My current research (book) project is (working title) Empire, AI and Society: Artificial Warfare in the Digital Interregnum. My work on this site that is most related to that project is collected here.
Empire, AI & Society
Inclined Planes for Social Good and Other Intellectual Maladies
The decision to trial Flock Security cameras on campus materially intersects with the university’s claims to pursue AI for social good. UB’s central university and decanal websites, along with its “AI and Society” department, clearly represent the institution’s public position on AI.
In short, the message is consistent: we do AI for good. UB…
Keep readingPost Hoc Public AI
The rhetoric of the higher education industry regarding artificial intelligence operates by the following premises. While each point might be argued, I think one is clearly not like the others. In this discourse, #4 is generally an unspoken and bridging premise. It is also fait accompli. However, it is absolutely necessary because the first three…
Keep readingCollege student AI (mis)use by major/field
At the start of the academic year, some version of “students these days” often arises. This time it is in the form of AI cheating. There have been a few recently published reports on this matter. In Science, “Generative AI use and misuse call for assessment reform in higher education” (Chirikov, Smirnov, and Kzilcec) looked…
Keep reading“Generational” thoughts on AI for the first week of class
For the first week of class, I’ve put together some of the recent findings from the Pew Research Center that addresses generational responses to AI. These charts come from two summer reports: “Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact” (June 2026) and “Young adults in the U.S. are increasingly wary of…
Keep readingWho decided AI will be good for society?
In 2026, there is consensus among the 38 public AAU universities that AI will provide a social benefit. That provision is often expressed as conditional, of course, on the important role of the university. But AI social benefit will arrive, and the university must invest in that future. I could argue there is little evidence…
Keep readingWho caused this answer? AI agents of post-truth
Last month, I wrote about “context laundering” in AI summarization. Over the last few weeks, this issue has taken on some new dimensions. In June, TIME began delivering Markdown versions of their website. This was done in response to the increase in bots and agents in scraping their website and is part of their larger,…
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Alex Reid, Professor of Digital Rhetoric, Media, and Artificial Intelligence 