#AcademicRunPlaylist - 2/27/25

Author

Ben Waber
February 27, 2025

A selfie of me with my index finger on my temple in a slightly dark sea foam green room. I'm a bald, middle-aged, white man with a red beard flecked with white. I'm wearing thick black-rimmed glasses and a blue shirt.

Jet lag rears its ugly head again, but at least I had lots of talks from my #AcademicRunPlaylist to keep me company!

First was a great talk by Steven Piantadosi on the historical arc of the rules vs. neurons debate in linguistics in cognitive science and the current state of the field at the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing. Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4fZOGNcT6Q

Next was an engaging conversation with Dorsa Amir on how culture influences cognition on the Stanford Psychology Podcast https://www.stanfordpsychologypodcast.com/episodes/episode/7aba82e2/148-dorsa-amir-how-culture-shapes-cognition

Next was a fantastic talk by Kyle Mahowald on how LLMs have influenced linguistics, where they're still lacking, and the trajectory of the field at the Simons Institute. Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHqoR705dfM

Next was an informative talk by David Ozar on the historical development of dental ethics at the CU Center for Bioethics and Humanities https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTvcX6C8o18

Next was an interesting talk by Laura Gwilliams on the neural algorithms of human language at the Simons Institute https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXyNN2nQVow

Next was a fascinating talk by Mark Cutkosky on developing robots to explore Martian caves (!) at Stanford University https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZvfbFV-hHE

Next was an amazing talk by Alane Suhr exploring whether LLMs use language (spoiler alert: no) at the Simons Institute. Suhr deftly combines theory with experiments to illustrate the function and affordances of language and why LLMs fall far short. Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agONf50KYQQ

Next was an excellent talk by Philipp Hacker on the EU's AI liability regime at Merantix Group. Hacker reviews recent changes around the AI liability directive and how product liability and safety laws are likely to impact AI companies. Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPyGqovjKB8

Next was an intriguing talk by Fei Xu on understanding the how knowledge develops using development cognitive science at the Simons Institute https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5NQ8TIqPZw

Last was the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) Future of Work conference. I particularly recommend the opening session with talks by Andrea Bassanini (monopsony and concentration in the labor market), Valeria Pulignano (precarious work in socially turbulent times), and Uma Rani (👋), as well the final session with Dalia Gesualdi-Fecteau (bridging effective protections and better work), Virginia Doellgast (social dialogue on AI and algorithmic management), and Silvia Borelli (subcontracting and digitalization in the EU)