‘You have a personal shopper, you have a butler, you have a personal assistant, you have your home manager.’ Surveillance and mental offloading aside, why are these people so obsessed with servants? Oh right.

Grateful to Hannah Murphy at the FT for covering the Network State movement. Quotes from yours truly. Shoutout @shanley.com for the assist and doggedly pushing this story. www.ft.com/content/b127...

New research by @mctd.bsky.social shows the impact of generative AI on authors in the UK. They found over a third of novelists report their income has already been negatively impacted by AI and 85% expect their future income will be negatively impacted. www.mctd.ac.uk/impact-of-ge...

Today, as part of our New Conspiracy Age package, we have @willdouglasheaven.bsky.social ruffling some feathers to lay out his argument for why AGI is the biggest conspiracy of all. 👀 www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/30/1...

UPCOMING 📚 The Impact of GenAI on the Novel Join us for the (online) launch of a new report from Dr @clemicollett.bsky.social @braiduk.bsky.social (in assoc with @ifow.org) on how generative AI is impacting novelists and the publishing industry. Book your spot ➡️ www.mctd.ac.uk/events/gener...

'Are you from a professional family, went to private school, have a postgraduate degree, and live in London with a load of cash in the bank? If so, congrats – you’re three times more likely to become an artist than anyone else.' 1/2

🇪🇺💰How ‘independent’ can Brussels-based think tanks really be when one third of their funding comes from the U.S? 🔗 Read what this means for Europe: www.ftm.eu/articles/a-t...

Freedom or Fear? The Lib Dems’ Digital Divide 💭 @ngidda.bsky.social reflects on the @libdems.org.uk Conference, observing that tech for the Lib Dems isn't just a policy debate, but a palpable anxiety about how to shield future generations from the modern internet. ➡️ www.mctd.ac.uk/freedom-or-f...

October is #NationalBookMonth, the perfect time to discover what scholars are reading on JSTOR. 📚 A recent blog post highlights top-read frontlist ebooks and editor picks across disciplines. See our picks: https://bit.ly/3WftTij

Getting tech right is vital in Labour’s quest for “national renewal” 💭 @tomlacy.bsky.social reflects on last week's @teamlabouruk.bsky.social Conference. He reacts to announcements on tech policy, shares insights from the panels, and considers tech hype vs reality. ➡️ www.mctd.ac.uk/getting-tech...

REVEALED: Donald Trump has picked Tony Blair for central role in Gaza ‘peace plan’… …but in our inaugural investigation for @thenerve_news, we reveal extensive previously unreported links to Israeli defence, media & tech. 🧵 1/ www.thenerve.news/p/tony-blair...

What do you do when your media org is captured? You start your own. Introducing....The Nerve!!! @thenerve-news.bsky.social We're all-female, journalist-owned & launching next week. Please help us build a truly independent, progressive new media!👊👊👊

Think it's time to rewatch Castlevania

Kind of ironic that my Critique of Linguistic Capitalism was stolen to train a Large Language Model 🤯

The forum created an opportunity for people to listen & be in dialogue with each other to discuss the challenges, opportunities, and the path ahead. Delighted to share the read-out authored by Alexis Harrell, Christian Neubacher, @ngidda.bsky.social & @clemicollett.bsky.social bit.ly/46yaX2W

Discussions focused on 7 key themes: 1. Transparency for Readers 2. Impact on Future Generations 3. Definition of Creativity 4. AI Training Rights 5. Copyright Considerations 6. Inclusivity and Exclusivity 7. Resistance in the Age of AI

This summer, a ‘Forum on Generative AI and the Novel’ brought together 33 participants including novelists, publishers, literary agents, representatives from writers’ & publishers’ societies, trade unions, government, law, & academia.

"Like so many of these so-called think tanks, the Tony Blair Institute dances to the tune of its funders" Was so great to talk about Blair, Larry Ellison, Keir Stamer and corporate capture with @georgemonbiot.bsky.social on Democracy for Sale democracyforsale.substack.com/p/george-mon...

Today is International Day of Sign Languages, a day commemorating the establishment of the World Federation of the Deaf and spotlighting the issues Deaf people face in their everyday lives. This year's theme is: No Human Rights Without Sign Language Rights❗

In Britain, every time you... — turn on a tap — flip a light switch — board a train or bus — post a letter — drop your child at nursery ... you take part in a system designed to extract wealth & concentrate power. 🧵 From cradle to grave, this is how a failed experiment has shaped your life.

Under the banner of progress, innovation and, most recently, productivity, the tech industry’s defence distils to ‘we stole because we could, but also because we had to’”

We've got a new report out over at @mctd.bsky.social! This time on how sign language AI in education, justice, and healthcare could worsen existing inequalities for Deaf communities – unless we improve the procurement process with Deaf-led governance. Summary below...💡

It's really weird to demand accountability from a NYC mayoral candidate for a deadly NYC shooting rather than the current NYC mayor, an ex-cop who campaigned on a "tough on crime" platform and promptly got indicted for crimes

Choose your swimwear colors carefully, too.

Thanks for the reminder @janemunday.bsky.social. Every summer, I repost this article DROWNING DOES NOT LOOK LIKE DROWNING. To date, I know of FOUR kids who were saved after someone who'd clicked on the link learnt how to spot actual drowning. Take time to read and pass on. slate.com/technology/2...

they want fascist "AI"

“The official X account for Life360, incidentally, feels very much geared towards younger generations, with posts such as, ‘i love it when someone says they checked my location. like thx for checking on me’ and ‘She follows you on Instagram and me on Life360 … we are not the same.’” 🥴

AI this, AI that, what about how much energy AI actually uses? “It blows my mind that you can buy a car and know how many miles per gallon it consumes, yet we use all these AI tools every day and we have absolutely no efficiency metrics, emissions factors, nothing." From the experts:

oh, we have some straightforward gutter racism. “the blacks and the browns are the reason white people can’t get ahead” www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

It'll be interesting to see if this sort of thing breaks through the trance in the K-12 AI-for-all-children-all-the-time movement

"We cannot back down because documenting the truth has become a moral duty before it is a profession," Palestinian journalist Ibrahim Abu Ghazaleh told @theintercept.com. Read the rest of the story produced in partnership with @freedom.press:

NEW 🚨🏭 The UK is betting big on AI to deliver growth, but plans to 'turbocharge' AI may put the UK’s climate goals at risk. In a new report, we address the gap that exists in trying to achieve two policy goals: decarbonising the UK and advancing AI infrastructure. ➡️ www.mctd.ac.uk/big-tech-cli...

“We are not facing a crisis of AI. We are facing a crisis of imagination – a failure to envision the full spectrum of possibilities that lie before us and, perhaps more critically, a failure to understand the work required to realize better futures." – Prof @ginasue.bsky.social 💡

"The future we deserve won’t emerge automatically – it demands active participation, thoughtful governance, and the courage to imagine alternatives." – Prof @ginasue.bsky.social,📍The Kyunghyang Forum, Seoul 🇰🇷

A really, really disturbing story. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

happy to profile our research in The Guardian today

Politicians are retreating from net zero because they think the public doesn’t care. But they’re wrong | Rebecca Willis

Customs and Border Protection has broad authority to search travelers’ devices when they cross into the United States. Here’s what you can do to protect your digital life while at the US border. wrd.cm/44sZoZT

Weekends are nano-retirements, after-work hours are pico-retirements, lunch breaks are femto-retirements, bathroom breaks are atto-retirements...

This is called "going on holiday"

Looking forward to seeing Karen Hao in Edinburgh in August. Just secured my ticket after starting off at 1,502 in the online queue! I got her new book about OpenAI yesterday. The firm and Sam Altman declined to be involved which of course makes me even more intrigued to read it…

these people are just evil

American urbanists: “airport transport is overrated. We should not spend any money to improve speed or frequency to the airport” European cities: “our airport has integrated train stations with city center service every few minutes and intercity high speed trains—plus we’re adding another train”

We're at @jesuscollegecam.bsky.social today hosting a forum on the impact of #GenAI on the novel. Our @braiduk.bsky.social Fellow Dr @clemicollett.bsky.social has convened authors, publishers, agents, and industry bodies to discuss copyright, creativity, and the value of books in the AI era.

Denmark to tackle deepfakes by giving people copyright to their own features

Absolute pleasure to speak at the Centre for Investigative Journalism summer school today about Democracy for Sale and fighting for Freedom of Information. So proud of my colleagues @lucasamin.bsky.social and @jennacorderoy.bsky.social and what we’re building ☺️☺️☺️