I’ve literally been saying this since I was a teenager:

feels

perfect friday afternoon thread

Palestine Action have WON their judicial review in the High Court! A massive victory for free speech, freedom of association and the right to protest. A massive defeat for the draconian attempts by Keir Starmer's government to curtail our fundamental rights.

From the doomsaying, curmudgeonly communists at the Harvard Business Review:

Man I'm so goddamn sick of ai. "Wahhh you can't have a reasonable conversation about ai on here," yeah maybe be mad about the two year parade of scam artists and financial charlatans and environmental ruiners who have radicalized everyone against the spell check that agrees with you

yeahhh boi, the weratedogs dudes get it.

sigh

“No matter how Ring and other surveillance tech companies may downplay it, there’s no world in which finding lost dogs is the final end-use for this technology.”

A second blurb has rolled in by another favourite thinker of mine. Pre-order the book here: www.upress.umn.edu/978151791773...

Exciting conference happening at FASoS right now!👇

Thank you for the invitation @danishanley.bsky.social Wonderful event- congratulations to you and the rest of the team who put this together

So much careful thought on tech refusal crammed into two days. Thanks for the invite and the wonderful organisation @danishanley.bsky.social @judithcampagne.bsky.social @floralysen.bsky.social et al

This was an excellent event, well done Dani and team! (and @aggillespie.bsky.social has been lured to Bluesky)

These past few days were certainly stimulating, provocative and inspirational at the inaugural NO & __ forum on Technological Refusal at @fasosmaastricht.bsky.social thank you for having me! @danishanley.bsky.social 💥

10/10. No notes

Fantastic kick-off to day two, hearing from @thomas-dekeyser.bsky.social and @ethicistforhire.bsky.social - amazing discussion and can't wait for their forthcoming books!

and a full room again for the closing discussion of day 1 (between Willem Schinkel and @sallywyatt.bsky.social )

Very excited that the No & _ Forum is finally underway! An incredible turnout of people (100+) and a fantastic programme awaits. Fabulous opening keynote by Tanja Bosch from the University of Cape Town on epistemic refusal in the platform age.

Every day Mamdani comes out and is like "hey guys, I turned off the orphan-crushing machine. Literally just had to flip a switch. Took less than 5 minutes." After decades of dem leadership pissing and moaning and fundraising about how complex an issue it is and how difficult the process is etc

Starting to think that we shouldn't allow the worst people in the world to have a hand in shaping technology

In two weeks, world leaders and tech executives will descend on Delhi for the AI Impact Summit 2026. There, power brokers will paint a pretty picture of the role AI will play in saving the world - from sharing prosperity to fixing climate change.

Award for late Afrobeat pioneer and political radical is the 'anti-establishment being recognised by the establishment'.

This war is not over. Though it has drifted from the front pages in a well orchestrated slight of hand, Palestinians continue to be killed on a daily basis and denied basic human needs. #Gaza aje.news/8xzvds

👇

Quilicura, Chile, one of the communities I wrote about in EMPIRE OF AI, has launched a brilliant initiative to inspire more responsible AI prompting. Today, don't use AI; ask the townspeople instead: quili.ai. So heartened to see this creative act of resistance.

In Russia, if you call the illegal occupation of Ukraine a “war” or “invasion” instead of the “special military operation,” you could be sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Seen in Los Angeles (Credit: Zurita Carpio)

I think about this post a lot

You can watch the original 1943 short film here: youtu.be/vGAqYNFQdZ4

Great essay from @sarahljaffe.bsky.social, including sections on AI and Taylorism, a connection that we also explore in some depth in 'Why We Fear AI'! Laying bare how the Taylorist logic of making people replaceable ultimately leads to a system that treats people as disposable is crucial

A reminder to flush as much information Google has on you at myactivity.google.com/myactivity. That page will show you what Google (chooses to, they don't show you whose information they've sold it to you re: adverts, their true userbase). I don't keep any history (youtube, maps, etc)

def going to try this.

Holy fucking shit this is awesome use this now cybernews.com/security/dev...

"But for people who were children in 2016, the year still holds a certain mystique. Google worked well. It was relatively easy to spot deepfakes. Teachers didn’t have to funnel all of their limited resources into determining if a student copy-pasted their homework from ChatGPT."

Excited to hear what @jamesgarforth.bsky.social and this incredible crew have to share with us in Maastricht very soon!

What's the story with AI? Find out at the next event in our Technomoral Conversations series, exploring AI narratives and counter-narratives! 🗓️ Wednesday 11 February 18.00-19.30 GMT 📍 Edinburgh Futures Institute & online 🎟️ edin.ac/3MZEm0a

Stay tuned for conversations with @naomiaklein.bsky.social, @karenhao.bsky.social, @audreyt.org, @meredithmeredith.bsky.social, and many more. Drops begin February 3rd. shorturl.at/rntRt

📣 Interested in 🫧 and AI? ➡️ AISB 2026 Symposium titled Hype, Promise, and Speculation: AI Bubbles and the Replication Crisis in Computer Science will take place on 1-2 July 2026 in Sussex, UK. 🕐 Deadline for submissions is 6 March 2026 🔗 For more information aisb.org.uk/aisb-2026-sy...

I want to talk about my move from Substack to Ghost for a second, and what it's been like working with a nonprofit tech company that actually lives its values. Especially if you're a writer still on Subtack, please read. 1/x First of all, about the org: They are a nonprofit, I just met employee +

The Dutch will double intercity bike routes in the next 5 years, from 1100 to 2300km. Every city has local routes: Utrecht, for example, has 420km of separated bike lanes & bike streets. 𝘿𝙤𝙤𝙧𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙨𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙨 allow people to safety go by bike throughout NL. More info: www.fietsersbond.nl/nieuws/doorf...

the only way to ensure it's a bubble that'll eventually burst is to prevent institutional uptake of these technologies, which is still possible if we keep refusing and resisting

LIFE RULES: Insulate your house with books to ward off evil Oppose the zombie AI apocalypse Never click on a link to the Daily Mail Use double the recommended amount of garlic Always stop to say hi to sheep And to horses too (but in a fake posh voice) I think that's more or less everything covered?

What makes a postdoctoral position different when it’s a Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic Life junior or senior fellow position? You will be working together with a vibrant community of interdisciplinary researchers, each of them curious about the world-making capacities of AI. Ask us a question…

I wrote about why we should understand the metaverse hype cycle as a dress rehearsal for the generative AI hype cycle www.fastcompany.com/91467599/met...

I think it's a bad sign that every major news media outlet has spent days asking whether or not murder is bad and how much child porn is an okay amount

I pre-ordered this book "Techno-Negative: A Long History of Refusing the Machine" and am looking forward to it. I don't know the author's work but I am very interested in the topic. Seems very timely. www.upress.umn.edu/978151791773...

If you need a little beauty in your life right now, take a moment to lose yourself in this gorgeous piece that I commissioned from @anyachalina.bsky.social for @autonocast.bsky.social. I call it "City of Dreams" and I can't wait to hang a high quality print of it in my home.

Also, I'm not anti-AI. AI is an amazing field of study that includes many incredible technologies and ideas. Generative AI is just another toxic idea out of Silicon Valley 1%ers who aren't as smart as they think they are.