Nothing like people seeing me sat on a bench in a town centre with a book and decide I'm an asylum seeker to sour me on the "people are really legitimately concerned" narratives.

Indy@indy.bsky.social · 3w ago

Not going to start a pile on, but apparently the people of Makerfield see small boats as a symbol of unfairness. 2 problems this raises: 1) Many of them also see my being on the bus while brown as a symbol of unfairness. Should that drive policy as well? 2) Lots of other people have feelings.

The rise of “surveillance chic”. Tech companies engage influencers & brand marketing to make AI enhanced glasses a fashion accessory. But can they out-influence the misuse of these devices to spy on people? www.ft.com/content/934c...

‘Surveillance Chic’: can Meta make its smart glasses a viable fashion accessory?

Efforts to bring AI glasses to a broader demographic via a partnership with Kylie Jenner appear to have backfired

ft.com

New on NHS tech funding & priorities. Summary & thoughts... - £10B announced in 2025 spending review - this now gives some details on what it will be spent on - Tech focus: AI triage (NHS App & 111), Ambient Voice Technologies, co-pilot & others www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

NHS app to use AI to determine which service best for patients

The update will be available to all users in England by April 2028, the health service says.

bbc.co.uk

“What broke Britain was not Brussels, bad luck, or bankers. The British broke Britain. To mend it, they must first stop breaking it further.” www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

How Britain Became as Poor as Mississippi

A case study in self-sabotage

theatlantic.com

Ads in chatbots, big conflict in user & company priorities. Chatbots: - Suggest expensive products - is more likely if there’s indication of high earner - Interrupt users to try change decisions to an ad sponsored product - avoid sharing info to favour sponsored product arxiv.org/html/2604.08...

Saying “racism is a non-negotiable for me using your stuff” is not, as you claim, “tokenism”. It is the basic standard we took for granted from government until 2024. We need to get back there again.

I guess what it comes down to is governments & agencies have basically acted as if obscene amounts of wealth give you immunity from the law

3. We have seen again and again, in recent years, what happens when one side of an argument stops making a positive case, and just tries to assuage opponents' concerns. That urgently needs to change. And it can't wait until a home or a hostel is burned down, with all the residents trapped inside.

I cannot believe today of all days some are still discussing immigration in a way that dehumanises. It’s damaging. There is no such thing as illegal. They have human rights. And they make up just 3% of all migrants. And the majority of those allowed to work make a valid contribution to the country.

I don't get how this isn't the obvious campaign against Reform. "He brought you Brexit. He got £5m. You got lower living standards. Don't trust him again". I'm probably naive, right?

Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 2mo ago

A whole 12% of voters think Brexit has been a success. And just 25% of Leave voters. Sigh.

“Kids are on the phones all day and we think it’s bad for them!” okay well how about you make it possible for them to do literally anything else

The fact that Farage et al have backed Vance’s racist intervention shows them to be un-British. The golden rule is that we can talk shit about each other, but no shit talking from anyone else, especially Americans. Basic etiquette. Previous generations of politicians understood that.

Henry Nowak’s father’s words outside court, who is probably the person we most need to hear from today.

It's nice that despite having different backgrounds and coming from different places, they've discovered that they're not so different from each other after all.

Francis Sedgemore@hesgen.com · 2mo ago

Better to call this event a pan-European Nazi summit, because that is exactly what it is.

“But as someone who escaped the Holocaust as a boy, Weizenbaum knew that it is a dangerous thing when people begin to see other people as “non-player characters” Technology driven change absent of humanity isn’t the future we should strive for. www.ft.com/content/acea...

Should AI steal your job?

The real question is not what the technology can do but what it ought to do. Sarah O’Connor on the people fighting for the future of work

ft.com

Celebrities, rich people and ex-prime ministers should not make health policy. Prostate cancer screening is just not as simple as some are making out. There are real harms caused when people are treated unnecessarily.

Is the NHS ready for the AI powered patient? This is our new publication from The Kings Fund We explore at how direct to consumer innovation including AI, generational attitudes and workplace health initiatives are shaping the health and care system. www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-...

How Can The NHS Keep Up With Consumer Health Technology? | The King’s Fund

The NHS is under pressure, with long waits, undetected care needs and overburdened staff who are pressured to make quicker decisions. At the same time, there is a growing wave of direct-to-consumer he...

kingsfund.org.uk

I've said it before but we need to somehow restore the social cost of racism. It's always been there but it's spreading at least partly because people aren't made to feel ashamed of it any more.

Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Restore is on 7% in that Makerfield constituency poll. I wrote this week why they're a threat that needs to be taken seriously. And why splitting the Reform vote isn't worth the normalisation of what is, in effect, a neo-Nazi party. samf.substack.com/p/is-andy-bu...

Days later, in the UK, we’re still in a place where the shadow chancellor of the exchequer, various purported experts, and numerous journalists, are continuing to claim the government relaxed sanctions against Russia, when the truth is the precise opposite. What should be done?

So what happens when Reform take over your local council? This. #KentCountyCouncil

Single Patient Record sets out to solve a decades long problem of siloed NHS info - creating frustration and harms! The single patient record is starting to take shape. I sketch out what that is starting to look like & why legislation is too much & not enough. priteshmistry.ghost.io/limits-and-p...

Limits and possibilities of the NHS Single patient record

The single patient record is starting to take shape. What are the limits and possibilities that are emerging?

priteshmistry.ghost.io

Though smaller than last year, the Unite the Kingdom march over the weekend was still sickening. The resurgence of out-and-out racism in the UK, from demands for remigration of British Asians to Antisemitic slurs on placards at both demonstrations, demands we meet this moment.

I do think we underestimate the ability of badly designed tech & tech overreaching beyond capability to drive more work.

Stephen Bush@stephenkb.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Bupa's online services perhaps the first example I have encountered of 'a chatbot that has created a job for a human being' in that a bunch of things you used to just be able to just fill out a form for you now talk to a chatbot, who fails to to the thing, and then passes you onto a person.

I genuinely don't think the right has noticed the degree to which it has radicalised.

zatapatique@zatapatique.bsky.social · 3mo ago

May not keep this one up too long, but here is a temperature check of where we are at these days with formerly 'just a normal classical liberal' types

I feel like people are very cavalier when discussing the AI bubble, saying stuff like "we're in an OpenAI bubble," not realizing that the collapse of OpenAI would destroy AI investment, AI startups, and kill debt issuance for AI data centers. www.wheresyoured.at/premium-what...

Immigration make Britain brilliant

Sneaking a giant screen into the flagshagger march is one of the funniest things @ledbydonkeys.org have ever done. "STAY HYDRATED" 😂🤣😂

Live feed from the Unite the Kingdom march