My Feb 2026 Katz Lecture for UW's Simpson Center for the Humanities is now available on YouTube:
-
My Feb 2026 Katz Lecture for UW's Simpson Center for the Humanities is now available on YouTube:
- YouTube
Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.
(www.youtube.com)
Unfortunately, the recording doesn't include the Q&A. Two things I remember from that:
>>
The first is a student who asked how to resist pressure to use "AI" without being a stick in the mud. I said: Be a stick in the mud! Help create the solid ground that others might stand on too.
I shared this story with Sam Cole on the @404mediaco podcast, too:
- YouTube
Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.
(www.youtube.com)
-
The first is a student who asked how to resist pressure to use "AI" without being a stick in the mud. I said: Be a stick in the mud! Help create the solid ground that others might stand on too.
I shared this story with Sam Cole on the @404mediaco podcast, too:
- YouTube
Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.
(www.youtube.com)
The other was a student who asked if I thought we could get back to a world where people care about art. I turned that back to the audience and asked "Who here cares about art?" Every single hand went up. Not a random sample of the population to be sure, but the question asker was also not alone.
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The first is a student who asked how to resist pressure to use "AI" without being a stick in the mud. I said: Be a stick in the mud! Help create the solid ground that others might stand on too.
I shared this story with Sam Cole on the @404mediaco podcast, too:
- YouTube
Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.
(www.youtube.com)
@emilymbender @404mediaco I'm happy to say that I am currently being a stick in the mud at work about this.
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My Feb 2026 Katz Lecture for UW's Simpson Center for the Humanities is now available on YouTube:
- YouTube
Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.
(www.youtube.com)
Unfortunately, the recording doesn't include the Q&A. Two things I remember from that:
>>
@emilymbender thanks, I was bummed to miss this!
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The first is a student who asked how to resist pressure to use "AI" without being a stick in the mud. I said: Be a stick in the mud! Help create the solid ground that others might stand on too.
I shared this story with Sam Cole on the @404mediaco podcast, too:
- YouTube
Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.
(www.youtube.com)
@emilymbender
Great advice. I'm doing that at my work but so far appear to be the only person refusing to use AI.
@404mediaco -
My Feb 2026 Katz Lecture for UW's Simpson Center for the Humanities is now available on YouTube:
- YouTube
Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.
(www.youtube.com)
Unfortunately, the recording doesn't include the Q&A. Two things I remember from that:
>>
@emilymbender I’m so glad we have your voice locally, in the heart of Seattle. Also hoping some of the independent theaters play Ghost in the Machine!
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The first is a student who asked how to resist pressure to use "AI" without being a stick in the mud. I said: Be a stick in the mud! Help create the solid ground that others might stand on too.
I shared this story with Sam Cole on the @404mediaco podcast, too:
- YouTube
Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.
(www.youtube.com)
@emilymbender @404mediaco I just lost a job for refusing to use generative AI. That feels like an achievement.
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The other was a student who asked if I thought we could get back to a world where people care about art. I turned that back to the audience and asked "Who here cares about art?" Every single hand went up. Not a random sample of the population to be sure, but the question asker was also not alone.
@emilymbender I feel like the hard part is feeling that our caring matters in a meaningful way and yet like your earlier comment on being a stick in the mud towards ai is also relevant to that… we should all make our voice heard and make it matter. Especially because despondency is the antithesis of the spirits nature and any other choice is a kind of death.
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E em0nm4stodon@infosec.exchange shared this topic
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@emilymbender @404mediaco I just lost a job for refusing to use generative AI. That feels like an achievement.
@WizardOfDocs @emilymbender @404mediaco
More like a bullet dodged.
If the management are going to that susceptible to sales pitches and technology trends, then you 'd be wasting most of your time doing project that lead nowhere, and will be changed on a whim.
That's a miserable way to earn a living...
Speaking from personal experience.

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The first is a student who asked how to resist pressure to use "AI" without being a stick in the mud. I said: Be a stick in the mud! Help create the solid ground that others might stand on too.
I shared this story with Sam Cole on the @404mediaco podcast, too:
- YouTube
Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.
(www.youtube.com)
Another way is asking what the impact will be on the company's liability insurance, as insurance companies are refusing to cover anything with AI in it.
Push the legal team to get a definite opinion, and refuse to go forward, until someone sign's off on that, accepting the responsibility.
Make sure that the people making these decisions are held fully accountable for their decisions.

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R relay@relay.mycrowd.ca shared this topic