We're just not good at fact checking things. We skim them, assuming they're accurate, and then the errors settle in, like stones at the bottom of a pond. Sharp ones. Stones that may well cut our feet when we inadvertently step on them later.
adsei.org/2026/03/24/h...
good on Grace Tame for being difficult. Being difficult is how we make progress!
adsei.org/2025/11/17/t...
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?...
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...
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...
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.
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.
"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
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 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...
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)
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...
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...
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
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...
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...
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
