Worrying: "Health is the topic vertical most vulnerable to losing clicks as a result of Google’s AI Overviews..... [H]ealth sections on major news brands will have seen links to articles supplanted by an AI-written summary 72% of the time in Google search results." pressgazette.co.uk/media-audien...

Thanks, Adam. Yet again, this represents a masterful preservation of the status quo ie. the one that's kept ME in roughly the same place for the last half century. Have things moved on? Yes. Is life for most pwME's better now? No. I sound like a broken record but WE HAVE TO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY.

From today's AI Secret daily newsletter (always worth a read). "AI may not replace managers overnight, but it’s erasing the path to becoming one — and that’s how a talent shortage becomes structural."

I had some passing contact with Chris Patten in the early 1980's. At the time, I felt we had little in common, politically speaking. Funny how things can change so radically over time, now united by the desire for an independent, robust media landscape and an old-fashioned requirement for "truth".

1/2 IRONY ALERT: the UK's Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is awarding a contract to IBM to work on AI projects. Translation: the department for work is introducing the same tools blamed for eroding jobs.....

Yes.

1/2 Today is #SevereMEDay Despite recent events we have yet to change an entire culture, as I've detailed ad nauseam in my blog (link in 2/2 below). Only then will proper funding, research, education, health & social care start to catch up. History matters: screenshot of a post from 10yrs ago.....

@bmj.com's dangerous & inconsistent approach to #ME + long Covid resembles psych propaganda more than balanced reporting (notwithstanding the "Opinion" header), especially in relation to Professor Paul Garner's long covid "journey", as described in my 2021 post valerieeliotsmith.com/2021/02/01/p...

Not good: RSF downgrades global press freedom index to all-time low: UK at no 20 & "The US, which had already dropped down to a 'problematic' overall rating, fell a further two spots from its 2024 position to 57th place, immediately behind Sierra Leone and Romania" pressgazette.co.uk/news/rsf-mov...

My website valerieeliotsmith.com has recently experienced an increase in traffic, causing it to slow down when downloading documents. I've been checking it periodically and it is still working but you may need to be patient & try more than once. Apologies for any inconvenience.

There's been some recent discussion on social media about the "secret" files on #ME. The discussions include some misinformation. For clarification purposes: I got both files (DSS/DWP & MRC) opened up in 2012 (using FOIA 2000) & published on my blog. Still some redactions but most info is available.

Excellent letter to @gwynnemp.bsky.social from solicitors representing #LongCovid groups regarding airborne transmission of virus (pp 2 & 3 in comments). This is a great example of how campaign groups can use proactive legal routes to advance their concerns. #ME & #mecfs communities shd take note.

Just returned from a routine outpatient screening (yes, on a Sunday afternoon; not my choice). Apparently the UK is in the middle of a "quademic". We wore masks. Not one single other person in the hospital - patient or HCP - was masked up. How many more potentially preventable deaths will there be?

"This is an extinction-level event for the idea of objective truth on social media – an organism that was already on life support, but was clinging on in part because Meta was willing to fund independent factchecking organisations". www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Wishing everyone peace and joy in the festive season and for coming year.

Thread: 1/4 The AGM of the MEAssociation is being held today. With the current interest in, and focus on, governance at the Charity, I requested remote access to the meeting, as an observer (I am not a member). My request was denied on the basis of a "members only" attendance policy.

INTRO POST: just got set up here although not migrating from the other place(s). Will be expanding my presence here in due course but interested in connecting with other members of the #ME or #MEcfs (sic) community. Interests include health/science, law, journalism, tech. Blog valerieeliotsmith.com