Hundreds of Fake Pro-Trump Avatars Emerge on Social Media

Important story from the Times on the rise of AI influencers for Trump www.nytimes.com/2026/04/17/b...

A woman wearing a dark tweed jacket and a light blouse holds a book titled "10 DAYS TO A SUCCESSFUL MEMORY" by Joyce Brothers.

Dr. Joyce Brothers grew up in a Jewish family in NY, had a PhD from Columbia, a husband in medical internship making $50/month, a new baby, and no income. In 1955 she decided to go on a game show. Not because she wanted to be on TV. Because they were, in her words, "hungry."

#EternalLight
1/10

What to do when the ‘public good’ of information goes bad The creation and dissemination of reliable news is at an economic disadvantage

TL:dr - invest in public service broadcasting; support copyright against AI; hold digital platforms to account. Good to see this stuff going full legit in a Martin Wolf column
www.ft.com/content/c1af...

Public use of GenAI for symptom assessment is widespread and primarily motivated by curiosity, reassurance and convenience. Trust is risk-dependent, favouring informational tasks over urgent decisions. Integration strategies should prioritise scope clarity, human oversight and transparency.

... and I'm on a third preprint relating to generative AI: "Curiosity, reassurance and convenience: Understanding public motivations for using Generative AI in symptom assessment" www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-9...

by @austenelosta.bsky.social, me, et al.

Large language models not suitable for thematic analysis, especially applied to raw data. Classical probabilistic modelling, particularly STM within a Machine Assisted Topic Analysis workflow, provided the most reliable foundation, but still required human interpretation.

Evaluating the Quality of AI-generated outputs for textual analysis with GRACE (Grounded Review and Assessment of Computational Evidence): A Comparative Evaluation of Ten Methods including Topic Model... Background: The rapid growth of digital technologies has generated large volumes of free-text data across healthcare, public health, and social research. These contain contextualised accounts of...

📢"Evaluating the Quality of AI-generated outputs for textual analysis with GRACE (Grounded Review and Assessment of Computational Evidence)"

New preprint by Paulina Bondaronek, me, et al.

preprints.jmir.org/preprint/91433

How does AI do at qualitative analysis?

📢 Trust Me, I Might be a Medical Device: The Problem with AI Scribes
by Claire Dady, me et al
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-8...

Most AVTs provide little or no verifiable evidence of regulatory compliance. Transparency and oversight need to catch up fast!
#AI #HealthTech #NHS #AIscribes

I imagine Zeno would be very relaxed about the Trolley Problem.

Ireland launches digital strategy to increase mental health support Ireland has launched a digital mental health strategy to increase access to services through technology and improve digital health literacy.

Ireland has launched a digital strategy to increase access to mental health services through technology and improve digital health literacy.

www.digitalhealth.net/2026/02/irel...

I’m very pleased to share this article and to translate our research insights into a blog that is more accessible to the public. When universities began deploying AI detection tools, I knew it might give rise to yet another commercial empire.

It's common in many languages.

LLMs are multi-layered artificial neural networks, so at one level they behave like an organic brain. Artificial neural networks are like organic neural networks.

That doesn't mean they're like a human mind, sure.

Open Access UCL Research: Using Statistical Process Control through the Making Data Count approach to visualise data in NHS Trusts: a mixed-methods study discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10...

It will replace *some* human work (and has). It is, for some meanings of those words, a primitive artificial brain, even if it's not in the sense that the average layperson would interpret those words. There's a tremendous amount of hype, but there is a baby in the bathwater.

That's a very binary way to think about it! AI is real, but with some bullshit hype around it. It's not all or nothing.

Using Statistical Process Control through the Making Data Count approach to visualise data in NHS Trusts: a mixed-methods study Introduction English National Health Service (NHS) Trust Hospital board members are collectively responsible for ensuring high-quality care and organisational performance. Integrated performance repor...

📢 Statistical process control has become popular in healthcare, but is the NHS using it well? Yes! The Making Data Count programme is 👍 + SPC use mostly appropriate, but tendency for Trust boards to still claim metrics have improved without adequate support.

bmjleader.bmj.com/content/earl...

They've said they're not standing *any* candidates in England, but will support selected independents. The decision in Wales and Scotland is devolved.

Best wishes to cat. I took one of mine to the vet this morning for his thyroid condition, and the other on Monday for a dental emergency. Both have forgiven me fortunately!

Skarpt läge för den brittiska universitetssektorn | Tidningen Curie Landet är en av världens främsta forskningsnationer. Trots det befinner sig universitetssektorn i Storbritannien i en djup kris. Under förra året blev 15 000 anställda på universiteten av med jobbet, ...

It was lovely to be interviewed for this article in Curie, the Swedish Research Council's magazine, on the funding crisis in UK universities: www.tidningencurie.se/nyheter/skar...

My 18yo's group Pop Ltd are supporting @dominiehooper.bsky.social at her gig in Morecambe tonight. Still tickets left if you're free: moremusic.org.uk/whats-on/dom...

🥳 We are thrilled to celebrate Jack Elkes, who has successfully defended his PhD on,
Improving the evaluation of digital mental health interventions in randomised controlled trials by understanding and incorporating user engagement.
Congratulations Jack! 🥳

I think a lot about Parmy Olson's observation that AI companies actively push everyone to talk about existential risk, because it distracts from more prosaic current day concerns like copyright theft, conditions for data workers, energy & water use, and their financial situation

There are too many special issues. Publishers encourage them (I say this based on my own experience as an editor-in-chief). When we looked at the data, we found that special issue articles get fewer views, fewer downloads, and fewer citations than normal articles.

My Mum (diabetic) had a cat (also diabetic). She once injected herself with the cat's insulin. We stored the insulins in different fridges after that...

cute green leaf slug

As the world hurtles towards geopolitical crisis, my marine biologist son sends photo of an underwater leaf slug from Fiji to wish us calm.

One of the projects you can support on Smelt is a new sitcom by me. It's called The Least Bad Of All Possible Worlds and it's about refugees from parallel universes trying to integrate into society in Morecambe. You can pledge to fund it here: if you fund it, we make it! mirlo.space/leadmojo/rel...

The Constitution Unit. Can the House of Commons handle multi-party politics? 19 January 2026, 1:00pm–2:00pm. Dr Ellie Chowns MP (Green Party Westminster Leader and MP for North Herefordshire). Paul Evans (former Clerk of Committees at the House of Commons). Dr Louise Thompson (Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Manchester). Chair: Prof Meg Russell (Director of the Constitution Unit).

Does the House of Commons need to change to reflect a more fragmented politics?

In three hours, join @elliechowns.bsky.social, @courtenayilbert.bsky.social and @louisevthompson.bsky.social to discuss smaller parties in the Commons at our free, online event.

Sign up 👉 www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo....

Fake AI doctors endorse weight loss patches on social media – Full Fact Posts claiming to show clinicians from Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust using and endorsing weight loss patches are fake and were made with AI.

Videos that appear to show doctors, including some from Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, using patches to lose significant amounts of weight aren’t real. They were made with AI.

The trust said these videos are “completely fraudulent”.

📢 New preprint! "Association of Oral Contraceptives with Depression Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment in Healthy Women: A Meta-Analysis"

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....