Australian Data Science Education Institute, Charity

The Art of Being Difficult I want to talk about change, about people, about systems, what it takes to make progress, and why being difficult is so important. From fire alarms to hospital beds. From music apps to cars. From c…

good on Grace Tame for being difficult. Being difficult is how we make progress!
adsei.org/2025/11/17/t...

Keynote -- EPIQ 2022 YouTube video by Quorum Outreach and Research Foundation

Putting together some clips of my speaking and this story about @linseymarr.bsky.social proving that flu is airborne and not droplet spread gets me every time.
youtu.be/4ySzpyJH5_0?...

Channels of Information, or How Metro Trains Derailed its Passengers It’s a funny thing, but displaying information using multiple channels of information for folks with particular accessibility needs also helps everyone else, because it gives them more signal…

If there's something you really REALLY want people to know, the more ways you present that information the better, whether we're talking about graphs or train stations!

adsei.org/2026/02/23/c...

Pro AI, Anti-hype The AI Hype industry wants us to believe that megascale LLMs developed and operated unethically and unsustainably are the only possible path to the future, but that’s nonsense. Smaller system…

The AI Hype industry wants us to believe that megascale LLMs developed and operated unethically and unsustainably are the only possible path to the future, that's nonsense. Smaller systems designed to do one thing really, really well can be game changing.
adsei.org/2026/02/18/p...

Are you a Melbourne based organisation interested in supporting a data science education charity with a hot desk once or twice a week? Reach out!

The video from my AdaConf Keynote: The Art of Being Difficult is now up! If you're a problem solver, think tech could be better, and want to see the world make progress, check it out. Text & Video both available here:

adsei.org/2025/11/17/t...

Anthropic’s launch of AI legal tool hits shares in European data companies Pearson, Experian and others fall sharply after startup unveils software to automate a range of professional services

oh, look! A tool for providing legal advice that they are selling with the caveat that it does not constitute legal advice. How predictable.

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Does anyone have any photos of the new melbourne metro train stations from inside the train that I could use in a blog post? Or if you're going through the metro tunnel today, could you take some photos of the station, from the train (through door or window) when the train is stopped please?

brilliantly spicy take on ai and automation from the always on point @floreani.bsky.social

Systems that assume people will pay attention and perfectly follow instructions are doomed to fail.

The Art of Being Difficult I want to talk about change, about people, about systems, what it takes to make progress, and why being difficult is so important. From fire alarms to hospital beds. From music apps to cars. From c…

interesting! The folks who assign safety ratings for cars are asking manufacturers to bring back tactile buttons for basic functions in cars, becausetouch screens are distracting. I talked about this in my adaconf keynote. I hope manufacturers take note!

theconversation.com/yes-those-bi...?

"Technology could serve life instead of serving capital." Ursula le Guin 1975

ADSEI is on summer break until January 27th 2026. Have a delightful festive season, be kind to yourselves, and remember to breathe.

kind regards, Linda McIver and the ADSEI team.

As ever is the case, your hot take linked to a tragic event is generally not required.

Tangible Things We Can Do using the fear and sadness as encouragement to donate your time, your money, or your social media feed to a cause that matters to you (and talking about it) will likely encourage others to do the s…

Spread empathy and kindness rather than fear and rage.

lindamciver.wordpress.com/2025/12/15/t...

"It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them.
1/2

Helen Dickinson on Qualitative Data and Inclusive Research “one of the other things that sometimes gets said is that qualitative research is subjective because it’s based on people’s thoughts and perceptions And to that I guess I’d …

Our final episode of Make Me Data Literate for the year is a fantastic conversation about Inclusive Qualitative Research with the amazing @hdicko.bsky.social . An absolute eye opener for me. Check it out!

adsei.org/podcast/hele...

The social media ban and the end of politics The Albanese government's teen social media ban, which came into effect this morning, is perhaps the Platonic ideal of contemporary politics. It should make us all very angry. And then it should insp...

The social media ban is the Platonic ideal of contemporary politics:

An ill-conceived, superficial "we must do something" response to a serious systemic issue

The real harm it will cause terrifies me

Can it inspire us to create a better politics?

in-between-days.ghost.io/the-social-m...

Things we can say no to Banning kids under 16 from social media might make great headlines, and give the government the appearance of doing something meaningful, but it’s tokenistic at best, harmful at worst. We cou…

Banning kids under 16 from social media might make great headlines, & give the government the appearance of doing something meaningful, but it's tokenistic at best, harmful at worst. We could have an internet that doesn't consume us for fun & profit. We're choosing not to.

adsei.org/2025/12/09/t...

🧵Spotted While Running Errands in Aotearoa New Zealand:

A small human (5?) skips into a post office and skids to a halt in front of a special postbox to Santa.
With great ceremony she posts a letter with some impressive pictures drawn on the envelope, then turns to give Nana a triumphant grin. (1)

Things we can say no to Banning kids under 16 from social media might make great headlines, and give the government the appearance of doing something meaningful, but it’s tokenistic at best, harmful at worst. We cou…

Banning kids under 16 from social media might make great headlines, & give the government the appearance of doing something meaningful, but it's tokenistic at best, harmful at worst. We could have an internet that doesn't consume us for fun & profit. We're choosing not to.

adsei.org/2025/12/09/t...

Springer Nature retracts, removes nearly 40 publications The dataset contains images of children’s faces downloaded from websites about autism, which sparked concerns at Springer Nature about consent and reliability.

Oh, look! It's "let's reinvent phrenology" o'clock. It seems to roll around faster every time. Note that these papers have been retracted, but due to concerns about the ethics and validity of the dataset, NOT the phrenology angle.

www.thetransmitter.org/retraction/e...

Mark Stickells on AI & the role of Humanities in STEM Taking a different tack with this episode, a wonderful chat with the remarkable Mark Stickells, AM, CEO of Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre, on AI and the role of Humanities in STEM. “I …

A fantastic Make Me Data Literate conversation with Pawsey's Mark Stickells AM on AI and the role of Humanities in STEM.

“I fundamentally believe knowledge is a human insight. And we work with these tools that are incredibly powerful, but can be incredibly stupid.”

adsei.org/podcast/mark...

The nice thing about this is, if this one person is saying it so clearly, then many, many, others are thinking it and acting to change it in lots of ways. Very much worth a read!

The Art of Being Difficult

This is a 🔥brilliant🔥 read.

🙏 @lindamciver.adsei.org

Pascal Elahi on Quantum Computing, the value of a broad education, and a lot more! The worst data mistakes I’ve seen, besides let’s say using obviously biased data to prove a result you want is also usually, uh having data, and being like I’m gonna ignore the bi…

Finally get to publish this fantastic conversation with Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre's very own Quantum Computing Mastermind, the very wonderful Dr Pascal Elahi.
"You know, you have data, but you don't have the infinite true data set you have a sample"

adsei.org/podcast/pasc...

Pascal Elahi on Quantum Computing, the value of a broad education, and a lot more! The worst data mistakes I’ve seen, besides let’s say using obviously biased data to prove a result you want is also usually, uh having data, and being like I’m gonna ignore the bi…

Finally get to publish this fantastic conversation with Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre's very own Quantum Computing Mastermind, the very wonderful Dr Pascal Elahi.
"You know, you have data, but you don't have the infinite true data set you have a sample"

adsei.org/podcast/pasc...

The Art of Being Difficult I want to talk about change, about people, about systems, what it takes to make progress, and why being difficult is so important. From fire alarms to hospital beds. From music apps to cars. From c…

Oh, this is wonderful stuff from @lindamciver.adsei.org

Powerful mix of anger and love, darkness and light, detail and story, articulating the bullshit around AI and tech, and the need to be "horrible, ungrateful people".

Give it a read

AI boosters say, 'Get in, loser!' and so-called leaders & decision-makers in various fields climb on board...

Not so fast. "Fascism needs us to be afraid, but it also needs us to be accepting."

Other choices are possible—I really liked this from @lindamciver.adsei.org

oh look, it's "reinvent phrenology" month already. 😬