The ODDA launches new standards review with the University of Leeds | Online Dating and Discovery Association The ODDA is reviewing its member standards in partnership with the University of Leeds to ensure they remain relevant and up to date

Some news: @nmckeever3.bsky.social
and me, with the support of @alex-fisher.bsky.social will be reviewing the ethical standards of the Online Dating and Discovery Association: the organisation which represents dating apps theodda.org/whats-happen...

Meta Is Warned That Facial Recognition Glasses Will Arm Sexual Predators More than 70 organizations, including the ACLU, EPIC, and Fight for the Future, say the AI smart glasses feature would endanger abuse victims, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ people.

“The coalition wants Meta to scrap the feature entirely. In a letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday, it argues that face recognition in inconspicuous consumer eyewear ‘cannot be resolved through product design changes, opt-out mechanisms, or incremental safeguards.’”

I wish I could unsee this.

I was also there.

I really want some academic mentoring, pals, I need to get my arse back into gear with writing and publishing and finding and applying for appropriate part time research roles

I am exploring these issues in my book project. Follow @ethicaldating.bsky.social for more research.

9. We can be ambitious. Tinkering with existing dating apps will not change the industry.

8. Changing the industry will be difficult. Regulation, better design, and behavioural change are jointly necessary.

7. The interests of dating app companies and users will never align perfectly. We should keep this in mind when looking for solutions.

6. We should not presuppose that online intimacy is inherently worse than in-person intimacy.

5. AI complicates everything. Relationships with AI bots are challenging existing theories of love and shaping our human-human interactions online.

4. Sex needs to enter the conversation more. Dating apps can facilitate pleasure, and perhaps we can be more accepting of pleasure.  

3. We should be wary of fringe examples. Focusing on the worst cases distracts from the more common, and less acknowledged, ways that dating apps make us unhappy.

2. Criticism of online dating must be nuanced. Dating apps help connect marginalised people and those with complex lives. These benefits can coexist with the problems.

1. We dislike dating apps. Only one person in the audience though meeting online was preferable.

Here are nine personal reflections from the discussion at @britishacademy.bsky.social’s Love in the Time of Tech public event.

BA panel on Love in the time of tech

What a star panel at Love in the time of tech tonight @britishacademy.bsky.social

Love in the time of tech YouTube video by The British Academy

You can watch Love in the Time of Tech at the @britishacademy.bsky.social here: www.youtube.com/live/kZ-ZQNE...

Be in touch if you want to feed into this review. We are especially interested in hearing about the experiences of vulnerable groups, and about newer forms of technology which need attention, such as the use of AI in online dating.

As part of this process, we shall be talking to people in the dating and social discovery industry, as well as other stakeholders working in the charity sector, education, and policy.

The review is intended to start a broader conversation about the place of dating and discovery technology in society.

We shall be exploring the existing standards. What can be improved? What is missing? And how should industry standards be structured?

The ODDA launches new standards review with the University of Leeds | Online Dating and Discovery Association The ODDA is reviewing its member standards in partnership with the University of Leeds to ensure they remain relevant and up to date

Some news: @nmckeever3.bsky.social
and me, with the support of @alex-fisher.bsky.social will be reviewing the ethical standards of the Online Dating and Discovery Association: the organisation which represents dating apps theodda.org/whats-happen...

Love in the time of tech Explore how technology is transforming modern love. Take part in an interactive chat-app installation and join an expert-led panel discussion exploring how technology is reshaping modern love.

I’m looking forward to taking part in this @britishacademy.bsky.social event tonight www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/events/the-a...

I’m presenting at the Leeds Beckett Sex, Sexualities and Sexual Harm seminar series on the 30th!

Reserve a (free) spot here if ya fancy it: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ai-assiste...

They're still accepting proposals to participate in this workshop on intimacy and justice! I first developed my work on Lorde's erotic at a predecessor to this workshop, which @lukebrunning.bsky.social and Natasha McKeever convened at MANCEPT in 2021. It's a great incubator for new research ideas!

MANCEPT Workshop - Epistemic Injustice and Backlash MANCEPT Workshop - Epistemic Injustice and Backlash: Call for Abstracts   Recent years have been characterized by significant backlash to progressive social movements and social changes such as t...

Han Edgoose and I are organising a panel on Epistemic Injustice and Backlash at this year's MANCEPT Workshops! The call for abstracts is here, deadline May 1st: philevents.org/event/show/1...

The New Infidelity Micro-cheating includes all sorts of internet behavior that, to many people, might just seem innocent.

‘Microcheating’ - I’m quoted in this @theatlantic.com article on digital surveillance, privacy, and the self: www.theatlantic.com/family/2026/...

Celebrating the sunshine finally emerging in Exeter with Another Sad Philosophy Workshop today!

Get involved this British Philosophy Fortnight!

🌐 There are lots of #philosophy #events - open to everyone - happening over the next 2 weeks, all over the UK and online.

🔗 See what's happening near you:
royalinstitutephilosophy.org/news/british...

#philosophymatters #philosophyfortnight