timely for this to be out this week: a longread from me about the history of trans healthcare in the UK i.e. why we are in the mess we are in

featuring some historical enemies – Richard von Krafft-Ebing, John Randell – and an amazing line about gender doctors from @notrightruth.bsky.social

Kind of Ben Green’s “data realism” adjacent! I’ve been thinking about writing it for a while/paralleling it with the appropriate technology movement etc but: time, energy, motivation.

Okay fine I’ll find the time!

I feel this in the marrow of my bones. The future of a university should be shaped by leaders whose own careers depend materially on the future they are shaping.

The book is a comprehensive history of trans medicine and scientific research surrounding it but I hope it’s just as good as all of the AI stuff! (It does come with “accidentally discovering the real identity of DB Cooper” which is a twist I did not see coming.

It is at least a good incentive for me to finally get around to writing up the 40-page systemic deconstruction of automated psych diagnosis systems I’ve had the materials on for. Five years? (In my defence I was busy writing a book but)

I love that they're citing me as saying "AI systems must be transparent and interpretable to avoid perpetuating harmful stereotypes" citing a paper where my position is "you can't make this good and transparency and interpretability make no sense as goals".