Thad McIlroy
@thadmcilroy.bsky.social
Author: "The AI Revolution in Book Publishing: A Concise Guide to Navigating Artificial Intelligence for Writers and Publishers."
Reposted by Thad McIlroy
New #WriterBeware blog post: the minute the humongous Anthropic copyright settlement was announced, it became inevitable that unrelated third parties would seek to benefit...in this case, by convincing authors to opt out writerbeware.blog/2025/11/07/p...
Predatory Opt-Outs: The Speculators Come for the Anthropic Copyright Settlement - Writer Beware
The enormous, $1.5 billion Anthropic copyright class action settlement is reputedly the biggest copyright infringement recovery in history. With such a high-profile case, it’s inevitable that eligible...
writerbeware.blog
November 7, 2025 at 6:43 PM
New #WriterBeware blog post: the minute the humongous Anthropic copyright settlement was announced, it became inevitable that unrelated third parties would seek to benefit...in this case, by convincing authors to opt out writerbeware.blog/2025/11/07/p...
"With less than 5% of titles on Amazon available in more than one language...." @steviebonifield.bsky.social www.theverge.com/news/815987/...
November 7, 2025 at 7:46 PM
"With less than 5% of titles on Amazon available in more than one language...." @steviebonifield.bsky.social www.theverge.com/news/815987/...
“Bitcoin and the broader crypto market is exhausted... Bad news is very bad for crypto right now … and good news barely moves the needle.” www.cnbc.com/2025/11/04/b...
Bitcoin falls below $100,000 for the first time since late June
Cryptocurrencies retreated Tuesday as investors continued to flee risk-on assets.
www.cnbc.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:18 AM
“Bitcoin and the broader crypto market is exhausted... Bad news is very bad for crypto right now … and good news barely moves the needle.” www.cnbc.com/2025/11/04/b...
Come to think of it, that is the sort of thing people ask @stephco.bsky.social: www.sfgate.com/tech/article...
'Some may ask why': Amazon exec explains huge layoff now slamming California
More than 1,400 corporate Amazon workers in California are losing their jobs.
www.sfgate.com
October 31, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Come to think of it, that is the sort of thing people ask @stephco.bsky.social: www.sfgate.com/tech/article...
Reposted by Thad McIlroy
Hi, It’s Me, Wikipedia, and I am Ready for Your Apology www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/hi-...
Hi, It’s Me, Wikipedia, and I Am Ready for Your Apology
“Wikipedia, the constantly changing knowledge base created by a global free-for-all of anonymous users, now stands as the leading force for the dum...
www.mcsweeneys.net
October 30, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Hi, It’s Me, Wikipedia, and I am Ready for Your Apology www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/hi-...
"In 2024, nearly three out of every four restaurant orders were not eaten in a restaurant..." www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...
The Innovation That’s Killing Restaurant Culture
Delivery has turned America into a nation of order-inners.
www.theatlantic.com
October 28, 2025 at 8:37 PM
"In 2024, nearly three out of every four restaurant orders were not eaten in a restaurant..." www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...
About 5% of US consumers’ media time is spent with books and audiobooks. www.bain.com/insights/a-u...
“A Uniquely Portable Magic”: Why Book Publishing Has Hope
People are reading less, but those who read focus more and are willing to pay for the good stuff—if you give it to them.
www.bain.com
October 22, 2025 at 8:10 PM
About 5% of US consumers’ media time is spent with books and audiobooks. www.bain.com/insights/a-u...
German Minister of Culture, Wolfram Weimer: "described the techbros running LLM companies as 'Datenvampire in Goldgräberstimmung' (data vampires in a gold rush mood), and labeled the core activity as 'Geistiger Vampirismus'—intellectual vampirism. www.linkedin.com/posts/milten...
German Minister Critiques AI at Frankfurt Book Fair | Plamen Miltenoff posted on the topic | LinkedIn
As I prepare for my workshops on AI Literacy and AI in Education, Deutschlandfunk Kultur runns in the background. The topic was the opening speech by German Minister of Culture, Wolfram Weimer, at the...
www.linkedin.com
October 20, 2025 at 8:25 PM
German Minister of Culture, Wolfram Weimer: "described the techbros running LLM companies as 'Datenvampire in Goldgräberstimmung' (data vampires in a gold rush mood), and labeled the core activity as 'Geistiger Vampirismus'—intellectual vampirism. www.linkedin.com/posts/milten...
"The future of AI isn’t just about better models. It’s about people figuring out what to do with them." @emollick.bsky.social www.oneusefulthing.org/p/an-opinion...
An Opinionated Guide to Using AI Right Now
What AI to use in late 2025
www.oneusefulthing.org
October 19, 2025 at 9:20 PM
"The future of AI isn’t just about better models. It’s about people figuring out what to do with them." @emollick.bsky.social www.oneusefulthing.org/p/an-opinion...
"At this point, even the concept of an 'AI bubble' seems to be a bubble." www.cnn.com/2025/10/18/b...
Why this analyst says the AI bubble is 17 times bigger than the dot-com bust | CNN Business
The AI faithful believe the technology will disrupt virtually every aspect of modern life, from phone operating systems to pharmaceuticals to finance. And even if there is a bubble, proponents say, th...
www.cnn.com
October 19, 2025 at 7:07 PM
"At this point, even the concept of an 'AI bubble' seems to be a bubble." www.cnn.com/2025/10/18/b...
"We are authors, we have nothing to lose and we are fucked anyway. You cannot kill us, because we are already dead." @Nora Haddada @Ed Nawotka www.linkedin.com/pulse/sht-re...
"SH*T IS REALLY GOING DOWN" 💥 AT THE FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR
As a journalist for Publishers Weekly who gets fed a fairly steady diet of press releases and platitudes, I adore it when authors are given a mic and feel confident enough to speak their mind—or at le...
www.linkedin.com
October 15, 2025 at 2:38 AM
"We are authors, we have nothing to lose and we are fucked anyway. You cannot kill us, because we are already dead." @Nora Haddada @Ed Nawotka www.linkedin.com/pulse/sht-re...
"In financial markets, a bubble occurs when the level of investment in an asset becomes persistently detached from the amount of profit that asset could plausibly generate." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/o...
Opinion | Warning: Our Stock Market Is Looking Like a Bubble
www.nytimes.com
October 15, 2025 at 12:59 AM
"In financial markets, a bubble occurs when the level of investment in an asset becomes persistently detached from the amount of profit that asset could plausibly generate." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/o...
Reposted by Thad McIlroy
If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.
October 13, 2025 at 5:58 PM
If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.
Reposted by Thad McIlroy
I love the idea of inviting someone back to yours after a blind date, this is your living room, and you say nothing at all
October 14, 2025 at 5:36 PM
I love the idea of inviting someone back to yours after a blind date, this is your living room, and you say nothing at all
"When given the freedom to determine their own target amounts and betting sizes, bankruptcy rates rose substantially alongside increased irrational behavior, demonstrating that greater autonomy amplifies risk-taking tendencies." arxiv.org/abs/2509.22818
Can Large Language Models Develop Gambling Addiction?
This study explores whether large language models can exhibit behavioral patterns similar to human gambling addictions. As LLMs are increasingly utilized in financial decision-making domains such as a...
arxiv.org
October 14, 2025 at 7:13 AM
"When given the freedom to determine their own target amounts and betting sizes, bankruptcy rates rose substantially alongside increased irrational behavior, demonstrating that greater autonomy amplifies risk-taking tendencies." arxiv.org/abs/2509.22818
Reposted by Thad McIlroy
Next Tuesday, #SerendipityLit CEO Regina Brooks will be moderating an @awpwriter.bsky.social webinar with Umair Kazi, Jaime Wolf, and @thadmcilroy.bsky.social about the ever-shifting legal landscape surrounding AI and copyright.
Learn more: www.awpwriter.org/AWP/Magazine...
Learn more: www.awpwriter.org/AWP/Magazine...
AWP Member-Only Live Event: Authors’ Rights in the Age of AI
AWP members, you asked for it, and we’re making it happen! Regina Brooks, AWP board member and president of the Association of American Literary Agents, moderates as three invited experts outline the ...
www.awpwriter.org
October 13, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Next Tuesday, #SerendipityLit CEO Regina Brooks will be moderating an @awpwriter.bsky.social webinar with Umair Kazi, Jaime Wolf, and @thadmcilroy.bsky.social about the ever-shifting legal landscape surrounding AI and copyright.
Learn more: www.awpwriter.org/AWP/Magazine...
Learn more: www.awpwriter.org/AWP/Magazine...
"A destructive A.I., like a nuclear bomb, is now a concrete possibility. The question is whether anyone will be reckless enough to build one." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/o...
Opinion | The A.I. Prompt That Could End the World
www.nytimes.com
October 11, 2025 at 5:12 AM
"A destructive A.I., like a nuclear bomb, is now a concrete possibility. The question is whether anyone will be reckless enough to build one." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/o...
"At the end of the interview, he turned to a public relations executive. He could be heard asking why her mouth was wide open and if he had said anything he shouldn’t have." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...
Marc Benioff Says Trump Should Send Guard Troops to San Francisco
www.nytimes.com
October 11, 2025 at 2:16 AM
"At the end of the interview, he turned to a public relations executive. He could be heard asking why her mouth was wide open and if he had said anything he shouldn’t have." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...
Reposted by Thad McIlroy
A lot of people are worried about a flood of trivial but true findings, but we should be just as concerned about how to handle a flood of interesting and potentially true findings. The selection & canonization process in science has been collapsing already, with no good solution
October 6, 2025 at 12:46 AM
A lot of people are worried about a flood of trivial but true findings, but we should be just as concerned about how to handle a flood of interesting and potentially true findings. The selection & canonization process in science has been collapsing already, with no good solution
Reposted by Thad McIlroy
Very soon, the blocker to using AI to accelerate science is not going to be the ability of AI (expect to see this soon), but rather the systems of science, as creaky as they are.
The scientific process is already breaking under a flood of human-created knowledge. How do we incorporate AI usefully?
The scientific process is already breaking under a flood of human-created knowledge. How do we incorporate AI usefully?
October 6, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Very soon, the blocker to using AI to accelerate science is not going to be the ability of AI (expect to see this soon), but rather the systems of science, as creaky as they are.
The scientific process is already breaking under a flood of human-created knowledge. How do we incorporate AI usefully?
The scientific process is already breaking under a flood of human-created knowledge. How do we incorporate AI usefully?
Reposted by Thad McIlroy
You know that times have changed when workers start unionizing the Bay's suburban strip malls.
"The pay is just too low — new staff start at $16.96/hour, barely above the California minimum wage, and they work 35 hours a week with no overtime."
bayareacurrent.com/unionizing-t...
"The pay is just too low — new staff start at $16.96/hour, barely above the California minimum wage, and they work 35 hours a week with no overtime."
bayareacurrent.com/unionizing-t...
Unionizing the Strip Mall
You pissed off the wrong nerds. They unionized Half Price Books.
bayareacurrent.com
September 30, 2025 at 6:57 PM
You know that times have changed when workers start unionizing the Bay's suburban strip malls.
"The pay is just too low — new staff start at $16.96/hour, barely above the California minimum wage, and they work 35 hours a week with no overtime."
bayareacurrent.com/unionizing-t...
"The pay is just too low — new staff start at $16.96/hour, barely above the California minimum wage, and they work 35 hours a week with no overtime."
bayareacurrent.com/unionizing-t...
so true: "Book critics, like people who work in publishing, are always looking for an excuse to stop reading." www.nytimes.com/2025/03/03/b...
‘My 10,000 Hours’: The Diaries That Made Helen Garner a Writer
www.nytimes.com
October 2, 2025 at 5:35 PM
so true: "Book critics, like people who work in publishing, are always looking for an excuse to stop reading." www.nytimes.com/2025/03/03/b...
"They should have held out and gone to trial to preserve the only meaningful leverage the authors can exert." @personanondata.bsky.social personanondata.blogspot.com/2025/09/anth...
Anthropic's $1.5 Billion Bargain Bin
Publishing, Educational Publishing, Scholarly Publishing, Publishing Technology, Publishing Software, Information, Professional Publishing, Cairns
personanondata.blogspot.com
October 1, 2025 at 10:19 PM
"They should have held out and gone to trial to preserve the only meaningful leverage the authors can exert." @personanondata.bsky.social personanondata.blogspot.com/2025/09/anth...
"“If you are all tiz and no rizz, that’s just not enough,” (Arielle) Zuckerberg said." sfstandard.com/2025/09/29/t...
Tech Bro 2.0: The new Silicon Valley archetype dominating the AI age
He’s not what he used to be. He’s jacked, cracked, and thinks he might save America.
sfstandard.com
September 30, 2025 at 3:01 AM
"“If you are all tiz and no rizz, that’s just not enough,” (Arielle) Zuckerberg said." sfstandard.com/2025/09/29/t...
Cory Doctorow: "Like you, I'm sick to the back teeth of talking about AI. Like you, I keep getting dragged into discussions of AI... the AI bubble is driven by monopolists who've conquered their markets and have no more growth potential..." pluralistic.net/2025/09/27/e...
Pluralistic: The real (economic) AI apocalypse is nigh (27 Sep 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
pluralistic.net
September 28, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Cory Doctorow: "Like you, I'm sick to the back teeth of talking about AI. Like you, I keep getting dragged into discussions of AI... the AI bubble is driven by monopolists who've conquered their markets and have no more growth potential..." pluralistic.net/2025/09/27/e...