as a condition of funding, we were asked to affirm that we wouldn’t undertake any diversity, equity, and inclusion work, whether or not we used the government funds to do so. The PSF simply couldn’t agree to that statement, as facilitating “the growth of a diverse and international community of Python programmers” is written directly into our mission and core to our values, so we withdrew our application.
Last quarter I rolled out Microsoft Copilot to 4,000 employees.
$30 per seat per month.
$1.4 million annually.
I called it "digital transformation."
The board loved that phrase.
They approved it in eleven minutes.
No one asked what it would actually do.
Including me.
I told everyone it would "10x productivity."
That's not a real number.
But it sounds like one.
HR asked how we'd measure the 10x.
I said we'd "leverage analytics dashboards."
They stopped asking.
Three months later I checked the usage reports.
47 people had opened it.
12 had used it more than once.
One of them was me.
I used it to summarize an email I could have read in 30 seconds.
It took 45 seconds.
Plus the time it took to fix the hallucinations.
But I called it a "pilot success."
Success means the pilot didn't visibly fail.
The CFO asked about ROI.
I showed him a graph.
The graph went up and to the right.
It measured "AI enablement."
I made that metric up.
He nodded approvingly.
We're "AI-enabled" now.
I don't know what that means.
But it's in our investor deck.
A senior developer asked why we didn't use Claude or ChatGPT.
I said we needed "enterprise-grade security."
He asked what that meant.
I said "compliance."
He asked which compliance.
I said "all of them."
He looked skeptical.
I scheduled him for a "career development conversation."
He stopped asking questions.
Microsoft sent a case study team.
They wanted to feature us as a success story.
I told them we "saved 40,000 hours."
I calculated that number by multiplying employees by a number I made up.
They didn't verify it.
They never do.
Now we're on Microsoft's website.
"Global enterprise achieves 40,000 hours of productivity gains with Copilot."
The CEO shared it on LinkedIn.
He got 3,000 likes.
He's never used Copilot.
None of the executives have.
We have an exemption.
"Strategic focus requires minimal digital distraction."
I wrote that policy.
The licenses renew next month.
I'm requesting an expansion.
5,000 more seats.
We haven't used the first 4,000.
But this time we'll "drive adoption."
Adoption means mandatory training.
Training means a 45-minute webinar no one watches.
But completion will be tracked.
Completion is a metric.
Metrics go in dashboards.
Dashboards go in board presentations.
Board presentations get me promoted.
I'll be SVP by Q3.
I still don't know what Copilot does.
But I know what it's for.
It's for showing we're "investing in AI."
Investment means spending.
Spending means commitment.
Commitment means we're serious about the future.
The future is whatever I say it is.
As long as the graph goes up and to the right.
Cyprus strongly condemns the overnight missile and drone attacks on Kyiv, which resulted in the tragic loss of civilian life and the damage of diplomatic facilities, including the 🇪🇺 EU Delegation.
These deliberate strikes on civilian and diplomatic infrastructure represent a clear escalation and a grave breach and contempt of international law.
Cyprus stands in full solidarity with Ukraine, and firmly supports its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
#StandWithUkraine
η @LoukiaTaxitari του Πανεπιστημίου Νεάπολις-Πάφου και Αρχισυντάκτρια του Κέντρου Fact-Check Cyprus αναφέρθηκαν στα είδη και τους μηχανισμούς της παραπληροφόρησης, καθώς και στις επιπτώσεις της στη δημόσια υγεία, τη δημόσια ασφάλεια, τον πολιτικό διάλογο, την πολιτική συμμετοχή,
@NinoStories “Ο ΠΙΟ ΠΛΟΥΣΙΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΑΣ ΟΛΩΝ ΤΩΝ ΕΠΟΧΩΝ”
Ο Αρτέμης Σώρρας, επενδυτής, σωτήρας του ελληνικού χρέους και μοναδικός κάτοχος των περίφημων ομολόγων της Τράπεζας της Ανατολής, ανοίγει την ψυχή του στην εκπομπή «24 ΩΡΕΣ ΜΑΖΙ», το Σάββατο 6 Απριλίου στις 18:50 στο Sigma.
@elonmusk What exactly is the hoax here?
Isn't this video authentic?
https://t.co/DRLyYp4qiA
Let's see how long your community notes take to fact-check you as they should.
🎓 We are looking for a PhD candidate! 🎓
Are you passionate about AI and fascinated by cybersecurity & cybersafety? Ready to explore how AI is reshaping the digital world—while having fun along the way?
Apply here by Dec. 15: https://t.co/8c8a4q8OMK
We took a look at sov cits recently and although they remain their own entity, we discovered they have become quite aligned with the qanon crowd. Unfortunate to see that some sov cits are moving from paper terrorism to irl terrorism. https://t.co/YjtYJrexV2
Narrative report 📄 from @Greecefactcheck: "The spread of the 'Pravda' propaganda network in Europe and beyond".
Find out how the Pravda network's narratives have spread in Greece and beyond, using data from the Elections24Check project. 👇 https://t.co/WiXokg4ZZy
This paper (to appear at WWW, I guess) proposes a very interesting framework to measure the "exploration" vs. "exploitation" of recommender systems on TikTok.
A helpful way to think about rec. systems + it is great to see research using data donations.
https://t.co/uS8L2uWI09
Is the YouTube algorithm radicalizing us?
Our new PNAS paper says: probably not!
But why should you trust this paper rather than other papers or reports saying otherwise?
Because we came up with a way to disentangle the causal effect of the algorithm.
https://t.co/e77PYPT5DH
I am very honored and excited to announce that I passed my Ph.D. defense viva with minor corrections!
It definitely was a journey to remember, and I am so privileged for everyone that I met along the way.
Research strives on stability.
When your horizon is 3, 5, or 10 years, you need stability.
There are very, very few stable and sustainable models for research.
I'm talking about research, not product development.
📢I am very excited to share that today, I am starting a new position as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Dawes Centre for Future Crime here at UCL! 🎉
I will work on identifying data sources and developing AI-based solutions to analyze online fraud.