Annabel Rothschild
@threatstovalidity.bsky.social
assistant prof in computer science @ Bard College; opinions mine only
interested in everything to do with data work and data workers and old & aging computer systems
interested in everything to do with data work and data workers and old & aging computer systems
Bad things about 2026: many. The horrors persist unrelentingly.
Good things about 2026: when I write '2025' by accident on paper for the first six months of 2026, it's very easy to correct the 5 to a 6.
Good things about 2026: when I write '2025' by accident on paper for the first six months of 2026, it's very easy to correct the 5 to a 6.
January 19, 2026 at 2:52 PM
Bad things about 2026: many. The horrors persist unrelentingly.
Good things about 2026: when I write '2025' by accident on paper for the first six months of 2026, it's very easy to correct the 5 to a 6.
Good things about 2026: when I write '2025' by accident on paper for the first six months of 2026, it's very easy to correct the 5 to a 6.
Professoring field notes, Fall '25: intro to AI lecture slide deck for Deep Learning starts with Transformers (sequence-to-sequence vs self/multi-attention) ends up with feminist standpoint theory and collapse of the minority (vs majority) voice and why LLMs are authoritarian machines.
Ooops?
Ooops?
November 12, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Professoring field notes, Fall '25: intro to AI lecture slide deck for Deep Learning starts with Transformers (sequence-to-sequence vs self/multi-attention) ends up with feminist standpoint theory and collapse of the minority (vs majority) voice and why LLMs are authoritarian machines.
Ooops?
Ooops?
Reposted by Annabel Rothschild
As many in the Bard community are aware, a Bard College student was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after appearing for a scheduled interview at the New York Asylum Office.
For more information, including how you can help the detained student, please visit go.bard.edu/take-action.
For more information, including how you can help the detained student, please visit go.bard.edu/take-action.
October 23, 2025 at 5:53 PM
As many in the Bard community are aware, a Bard College student was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after appearing for a scheduled interview at the New York Asylum Office.
For more information, including how you can help the detained student, please visit go.bard.edu/take-action.
For more information, including how you can help the detained student, please visit go.bard.edu/take-action.
Almost like data work is a highly skilled labor form that requires close attention to detail on top of computational expertise :-)
As someone who does accounting and data validation, this would get me fired:
October 3, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Almost like data work is a highly skilled labor form that requires close attention to detail on top of computational expertise :-)
Interested in teaching data analytics (Assistant rank) or systems topics (Open Rank) at a liberal arts college? Bard is hiring in both! Happy to answer questions about life here generally. Good people, good place, genuinely interdisciplinary campus! Job postings: www.bard.edu/humanresourc...
Bard Employment Opportunities
Bard Employment Opportunities
www.bard.edu
September 29, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Interested in teaching data analytics (Assistant rank) or systems topics (Open Rank) at a liberal arts college? Bard is hiring in both! Happy to answer questions about life here generally. Good people, good place, genuinely interdisciplinary campus! Job postings: www.bard.edu/humanresourc...
How do you write an AI course policy for a course in...AI? I'm trying to figure that out right now, with a working draft here: annabelrothschild.com/2025/08/11/a.... I'd love feedback -- we'll be talking in depth about all the FACcT* issues around AI throughout the course, this is just a spoiler.
AI Policy for an AI Course – Annabel Rothschild
annabelrothschild.com
August 11, 2025 at 2:42 PM
How do you write an AI course policy for a course in...AI? I'm trying to figure that out right now, with a working draft here: annabelrothschild.com/2025/08/11/a.... I'd love feedback -- we'll be talking in depth about all the FACcT* issues around AI throughout the course, this is just a spoiler.
Tired: accidentally pushing to prod
Wired: vibe coding prod
Wired: vibe coding prod
August 7, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Tired: accidentally pushing to prod
Wired: vibe coding prod
Wired: vibe coding prod
Just solved a printer bug as Grace Hopper intended (dissembling entire unit to excavate stink bug carcass)
June 8, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Just solved a printer bug as Grace Hopper intended (dissembling entire unit to excavate stink bug carcass)
new level of bureaucratic clustersauce: petitioning my former institution to stop marking emails from my new institution as automatic spam so that I can continue to work with colleagues there
all this because one admin sent all our SSNs for a free pizza lunch a few years ago (/s)
all this because one admin sent all our SSNs for a free pizza lunch a few years ago (/s)
June 5, 2025 at 11:57 PM
new level of bureaucratic clustersauce: petitioning my former institution to stop marking emails from my new institution as automatic spam so that I can continue to work with colleagues there
all this because one admin sent all our SSNs for a free pizza lunch a few years ago (/s)
all this because one admin sent all our SSNs for a free pizza lunch a few years ago (/s)
Synthetic data and labels (to replace human production) is starting to feel like the NSDAP project to create butter from coal: Details are sketchy, nutritional value seems even more dubious, but we're full steam ahead?
www.nytimes.com/1936/02/28/a...
www.sciencehistory.org/stories/maga...
www.nytimes.com/1936/02/28/a...
www.sciencehistory.org/stories/maga...
FAT MADE FROM COAL, GERMANS DECLARE; Plant Reported Ready to Produce Sebaceous Acid, Which Would Reduce Oil Imports. (Published 1936)
www.nytimes.com
May 9, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Synthetic data and labels (to replace human production) is starting to feel like the NSDAP project to create butter from coal: Details are sketchy, nutritional value seems even more dubious, but we're full steam ahead?
www.nytimes.com/1936/02/28/a...
www.sciencehistory.org/stories/maga...
www.nytimes.com/1936/02/28/a...
www.sciencehistory.org/stories/maga...
Reposted by Annabel Rothschild
Data centers are the new sacrifice zones
May 1, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Data centers are the new sacrifice zones
graduating on international workers' day from the university that always chooses whether phd students are students or workers based on what is most convenient for admin will never not be funny
May 1, 2025 at 1:18 PM
graduating on international workers' day from the university that always chooses whether phd students are students or workers based on what is most convenient for admin will never not be funny
Reposted by Annabel Rothschild
I'm looking for a postdoc to work on justice-oriented audit frameworks. Closing date April 30, 2025. pls share widely
We are seeking to appoint a Postdoctoral Researcher to work on developing a justice-oriented audit framework synthesising computational methods, theories of justice, and existing regulations to premeditatively focus audits towards meaningful accountability. www.adaptcentre.ie/careers/post...
April 2, 2025 at 3:29 PM
I'm looking for a postdoc to work on justice-oriented audit frameworks. Closing date April 30, 2025. pls share widely
So if Unis are halting graduate admissions this year, are they going to refund applicants all those $100 admissions application fees?
February 22, 2025 at 1:58 PM
So if Unis are halting graduate admissions this year, are they going to refund applicants all those $100 admissions application fees?
AI is but a concept of a plan
February 19, 2025 at 12:36 AM
AI is but a concept of a plan
Reposted by Annabel Rothschild
🎉Microsoft Research New England is hiring a predoctoral research assistant to work with @nancybaym.bsky.social, Tarleton Gillespie, and @marylgray.bsky.social on issues related to the dynamics of technology and society. 🎉
socialmediacollective.org/2025/01/22/s...
socialmediacollective.org/2025/01/22/s...
Seeking a Sociotechnical Systems Research Assistant (aka “Pre-Doc”)
Apply here: (NOTE: Application Portal opens February 3, 2025) Deadline: March 3, 2025. (Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.) NOTE: Unfortunately, applicants must be eligib…
socialmediacollective.org
February 13, 2025 at 4:25 PM
🎉Microsoft Research New England is hiring a predoctoral research assistant to work with @nancybaym.bsky.social, Tarleton Gillespie, and @marylgray.bsky.social on issues related to the dynamics of technology and society. 🎉
socialmediacollective.org/2025/01/22/s...
socialmediacollective.org/2025/01/22/s...
''‘Well, suppose I would oppose this, what good would I do? I wouldn’t do very much good, I would just lose my influence. Then why should I oppose it?’ You see, the moral point of view was completely absent, or very weak.'' -- Leo Szilard, on anticipatory obedience ("His version of the facts", p 13)
February 8, 2025 at 3:47 PM
''‘Well, suppose I would oppose this, what good would I do? I wouldn’t do very much good, I would just lose my influence. Then why should I oppose it?’ You see, the moral point of view was completely absent, or very weak.'' -- Leo Szilard, on anticipatory obedience ("His version of the facts", p 13)
Reposted by Annabel Rothschild
The loss of jobs at CDC coupled with major job losses at Emory and GA Tech will devastate Atlanta.
Research universities are often the largest employers in their region. They are often the primary health care providers to communities. This funding shift will not only reduce US research leadership, it will put working people out of work and reduce healthcare access.
Excellent 🧵 on this evening's NIH announcement of a dramatic reduction in indirect rates for research institutions, which amounts to a generational restructuring of the US research and development ecosystem. These cuts are effective immediately, not just for new grants but for existing ones.
February 8, 2025 at 2:31 AM
The loss of jobs at CDC coupled with major job losses at Emory and GA Tech will devastate Atlanta.
About those (GT) emails: www.11alive.com/article/news...
Georgia Tech questioned by state NAACP over deleting DEI references from website, school says it began discontinuing DEI programs in 2023
The Georgia NAACP on Sunday highlighted an email with a directive to delete content referring to DEI, justice and other terms.
www.11alive.com
February 3, 2025 at 6:03 PM
About those (GT) emails: www.11alive.com/article/news...
Had a lot of conversations with soon-to-be BA/S CS graduates about SWE jobs outside FAANG. Considering recent news about Costco upholding DEI values, I'd like to point out there are 95 (!) open IT jobs, many of them in Seattle and similar cities! phf.tbe.taleo.net/phf02/ats/ca...
Career Center
phf.tbe.taleo.net
January 24, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Had a lot of conversations with soon-to-be BA/S CS graduates about SWE jobs outside FAANG. Considering recent news about Costco upholding DEI values, I'd like to point out there are 95 (!) open IT jobs, many of them in Seattle and similar cities! phf.tbe.taleo.net/phf02/ats/ca...