New for @theverge.com: i wrote about how Kansas' trans ID law and the "age verification" systems popping up everywhere tie into larger efforts to force trans people to out themselves both IRL and online
This work was made possible through the fabulous, interdisciplinary team of @willie-agnew.bsky.social, @maartensap.bsky.social, @perhaxis.bsky.social, and @haiyizhu.bsky.social (5/5)
We find that the development of LAP reflects the biases we from our audit. The images and aesthetic ratings used to train LAP primarily come from English-speaking photographers in 2012 and western AI-enthusiasts in 2022. (4/5)
We find that LAP perpetuates longstanding biases within western art history, favoring images of (1) women over men or LGBTQ+ people, (2) western and Japanese art over Native American, African, West Asian, Islamic, or Oceanic art, and (3) figurative, realistic art over abstract art. (3/5)
The LAION-Aesthetics Predictor (LAP) is widely used to curate training data for visual generative AI models (e.g., Stable Diffusion) and evaluate the “quality” of AI-generated images. By combining an audit with a trace ethnography, we examined both the behavior and development of LAP. (2/5)
Screenshot of an academic paper titled "The Algorithmic Gaze of Image Quality Assessment: An Audit and Trace Ethnography of the LAION-Aesthetics Predictor" authored by Jordan Taylor, William Agnew, Maarten Sap, Sarah E. Fox, and Haiyi Zhu
🎨💻 What is a “high-quality” or “aesthetic” image according to generative AI developers?
Happy to share that our investigation of the LAION-Aesthetics Predictor has been accepted at #FAccT2026! 🧵 (1/5)
Take a look at a preprint here: arxiv.org/abs/2601.09896
Workshop flyer for Participation, Procurement, and Proof of Impact in Public Sector AI Innovation. Information on how to join (Google form or email) and workshop activities (methods and measures for participation in AI, procurement and contracts that incentivize community participation)
Bump: Please join our #CHI2026 workshop on ⭐ Participation, Procurement, and Proof of Impact in Public Sector AI Innovation ⭐!
Join via Google Form (lnkd.in/enwfV3sp) 𝘰𝘳 email short SoI to participatoryaidesign@gmail.com by 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 14 𝐀𝐨𝐄.
🏛️ 👥 Learn more: lnkd.in/ePEfZxyQ
DM me for any questions!
Congrats Ken!!
Even if the destruction somehow stopped today, it will take years to rebuild.
Now in the brief window of time between US and European daylight savings that ruins my calendar every year
Fell really badly on a run right when I moved to Pittsburgh in 2021. Now right at the end of my PhD, I’ve fallen again on the terrible sidewalks 😭
"Stripping anonymity from the internet would constitute one of the most sweeping rollbacks of civil rights in recent history. It would allow for unprecedented levels of mass surveillance and censorship, endangering the most marginalized members of society."
ALPRs are “incredibly ripe for abuse,” EFF’s @mguariglia.bsky.social told @SFstandard.com. “No matter how many legal or bureaucratic guardrails you put on those searches, officers are going to find a way to use it for their own personal reasons.” sfstandard.com/2026/02/27/...
Having collaborated on 2 of the FAccT papers and 1 of the CHI posters I can attest to how much Willie uplifts more junior scholars 👇🏻
Don't think emails have gone out but they are now on openreview
New — I spoke to eight trans people in Kansas about the new state law that invalidated their driver’s licenses overnight, what’s it’s like to live there right now, plus details of two DMV emails exclusively obtained by The Handbasket that shed light on the law’s chaotic and cruel rollout:
Oh wow certainly not easy to find
A text box that can't be read because an AI suggestion bubble is covering the text-box
So tired of non-sensical AI integration. I don't need to "refine" the text on my slides, but I *do* need to be able to see what I'm writing behind this uncontrollable AI pop-up.
Don't be fooled by this bill's name-- this is a book banning bill that will exclude LGBTQ books from all public schools NATIONWIDE.
Call your congresspeople and tell them to VOTE NO on this nakedly bigoted book banning bullshit.
www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...
The new American Football single sounds like a bad Mountain Goats B-side
Underscores how deeply unserious many so-called AI alignment “experts” are
OpenAI is a menace. Two recent stories make that clearer than ever.
One day you have Sam Altman denigrating humanity to defend AI. The next, WSJ reveals OpenAI could have alerted Canadian police of a potential mass shooter, but refused pressure from employees. That person went on to kill 8 people.
Oops. Turns out Persona, Discord’s age-verification service, was secretly screening selfies against government watchlists AND accessible by the feds. It's backed by Peter Thiel.
“The state wants to see everything. The corporations want to see everything. And they've learned to work together.”
EFF, CJJ, and IPVM have teamed up on a resource for journalists looking to better cover the growing police surveillance technology industry. www.eff.org/document/se...
Both this year and last I've been really impressed by the quality and consistency of reviews at FAccT relative to more HCI-focused venues
S/o to all the ACs who make this possible
tweet from @cliftonhowze on twitter Last night at the #DataCenters meeting in Claremore, Darren Blanchard, who has attended most of these meetings around NE Oklahoma & has some pretty impressive FOIA/ORA skills, was arrested after going over his 3 min. allotted speaking time. First arrest I've seen at one of these.
in america, if you go over your 3 minute allotment to speak, men with guns come to take you away.
Our Age Verification Resource Hub is the one-stop shop to answer all of your questions about online AV mandates. What’s at stake for users? How do we push back? What even IS age verification, anyway? Visit www.eff.org/age now to explore our resources and join the fight to protect the internet.
Someone has sure already made this observation but the fact they can convert all those empty warehouses into prison camps means they could have converted them into housing, community centers, job training centers or, hell, libraries or schools all along. It’s always a matter of will not resources.
“The co-founder of Palestine Action has won a legal challenge to the home secretary’s decision to ban the group under anti-terrorism laws.”
Excellent news. The British government’s continued attacks on the right to protest, especially on those who speak out against genocide, must be challenged.
