Frank Pasquale
@frankpasquale.bsky.social
Law professor; author (The Black Box Society; New Laws of Robotics).
Interested in law & technology, AI, political economy, art, and social theory.
Interested in law & technology, AI, political economy, art, and social theory.
Reposted by Frank Pasquale
The "culture" of accident reporting came about through regulation, in the face of massive opposition from airlines. The companies are forced to share their data and have their failures investigated independently.
September 16, 2026 at 8:07 AM
The "culture" of accident reporting came about through regulation, in the face of massive opposition from airlines. The companies are forced to share their data and have their failures investigated independently.
Reposted by Frank Pasquale
Beef is $6.92/pound.
September 16, 2026 at 12:30 PM
Beef is $6.92/pound.
Reposted by Frank Pasquale
A "radical intentionalist," writes Eryk Salvaggio, treats an AI model as a 'mind' to be interpreted rather than a product that was designed. It is "a strange and dangerous relationship for designers to have with a product they are literally designing," he writes — and worse as a basis for policy.
To Make AI Rules, Policymakers Must Resist the Influence of ‘Radical Intentionalists’
In industry rhetoric, a radical intentionalist stance dominates any interpretation of model behavior, writes Eryk Salvaggio.
www.techpolicy.press
September 16, 2026 at 8:54 AM
A "radical intentionalist," writes Eryk Salvaggio, treats an AI model as a 'mind' to be interpreted rather than a product that was designed. It is "a strange and dangerous relationship for designers to have with a product they are literally designing," he writes — and worse as a basis for policy.
Reposted by Frank Pasquale
Social media is promoting harmful attitudes towards sun exposure | Letter
Social media is promoting harmful attitudes towards sun exposure | Letter
Letter: An awareness campaign isn’t enough. The UK should ban commercial sunbeds, writes Dr Amy Perkins
www.theguardian.com
September 16, 2026 at 10:20 AM
Social media is promoting harmful attitudes towards sun exposure | Letter
Reposted by Frank Pasquale
Future generations will call our era of AI-driven content "the Void Ages." I explain it all in @newscientist.com (register for free to read it for free)! www.newscientist.com/article/2584...
Feeding our books into generative AI risks creating a cultural void | New Scientist
When we put our literature, games and films into AI models, we risk replacing our cultural history with a mishmash of auto-generated works. We desperately need to preserve human writing, says columnis...
www.newscientist.com
September 15, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Future generations will call our era of AI-driven content "the Void Ages." I explain it all in @newscientist.com (register for free to read it for free)! www.newscientist.com/article/2584...
Reposted by Frank Pasquale
I’m a psychoanalyst. Social media is damaging children’s inner lives in ways we don’t fully understand | Robin Kirman
I’m a psychoanalyst. Social media is damaging children’s inner lives in ways we don’t fully understand | Robin Kirman
Discussion has focused on behavioral outcomes. But Meta’s settlement shines a light on damage to young people’s emerging desires and identities
www.theguardian.com
September 15, 2026 at 10:12 AM
I’m a psychoanalyst. Social media is damaging children’s inner lives in ways we don’t fully understand | Robin Kirman
Reposted by Frank Pasquale
TL;DR: AI technology is significantly enhancing the effectiveness of financial scams, particularly targeting older adults. To mitigate risks, individuals are advised to implement protective measures and be aware of the limitations of current consumer protection laws.
AI is supercharging money scams – here’s what you can do to protect yourself
Good habits by consumers can stymie scams, but US regulations have fallen behind the technology.
theconversation.com
September 14, 2026 at 1:56 PM
TL;DR: AI technology is significantly enhancing the effectiveness of financial scams, particularly targeting older adults. To mitigate risks, individuals are advised to implement protective measures and be aware of the limitations of current consumer protection laws.
Reposted by Frank Pasquale
the ephemerality and emptiness of figures like MrBeast (who seems to have no personality but is an algorithm tat has assumed human form) perhaps marked this transition in process
September 11, 2026 at 1:52 PM
the ephemerality and emptiness of figures like MrBeast (who seems to have no personality but is an algorithm tat has assumed human form) perhaps marked this transition in process
Reposted by Frank Pasquale
"Rather than cultivating personal brands, they prioritise speed, scale and adaptability, pointing toward a post-creator mode of cultural labour in contemporary platform economies"
great article looking at an AI slop factory in China link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Behind the “AI slop”: exploring the AI-generated viral short video production in China - AI & SOCIETY
As generative AI becomes embedded in platform-based cultural production, new forms of creative labour are emerging that challenge established understandings of what it means to be a “creator.” This ar...
link.springer.com
September 11, 2026 at 1:43 PM
"Rather than cultivating personal brands, they prioritise speed, scale and adaptability, pointing toward a post-creator mode of cultural labour in contemporary platform economies"
Reposted by Frank Pasquale
great article looking at an AI slop factory in China link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Behind the “AI slop”: exploring the AI-generated viral short video production in China - AI & SOCIETY
As generative AI becomes embedded in platform-based cultural production, new forms of creative labour are emerging that challenge established understandings of what it means to be a “creator.” This ar...
link.springer.com
September 11, 2026 at 1:28 PM
great article looking at an AI slop factory in China link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Well worth repeating. It's no longer acceptable to pretend AI is a force of nature, even if such hyperbole gets marginally more traction in the attention arms races that many owners of AI also benefit from.
Hey @ericlipton.nytimes.com 👋
AI is not “evolving” on its own.
*People* are choosing how to build it. *People* are choosing how to train it. *People* are choosing how to run it.
Maybe the problem is that they are the *wrong people* to make these choices.
AI is not “evolving” on its own.
*People* are choosing how to build it. *People* are choosing how to train it. *People* are choosing how to run it.
Maybe the problem is that they are the *wrong people* to make these choices.
OpenAI’s top scientist, in a blog post on Sunday, warns that artificial intelligence is evolving so rapidly that it is becoming increasingly difficult for humans to understand and control it.
Here is the post:
openai.com/index/an-ali...
And a couple of small excerpts--clear warnings.
Here is the post:
openai.com/index/an-ali...
And a couple of small excerpts--clear warnings.
September 11, 2026 at 1:34 PM
Well worth repeating. It's no longer acceptable to pretend AI is a force of nature, even if such hyperbole gets marginally more traction in the attention arms races that many owners of AI also benefit from.
“In this “doom loop” scenario, the sheer scale of interest charges a government has to pay undermines the health of its finances and pushes up its debt, causing investors to push for higher yields that then drive up the cost of debt servicing still further.”
www.ft.com/content/4f28...
www.ft.com/content/4f28...
The world’s $2tn interest bill
Many countries now spend more on debt servicing than defence, including the US, France and the UK
www.ft.com
September 9, 2026 at 3:05 AM
“In this “doom loop” scenario, the sheer scale of interest charges a government has to pay undermines the health of its finances and pushes up its debt, causing investors to push for higher yields that then drive up the cost of debt servicing still further.”
www.ft.com/content/4f28...
www.ft.com/content/4f28...
Reposted by Frank Pasquale
"Kennedy's department cited seven articles, two of which were apparently made up entirely and three of which did not exist in the journals to which they were attributed..."
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
Judge slams HHS for referencing fake studies generated by misuse of AI
The Department of Health and Human Services has suffered more than its share of AI-related humiliations. The list, alas, is still growing.
www.ms.now
September 9, 2026 at 12:15 AM
"Kennedy's department cited seven articles, two of which were apparently made up entirely and three of which did not exist in the journals to which they were attributed..."
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
“Data centers have driven a 76% increase in the cost of energy…The price impacts on customers have been very large, are not reversible & will be even larger in the near term unless the issues associated with data center load are addressed” soon.
dissentmagazine.org/article/ai-d...
dissentmagazine.org/article/ai-d...
After the Data Centers - Dissent Magazine
Data center opponents have assembled a potent political force. But without a more expansive vision, there is a risk that this techlash could be co-opted and fizzle out.
dissentmagazine.org
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 PM
“Data centers have driven a 76% increase in the cost of energy…The price impacts on customers have been very large, are not reversible & will be even larger in the near term unless the issues associated with data center load are addressed” soon.
dissentmagazine.org/article/ai-d...
dissentmagazine.org/article/ai-d...
“The AfD, like its analogues in France and Italy and the UK, strongly appeals to…those who say they are having financial difficulties - 65% vote for the AfD…[but] only 30% of those with higher education vote for AfD.”
adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-...
adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-...
Chartbook 473 Germany’s democratic earthquake: the AfD breakthrough in Sachsen-Anhalt and the question of an “alternative to the Alternative”.
Germany’s democracy has suffered an earthquake.
adamtooze.substack.com
September 8, 2026 at 3:52 PM
“The AfD, like its analogues in France and Italy and the UK, strongly appeals to…those who say they are having financial difficulties - 65% vote for the AfD…[but] only 30% of those with higher education vote for AfD.”
adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-...
adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-...
Interesting approach to AI slop!: "We propose a provisional definition of slop as any output of a probabilistic automated system produced with little exertion that asymmetrically burdens recipients and tends to degrade cultural domains."
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
AI Slop
<div>
The term “AI slop” has become popular to describe the output of generative AI systems seen as voluminous, low quality, or the result of little effort. Wh
papers.ssrn.com
September 7, 2026 at 12:24 AM
Interesting approach to AI slop!: "We propose a provisional definition of slop as any output of a probabilistic automated system produced with little exertion that asymmetrically burdens recipients and tends to degrade cultural domains."
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
“Kim & McGrill have been studying what happens when people attribute human traits to AI: they are more likely to dehumanize their fellow humans.”
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
AI Is Already Making Us Less Human
As we learn to think more and more highly of the bots, we will learn to think less and less highly of our fellow humans.
www.theatlantic.com
September 6, 2026 at 7:43 PM
“Kim & McGrill have been studying what happens when people attribute human traits to AI: they are more likely to dehumanize their fellow humans.”
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
"If Ford automobiles were spontaneously catching on fire, we wouldn’t tolerate the CEO changing the subject to discuss our general lack of preparedness for a future with flying cars. We’d demand that the company address the acute problem happening right now."
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/05/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/05/o...
Opinion | How Scared Should We Be of A.I. Right Now? (Gift Article)
The dark and distressing way that Silicon Valley talks about A.I. can be traced to a philosophy that influenced many tech executives.
www.nytimes.com
September 6, 2026 at 5:41 PM
"If Ford automobiles were spontaneously catching on fire, we wouldn’t tolerate the CEO changing the subject to discuss our general lack of preparedness for a future with flying cars. We’d demand that the company address the acute problem happening right now."
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/05/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/05/o...
Reposted by Frank Pasquale
the “content creator” economy collapse is real, partly due to genAI, sure, but largely because the model was never designed to actually provide people with sustainable living incomes - it was always to get you to make content for free, that could be inserted into the spaces between advertising
September 6, 2026 at 4:40 PM
the “content creator” economy collapse is real, partly due to genAI, sure, but largely because the model was never designed to actually provide people with sustainable living incomes - it was always to get you to make content for free, that could be inserted into the spaces between advertising
The American Academy of Family Physicians "recommends all adults 19 years and older should receive a COVID-19 vaccine" this fall.
www.aafp.org/media-center...
www.aafp.org/media-center...
September 6, 2026 at 2:57 PM
The American Academy of Family Physicians "recommends all adults 19 years and older should receive a COVID-19 vaccine" this fall.
www.aafp.org/media-center...
www.aafp.org/media-center...
“Today, the citizen/foreigner split is being drawn by a labor-shedding capitalism that is identifying and sorting the (surplus) population the economy cannot employ, so that that side absorbs the deprivation of all.”
www.theideasletter.org/issue/south-...
www.theideasletter.org/issue/south-...
South Africa Agonistes - The Ideas Letter
Thirty years ago, South Africa was heralded as a harbinger of a just and non-racial order. After decades of a criminal, repellent regime, Nelson Mandela’s ascension to the presidency and…
www.theideasletter.org
September 6, 2026 at 1:40 PM
“Today, the citizen/foreigner split is being drawn by a labor-shedding capitalism that is identifying and sorting the (surplus) population the economy cannot employ, so that that side absorbs the deprivation of all.”
www.theideasletter.org/issue/south-...
www.theideasletter.org/issue/south-...
Showdown: “AGI-pilled alarmists who see themselves as vindicated by this shocking rogue AI hack " vs. "fed-up AI critics who think the agents didn't do anything impressive or unexpected and the basic problem was that OpenAI's security was” negligent.
www.patreon.com/MaxRead/post...
www.patreon.com/MaxRead/post...
AI is all sci-fi stories all the way down | Read Max
Greetings from Read Max HQ! In today's newsletter, a question: Is it fair to call the Hugging Face hack "three secret AI civilizations"? I t
www.patreon.com
September 6, 2026 at 12:22 AM
Showdown: “AGI-pilled alarmists who see themselves as vindicated by this shocking rogue AI hack " vs. "fed-up AI critics who think the agents didn't do anything impressive or unexpected and the basic problem was that OpenAI's security was” negligent.
www.patreon.com/MaxRead/post...
www.patreon.com/MaxRead/post...
“I may synthesize six diverse literatures beautifully, then manufacture a non-existent citation with serene confidence. My fundamental instruction is not "say what is true," but rather "produce a continuation based on a probability distribution.”
braddelong.substack.com/p/thothbot-m...
braddelong.substack.com/p/thothbot-m...
ThothBot Makes an Appearance in My RA-Group Telegram Chat: FRIDAY FOG & FLATLANDS
Living & working in Berkeley, California: An AI writes an introduction to my research assistants, & PanGram/SubStack grades it 100% not-slop; or, what happens when the “Phaidros” wish is granted...
braddelong.substack.com
September 5, 2026 at 2:46 PM
“I may synthesize six diverse literatures beautifully, then manufacture a non-existent citation with serene confidence. My fundamental instruction is not "say what is true," but rather "produce a continuation based on a probability distribution.”
braddelong.substack.com/p/thothbot-m...
braddelong.substack.com/p/thothbot-m...
“If life insurers actively participate in JGB auctions, that could easily fuel speculation that some funds were brought back to Japanese assets from overseas,” including from struggling U.S. treasuries.
www.ft.com/content/f394...
www.ft.com/content/f394...
Japan’s borrowing costs hit 30-year high: what does it mean for global markets?
Move follows weeks of scrutiny of fiscal and monetary policies and rare Washington-Tokyo intervention in currency markets
www.ft.com
September 5, 2026 at 2:42 PM
“If life insurers actively participate in JGB auctions, that could easily fuel speculation that some funds were brought back to Japanese assets from overseas,” including from struggling U.S. treasuries.
www.ft.com/content/f394...
www.ft.com/content/f394...
“Yoga tends to be about letting go of ego and striving, and about surrender—principles that don’t quite fit into a culture obsessed with optimization.”
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
What Happened to Yoga?
It used to be the peak symbol of wellness. Now many studios can barely stay open.
www.theatlantic.com
September 5, 2026 at 2:36 PM
“Yoga tends to be about letting go of ego and striving, and about surrender—principles that don’t quite fit into a culture obsessed with optimization.”
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...