Eric Kennedy
@ericbkennedy.bsky.social
Associate Prof of Disaster & Emergency Management at York University. Trying to improve use of evidence, science, data, and wisdom in wildfire. Editor of Canadian Journal of Emergency Management.
Modest proposal that we should immediate pass laws that fine companies 10% of their annual revenue for per "drone ad" they run, doubling for every subsequent offence.
Someone on Reddit filmed an aerial drone advertisement in the night sky in Toronto and if this is real, it needs to be banned immediately.
#TOpoli
#TOpoli
September 11, 2026 at 1:06 PM
Modest proposal that we should immediate pass laws that fine companies 10% of their annual revenue for per "drone ad" they run, doubling for every subsequent offence.
Reposted by Eric Kennedy
And note the argument being made here, in the open, by the AI companies:
Thoughts that existed before LLMs are better than thoughts that exist after LLMs.
Thoughts that existed before LLMs are better than thoughts that exist after LLMs.
August 5, 2026 at 12:32 PM
And note the argument being made here, in the open, by the AI companies:
Thoughts that existed before LLMs are better than thoughts that exist after LLMs.
Thoughts that existed before LLMs are better than thoughts that exist after LLMs.
Reposted by Eric Kennedy
As an economic pathology, AI is *extraordinary*. AI boosters have spent a baffling and terrifying sum of money - over $1.4T, most of that in the past year - on the promise of making as many workers unemployed as possible, while lowering the wages of the meager survivors of this jobspocalypse.
3/
3/
July 24, 2026 at 10:41 AM
As an economic pathology, AI is *extraordinary*. AI boosters have spent a baffling and terrifying sum of money - over $1.4T, most of that in the past year - on the promise of making as many workers unemployed as possible, while lowering the wages of the meager survivors of this jobspocalypse.
3/
3/
Never could; never should.
International collaboration on wildfire is so critical. This is a problem that knows no borders, and we're better when we collaborate and learn from each other in tackling it, rather than threatening and antagonizing.
International collaboration on wildfire is so critical. This is a problem that knows no borders, and we're better when we collaborate and learn from each other in tackling it, rather than threatening and antagonizing.
July 24, 2026 at 2:49 PM
Never could; never should.
International collaboration on wildfire is so critical. This is a problem that knows no borders, and we're better when we collaborate and learn from each other in tackling it, rather than threatening and antagonizing.
International collaboration on wildfire is so critical. This is a problem that knows no borders, and we're better when we collaborate and learn from each other in tackling it, rather than threatening and antagonizing.
Reposted by Eric Kennedy
CO2 and PM2.5 monitoring helps us understand the quality of the air we're exposed to indoors and outdoors. They also inform us about the strategies to mitigate exposure, such as wearing an N95, running an air purifier, closing windows and doors, and using MERV13+ furnace filters.
#cleantheair
#cleantheair
July 16, 2026 at 12:58 PM
CO2 and PM2.5 monitoring helps us understand the quality of the air we're exposed to indoors and outdoors. They also inform us about the strategies to mitigate exposure, such as wearing an N95, running an air purifier, closing windows and doors, and using MERV13+ furnace filters.
#cleantheair
#cleantheair
I've said it before and I'll say it again:
Advocates of a national Canadian firefighting force need to explain how this is better than equivalent investment into the provinces/territories already doing this work, and media needs to ACTUALLY ASK THIS instead of repeating this line unquestioned.
Advocates of a national Canadian firefighting force need to explain how this is better than equivalent investment into the provinces/territories already doing this work, and media needs to ACTUALLY ASK THIS instead of repeating this line unquestioned.
July 15, 2026 at 5:06 PM
I've said it before and I'll say it again:
Advocates of a national Canadian firefighting force need to explain how this is better than equivalent investment into the provinces/territories already doing this work, and media needs to ACTUALLY ASK THIS instead of repeating this line unquestioned.
Advocates of a national Canadian firefighting force need to explain how this is better than equivalent investment into the provinces/territories already doing this work, and media needs to ACTUALLY ASK THIS instead of repeating this line unquestioned.
Reposted by Eric Kennedy
The “writing is thinking” posting will continue until a single freaking person in Silicon Valley has figured this out
One thing that AI evangelists seem to assume, particularly legal AI evangelists assume, is that the thinking and analysis is quick, and the writing is just tedious busywork that slows us down.
But the writing IS the thinking and analysis. You work out the thinking and analysis by writing it down.
But the writing IS the thinking and analysis. You work out the thinking and analysis by writing it down.
March 18, 2026 at 5:18 PM
The “writing is thinking” posting will continue until a single freaking person in Silicon Valley has figured this out
Bragging about using AI in your studies is like bragging about using a robot to lift your weights at the gym.
Too many students are convinced by their own universities, by some of their teachers and professors, and by the AI companies themselves that ‘using ai to study is getting ahead of the game’
But the process they seek to get ahead of is the point.
But the process they seek to get ahead of is the point.
I've had several former undergrad students who have gone on to graduate education in the healthcare field (med school, PT, dental school, etc.) tell me that the use of "AI" in their programs by their fellow students is rampant
What this means for the future of healthcare is quite alarming
What this means for the future of healthcare is quite alarming
March 19, 2026 at 1:28 PM
Bragging about using AI in your studies is like bragging about using a robot to lift your weights at the gym.
Reposted by Eric Kennedy
even if you *just* wore a respirator in public indoor spaces when you're not engaged in activities involving your mouth (ie: not actively eating/drinking), the airborne landscape—the lives of high risk people especially—would be *drastically different*
A classic anti-masker tactic is to claim that if you don't wear a mask 100% of the time, it isn't worth it. Untrue. Every single time you wear a mask, you reduce the chances for viruses to spread. Wearing a mask always improves public health, even if you only do it occasionally.
March 18, 2026 at 7:52 PM
even if you *just* wore a respirator in public indoor spaces when you're not engaged in activities involving your mouth (ie: not actively eating/drinking), the airborne landscape—the lives of high risk people especially—would be *drastically different*
Reposted by Eric Kennedy
It is *fascinating* to me how quickly some people have gone completely from “we all must work in the office! human collaboration is vital and only happens in person!” to “I can replace all these pesky people with chatbots!” Definitely some commentary there about our society and who gets to choose.
March 16, 2026 at 1:57 PM
It is *fascinating* to me how quickly some people have gone completely from “we all must work in the office! human collaboration is vital and only happens in person!” to “I can replace all these pesky people with chatbots!” Definitely some commentary there about our society and who gets to choose.
Reposted by Eric Kennedy
As I’ve been saying for six years, you cannot decide to shut off empathy in just one lil area (all of disabled and vulnerable people.) Endangering people for your convenience and comfort is a drug you do not do recreationally.
Every day I collect another piece of supporting evidence for the idea that the pandemic made a dangerously large plurality, if not an outright majority, of Americans go absolutely feral. Zero sense of or interest in how to interact with other humans in shared spaces. None.
March 13, 2026 at 3:35 AM
As I’ve been saying for six years, you cannot decide to shut off empathy in just one lil area (all of disabled and vulnerable people.) Endangering people for your convenience and comfort is a drug you do not do recreationally.
@swanboatsteve.bsky.social Do you happen to have any data for real-world headways at York Uni station during rush hour? I feel like the last couple months I’ve been routinely arriving on the platform to the screen showing a 7 minute wait during PM peak.
February 4, 2026 at 10:36 PM
@swanboatsteve.bsky.social Do you happen to have any data for real-world headways at York Uni station during rush hour? I feel like the last couple months I’ve been routinely arriving on the platform to the screen showing a 7 minute wait during PM peak.
Hard to overstate how antisocial and corrosive this Tylenol ad campaign is.
“Take our product so you can go out while contagious and make more customers for us… er, make more people sick!”
“Take our product so you can go out while contagious and make more customers for us… er, make more people sick!”
January 29, 2026 at 3:47 PM
Hard to overstate how antisocial and corrosive this Tylenol ad campaign is.
“Take our product so you can go out while contagious and make more customers for us… er, make more people sick!”
“Take our product so you can go out while contagious and make more customers for us… er, make more people sick!”
Reposted by Eric Kennedy
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
November 28, 2025 at 3:07 PM
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
!!!
Holy shit:
Stateline spoke to nearly a dozen firefighters, agency staffers and contractors, who said that top officials assigned to the fire deployed the crews to a remote location under false pretenses so federal agents could check their immigration status.
www.hcn.org/articles/fir...
Stateline spoke to nearly a dozen firefighters, agency staffers and contractors, who said that top officials assigned to the fire deployed the crews to a remote location under false pretenses so federal agents could check their immigration status.
www.hcn.org/articles/fir...
Firefighters question leaders’ role in ICE raid near Bear Gulch Fire - High Country News
Firefighting veterans believe the management team overseeing fire crews played a key role in handing team members over to immigration authorities.
www.hcn.org
September 3, 2025 at 8:28 PM
!!!
Fun example of "AI" being not just bad but dangerous: Google "AI" is happy to say that Toronto currently has 7 µg/m³ of PM2.5 and is "well below the threshold generally considered healthy." But, the source it links says Toronto is currently actually at PM2.5 of 38µg/m³, which ain't great.
July 31, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Fun example of "AI" being not just bad but dangerous: Google "AI" is happy to say that Toronto currently has 7 µg/m³ of PM2.5 and is "well below the threshold generally considered healthy." But, the source it links says Toronto is currently actually at PM2.5 of 38µg/m³, which ain't great.
I’d be much more open to double spacing if I had literally ever seen a document by a double spacer that wasn’t riddled with an inconsistent pile of single, double, and triple spacing.
the reason for double spacing is gone! the only thing left is the headache other people get dealing with your double spaces
July 7, 2025 at 5:44 AM
I’d be much more open to double spacing if I had literally ever seen a document by a double spacer that wasn’t riddled with an inconsistent pile of single, double, and triple spacing.
Let's check in on how abandoning the whole of idea of public health is going...
July 4, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Let's check in on how abandoning the whole of idea of public health is going...
**Taps sign**
It ain’t “Artificial Intelligence,” it’s a low-accountability statistical model with a good marketing campaign.
It ain’t “Artificial Intelligence,” it’s a low-accountability statistical model with a good marketing campaign.
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
June 19, 2025 at 11:46 AM
**Taps sign**
It ain’t “Artificial Intelligence,” it’s a low-accountability statistical model with a good marketing campaign.
It ain’t “Artificial Intelligence,” it’s a low-accountability statistical model with a good marketing campaign.
ChatGPT: How do I tell my professor colleagues that LLM drivel they share with me is no more valuable or okay to normalize than the LLM drivel students submit on assignments?
June 19, 2025 at 11:45 AM
ChatGPT: How do I tell my professor colleagues that LLM drivel they share with me is no more valuable or okay to normalize than the LLM drivel students submit on assignments?
You should absolutely wear a respirator (N95, KN95, etc) when in large crowds to protect yourself and others.
But, hot take: if a protest is the only time you’re wearing a mask, you’re making it easier for anti-mask folks to stigmatize and ban. Show solidarity by wearing them elsewhere, regularly.
But, hot take: if a protest is the only time you’re wearing a mask, you’re making it easier for anti-mask folks to stigmatize and ban. Show solidarity by wearing them elsewhere, regularly.
June 14, 2025 at 6:18 PM
You should absolutely wear a respirator (N95, KN95, etc) when in large crowds to protect yourself and others.
But, hot take: if a protest is the only time you’re wearing a mask, you’re making it easier for anti-mask folks to stigmatize and ban. Show solidarity by wearing them elsewhere, regularly.
But, hot take: if a protest is the only time you’re wearing a mask, you’re making it easier for anti-mask folks to stigmatize and ban. Show solidarity by wearing them elsewhere, regularly.
159 Canadian Forces members were killed in Afghanistan, a higher per-capita fatality rate than Americans.
At least five of those were killed by Americans in so-called “friendly fire” incidents.
At least five of those were killed by Americans in so-called “friendly fire” incidents.
HEGSETH: We wore a patch on our shoulder that said ISAF -- International Security Assistance Force. And you know what the joke was? That is stood for 'I saw Americans fighting.'
COONS: Let's just make clear for the record that our military partners in Afghanistan included many who served and died
COONS: Let's just make clear for the record that our military partners in Afghanistan included many who served and died
June 12, 2025 at 12:04 AM
159 Canadian Forces members were killed in Afghanistan, a higher per-capita fatality rate than Americans.
At least five of those were killed by Americans in so-called “friendly fire” incidents.
At least five of those were killed by Americans in so-called “friendly fire” incidents.
One of my pet peeves with wildfire coverage is when media outlets uncritically parrot bad understandings of emergency management and how different levels of government work together to manage wildfire.
So, I want to highlight CBC doing it well! Brief 🧵 (1/n)
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
So, I want to highlight CBC doing it well! Brief 🧵 (1/n)
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Why hasn't Sask. called for military help? The province says it needs wildfire expertise | CBC News
Despite facing one of its earliest, most aggressive fire seasons, Saskatchewan has not asked the federal government for the military's help. Why not? Provincial officials say the military doesn't have...
www.cbc.ca
June 10, 2025 at 2:21 PM
One of my pet peeves with wildfire coverage is when media outlets uncritically parrot bad understandings of emergency management and how different levels of government work together to manage wildfire.
So, I want to highlight CBC doing it well! Brief 🧵 (1/n)
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
So, I want to highlight CBC doing it well! Brief 🧵 (1/n)
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
This is how I start the conversation about LLMs with my students: it’s like going to the gym and riding an e-bike on the treadmill.
Then, we figure out how to co-create a class where it’s safe to struggle at workouts together.
Then, we figure out how to co-create a class where it’s safe to struggle at workouts together.
Love the teacher who says it is like sending a robot to lift weights for you at the gym.
I talked to 15 teachers/professors about how AI and ChatGPT is ruining their lives:
www.404media.co/teachers-are...
www.404media.co/teachers-are...
June 2, 2025 at 8:38 PM
This is how I start the conversation about LLMs with my students: it’s like going to the gym and riding an e-bike on the treadmill.
Then, we figure out how to co-create a class where it’s safe to struggle at workouts together.
Then, we figure out how to co-create a class where it’s safe to struggle at workouts together.
Perpetual subtweet on people using AI in academia: if you can’t be bothered to do the analysis or write it yourself, why in the world should I be bothered to read it, let alone trust it?
May 28, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Perpetual subtweet on people using AI in academia: if you can’t be bothered to do the analysis or write it yourself, why in the world should I be bothered to read it, let alone trust it?