Semantic ablation: Why AI writing is boring and dangerous

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Semantic ablation: Why AI writing is boring and dangerous

When an author uses AI for “polishing” a draft, they are not seeing improvement; they are witnessing semantic ablation. The AI identifies high-entropy clusters – the precise points where unique insights and “blood” reside – and systematically replaces them with the most probable, generic token sequences. What began as a jagged, precise Romanesque structure of…

Expecting the usual theatrical adventure from @quantumtheatre

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Floating video windows depict the performances in my in-progress #unity3d simulation of a massive 18+ hr medieval theater pageant. #medievalyork #corpuschristi #yorkcycle

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The vital importance of cucumber sandwiches at the provost’s afternoon tea.

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A LiDAR map reveals #medievalyork fortifications that Speed captured in his stylized but surprisingly accurate 17C map. This weekend I did a rough #blender3d model of Clifford’s Tower.

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Like digging ‘your own professional grave’: The translators grappling with losing work to AI

While workers worldwide ponder how AI might affect their livelihoods – a topic on the agenda at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week – that question is no longer hypothetical in the translation industry. Apps like Google Translate already reduced the need for human translators, and increased adoption of generative AI has only accelerated that trend.…

Just reminding myself that these moments do and will exist. I’ve evaluated every student submission in my queue.

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10 years later it’s so much worse.

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Alphabet in Motion: How Letters Get Their Shape: pop-up book by Kelli Anderson

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Gil Gerard (1943-2025)

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Fall 2025 Grades Submitted!

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The daughter is home from London.

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Misleading to suggest that because I have nothing left to mark that I have nothing to do, but this is progress.

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