow with another verbal bullseye: pluralistic.net/2026/01/13/n...
January 18, 2026 at 5:29 PM
Córy Doctorow with another verbal bullseye: pluralistic.net/2026/01/13/n...
Reposted by Samuel Pizelo
Reposted by Samuel Pizelo
A shift to renewables by 2050 could save the global economy at least $12 trillion in energy system costs -
What are we [still] waiting for?
www.dw.com/en/fossil-fu...
What are we [still] waiting for?
www.dw.com/en/fossil-fu...
How clean energy could save us trillions – DW – 01/07/2026
As clean energy prices fall, a fast transition to renewable energy is the cheapest option on the table. Experts say it could save us trillions in energy costs alone.
www.dw.com
January 8, 2026 at 3:08 AM
A shift to renewables by 2050 could save the global economy at least $12 trillion in energy system costs -
What are we [still] waiting for?
www.dw.com/en/fossil-fu...
What are we [still] waiting for?
www.dw.com/en/fossil-fu...
Reposted by Samuel Pizelo
Not sure why this dross, dated Dec 1, seems to be circulating now (and why it didn't cross my feed a month ago), but wow what a terrible essay.
A few comments, in a short 🧵>>
bigthink.com/the-present/...
A few comments, in a short 🧵>>
bigthink.com/the-present/...
The rise of AI denialism
Computer scientist Louis Rosenberg argues that dismissing AI as a “bubble” or mere “slop” ignores the tectonic technological shift now unfolding.
bigthink.com
January 3, 2026 at 5:25 AM
Not sure why this dross, dated Dec 1, seems to be circulating now (and why it didn't cross my feed a month ago), but wow what a terrible essay.
A few comments, in a short 🧵>>
bigthink.com/the-present/...
A few comments, in a short 🧵>>
bigthink.com/the-present/...
Reposted by Samuel Pizelo
Reposted by Samuel Pizelo
Really interesting research showing that while ultra-specialization in a single discipline might lead to better results early in one’s career, multi-discipline training and practice pays off big time in the long run. This applies to a range of professions from scientists to athletes and more
Recent discoveries on the acquisition of the highest levels of human performance
Scientists have long debated the origins of exceptional human achievements. This literature review summarizes recent evidence from multiple domains on the acquisition of world-class performance. We re...
www.science.org
December 20, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Really interesting research showing that while ultra-specialization in a single discipline might lead to better results early in one’s career, multi-discipline training and practice pays off big time in the long run. This applies to a range of professions from scientists to athletes and more
Reposted by Samuel Pizelo
"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future."
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
December 19, 2025 at 12:24 PM
"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future."
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
Reposted by Samuel Pizelo
“tests from earlier this year found that AI agents failed to complete tasks up to 70% of the time, making them almost entirely redundant as a workforce replacement tool.”
—
Microsoft Scales Back AI Goals Because Almost Nobody Is Using Copilot :: Extremetech
www.extremetech.com/computing/mi...
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Microsoft Scales Back AI Goals Because Almost Nobody Is Using Copilot :: Extremetech
www.extremetech.com/computing/mi...
Microsoft Scales Back AI Goals Because Almost Nobody Is Using Copilot
Google's Gemini is on pace to push Copilot into third place.
www.extremetech.com
December 15, 2025 at 2:58 PM
“tests from earlier this year found that AI agents failed to complete tasks up to 70% of the time, making them almost entirely redundant as a workforce replacement tool.”
—
Microsoft Scales Back AI Goals Because Almost Nobody Is Using Copilot :: Extremetech
www.extremetech.com/computing/mi...
—
Microsoft Scales Back AI Goals Because Almost Nobody Is Using Copilot :: Extremetech
www.extremetech.com/computing/mi...
Reposted by Samuel Pizelo
Incredible book, if you haven’t seen it. I think about the “technologically precocious boy” all the time.
December 7, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Incredible book, if you haven’t seen it. I think about the “technologically precocious boy” all the time.
Reposted by Samuel Pizelo
“We can’t all be expected to bike.”
Fair. But that’s not the point.
“Not everyone can or wants to bike. But some people can & do—and they deserve a safe, efficient, affordable way to move through the city. It’s about freedom of choice.”
This & other useful comebacks, in @momentummag.bsky.social.
Fair. But that’s not the point.
“Not everyone can or wants to bike. But some people can & do—and they deserve a safe, efficient, affordable way to move through the city. It’s about freedom of choice.”
This & other useful comebacks, in @momentummag.bsky.social.
Your Comeback Guide to all the Anti-Cycling Arguments You’ll Hear This Year
Anti-bike arguments aren’t just frustrating—they’re outdated, inaccurate, and often repeated without a shred of evidence.
momentummag.com
December 6, 2025 at 12:29 AM
“We can’t all be expected to bike.”
Fair. But that’s not the point.
“Not everyone can or wants to bike. But some people can & do—and they deserve a safe, efficient, affordable way to move through the city. It’s about freedom of choice.”
This & other useful comebacks, in @momentummag.bsky.social.
Fair. But that’s not the point.
“Not everyone can or wants to bike. But some people can & do—and they deserve a safe, efficient, affordable way to move through the city. It’s about freedom of choice.”
This & other useful comebacks, in @momentummag.bsky.social.
Reposted by Samuel Pizelo
Energy transitions can happen faster than we think:
In 2000 almost 90% of Denmark's electricity was from fossil fuels.
In 2024 less than 10% of Danish electricity was from fossil fuels.
In 2000 almost 90% of Denmark's electricity was from fossil fuels.
In 2024 less than 10% of Danish electricity was from fossil fuels.
December 1, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Energy transitions can happen faster than we think:
In 2000 almost 90% of Denmark's electricity was from fossil fuels.
In 2024 less than 10% of Danish electricity was from fossil fuels.
In 2000 almost 90% of Denmark's electricity was from fossil fuels.
In 2024 less than 10% of Danish electricity was from fossil fuels.
Reposted by Samuel Pizelo
The Center for Digital Play at the IT University of Copenhagen is organizing a new conference: Playing Futures. The conference will take place from May 20th to 22nd at the IT University of Copenhagen. You can read more about it here: playingfutures.today
Playing Futures
Playing Futures is a conference about the role of games and play during and after the impending climate and energy catastrophes. The goal of the conference is to serve as a meeting point for the commu...
playingfutures.today
December 1, 2025 at 1:00 PM
The Center for Digital Play at the IT University of Copenhagen is organizing a new conference: Playing Futures. The conference will take place from May 20th to 22nd at the IT University of Copenhagen. You can read more about it here: playingfutures.today
Reposted by Samuel Pizelo
"All of this falls apart if humans don't adopt the tech. This is why you've seen Meta cram its lame chatbots into WhatsApp and Instagram. This is why Notepad and Paint now have useless Copilot buttons on Windows. This is why Google Gemini wants to "help you" read and reply to your emails."
Analysis: OpenAI is a loss-making machine, how can it survive?
Don't call it a bubble! Loss-making monster OpenAI is on the hook for $1.4 trillion (with a T) in compute commitments. How can this go on?
www.windowscentral.com
November 29, 2025 at 11:30 PM
"All of this falls apart if humans don't adopt the tech. This is why you've seen Meta cram its lame chatbots into WhatsApp and Instagram. This is why Notepad and Paint now have useless Copilot buttons on Windows. This is why Google Gemini wants to "help you" read and reply to your emails."
Reposted by Samuel Pizelo
I think it’s pretty clear at this point that one of the main impacts of LLMs is to disrupt thinking: to make it so that far too many people never properly learn how to do it, and then to control the output so there are thoughts that people never learn how to think.
November 24, 2025 at 5:18 PM
I think it’s pretty clear at this point that one of the main impacts of LLMs is to disrupt thinking: to make it so that far too many people never properly learn how to do it, and then to control the output so there are thoughts that people never learn how to think.
Reposted by Samuel Pizelo
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 7:13 PM
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.
Reposted by Samuel Pizelo
What was ChatGPT? Now nearly three years old, we can look at OpenAI's LLM as a product of its time, optimized ever since to its earliest uses. While this period of deep disorientation and social isolation has been obscured from public memory, it remains embedded within the interface.
What Was ChatGPT?
A Chatbot Optimized for Social Distance
Three years after the launch of ChatGPT, we can finally speak in hindsight about what it was and how it came to be. Its meteoric rise shocked the world, gather...
mail.cyberneticforests.com
November 23, 2025 at 12:37 PM
What was ChatGPT? Now nearly three years old, we can look at OpenAI's LLM as a product of its time, optimized ever since to its earliest uses. While this period of deep disorientation and social isolation has been obscured from public memory, it remains embedded within the interface.
Or to say it another way: the work of synthesizing a contextually-relevant text or utterance is the work of learning.
I think the shortest version of why LLMs are an anti education technology is that education is fundamentally about making shared context to understand ourselves, each other, and the world
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
November 23, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Or to say it another way: the work of synthesizing a contextually-relevant text or utterance is the work of learning.
Reposted by Samuel Pizelo
"Warming is going to exceed 1.5°C. We are heading into overshoot within the next few years": a stark message by PIK Director Rockström & James Dyke in @theconversation.com. Yet, science shows a way back: fossil-fuel phase-out, nature protection, carbon removal.
theconversation.com/the-world-lo...
theconversation.com/the-world-lo...
The world lost the climate gamble. Now it faces a dangerous new reality
The world bet on collective but voluntary action to keep global warming at a safe level.
theconversation.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:07 PM
"Warming is going to exceed 1.5°C. We are heading into overshoot within the next few years": a stark message by PIK Director Rockström & James Dyke in @theconversation.com. Yet, science shows a way back: fossil-fuel phase-out, nature protection, carbon removal.
theconversation.com/the-world-lo...
theconversation.com/the-world-lo...
Reposted by Samuel Pizelo
the thing about the roblox interview is that he's more or less just saying out loud what every social media & gacha CEO has been doing for the last 10+ years. selling kids gambling with the minimal legally allowed guardrails is hot profits rn
November 21, 2025 at 8:13 PM
the thing about the roblox interview is that he's more or less just saying out loud what every social media & gacha CEO has been doing for the last 10+ years. selling kids gambling with the minimal legally allowed guardrails is hot profits rn
Reposted by Samuel Pizelo
TRUMP [after spending 5 minutes with Zohran]: surplus value, it’s a very wonderful thing, very wonderful, and they’re stealing it. Can you believe that?
We’re going to be looking very strongly at the bourgeoisie, what they’re up to
We’re going to be looking very strongly at the bourgeoisie, what they’re up to
November 21, 2025 at 9:25 PM
TRUMP [after spending 5 minutes with Zohran]: surplus value, it’s a very wonderful thing, very wonderful, and they’re stealing it. Can you believe that?
We’re going to be looking very strongly at the bourgeoisie, what they’re up to
We’re going to be looking very strongly at the bourgeoisie, what they’re up to
“Adversarial poetry” as an antidote to LLMs sounds like a plot cooked up in a creative writing department.
Looks like LLMs are *very* vulnerable to attack via poetic allusion: "curated poetic prompts yielded high attack-success rates (ASR), with some providers exceeding 90% ..."
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
November 21, 2025 at 1:11 AM
“Adversarial poetry” as an antidote to LLMs sounds like a plot cooked up in a creative writing department.
Reposted by Samuel Pizelo
