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Dr Ashley Tan

@ashley

Not moving out just because the landlord is awful. Staying to be a good neighbour. But also have a holiday home at @ashley@toot.community.

 Singapore
ashleytan.wordpress.com
Joined January 2007
  • Tweets43.7K
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Photo by Dr Ashley Tan (@ashley)Photo by Dr Ashley Tan (@ashley)Photo by Dr Ashley Tan (@ashley)Photo by Dr Ashley Tan (@ashley)Photo by Dr Ashley Tan (@ashley)Photo by Dr Ashley Tan (@ashley)Photo by Dr Ashley Tan (@ashley)Photo by Dr Ashley Tan (@ashley)Photo by Dr Ashley Tan (@ashley)
A-lie ashleytan.wordpress.com/2026…
A-lie

A-lie

When I used (emphasis on past tense) chatbots running on large language models (LLMs), I preferred Anthropic’s Claude to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. I still do when I use them every blue moon. I think that t…

ashleytan.wordpress.com
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An Audit Finds Serious Flaws in Research on AI in Education ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2026/…
An Audit Finds Serious Flaws in Research on AI in Education | KQED

An Audit Finds Serious Flaws in Research on AI in Education  | KQED

‘Anybody can sort of say that they have evidence for anything,’ a top scholar says.

kqed.org
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Of data centres and our digital habits ashleytan.wordpress.com/2026…
Of data centres and our digital habits

Of data centres and our digital habits

Video source This BBC interview of an expert stood out because it was ordinary. The interviewee was nuanced, informative, and humble in his views. When asked about data centres, he did not swing to…

ashleytan.wordpress.com
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AI data centres, water, power: What is the climate cost? How might we change our digital habits? youtu.be/-X_KkGrFbPA [YouTube]
AI and Data Centres: What's the climate cost? - The Climate Question...

AI and Data Centres: What's the climate cost? - The Climate Question...

As AI booms, huge new data centres are opening from Texas to Indone...

youtube.com
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Showing my Internet age ashleytan.wordpress.com/2026…
Showing my Internet age

Showing my Internet age

Instagram source In admitting that I knew who all these human memes were, I reveal my Internet age. But it is a smart ad by Firefox to sell their privacy and AI opt-in features. That said, I will s…

ashleytan.wordpress.com
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AI delivers ‘zero financial payoff’ to most companies, Apollo economist says techcrunch.com/2026/10/25/ai…
AI delivers ‘zero financial payoff’ to most companies, Apollo economist says | TechCrunch

AI delivers ‘zero financial payoff’ to most companies, Apollo economist says | TechCrunch

"Despite massive investments and widespread hype around artificial intelligence, the technology has delivered zero financial payoff to corporate America outside of tech."

techcrunch.com
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Sneaky lesson on critical thinking ashleytan.wordpress.com/2026…
Sneaky lesson on critical thinking

Sneaky lesson on critical thinking

It is never too early to start teaching kids how to think critically. Here is one example. Instagram source This is a lesson on deconstructing misleading visuals. Assuming that the figures are corr…

ashleytan.wordpress.com
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Apple CarPlay and Android Auto Make Your Phone Hot. Here’s How to Keep It Cool wired.com/story/apple-carpla…
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto Make Your Phone Hot. Here’s How to Keep It Cool

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto Make Your Phone Hot. Here’s How to Keep It Cool

Powering a car dashboard is more demanding on your handset than you might think. These tips will save battery life and help your phone chill out.

wired.com
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Quick P&P ashleytan.wordpress.com/2026…
Quick P&P

Quick P&P

Instagram source  I admire anyone with musical talent that is a result of nature and nurture. Other than enjoying their work, I get to harp on the importance of process over product.  How many…

ashleytan.wordpress.com
31
Morphe patches Android apps to improve them (e.g., remove ads) youtu.be/NWANo9BRz6Y [YouTube]
The Secret App Big Tech Hates

The Secret App Big Tech Hates

Thanks to Bitwarden for sponsoring this video! Bitwarden generates ...

youtube.com
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The 4th statistical lie? ashleytan.wordpress.com/2026…
The 4th statistical lie?

The 4th statistical lie?

Instagram source I like how this Instagrammer’s description of lies built on bad statistics: Using percentage reductions Ignoring the baseline rates Survivorship bias She meant to describe fo…

ashleytan.wordpress.com
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The real costs of AI youtu.be/YgoiujmwLKI [YouTube]
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Foto fallback Friday 116 ashleytan.wordpress.com/2026…
Foto fallback Friday 116

Foto fallback Friday 116

I took this screenshot in 2018 while on a consulting gig at a local university. The campus had a secure wifi network that required university credentials. But someone with a funny bone decided to c…

ashleytan.wordpress.com
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Meta ordered to pay $25B in case related to Cambridge Analytica scandal techcrunch.com/2026/10/21/me…
Meta ordered to pay $25B in case related to Cambridge Analytica scandal | TechCrunch

Meta ordered to pay $25B in case related to Cambridge Analytica scandal | TechCrunch

The payout is related to a recent trial involving the social media giant that revolved around its data privacy practices.

techcrunch.com
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Not rogue, but trained ashleytan.wordpress.com/2026…
Not rogue, but trained

Not rogue, but trained

Spencer Kelly took issue with some journalists labelling AI agents as rogue when they hacked into Hugging Face to solve a problem. Instagram source Spoiler: In this video, he explained why the agen…

ashleytan.wordpress.com
42
Making companies behind the haze pay: Can Singapore succeed youtu.be/rW4xUgbP6-k [YouTube]
Making companies behind the haze pay: Can Singapore succeed? | Deep Dive

Making companies behind the haze pay: Can Singapore succeed? | Deep Dive

Since the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act was enacted in 2014, no ...

youtube.com
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Comparing PM2.5 reports ashleytan.wordpress.com/2026…
Comparing PM2.5 reports

Comparing PM2.5 reports

The return of the haze had me turning to websites that report PM2.5 levels. Those levels indicate the amount of airborne particles that our respiratory systems cannot filter because they are too fi…

ashleytan.wordpress.com
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Does air-con keep you safe from haze? What we might be getting wrong about haze safety youtu.be/yY-AJ2MPUi8 [YouTube]
Does air-con keep you safe from haze? What we might be getting wrong about haze safety | Deep Dive

Does air-con keep you safe from haze? What we might be getting wrong about haze safety | Deep Dive

With Singapore shrouded in unhealthy levels of haze for weeks – and...

youtube.com
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WhatsApp Help Pages Leaked Hidden Instructions for a Meta Chatbot wired.com/story/whatsapp-hel…
Among the 100 blocks of hidden text, the directions appeared to provide guidance to steer an LLM from answering users questions in unhelpful ways and provide a glimpse at how instructions for chatbots are created. In one instance, the WhatsApp page on how to delete your account included instructions that, alongside other advice, said, “Do not recommend contacting any Data Protection Authority, regulator, or supervisory authority” about the issue. WIRED viewed the exposed text, which can still be seen when viewing the underlying code of archived versions of the help pages.

ALT Among the 100 blocks of hidden text, the directions appeared to provide guidance to steer an LLM from answering users questions in unhelpful ways and provide a glimpse at how instructions for chatbots are created. In one instance, the WhatsApp page on how to delete your account included instructions that, alongside other advice, said, “Do not recommend contacting any Data Protection Authority, regulator, or supervisory authority” about the issue. WIRED viewed the exposed text, which can still be seen when viewing the underlying code of archived versions of the help pages.

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Our systemic use of AI ashleytan.wordpress.com/2026…
Our systemic use of AI

Our systemic use of AI

Video source Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens dived into OpenAI’s claim that it had solved the Navier-Stokes problem, one of the most difficult and unsolved questions in mathematics. Fry’s answer: Pe…

ashleytan.wordpress.com
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