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Tama Leaver

@tamaleaver

πŸŽ“ Professor of Internet Studies, Curtin Uni (Boorloo/Perth West Australia); πŸ”Ž @digitalchildau.bsky.social (GenAI & Datafication); 🐘 @tama@aoir.social; he/him. [Views mine; RT/❀️/etc β‰  endorsement]

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14.07.2023
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Latest posts by Tama Leaver @tamaleaver

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Grammarly generated fake expert reviews β€œby” real scholars Grammarly is a full on AI plagiarism machine now, generating text, citations (often irrelevant), β€œhumanizing” the text to avoid AI checkers and so on. If you’re an author or schol…

Grammarly is no longer a friendly tool to help people become better writers, it is now a full on AI-plagiarism machine. I wrote a blog post showing how Grammarly's Expert review feature (discontinued yesterday) presented fake versions of academics without permission. jilltxt.net/grammarly-ge...

12.03.2026 11:35 πŸ‘ 11 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

This remains vital to remember: nobody knows if Australian's Under16 Social Media Ban will actually work (ie have a positive impact on under16s) and nobody will be able to judge that meaningfully for years (not days, not months).

02.03.2026 23:54 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Poster stating that AoIR Selected Papers in Internet Research 2025 Ruptures current issue is now available. Includes link to check out the papers online: https://spir.aoir.org/ojs/index.php/spir

Poster stating that AoIR Selected Papers in Internet Research 2025 Ruptures current issue is now available. Includes link to check out the papers online: https://spir.aoir.org/ojs/index.php/spir

#AoIR2026 proposals in, #AoIR2025 papers OUT! AoIR SPIR 2025 Ruptures is now available. Check out the papers of our annual conference online πŸ”— spir.aoir.org/ojs/index.ph... πŸ₯³

01.03.2026 21:41 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Toy Story 5 | Official Trailer | In Theaters June 19
Toy Story 5 | Official Trailer | In Theaters June 19 YouTube video by Pixar

I love the original Toy Story trilogy but, honestly, making screen time AKA 'tech' the villain for Toy Story 5 has the potential to really alienate kids and parents.

I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think this will be the Toy Story for me.

youtu.be/c51ND9Hdbw0?...

20.02.2026 05:09 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
M/C Journal logo

M/C Journal logo

♾️ CFP OUT NOW: M/C Journal '#immortality' issue, edited by Angelique Nairn and Deepti Bhargava. Article submissions due 17 Apr. 2026; issue launch date 17 June 2026. #mcjournal ♾️

journal.media-cultur...

17.02.2026 00:52 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
CFP: ADM+S Generative Authenticity Symposium Call for Papers Authenticity, Generative AI and Synthetic Media: An ADM+S Symposium 6-7 May 2026, QUT Kelvin Grove, Brisbane Authenticity is often at the centre of concer...

🚨CFP: The ADM+S Generative Authenticity project is hosting a small scholarly symposium on Authenticity, Generative AI and Synthetic Media on 6-7 May at QUT Kelvin Grove (and hybrid node).

Short abstracts due 9 March.
All info and the submission form: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

17.02.2026 06:28 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 8 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
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Opinion | OpenAI Is Making the Mistakes Facebook Made. I Quit.

(Link: www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/o... )

13.02.2026 04:46 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Text from article in the New York Times by ZoΓ« Hitzig:

For several years, ChatGPT users have generated an archive of human candor that has no precedent, in part because people believed they were talking to something that had no ulterior agenda. Users are interacting with an adaptive, conversational voice to which they have revealed their most private thoughts. People tell chatbots about their medical fears, their relationship problems, their beliefs about God and the afterlife. Advertising built on that archive creates a potential for manipulating users in ways we don’t have the tools to understand, let alone prevent.

Text from article in the New York Times by ZoΓ« Hitzig: For several years, ChatGPT users have generated an archive of human candor that has no precedent, in part because people believed they were talking to something that had no ulterior agenda. Users are interacting with an adaptive, conversational voice to which they have revealed their most private thoughts. People tell chatbots about their medical fears, their relationship problems, their beliefs about God and the afterlife. Advertising built on that archive creates a potential for manipulating users in ways we don’t have the tools to understand, let alone prevent.

ZoΓ« Hitzig's piece in the NYTimes really hits home why OpenAI's inevitable, but even more intrusive, shift to deploying ads in ChatGPT shows (a) an exploitation of private data that eclipses even social media platforms; & (b) that there really are no new ideas coming out of AI companies at all.

13.02.2026 04:43 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
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The EU Wants to Label 'Addictive Design' a Systemic Risk Under the DSA The EU's preliminary findings represent a massive test for the Digital Services Act, with implications for all platforms, writes Chris Stokel-Walker.

What happens next now that the European Commission has found TikTok in breach of the Digital Services Act? My latest for @techpolicypress.bsky.social press unpicks the process - and what's likely to happen www.techpolicy.press/the-eu-wants...

06.02.2026 18:35 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 8 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
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AI chatbots give inaccurate medical advice says Oxford Uni study It found people using AI for health reasons found it hard to identify what advice they should trust.

ICYMI: A new study from @oii.ox.ac.uk and @oxprimarycare.bsky.social, carried out in partnership with @mlcommons.org and other institutions warns of risks of AI chatbots giving medical advice. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

10.02.2026 10:49 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

Academic folks: I'm looking to try and find one more good, accessible overview article (undergrad level) on the current impact of AI on each of tv, film, music and videogaming for my #WebMedia unit running this (Australian) semester. Recommendations, please?

#AcademicSky

07.02.2026 00:38 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Hot damn. πŸ”₯πŸ”₯πŸ”₯

06.02.2026 12:20 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Have emailed.

06.02.2026 12:09 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Yep. Just sitting down to dinner. Could chat in about 40 mins if that helps?

06.02.2026 12:02 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

One day all Australian animals will merge together to rule the digital landscape as one hideous unclassifiable megabeast. #NotTheAIApocalypse

22.01.2026 21:51 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

NB: yes, the image was generated by Al, yes it does have a glaring error in it, yes we thought leaving that error in might provoke people to think about the use of AI for this issue!

22.01.2026 21:40 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Call for Papers: The Landscape of Generative AI in Australia: A Critical Look Forward

Call for Papers: The Landscape of Generative AI in Australia: A Critical Look Forward

Call for Papers: The Landscape of Generative AI in Australia: A Critical Look Forward, themed issue of Media International Australia, edited by @suzesrdarov.bsky.social & me.

Details: journals.sagepub.com/page/mia/cal...
Abstracts due Friday 27th February 2026.

#generativeAI

22.01.2026 10:53 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Huge thank you to my amazing PhD supervisors Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social and Crystal Abidin, as well as Eleanor Sandry @zigzaggery.space, and especially all of the friends and colleagues whose support helped me reach this dream milestone. πŸ’– Excited for what comes next!! ✨

21.01.2026 11:22 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

My PhD in Internet Studies was recently conferred by @curtinuniversity.bsky.social, so I'm thrilled to be starting 2026 as *Dr* Rachel Berryman! πŸŽ“πŸ₯³ My PhD thesis, "Analysing Virtual Influencers", is now available online - you can download it here: hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937...

🧡Summary below:

21.01.2026 11:22 πŸ‘ 14 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
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Snap Settles Social Media Addiction Lawsuit Ahead of a Landmark Trial

There is a tsunami of litigation against the social media companies over their harms to teens. It's a little hard to follow because there are so many suits, but a bellwether case is going to trial this month, and Snap just settled its way out of it: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/20/t...

20.01.2026 21:50 πŸ‘ 34 πŸ” 11 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 3

So: 2026.

21.01.2026 04:10 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Quite a few of us did spend a lot of 2025 writing "This is the worst. Do not open." on the box.

No one reads the labels.

19.01.2026 12:16 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I apologize for our terrible (possible) export.

19.01.2026 11:54 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Sorry to hear that, and I very much feel your pain.

Watching Haidt (and Twenge) get centred staged while most of Australia's media and communications research got summarily ignored for the past two years was ... is ... not great.

15.01.2026 00:35 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Maybe that's the unofficial slogan to critical AI thinking this year? ;)

15.01.2026 00:32 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

The ARC’s processes are back to being farcical, @jasonclaremp.bsky.social

You advocated for a streamlined, efficient, faster ARC, but all that progress has been undone.

How can they claim to fund β€œinnovation” with more than a year between initial proposal & outcomes? It should be 6 months, not 16!

12.01.2026 01:34 πŸ‘ 34 πŸ” 22 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 2
Left image: A cat skeleton in X-ray/CGI above a headline. Right image: A calico cat looking at a computer.

Left image: A cat skeleton in X-ray/CGI above a headline. Right image: A calico cat looking at a computer.

πŸ“Έ fatfatpankocat

09.01.2026 00:03 πŸ‘ 328 πŸ” 61 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1

PLEASE SHARE

πŸ“£ Multi-position (PhD and postdoc) call for an interdisciplinary project on "AI in the News Ecosystem: Navigating Trust and Authenticity”

Project @ddc-sdu.bsky.social (Digital Democracy Centre (SDU)).

Multiple positions with different backgrounds and profiles.

Links in🧡

#commsky

08.01.2026 09:14 πŸ‘ 37 πŸ” 50 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 4
AI generated image cartoon TARDIS with the #AoIR2026 hashtag, a rainbow painted door and the theme "Regenerations" as a banner.

AI generated image cartoon TARDIS with the #AoIR2026 hashtag, a rainbow painted door and the theme "Regenerations" as a banner.

Great to see the #AoIR2026 πŸ‡²πŸ‡½ full CFP now up and accepting submissions!
aoir.org/aoir2026/

[Disclaimer: Any fandom references purely coincidental, I'm sure! ;) ]

08.01.2026 08:29 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

The " (not to scale)" really helped! ;)

08.01.2026 00:50 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0