For professional, see https://cvoelcker.de If I seem very angry, check if I have been watered in the last 24 hours. Now 🇺🇸 flavoured, previously available in 🇨🇦 and 🇩🇪https://bsky.app/profile/cvoelcker.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/cvoelcker.bsky.social/post/3mvftkjthr22fThe Uber driver is ranting about the insane bike lobby in Toronto. Me: https://static.klipy.com/ii/a15b48460c436e1e92c85ffc680932cc/ee/85/j2A98P82.gif?hh=498&ww=498&mp4=cRJAW7xjifOudxod49fk&webm=DHxeOqfONkPVJA13 Sep 2026 14:46 +0000at://did:plc:a5rtda5x7273aiec2bin4fzk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvftkjthr22fhttps://bsky.app/profile/cvoelcker.bsky.social/post/3mv6tlmowns2cWhen academic ML researchers talk about not being able to compete with industry, I am always reminded of the fact that noone in academia builds a car either. Our job is not to build production ready models.10 Sep 2026 19:58 +0000at://did:plc:a5rtda5x7273aiec2bin4fzk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv6tlmowns2chttps://bsky.app/profile/cvoelcker.bsky.social/post/3muhpkyqrjk25More and more I'm fascinated that the LLM literature will say things like "RL can only collapse the distribution" when the only RL approach they have ever used is reinforce, which yes, can do exactly only that unless you jump through hoops to improve exploration.01 Sep 2026 15:15 +0000at://did:plc:a5rtda5x7273aiec2bin4fzk/app.bsky.feed.post/3muhpkyqrjk25https://bsky.app/profile/cvoelcker.bsky.social/post/3mufziowty22tTo quote one of my best friends after a philosophy lecture: I would love to explain to people how useless philosophy is, but for that we need to first find a shared Notion of “use“. [contains quote post or other embedded content]31 Aug 2026 23:07 +0000at://did:plc:a5rtda5x7273aiec2bin4fzk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mufziowty22thttps://bsky.app/profile/cvoelcker.bsky.social/post/3mthog7trws2oPotentially hot take: homework should never have been graded anyways. Normalize students learning and getting feedback without it going in the permanent record. If they don’t do it, their problem. This attitude is brought to you by the German academic system. No graded homework, works fine19 Aug 2026 21:29 +0000at://did:plc:a5rtda5x7273aiec2bin4fzk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mthog7trws2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/cvoelcker.bsky.social/post/3mtessux4vk2lI think the problem very often boils down to "Qui bono". I'm not opposed to AI models on training on art, I'm opposed to the artists not benefiting and the AI training companies accumulating civilizational levels of wealth. [contains quote post or other embedded content]18 Aug 2026 18:09 +0000at://did:plc:a5rtda5x7273aiec2bin4fzk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtessux4vk2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/cvoelcker.bsky.social/post/3mtesis6tzc2lTHIS! [contains quote post or other embedded content]18 Aug 2026 18:04 +0000at://did:plc:a5rtda5x7273aiec2bin4fzk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtesis6tzc2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/cvoelcker.bsky.social/post/3mt3ugugof22tThe root cause for almost any issue in modern science is scarcity of rewards (mostly jobs). You cannot steer the demand and control the processes without addressing the supply.15 Aug 2026 04:45 +0000at://did:plc:a5rtda5x7273aiec2bin4fzk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt3ugugof22thttps://bsky.app/profile/cvoelcker.bsky.social/post/3mt2frfosqc2yAm I getting dumber or is Claude becoming more obtuse? I feel like it is basically at full conspiracy / Lumon levels of making up it's own language to describe it's experiment plans and findings...14 Aug 2026 14:49 +0000at://did:plc:a5rtda5x7273aiec2bin4fzk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt2frfosqc2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/cvoelcker.bsky.social/post/3mspsiyzzgc2u@nsaphra.bsky.social, as always, wrote an absurdly excellent piece! This really resonates with the increased apathy and unreality I sometimes feel interacting with the world over the last year. [contains quote post or other embedded content]10 Aug 2026 09:38 +0000at://did:plc:a5rtda5x7273aiec2bin4fzk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mspsiyzzgc2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/cvoelcker.bsky.social/post/3msd6vtilxk2jAmericans who like my posts at 5:00 am Eastern: Who hurt you 😂05 Aug 2026 09:15 +0000at://did:plc:a5rtda5x7273aiec2bin4fzk/app.bsky.feed.post/3msd6vtilxk2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/cvoelcker.bsky.social/post/3msd6ufbeys2qTell me there are no queer people in your life without telling me there are no queer people in your life... My right to marry in my home country is younger than my relationship with my husband (this is obviously a dunk on the screenshot person, not the bsky person, just to be safe) [contains quote post or other embedded content]05 Aug 2026 09:15 +0000at://did:plc:a5rtda5x7273aiec2bin4fzk/app.bsky.feed.post/3msd6ufbeys2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/cvoelcker.bsky.social/post/3msc5b2qrvs2oIt's only research when it comes from the NeurIPS region of AAA conferences, otherwise it's just sparkling failure04 Aug 2026 23:13 +0000at://did:plc:a5rtda5x7273aiec2bin4fzk/app.bsky.feed.post/3msc5b2qrvs2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/cvoelcker.bsky.social/post/3msc3focef22aNoone will like this, but I just got a bunch of negative reviews for a paper and I'm NOT mad! The critique was reasonable, the improvement suggestions feasible, and everybody seems to have understood what we did correctly. Peer review can work!04 Aug 2026 22:40 +0000at://did:plc:a5rtda5x7273aiec2bin4fzk/app.bsky.feed.post/3msc3focef22ahttps://bsky.app/profile/cvoelcker.bsky.social/post/3msbsrvfys22qAbolish awards! Recognize opportunity and priviledge what they are and built resilient structures that favor collaboration and shared recognition! [contains quote post or other embedded content]04 Aug 2026 20:06 +0000at://did:plc:a5rtda5x7273aiec2bin4fzk/app.bsky.feed.post/3msbsrvfys22qhttps://bsky.app/profile/cvoelcker.bsky.social/post/3ms3hoxvn7224Every time I land in Germany, I’m reminded again that I’m comparatively tiny here 😂02 Aug 2026 07:31 +0000at://did:plc:a5rtda5x7273aiec2bin4fzk/app.bsky.feed.post/3ms3hoxvn7224https://bsky.app/profile/cvoelcker.bsky.social/post/3ms2s7kwayk24There are so many major problems with the "Go big" advice, and I would love it if senior people started addressing them: - "Go big" is close to impossible without practising in the small first - Not publishing frequently locks you out from almost all networking to find good collaborators [contains quote post or other embedded content]02 Aug 2026 01:07 +0000at://did:plc:a5rtda5x7273aiec2bin4fzk/app.bsky.feed.post/3ms2s7kwayk24https://bsky.app/profile/cvoelcker.bsky.social/post/3ms2b33p3uk25"Write dumb rebuttals, get dumb replies" I think the LLM era has made me appreciate brevity sooooooooooo much more. I get it now, I apologize, everything should just be a single line.01 Aug 2026 20:00 +0000at://did:plc:a5rtda5x7273aiec2bin4fzk/app.bsky.feed.post/3ms2b33p3uk25