David Mimno
@dmimno.bsky.social
He teaches information science at Cornell. http://mimno.infosci.cornell.edu
Pinned
David Mimno
@dmimno.bsky.social
· Nov 13
Optimist: AI has achieved human level performance!
Realist: “AI” is a collection of brittle hacks that, under very specific circumstances, mimic the surface level of human intelligence
Pessimist: AI HAS achieved human level performance
Realist: “AI” is a collection of brittle hacks that, under very specific circumstances, mimic the surface level of human intelligence
Pessimist: AI HAS achieved human level performance
A university founded in the Middle Ages in a city that centers itself around a Medieval castle does not see a need to study Medieval History
Celtic (UG), Chinese & Russian (UG), Contemporary History, Economics & Statistics (joint degree), Inclusive Education (MSc), Intellectual History, Italian & Classics (joint), Law & Social Policy (joint), Medieval History, Persian Studies (UG), Portuguese (UG), Psychology & Economics (joint)....
Full list of the 90 programmes earmarked for closure at leading Scottish university
Managers say the cuts are necessary “to protect our world-leading reputation and resilience in research and teaching” but staff members have hit…
www.heraldscotland.com
September 18, 2026 at 7:11 PM
A university founded in the Middle Ages in a city that centers itself around a Medieval castle does not see a need to study Medieval History
whoa, the claude code update is suddenly much more aggressive about going off and doing things without asking
September 16, 2026 at 4:34 PM
whoa, the claude code update is suddenly much more aggressive about going off and doing things without asking
I’d check kalshi
I don’t usually share rumors but:
1) This is from someone with inside knowledge & is plausible
2) Is a real issue of policy we need to think about: if the norms of sharing become strained, will the labs start hoarding knowledge to avoid PR or regulatory issues?
scottaaronson.blog?p=10062
1) This is from someone with inside knowledge & is plausible
2) Is a real issue of policy we need to think about: if the norms of sharing become strained, will the labs start hoarding knowledge to avoid PR or regulatory issues?
scottaaronson.blog?p=10062
September 16, 2026 at 12:33 AM
I’d check kalshi
Reposted by David Mimno
We're hiring in Computer Science at the University of Colorado Boulder! ☀️⛰️ Machine learning and NLP people, please apply!
Come join us in Boulder! Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.
jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDeta...
jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDeta...
Tenure-Track Faculty in Artificial Intelligence
jobs.colorado.edu
September 14, 2026 at 4:42 PM
We're hiring in Computer Science at the University of Colorado Boulder! ☀️⛰️ Machine learning and NLP people, please apply!
Reposted by David Mimno
Teams, Zoom, Cisco, and Meet all use this ultrasonic technology.
TVs also use it to find out when your phone is in proximity, and what ads may be seen by which people. Stores use it to pinpoint where you are.
The world is constantly screaming at you to surveil you. Like a creepy bat, I guess.
TVs also use it to find out when your phone is in proximity, and what ads may be seen by which people. Stores use it to pinpoint where you are.
The world is constantly screaming at you to surveil you. Like a creepy bat, I guess.
Just found out the way conference rooms know you are in them so you can auto join the room into the call when you open the computer is that they are constantly playing sub-audible unique sound that your laptop then picks up to know what room is active.
September 14, 2026 at 2:55 PM
Teams, Zoom, Cisco, and Meet all use this ultrasonic technology.
TVs also use it to find out when your phone is in proximity, and what ads may be seen by which people. Stores use it to pinpoint where you are.
The world is constantly screaming at you to surveil you. Like a creepy bat, I guess.
TVs also use it to find out when your phone is in proximity, and what ads may be seen by which people. Stores use it to pinpoint where you are.
The world is constantly screaming at you to surveil you. Like a creepy bat, I guess.
Reposted by David Mimno
PhD students (& new PhDs): I'm hiring a postdoc at Cornell (Ithaca) to conduct a novel study at the intersection of political economy and tech. Applications are due Oct 16. There are a LOT more details in the job ad so make sure to read it thoroughly: academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/32502
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
lnkd.in
September 14, 2026 at 1:43 PM
PhD students (& new PhDs): I'm hiring a postdoc at Cornell (Ithaca) to conduct a novel study at the intersection of political economy and tech. Applications are due Oct 16. There are a LOT more details in the job ad so make sure to read it thoroughly: academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/32502
Reposted by David Mimno
The silence from industry in the face of concerted attacks on US competitiveness has been disgraceful. Will this finally wake them up? Or will they just offshore all skilled work?
And yes, this is a constitutional crisis if the executive can apply a “ridiculous fee” veto to any legislation.
And yes, this is a constitutional crisis if the executive can apply a “ridiculous fee” veto to any legislation.
The US President's new proposal to tax international students has been approved by the White House for release this week.
It's an unprecedented $100,000 tax on int'l grads who stay to work after graduation on Optional Practical Training (most grads do), a crucial bridge to remaining by any channel.
It's an unprecedented $100,000 tax on int'l grads who stay to work after graduation on Optional Practical Training (most grads do), a crucial bridge to remaining by any channel.
September 13, 2026 at 5:15 PM
The silence from industry in the face of concerted attacks on US competitiveness has been disgraceful. Will this finally wake them up? Or will they just offshore all skilled work?
And yes, this is a constitutional crisis if the executive can apply a “ridiculous fee” veto to any legislation.
And yes, this is a constitutional crisis if the executive can apply a “ridiculous fee” veto to any legislation.
The silence from industry in the face of concerted attacks on US competitiveness has been disgraceful. Will this finally wake them up? Or will they just offshore all skilled work?
And yes, this is a constitutional crisis if the executive can apply a “ridiculous fee” veto to any legislation.
And yes, this is a constitutional crisis if the executive can apply a “ridiculous fee” veto to any legislation.
The US President's new proposal to tax international students has been approved by the White House for release this week.
It's an unprecedented $100,000 tax on int'l grads who stay to work after graduation on Optional Practical Training (most grads do), a crucial bridge to remaining by any channel.
It's an unprecedented $100,000 tax on int'l grads who stay to work after graduation on Optional Practical Training (most grads do), a crucial bridge to remaining by any channel.
September 13, 2026 at 5:15 PM
The silence from industry in the face of concerted attacks on US competitiveness has been disgraceful. Will this finally wake them up? Or will they just offshore all skilled work?
And yes, this is a constitutional crisis if the executive can apply a “ridiculous fee” veto to any legislation.
And yes, this is a constitutional crisis if the executive can apply a “ridiculous fee” veto to any legislation.
Killer AI is sufficient, but not necessary
The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo has now spread to seven provinces in the country, local authorities said. It’s the fastest-growing outbreak on record.
Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo has now spread to the country's seventh province, officials say
The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo has now spread to seven provinces in the country, local authorities said. It’s the fastest-growing outbreak on record.
bit.ly
September 11, 2026 at 7:23 PM
Killer AI is sufficient, but not necessary
Reposted by David Mimno
1/7 In 1941, Borges imagined an impossible novel that follows all narrative branches at once. Today, we can observe chatbot users exploring narrative possibilities as they repeatedly edit story prompts.
In our COLM 2026 paper, we studied this branching exploration via the WildChat dataset. 🧵
In our COLM 2026 paper, we studied this branching exploration via the WildChat dataset. 🧵
September 10, 2026 at 3:28 PM
1/7 In 1941, Borges imagined an impossible novel that follows all narrative branches at once. Today, we can observe chatbot users exploring narrative possibilities as they repeatedly edit story prompts.
In our COLM 2026 paper, we studied this branching exploration via the WildChat dataset. 🧵
In our COLM 2026 paper, we studied this branching exploration via the WildChat dataset. 🧵
Reposted by David Mimno
It is time for possible Dagstuhl proposals again! Proposals can be submitted between October 15 and November 1, 2026. For links to guidelines, more details on the process, and important dates see www.dagstuhl.de/en/institute...
Call for Proposals (Deadline November 1, 2026)
Call for Proposals (Deadline November 1, 2026)
www.dagstuhl.de
September 10, 2026 at 11:50 AM
It is time for possible Dagstuhl proposals again! Proposals can be submitted between October 15 and November 1, 2026. For links to guidelines, more details on the process, and important dates see www.dagstuhl.de/en/institute...
Reposting since a lot has happened this week
The idea of a machine that mechanistically generates true theorems goes back to Hilbert 100 years ago. People lost interest when Gödel proved it was impossible to generate all of them (true things outnumber proofs) but that never implied the machine wouldn't produce a whole lot of them.
September 10, 2026 at 3:45 PM
Reposting since a lot has happened this week
Something that never made sense to me about H.P. Lovecraft was the Cthulhu priests' motivation. Why would they want to awaken him? Now at least I understand: "we have to, because what if someone less responsible awakened Cthulhu?"
September 10, 2026 at 12:58 PM
Something that never made sense to me about H.P. Lovecraft was the Cthulhu priests' motivation. Why would they want to awaken him? Now at least I understand: "we have to, because what if someone less responsible awakened Cthulhu?"
Reposted by David Mimno
Job alert! We are hiring in the area of privacy and technology, with a particular interest in how privacy intersects with AI. This position is via the Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, which we would expect to lead to a tenure-track position within UMSI.
www.si.umich.edu/people/facul...
www.si.umich.edu/people/facul...
Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow/Assistant Professor - Privacy and Technology | umsi
Job posting for the Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow/Assistant Professor - Privacy and Technology position
www.si.umich.edu
September 8, 2026 at 4:22 PM
Job alert! We are hiring in the area of privacy and technology, with a particular interest in how privacy intersects with AI. This position is via the Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, which we would expect to lead to a tenure-track position within UMSI.
www.si.umich.edu/people/facul...
www.si.umich.edu/people/facul...
Cars are a surprisingly good model for public acceptance of AI. Some people love them and tinker with them. Others hate and reject them. Most find their own car useful. But everyone viscerally hates everyone else's car: traffic, parking, dangerous driving, pollution, etc.
September 8, 2026 at 11:36 AM
Cars are a surprisingly good model for public acceptance of AI. Some people love them and tinker with them. Others hate and reject them. Most find their own car useful. But everyone viscerally hates everyone else's car: traffic, parking, dangerous driving, pollution, etc.
Reposted by David Mimno
OCR for Japanese manga, Swedish handwriting or Arabic print?
There’s a growing range of OCR models on @hf.co: VLMs, dedicated text recognisers and complete OCR pipelines.
I’ve gathered 41 models into four collections, with short notes to help you choose:
huggingface.co/collections/...
There’s a growing range of OCR models on @hf.co: VLMs, dedicated text recognisers and complete OCR pipelines.
I’ve gathered 41 models into four collections, with short notes to help you choose:
huggingface.co/collections/...
OCR on the Hub - a davanstrien Collection
Curated OCR models for documents, languages, handwriting and text in images. Browse four collections with short practical notes.
huggingface.co
September 7, 2026 at 3:43 PM
OCR for Japanese manga, Swedish handwriting or Arabic print?
There’s a growing range of OCR models on @hf.co: VLMs, dedicated text recognisers and complete OCR pipelines.
I’ve gathered 41 models into four collections, with short notes to help you choose:
huggingface.co/collections/...
There’s a growing range of OCR models on @hf.co: VLMs, dedicated text recognisers and complete OCR pipelines.
I’ve gathered 41 models into four collections, with short notes to help you choose:
huggingface.co/collections/...
The For You feed from @spacecowboy17.bsky.social is to BlueSky what the tidyverse is to R. Fundamentally the same, but takes the experience from "usable" to "enjoyable".
September 7, 2026 at 3:28 PM
The For You feed from @spacecowboy17.bsky.social is to BlueSky what the tidyverse is to R. Fundamentally the same, but takes the experience from "usable" to "enjoyable".
Reposted by David Mimno
it is sooooo cool that we have an actual explainable algorithm here on bsky
PSA: you can find out which of your likes caused For You to show any given post at foryou.club/explain
Just enter the post URL and hit "Explain":
Just enter the post URL and hit "Explain":
September 6, 2026 at 11:32 PM
it is sooooo cool that we have an actual explainable algorithm here on bsky
Reposted by David Mimno
Exactly 10 years ago today, Matthew and I sat at the notary's office overlooking the city of Berlin, and signed the founding documents of our company, @explosion.ai.
So much has happened since and we got to witness the field evolve, "AI" become mainstream, and hypes come and go. (1/8)
So much has happened since and we got to witness the field evolve, "AI" become mainstream, and hypes come and go. (1/8)
September 5, 2026 at 1:40 PM
Exactly 10 years ago today, Matthew and I sat at the notary's office overlooking the city of Berlin, and signed the founding documents of our company, @explosion.ai.
So much has happened since and we got to witness the field evolve, "AI" become mainstream, and hypes come and go. (1/8)
So much has happened since and we got to witness the field evolve, "AI" become mainstream, and hypes come and go. (1/8)
The idea of a machine that mechanistically generates true theorems goes back to Hilbert 100 years ago. People lost interest when Gödel proved it was impossible to generate all of them (true things outnumber proofs) but that never implied the machine wouldn't produce a whole lot of them.
September 3, 2026 at 7:28 PM
The idea of a machine that mechanistically generates true theorems goes back to Hilbert 100 years ago. People lost interest when Gödel proved it was impossible to generate all of them (true things outnumber proofs) but that never implied the machine wouldn't produce a whole lot of them.
Reposted by David Mimno
What works does the r/classicliterature subreddit consider "classic"? This post gives you an answer (and some media ecological theorizing for good measure):
cforster.com/2026/09/redd...
With thanks to @mellymeldubs.bsky.social & @mariaa.bsky.social, whose work on Goodreads I borrow from.
cforster.com/2026/09/redd...
With thanks to @mellymeldubs.bsky.social & @mariaa.bsky.social, whose work on Goodreads I borrow from.
The Reddit Classics
Reflections on the most frequently mentioned works in the /r/classicliterature subreddit.
cforster.com
September 3, 2026 at 12:48 PM
What works does the r/classicliterature subreddit consider "classic"? This post gives you an answer (and some media ecological theorizing for good measure):
cforster.com/2026/09/redd...
With thanks to @mellymeldubs.bsky.social & @mariaa.bsky.social, whose work on Goodreads I borrow from.
cforster.com/2026/09/redd...
With thanks to @mellymeldubs.bsky.social & @mariaa.bsky.social, whose work on Goodreads I borrow from.
Reposted by David Mimno
A 15.9M-parameter specialist OCR model outperforms many VLMs hundreds of times larger.
On a 2,165-page historical eval dataset, Kraken PP-OCRv6 ranks #4 on reading CER and #1 when long-s, ligatures and case are preserved.
huggingface.co/spaces/fineb...
On a 2,165-page historical eval dataset, Kraken PP-OCRv6 ranks #4 on reading CER and #1 when long-s, ligatures and case are preserved.
huggingface.co/spaces/fineb...
September 3, 2026 at 2:53 PM
A 15.9M-parameter specialist OCR model outperforms many VLMs hundreds of times larger.
On a 2,165-page historical eval dataset, Kraken PP-OCRv6 ranks #4 on reading CER and #1 when long-s, ligatures and case are preserved.
huggingface.co/spaces/fineb...
On a 2,165-page historical eval dataset, Kraken PP-OCRv6 ranks #4 on reading CER and #1 when long-s, ligatures and case are preserved.
huggingface.co/spaces/fineb...
Reposted by David Mimno
We are hiring! Permanent position for a University Lecturer in Digital Humanities at the University of Helsinki.
The application period is open and closes on 3 October 2026:
jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki...
Please read the job description carefully and feel free to spread the word widely.
The application period is open and closes on 3 October 2026:
jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki...
Please read the job description carefully and feel free to spread the word widely.
University Lecturer in Digital Humanities
University Lecturer in Digital Humanities
jobs.helsinki.fi
September 1, 2026 at 12:39 PM
We are hiring! Permanent position for a University Lecturer in Digital Humanities at the University of Helsinki.
The application period is open and closes on 3 October 2026:
jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki...
Please read the job description carefully and feel free to spread the word widely.
The application period is open and closes on 3 October 2026:
jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki...
Please read the job description carefully and feel free to spread the word widely.
Remember that LeCun was one of about 5 people in the world who thought neural networks were worth studying in the 2000s
September 1, 2026 at 12:49 PM
Remember that LeCun was one of about 5 people in the world who thought neural networks were worth studying in the 2000s
Reposted by David Mimno
I’m recruiting students this upcoming cycle at UIUC CS. I’m excited about Qs on societal impact of AI, especially human-AI collaboration, agentic teams, and benchmark design. Also, check out my grad seminar on these topics! tinyurl.com/cs598aisinth...
September 1, 2026 at 2:23 AM
I’m recruiting students this upcoming cycle at UIUC CS. I’m excited about Qs on societal impact of AI, especially human-AI collaboration, agentic teams, and benchmark design. Also, check out my grad seminar on these topics! tinyurl.com/cs598aisinth...