New research out from our centre today on how novelists and industry practitioners are navigating AI, including headlines on just how many authors fear AI will completely replace them.
Lots to dig into in this great report, check it out or skip to the chapters that matter to you👇
There's still time to sign up to the online launch of our latest report: The High Stakes of Menstrual Tracking.
Wed 11th, 4-5pm, Stefanie Felsberger is a great speaker - and there's an expert panel to boot. Don't miss out 👇
🔴 Remember Aria, the “moonshot" research agency dreamed up by Dominic Cummings?
It's funded by £800m in public money but exempt from FOI laws
We decided to fight for transparency... and we won 🎉
New on Democracy for Sale w/ @lucasamin.bsky.social
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/dominic-cu...
• Al Overview The idiom "you can't lick a badger twice" means you can't trick or deceive someone a second time after they've been tricked once. It's a warning that if someone has already been deceived, they are unlikely to fall for the same trick again. Here's a more detailed explanation: • Licking: "Licking" in this context means to trick or deceive someone. • Badger: The badger is a wild animal, and the phrase likely originates from the historical sport of badger baiting where dogs were used to harass
Someone on Threads noticed you can type any random sentence into Google, then add “meaning” afterwards, and you’ll get an AI explanation of a famous idiom or phrase you just made up. Here is mine
NEW 🚨 We have signed a joint letter urging PM Keir Starmer not to sacrifice online safety laws in US trade negotiations.
If the most powerful tech firms can negotiate away regulator frameworks created by our sovereign parliament, then what is left of our democracy?
➡️ www.mctd.ac.uk/dont-relax-t...
Our brief on AI, Copyright, and the Creative Industries is out today.
Unregulated GenAI will not lead to growth. The UK creative sector is one of our strongest - but proposals to allow AI companies to freely scrape creative work to train models puts it in harms way.
www.mctd.ac.uk/policy-brief...
Vital report from @raeng.org.uk today setting out recs including mandatory sustainability reporting for data centres.
The world is on course to miss even our 2 degree climate target - there will be consequences w/out serious action. More of this sort of work is needed.
CAN DEMOCRACY SURVIVE AI❓
New @sociologica.bsky.social: @ginasue.bsky.social examines AI and democratic governance. She argues AI’s tendencies toward centralisation, unchecked economic growth, and pursuit of efficiency pose significant challenges to democracy.
➡️ www.mctd.ac.uk/can-democrac...
NEW! 📕 Antonio Casilli pulls back the curtain on automation, explaining why big tech's AI systems wouldn’t function without unpaid or underpaid human labour. He warns that the danger is not that robots will take our jobs, but that humans will have to do theirs...
➡️ www.casilli.fr/2025/01/08/m...
Who's ready to talk about responsible AI on the Six O'clock News? This Professor
I saved my spiel for LinkedIn but very grateful to my managers and colleagues for putting me forward for this award - and thrilled to have made the shortlist 🎆
AI Action Summit 2025 🇨🇵
We drew together insights from our research network in response to the summit’s call for ideas – highlighting the risks that emerge from the intersection of AI systems with social, cultural, and organisational structures.
Read our submission ⬇️ www.mctd.ac.uk/written-evid...
Workplace protections against AI and technology driven abuse must be more than an afterthought for Gov's employment rights programme.
And civil society & unions have already done the legwork. My comments in a new blog here👇
www.mctd.ac.uk/ai-protectio...
"Inside the belly of AI is a hidden workforce fuelling the 21st century’s largest case of human exploitation"
If you're in/near Cambridge Tuesday next week (12th) drop by our free event for chat and a documentary preview on the invisible workforce behind AI ⬇️⬇️
www.mctd.ac.uk/events/anton...
Digital ID in the UK - a rapid response study Rachel Coldicutt OBE Sept 2024
Digital ID in the UK: A rapid response study by me for @carefultrouble.bsky.social, published today, drawing on public polling by @survation.bsky.social and a landscape map of known govt plans.
Do govt's plans for digital ID meet the public's needs?
www.careful.industries/digital-iden...
If you'll be at Labour Conference on the Sunday, don't forget to join us and whole bunch of other progressive tech folks at the tech for everyone reception. 6-8pm👇👇
www.mctd.ac.uk/events/labou...
MCTD will be hosting a free online reading & in-conversation with author Sasha Abramsky on 25 September, 6pm.
We'll be discussing Sasha's upcoming book - Chaos Comes Calling: The Battle Against the Far-Right Takeover of Small-Town America
More info here 👇
www.mctd.ac.uk/events/chaos...