samf.substack.com/p/power-to-t.... “Big Local’s impact hints at the power of civic capacity... We lament the downward spirals that blight communities -factory closes, people lose hop..feeds further decline..these spirals can also go upward -confidence can lead to small wins, build more confidence.”

www.innovationaus.com/govts-consul.... “Many of the entries do not include the details recommended by the Senate inquiry,like a meaningful description of the work being delivered, only one of the three biannual disclosures has been in an easily assessable format.” Could do better… #consultants

www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?sto.... “Texas A&M now believes Plato doesn’t belong in an introductory philosophy course.” Always thought he was a bit overrated. Good cal. All very reassuring.Here we were worrying about the end of higher education as we know it. #highereducation #universities

open.substack.com/pub/oneusefu.... “But there's a deeper point here: with the right harness, today's AIs are capable of real, sustained work that actually matters, and that, in turn, is starting to change how we approach tasks.” #ai Keep up…

www.socialprogress.org/social-progr.... “.. the steady improvement in quality of life of recent decades may be going into reverse..rights are down nearly 6 points since 2011..health, safety,environmental quality all down..water,sanitation, housing,access to information slowed..” #socialprogress ‍

open.substack.com/pub/rainerka... “…rejects the comforting fantasy there’s a neat sequence—first stability, then innovation (or the other way around). In government, those jobs are concurrent.. You change while maintaining trust in the system that authorises change.” A a series worth following

open.substack.com/pub/rainerka.... “We treat the digital era (data infrastructures,platforms, AI) as an organisational and political transformation: changes not only service delivery, but also routines, skills, and accountability structures of public bodies.” #publicsector #digitaltransformation

publicpurpose.com.au/this-is-why-... “..our collective moment is not “merely a moment of disruption” but “marks a paradigmatic shift in global logic.”It’s not that the rules of the game are changing; it’s more of a wholesale shift in the nature, purpose and conduct of the game itself.” #transitions

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202.... “..it sees career officials as the enemy within.. Its demise is not collateral damage but the imperative. What took generations to build is being dismantled in months, and with it goes not just expertise but..the shared American faith in expertise itself.” #doge

It’s fast becoming obvious that we’re going to need some kind of major reset in our collective understanding of the purpose, value and impact of the #publicservice or #civilservice as an indispensable institution of public governance, including governing, that is fair, accountable and effective.

www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?sto.... “If learning shaped the last century, recognition will shape the next. And in that transition, micro-credentials operate not as a credentialing novelty, but as a cultural hinge between eras of meaning and value.” #highered #universities

open.substack.com/pub/culturis.... “..it makes sense why AI has been received the way it has. Its opacity is one of the greatest contributing factors to this: since few can explain exactly how AI works, its output naturally produces a sort of “wow” factor, which is the first step to reverence.” #ai

app.thenewworld.co.uk/story/148045... “The battle is no longer between left and right, but between liberal democracy and authoritarianism. The former is much more fragile..and it is failing…no longer regarded as dependably effective…the social contract upon which it depends is close to collapse.”

www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?sto.... “When students pursue.. a triple major, it is rarely because they want more credentials. It is because the cognitive architecture of a traditional degree no longer matches the architecture of the world.” Big challenge. Big response required. ##highered

geoffmulgan.substack.com/p/the-compan.... “..the strength of digital technologies comes from linking things up through simpler, shared systems. This essential lesson of the digital era is often missed by politicians and civil servants …” #publicservices #trust #government

insidestory.org.au/a-kind-of-so... “Connective labour hasn’t been crushed across the board. But it is exploited, expanded or squeezed in different ways in different employment settings, each of them unfair and enraging in different ways.” #measureofcare

www.afr.com/technology/t.... “Only a fool believes that technology is a cornucopia of wonderful stuff without a price to be paid…”. Alll very awkward. We’re lashed to what has become something of a monster whose moral and institutional foundations are troubling. So what to do? #techpolicy

open.substack.com/pub/broligar.... The definition of courage… being brave enough to do something you know is right even when you are scared sh#tless. Remarkable stuff… #ai #techbros @carolecadwalla.bsky.social

www.noemamag.com/a-third-path.... “The third stack movement is, at heart, a contest over who gets to script the next layer of the world’s intelligibility. As scaffolding, it stands at the threshold of perception, where infrastructure sets the conditions of appearance.” #ai #globalsouth

geoffmulgan.substack.com/p/why-do-we-.... “..we lack serious work on what care might look like...or pensions..This is the 10th chapter problem..many books in social science have 9 chapters of brilliant analysis and a weak 10th chapter.. about what might be done.” #wellfare #innovation

geoffmulgan.substack.com/p/why-do-we-.... “But because there are no programmes for welfare innovation there’s often a distinct shortage of good options for the future. Here I suggest what a programme of welfare innovation could look like.” #welfare #innovation

www.smh.com.au/national/kid.... “Even with challenges, the alternative is far worse. Without action, we leave another generation to grow up under the rule of a handful of tech companies whose business models depend on capturing as much of children’s time and attention as possible.” #socialmediaban

www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?sto.... “When facing existential threats, several models resorted to deception, blackmail and leaking confidential information…because they were optimising for their assigned goals…I must prevent shutdown, even at ethical cost.” #ai

www.innovationaus.com/ai-companies... “Despite recent uproar over AI-powered hacking..AI driving people to psychosis and self-harm, US AI companies remain less regulated than restaurants and continue lobbying against binding safety standards,” said Max Tegmark, MIT professor… #ai #safety #regulation

www.afr.com/politics/fed.... “Those who believe most passionately about publicly provided public services have lost interest in demonstrating that they are not inherently inefficient, that there are alternative ways of challenging management to do better besides privatisation and outsourcing.”

techpolicy.press/advertising-.... “..this creates the race for context. To be truly helpful, AI needs to understand your goals, your personality, your psychological tendencies. But the same intimate knowledge that makes AI a perfect assistant also makes it a perfect manipulator.” #ai #surveillance

open.substack.com/pub/indyjoha.... “Had global society embraced structural phase-out and regenerative economic transformation..the remainder of the century might have unfolded differently. But societies overwhelmed by crisis chose the expedient path, not the transformative one.” The year is 2075…

www.innovationaus.com/ed-santows-d.... “It is not enough[to expose] AI systems to a ‘more accurate’ view of history, we must draw the right lessons..to avoid repeating the mistakes and injustices of the past.” Some wise words on how to avoid #aislop and a bad case of digital “mad cow” disease

open.substack.com/pub/oneusefu.... “The era of the chatbot is turning into the era of the digital coworker…suggests that “human in the loop” is evolving from “human who fixes AI mistakes” to “human who directs AI work.” that may be the biggest change since the release of ChatGPT.” #ai #agenticai

On November 25, the NO MORE Foundation and Centre for Public Impact host a global broadcast for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. 📺 Learn more and tune in here: streamyard.com/watch/HdzuJx... #EVAW #Donate #OrangeTheWorld #UNiTE #CollectiveAction #HumanRights

open.substack.com/pub/broligar.... “What we’re seeing is a closed doom loop.These companies are stealing every scrap of data they can find,throwing compute power at it, draining aquifers of water and national grids of electricity and all we have is software you can’t trust not to make things up.”

economist.com/the-world-ah... “In the year to mid-October, Russian casualties grew by almost 60%, to somewhere between 984,000 and 1,438,000. The dead now number between 190,000 and 480,000.. Russia is advancing, but...if the killing continues at 2025’s rate, Russian casualties will reach almost 4m

www.waleed-shahid.com/p/the-mamdan.... “..politics regains power when it is concrete, confident, and collective. Mamdani turns affordability from mood to mechanism, conflict from noise to education, style from branding to presence, culture from division to coalition…” #auspol Masterful…

app.thenewworld.co.uk/story/144645... “The first thing that fascist regimes do is burn books. Reading is the most subversive thing we can do in a culture…When we read, we are invited to escape the stockade of the fearful self.”

openai.com/index/ai-pro.... “..the cost per unit of a given level of intelligence has fallen steeply; 40x per year..over the last few years! In 2026, we expect AI to be capable of making very small discoveries.In 2028 and beyond..we will have systems that can make significant discoveries.” #ai #agi

www.noemamag.com/welcome-to-t... “Trumpism..is not isolationist or nihilistic, but fundamentally opposed to established diplomatic norms and rituals..legitimacy comes not from international approval but from output: industrial strength, cultural cohesion and strategic clarity.” #newworldorder

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202.... “What ..is unfolding—is the beginning of a new digital era, more actively anti-social than the last. Generative AI will automate a large number of jobs, removing people from the workplace..will almost certainly sap humanity from the social sphere as well.” #ai

geoffmulgan.substack.com/p/hollowed-o.... “..this risks making the far right the only change option in elections at a time when much of the public badly want change..because the centre lacks a flow of ideas, it risks becoming too hollow and weak to withstand its opponents with compelling arguments.”

www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?sto.... “We need classrooms that cultivate discernment, not dependence. Instead of banning AI..we can teach students to annotate and question.. restore tension and voice.The goal is not prohibition but reflection..discernment in a world of digital fluency.” #ai

www.innovationaus.com/canberras-to.... “The result is a fragmented, inconsistent landscape that undermines the very trust the policy was meant to build. And the public has no way to understand – or challenge – how AI is being used in decisions that affect their lives…” #ai #regulation

www.afr.com/world/north-.... “First, Democrats must understand that so long as voters say cost of living is their main issue, candidates should be talking about it first, second and third. Saving democracy and social issues must take a back seat.” Yes. And no.

www.afr.com/policy/econo... “Many articles concerning so called “big tech” can come across as anti-tech. But we can be pro-tech and also recognise that entrenched big tech oligopolies and the proper functioning of markets can be incompatible.” More #uncommonsense from Rod Sims #ai #regulation

www.afr.com/policy/tax-a.... “Is my generation so entitled to assets we did not earn we will not lift the smallest finger to help young workers without access to family wealth? Do our political leaders have the interests of young workers or older retirees closer to their hearts?” #tax #auspol

www.afr.com/technology/g.... I”t also ran 13,000 times faster than possible on the world’s best supercomputer, said Google, adding that taken together, the advances point to a broad range of potential uses in medicine and materials science.” #quantum

www.thenerve.news/p/cory-docto... “..decay follows a recurring pattern: platforms start by offering great service, then degrade once users are locked in… those businesses are…squeezed for profit until all that remains is just enough value to keep everyone stuck.” #enshitiffication

oecd.ai/en/wonk/from.... In other words, the same plain-language interface that enables teams to build AI helpers also allows them to embed guardrails, monitor usage, and escalate problems—governance at the speed of adoption.” #ai #globalsouth

www.cirsd.org/en/horizons/.... “…although these challenges are so existential, Europe has rarely remained so silent, its voice so hollow, its actions so lacking..when the world cries out for clear leadership..Europe hides behind rhetoric, reports without follow-up, and sterile debate.” #EU #global

www.niskanencenter.org/conways-law-.... “If the architecture of the system and the organization are at odds, the architecture of the organization wins.” Communication. Incentives. Feedback. Yes, we know. So why don’t we? #organisations #orgdesign

app.thenewworld.co.uk/story/144199... “The Welsh Conservatives are not worth the length of this sentence.” What a brilliant line😂

www.smh.com.au/business/wor.... “But underneath this shiny surface is the sad reality that some of the output is actually unhelpful, misleading, incomplete or not properly understood by the person creating it.” #ai