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Ali Alkhatib

@ali@masto.al2.in

mastodon 4.7.3

anthropologist [no longer] yelling at engineers. feral.

1892 Followers

228 Following

28 Posts

Joined November 15, 2022

website:

pronouns:

he/him

signal:

@ali.01

Ali Alkhatib @ali@masto.al2.in

· 4mo ago

Boosted by @joe@f.duriansoftware.com

i wrote a post: "Weeds tend not to grow where they can't take root" i've been thinking about the work we're doing at varying levels to organize against AI, and maybe i've also been in the headspace of gardening and getting rid of weeds. i can't shake the feeling that AI takes up space opportunistically where people's needs are not being met. a little like weeds. https://ali-alkhatib.com/blog/weeding-out-ai

Ali Alkhatib: Weeds tend not to grow where they can't take root

ali-alkhatib.com

Ali Alkhatib: Weeds tend not to grow where they can't take root

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Ali Alkhatib @ali@masto.al2.in

· 10mo ago

just re-upping this post

https://ali-alkhatib.com/blog/destroy-ai

Ali Alkhatib: Destroy AI

ali-alkhatib.com

Ali Alkhatib: Destroy AI

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Ali Alkhatib @ali@masto.al2.in

· 5mo ago

Replying to

okay i'm done taking pretty photos of them. figuring out distribution & mailing

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Ali Alkhatib @ali@masto.al2.in

· 6mo ago

Replying to

you can do whatever you want with yourself, and with the relationships you cultivate with readers; but if you "fooled" a bunch of readers for 80% of a piece and then pulled back the curtain and revealed they had all been lulled into taking it seriously, or believing the false premise you laid out for them, what you've demonstrated is that readers trusted you (woe be unto them, i guess!) in that sense, i guess a chatbot is convincing, when trading on one's hard-earned, now squandered, reputation

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Ali Alkhatib @ali@masto.al2.in

· 9mo ago

Replying to

"AI Skeptics" is a space where people organizing in response to datacenter & AI projects can learn, share notes, and support each other while reading about AI our next book is "Resisting AI" by Dan McQuillan. you can read today's post (and sign up) here: https://buttondown.com/ai-skeptics-reading-group/archive/resisting-ai-in-2026/

Resisting AI in 2026

Resisting AI in 2026

Hello and happy new year. I wanted to send a time-sensitive reminder that we'll be reading Resisting AI by Dan McQuillan very soon (starting January 12), so...

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Ali Alkhatib @ali@masto.al2.in

· 5mo ago

i wrote a post - "On techno-optimism".

https://ali-alkhatib.com/blog/techno-fatalism

ali-alkhatib.com

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Ali Alkhatib @ali@masto.al2.in

· 6mo ago

new ai skeptics reading group post

also: there may be an opportunity to get some stickers printed

https://buttondown.com/ai-skeptics-reading-group/archive/ai-skeptics-why-we-fear-ai-chapter-2/

[AI Skeptics] Why We Fear AI chapter 2

[AI Skeptics] Why We Fear AI chapter 2

Hello. This week there's some special info (about our video chat this week, and also about a potential run of stickers), so please read on to learn more....

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Ali Alkhatib @ali@masto.al2.in

· 6mo ago

Replying to

i don't look at every paragraph, or every essay, and think about the AI-generatedness of it on some case-by-case basis, detached from author or venue or context. i think about whether the venue, or whether the author (if i know their work), would put that sort of stuff in front of me without telling me (and if so, if they would do it for an exceptional or even a good reason)

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Ali Alkhatib @ali@masto.al2.in

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@kirakira zionism observer (@receipts_lol on twitter/x) got their domain summarily deleted or something for a hot minute between christmas & new year (terrible time for a site to go down...) as far as i understand they brought it up to their 60k followers and the CEO stepped in to try to do damage control, but they're committing to not providing services to them for documenting Israeli violence against Palestinians (they're also moving away from substack proactively so there is some good news)

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Ali Alkhatib @ali@masto.al2.in

· 9mo ago

Replying to

i'm broadly open to lots of infra recommendations, even if i don't have an *immediate* need for them; it's probably good to have some options in my back pocket

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Ali Alkhatib @ali@masto.al2.in

· 6mo ago

Replying to

if the author tells me at the very end of the piece that the entire thing (or that the core of it, or even some small but crucial part of it) came from a chatbot or otherwise under disingenuous circumstances (that is to say, they misrepresented the nature of the thing), and then the author remarks on how *convincing* or *impressive* it was, i'm not really sure how i'm supposed to feel.

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Ali Alkhatib @ali@masto.al2.in

· 7mo ago

reading group will be chatting with @danmcquillan@kolektiva.social about Resisting AI in about an hour - please join if you'd like to get the info email about how to join the jitsi chat! https://buttondown.com/ai-skeptics-reading-group

AI Skeptics Reading Group

AI Skeptics Reading Group

A reading group for AI skeptics It's exactly what it sounds like!

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Ali Alkhatib @ali@masto.al2.in

· 7mo ago

RE: @ali@masto.al2.in

hey, i'm sending my first email about this shortly (by the end of the hour)

if you don't have the book yet, that's okay; i'm including links to buy the book and have proceeds go to Palestinians via the Sameer Project. we'll start discussing readings this saturday, so there's time to catch up

Ali Alkhatib: "if you're interested in reading Tip of the Spear:…" - masto.al2

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Ali Alkhatib @ali@masto.al2.in

· 7mo ago

Replying to

from week to week, i'll also try to link to optional readings that will hopefully either be relevant to the reading, or otherwise timely for us. if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, etc... please feel free to reach out. thanks

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Ali Alkhatib @ali@masto.al2.in

· 8mo ago

congratulations to Apple for acquiring Q.ai! sounds very well aligned with Apple's politics and portfolio of interests.

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Ali Alkhatib @ali@masto.al2.in

· 8mo ago

AI Skeptics email for week 1 is going out soon (like... in the next 25 minutes). you can sign up here

https://buttondown.com/ai-skeptics-reading-group

AI Skeptics Reading Group

AI Skeptics Reading Group

A reading group for AI skeptics It's exactly what it sounds like!

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Ali Alkhatib @ali@masto.al2.in

· 8mo ago

Replying to

@dramypsyd@ohai.social i started a reading group and when i announced it had like ... several dozen signups before i realized the automatic welcome email was just "SUBJECT: welcome email" with no BODY 🙃

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Ali Alkhatib @ali@masto.al2.in

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@ben my bad, i should've given context; i tried to summarize it as best i could here https://masto.al2.in/@ali/115854864813002547

Ali Alkhatib: "@kirakira@furry.engineer zionism observer (@recei…" - masto.al2

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Ali Alkhatib @ali@masto.al2.in

· 25mo ago

Join Tech Researchers for Palestine 9/17 @ 5PM EST to learn methods of surfacing academic-military ties at your department and university.

We'll share case studies from different campuses & offer coworking time to practice these strategies.

RSVP here: http://bit.ly/AcademicTiesWorkshop

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Ali Alkhatib @ali@masto.al2.in

· 7mo ago

Replying to

Thought Soup is a reading group focused on raising money for Palestinians through The Sameer Project & workshops4gaza. if you can order from openpoetrybooks, proceeds go to The Sameer Project, who are in Gaza getting basic needs to Palestinians. https://open-books-a-poem-emporium.myshopify.com/collections/workshops-4-gaza-bookstore/products/w4g-burton-orisanmi-tip-of-the-spear

open-books-a-poem-emporium.myshopify.com

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Ali Alkhatib @ali@masto.al2.in

· 7mo ago

Replying to

if you can't buy the book from @openpoetrybooks for some reason, please consider making a supplemental donation to The Sameer Project's fundraisers. https://linktr.ee/thesameerproject

The Sameer Project Official: Instagram | Linktree

The Sameer Project Official: Instagram | Linktree

Donations based initiative, led by Palestinians in the diaspora, working to supply aid to displaced families in Gaza. Fiscal host: Social Change Nest.

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Ali Alkhatib @ali@masto.al2.in

· 43mo ago

Replying to

@liza@post.lurk.org how are you at "taking a satisfactory status quo and utterly ruining it with brittle tech garbage"?

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