Melanie I Stefan
@melanieistefan.bsky.social
Computational Neurobiologist at Medical School Berlin. Poster child of failure. She/her
created August 10, 2023
338 followers 629 following 651 posts
view profile on Bluesky Posts
Emissary Of Night | ليلى (@diplomatofnight.com) reposted
The list of countries that are confirmed to be set to recognize the State of Palestine on Sunday and Monday, September 21st and 22nd. The United Kingdom France Canada (conditional, gradual) Australia Belgium (gradual) Portugal Luxembourg Malta Andorra San Marino
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Gorgeous!
DaniBrodesser (@danibrodesser.bsky.social) reposted
So, meine Lieben, hilft ja nix: ich werd in einigen Tagen 50 (genau genommen am 10.10.). Vor 10 Jahren waren wir weit, sehr weit unter der Armutsgrenze. Und ich wäre es auch heute noch, hätten 2017 nicbt manche Menschen begonnen, mich zu bestärken. Mir den Glauben an meine Fähigkeiten wieder zu 1/3
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
I have been a student/staff member whose first language doesn’t match the local language for most of my life. The thing is, a bad translation won’t help me, nor will a translation that I can’t trust.
Dr. Sabrina Mittermeier (@smittermeier.bsky.social) reposted
I am not against translation software but I‘m against 1. it being uncritically used to just translate public facing websites instead of just paying translators cause the results are horseshit 2. AI based tools being shoved at me without alternative when are the best examples of enshittification
Dr. Sabrina Mittermeier (@smittermeier.bsky.social) reposted
Universities: - Stop offering workshops on how to use ChatGPT to write papers - stop using DeepL to translate your websites or make it sound useful for our research - stop pretending AI usage is inevitable. I don‘t want to work for institutions who can‘t employ critical thinking to new tech.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social)
Im Prinzip weiß man ja immer vorher dass Warntag ist, und dann ist man doch jedes Mal überrascht
rahaeli (@rahaeli.bsky.social) reposted
Have been tagged in to provide the reminder about traumatic video because of the Charlie Kirk shooting video going around! 1. Settings -> Content & Media, turn off "autoplay video" 2. Keep your device sound off while browsing so an accidental activation won't include the sound
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social)
„Ooooh, I love Austria! It’s like Germany, but with irony.”
Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ (@olivia.science) reposted
Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia: doi.org/10.5281/zeno... We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity. 1/n
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
See also: people saying “ye olde”
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
For a bunch of supposedly smart people, academics are extremely bad at advocating for themselves, and extremely gullible when someone tells us that doing some task now will pay off later “on our cv”. We need to do better.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Tasmanische Beutelwölfe sind von einem ansteckenden Gesichtskrebs befallen, der durch Beißen übertragen wird. Will man auch nicht haben.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
(Also, I have thought of it for all of ten minutes, so will most definitely regret some of my answers when I think of something else)
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
1. Zero (more specifically, positional number writing system) 2. Germ theory 3. Anesthesia 4. Understanding mental illness as illness 5. Chemical synthesis
Cal (@dragonsworn.net) reposted
Yes, hello, I am a cis white suburban mom, and I am a single-issue voter. That issue: EVERYONE IS PEOPLE, STOP FUCKING TRYING TO UNPEOPLE PEOPLE
Brian Merchant (@bcmerchant.bsky.social) reposted
This is not the AI boom creating a new type of work, this is a classic example of managers using automation to deskill old ones. Creative workers who once made a higher wage creating original art and writing are now paid in piecework to edit automated output. Bosses are using AI to cut labor costs.
oleschri (@oleschri.localfluff.space) reposted
Ein Horror, dass es nötig war. Gut, dass es funktioniert hat.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social)
Look, it’s not that I am /against/ teleportation. It’s just, where and when would I prepare my presentations if not on the train ride to the event?
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social)
My postdoc needed a second pair of eyes to look at some calculations, and I suggested we schedule an afternoon where we lock ourselves in a room with a whiteboard and figure it out, and now she calls it “‘math prison”.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
*you‘re But other than that, I don’t discuss with people who call trans women “male”
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Obst ist was man in einen Obstsalat tun würde.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Introducing laws that cast trans people as sex offenders, so transphobes can then turn around and go: See? So many trans people are convicted sex offenders!
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Aber zumindest änderts was an der Gegenwart, das ist auch was wert.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
An der Stelle möchte ich den unbekannten Held*innen danken, die immer wieder die Ö-Pünktchen darauf malen. Unter allen Graffitis in Berlin mit meine Liebsten. 🥰
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Die Richard-der-Dritte-Methode, um Kinder in Sicherheit zu bringen.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Yes, that’s true.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
It was the reality for a lot of people even ten years ago. We were (and still are in a lot of instances) just incredibly privileged with our European passports.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
It is such a great piece though! So it was then scheduled again for Last Night of the Proms a few years later, on 15 September 2001. Yep. Cancelled again.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
“Short ride in a fast machine” by John Adams was scheduled to be performed at the 1997 Last Night of the Proms. But then the car crash that killed Princess Diana happened just before that, so the performance was cancelled, because the name of the piece seemed tactless given recent events [1/2]
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Nope. Companies being thoughtful and responsible about AI use is the answer.
Dr. Damien P. Williams Wants A Better Sociotechnical Paradigm (@wolvendamien.bsky.social) reposted
Stop offloading cognitive tasks to "generative AI." Stop using systems w/ "AI" features either inextricably woven through them or prominently displayed at the top to nudge you into their use. Stop *Designing* "AI" tools & integrations that way. Stop building or using "AI" like this. Fucking Stop it.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social)
If you are really bad, not only will you go to hell, you’ll have to go there on the number 24 bus.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Ah yes. Finally an answer to the many many times I have sighingly thought “Gee, I wish my operating system was more ambient.”
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social)
Am I a ginormous nerd? No, of course not. Am I just listening to and really enjoying a three-part podcast on dictionary editing? Yes. Why do you ask? (Thank you @merriam-webster.com for bringing back Word Matters 🥰)
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social)
Me: How are you doing ahead of your viva? PhD student: Fine, until further notice.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Thank you for posting this clip and in particular for including the Aristotelian version as well. Little known, but it cracks me up every time!
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Also, how could I post this without posting a link to one (of many) of my favourites m.youtube.com/watch?v=EGB9...
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Don’t tell AI you’re doing crimes. But also, don’t tell it you are queer. Or worry you might be pregnant. Or support Palestinian civilians. An alarming number of things can end up being “a crime” in the US at the moment.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social)
Tom Lehrer brought so much joy into my life. My condolences to all who loved him.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Aha, interessant, ich muss jetzt aber auch gleich los ein Sparkonto eröffnen
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Und wenn doch, will die Ansage immer nie petzen, stellt aber sicher, dass man weiß was los ist: „Der Zug aus München ist verspätet wegen Verspätungen in einem NACHBARLAND.“ Es könnte jedes Nachbarland sein theoretisch, wo der Zug sich verspätet hat zwischen München und Salzburg.
Rae Radford (@raeradford.bsky.social) reposted
#BookSky
Kit Yates (@kityates.bsky.social) reposted
Lucy Bronze on how she decided to blast her penalty down the middle (and score). “Statistically it’s risky for the goal keeper to stand still… so yeah, I love maths”.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Does he care whether or not he’s allowed to?
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Guess I’ll never find out.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social)
I saw my first raccoon today, please congratulate me.
Dr. Sabrina Mittermeier (@smittermeier.bsky.social) reposted
I did this before in German but I guess today is a good day to compile English resources on why AI isn‘t actually intelligent and also a real danger: 🧵
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social)
Air France cabin announcer not waiting for the mic to be off before he says “ça m’énerve, ça” is a whole mood today
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
For security reasons, can we just cut out the middle man and nobody does anything?
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social)
„We‘ve sent you a Security Code“ [Checks e-mail] - No code [Checks e-mail] - No code [Checks e-mail] - No code [Checks e-mail] - No code [Checks e-mail] - No code [Checks e-mail] - Code! „Your code has expired.”
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Herzlichen Glückwunsch! 🎉
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Die Wörterbuch-Definition von „es geschafft haben“ 😍
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
„People who are negatively affected by white dudebro tech have surprisingly negative attitudes about the tech that’s negatively affecting them.”
Iris van Rooij 💭 (@irisvanrooij.bsky.social) reposted reply parent
Many students realize that “AI” use in academia leads to deskilling. Here is some of what they say themselves: www.voxweb.nl/en/they-are-...
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Counterpoint: A tasteful butt cape should really be part of everyone’s capsule wardrobe. How else would you effortlessly take your look from day to evening?
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social)
Frittenwerk Codename quasi Horoskop
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Auch a bissi die Frage, ob wir mehr Tourismus-Werbung brauchen.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Two rich families \\ In Italy \\ Have been fighting for a long time \\ And are still at it.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
For me, it was this: „For a moment, nothing happened. Then after a second or so, nothing continued to happen.”
Michelle Bastian (@mhbastian.bsky.social) reposted
Yup! "I am sick to my stomach as I write this because I've spent 20 years developing a pedagogy that's about wrestling with big ideas through writing and discussion, and that whole project has been evaporated by for-profit corporations who built their systems on stolen work. It's demoralizing."
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
A great and thoughtful voice has gone. My condolences to all who loved them.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Or eight 25-year-olds, for that matter 😅
Craig Shackleton (@craigshackleton.com) reposted
It is really really sinking in for me the degree to which LLMs are the ultimate expression of right wing anti-intellectualism. Its proponents are literally mocking the idea that anyone would ever want to learn anything, know anything, develop any actual skill, or have a thought of their own.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social)
More power to the Great Republic of Ice Cream!
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Eh, und er tut mir auch sehr Leid, der Arme. 🎻
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
web.archive.org/web/20240630...
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Naja, a bissi reich ist er bestimmt trotzdem, so verglichen mit den meisten von uns.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Korrektur: irgendeinem Udo im Internet. Sorry
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Den „verschiedenen Gruppen“ einfach einmal zuhören, ohne immer sofort zu denken, es geht um Dich? Selber drüber nachdenken, statt eine Erklärung verlangen? Frauen und Minderheiten einmal so zur Seite springen, wie Du irgendeinem Uwe im Internet zur Seite springst:
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
And when I say “students”, I mean a lot of my colleagues also, to be fair
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
That’s what I keep telling my students: a language machine, not a fact machine. They look at me and nod, and then turn around and use it for their work with gay abandon.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Sure. Take the side of the soulless lying machine. I am sure it will be your friend.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
What really broke me is how it said, about the first essay: “It lingers.” Oh really? Did it linger for all of the three seconds it took you to produce the answer? Do you still think about it sometimes, out of nowhere, while you’re making breakfast or out on a walk? Is that what happens, ChatGPT?
Carl T. Bergstrom (@carlbergstrom.com) reposted
Possibly the best thing I've read about ChatGPT yet. h/t @melaniemitchell.bsky.social amandaguinzburg.substack.com/p/diabolus-e...
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Und manchmal ein sehr wütendes dreijähriges Kind. Aber stimmt, der Unterschied ist nicht immer leicht zu erkennen.
Lilah Sturges (@lilahsturges.com) reposted
Are all muppets the same species just with wildly different phenotypes like dogs or are there a lot of different species of muppet
Katie Mack (@astrokatie.com) reposted reply parent
If you burn down a forest, you don't miss out on lumber for just that season. You have to replant all the trees, nurture them, and wait for them to grow. The science and research budget cuts happening now are wanton, senseless arson. Recovery, if it ever happens, will take generations.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social)
Seiten und Apps, die mir einen Bestätigungscode schicken: Schickt in gleich. Sonst warte ich ein paar Minuten und mache dann was anderes, und denke erst morgen wieder dran, und dann ist der Code mittlerweile da, aber fix abgelaufen. Und dann gehts wieder los.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Was machen eigentlich Wiener 14-jährige statt der Wienwoche? Habts Ihr Provinzwoche?
Natascha Strobl (@nataschastrobl.bsky.social) reposted
Das ist übrigens genau das was ich meine, wenn ich bei Vorträgen frage was man glaubt wer zwischen einem selbst und einem Unrechtsstaat stehen wird? Es sind die Leute um einen herum: die Nachbar_innen, die Freund_innen, die Gemeinschaft. Das ist die Quelle des Widerstands.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Transylvania! The plot thickens!
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Also, the way „trans“ is used in the sentences like it’s some kind of demonic possession. The entire post would make more sense if it was spelled “trance”
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Bedeutet der Hashtag #ussteel etwas bestimmtes oder soll das bedeuten, dass die erfolgreiche Produktion von täuschend echten Robo-Bidens immerhin für die Qualität der amerikanischen Stahlindustrie spricht?
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
* and immigrants, and people with disabilities and LGBTQ people and poor people, the list goes on …
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
And also, it’s quite clear from following the US discourse that “DEI” is really just dogwhistle for “women and people of colour*“ That’s who they want to root out of public life.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Not overrated enough!
ryan cooper (@ryanlcooper.com) reposted
"Roughly 1,500 babies have been born HIV-positive every day since January 21, because Musk cut off their mothers’ medication." prospect.org/power/2025-0...
Katie Mack (@astrokatie.com) reposted
Everyone involved in trying to pass off that ChatGPT-extruded disinformation manifesto as a scientific report should be, at the very least, barred from public office for life. The MAHA report is dangerous criminal misconduct and an offence to the process of science.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Nice!
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social)
My brain is upside down today
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Someone out there reading this and already working on the new bestselling book “The 1500s Shropshire Diet”
Becker Group at CRTD (@beckergroup.bsky.social) reposted reply parent
if your research is in biomedical sciences with a focus on regeneration, repair, and bioengineering, talk to me tu-dresden.de/cmcb/die-ein... @tudresden.bsky.social and the @cmcb-tud.bsky.social offer an excellent, open and collaborative research environment, fabulous nature and culture!
Becker Group at CRTD (@beckergroup.bsky.social) reposted
Are you a US-based scientist and thinking of moving abroad? Talk to potential host unis - there are a number of attractive measures in place, eg the ERC advance grants that offer 2.5 mio € for 5 years, plus 2 mio € if you are coming from outwith the EU. erc.europa.eu/apply-grant/...
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Shape of liquid?
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
I am not religious, but some specific people make me wish there was a hell.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Never underestimate the long arm of the T. rex lobby.
Melanie I Stefan (@melanieistefan.bsky.social) reply parent
Bei uns auf der Arbeit hat sich echt einmal ein junger Mensch mit noch wenig Berufserfahrung beworben, und im Lebenslauf stand: „Karlspreis der Stadt Aachen“. Tatsächlich ging dieser Preis 1986 an die Bevölkerung von Luxemburg, es war also ned amal gelogen.
Guillotine Hunger Force (@themilfmag.net) reposted
typical corrupt science