Are you a UM worker/student and want to hear better takes than the dude below on AI from university of Michigan faculty, students, staff?
then join the mass meeting on 10/28 at 7 to stop the UM-Los Alamos data center and its support of nuclear weapons!
bit.ly/UMichNoAIMeeting
my employer (u of michigan) sponsors around 400-500 H1B visas a year. these last for an initial period of three years & can then be renewed for three more. there are likely thousands of H1B workers at UM who are now effectively banned from travel, as they're certain to be fired if they leave the US
Those on an H1B cannot return to the US from tomorrow (Sunday) unless paying $100K. This is an out-of-the blue presidential action. We’ll see software engineers stranded abroad.
One easy to predict outcome: those on US visas will travel less… for work, for conferences etc.
it's less "AI drives people to kill themselves" and more that "tech companies do it, and are indifferent about it". and, bleakly, some journalists seem determined to convince you that the focal point of this story is a high point of engineering rather than a low point of humanity
The School of Information at Michigan is looking for its next John Derby Evans Professor in Information. It's open at the Assistant and Associate levels, and its a broad search: anyone working at the intersection of tech and society can apply. Please share!
www.si.umich.edu/people/facul...
If you're eligible, please consider participating in my PhD advisee @lameiro.bsky.social's interview study with online sex workers about non-consensual intimate deepfakes. Quick screening survey: bit.ly/deepfakesint...
Please also help spread the word by sharing with potential participants!
Michigan Medicine intends to solicit assistance from the Department of Defense's Innovative Readiness Training Program (IRT). The assistance will include partnership with the Air National Guard to perform cybersecurity missions; providing real-world training for its personnel while simultaneously enhancing the cybersecurity posture of communities. The proposed assistance will take place in Ann Arbor in 2026. Contractors, labor unions, or private individuals who have questions or who wish to voice opposition to military assistance for this project may contact Greg Sieg from Michigan Medicine Information Assurance at 734-936-4900 or Ask-Cybersecurity@med.umich.edu no later than thirty (30) days after the first publication of this notice. Persons not filing comments within the time frame noted will be considered to have waived their objections to military assistance for this project.
This was in the @annarborobserver.bsky.social Personally, I find that last sentence both ridiculous and chilling. Let @umich.edu #MichiganMedicine know your thoughts on their proposed partnership with the military. @aflcio.org @leounionumich.bsky.social @usu-umich.bsky.social
New analysis from @davidthewid.bsky.social and me revealing that Big Cloud invests 100x more often and spends hundreds of billions more $$ than other Big Tech on startup investments
Why? These investments allow Big Cloud to lock in the entire tech ecosystem -- more in David's thread and our report!
Does your work explore mis/disinformation, scams, hate speech, or other forms of harmful information online?
We are convening a CSCW workshop to bring together a global community focused on information disorder. We welcome 2-6 page submissions, due August 1.
cscw2025infodisorder.netlify.app
it’s been such an honor to work on this project and i am so proud of this team! my friendship ended with the NSF, trans technologies are my only friend
You're invited to "The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want" - a workshop and talk featuring Dr. Alex Hanna. Workshop: April 2, 2025, 4:30-5:30pm, BCC MP2 (RSVP Required) Keynote Lecture: April 3, 2025, 4:30-5:30pm with Q&A 5:30-6pm, HCRN 1066 (Honors Hall) or Zoom Register here: tinyurl.com/TJL25 The Tech Justice Lab invites you to attend a workshop and talk by Dr. Alex Hanna. Dr. Hanna is the Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute, a former AI ethics expert for Google, and a Purdue Aluma. n the workshop and talk, we'll get to engage with Dr. Hanna about her new book, The AI Con (coauthored with Dr. Emily M. Bender), which offers a sharp, witty, and wide-ranging take-down of AI hype across its many forms. Together, we can expose AI hype for what it is: a mask for Big Tech’s drive for profit, with little concern for who it affects.
There's a zoom option!
Register here: tinyurl.com/TJL25
TODAY at 3pm! Ann Arbor book launch event with Kishonna Gray and @hibby.bsky.social.
www.si.umich.edu/about-umsi/e...
