The Abomination of AI – part 5 – digital and AI breaks market economics The very nature of digital technology and AI breaks free markets leading to runaway inequality, even with the best intentions of industry … but some tech companies further exploit these effects.

The Abomination of AI – part 5 – The very nature of digital technology and AI breaks free markets leading to runaway inequality, even with the best intentions of industry … but some tech companies further exploit these effects.
alandix.com/blog/2026/04...

Minor bugs in major applications Why do big applications such as MS Word and Gmail get new errors in heavily used parts that used to work? Two have been annoying me lately: Gmail's disappearing send button and Word's phantom changes....

Why do big applications such as MS Word and Gmail get new errors in heavily used parts that used to work? Is it poor coding, poor engineering or just AI? These are minor problems but multiplied by billions of users worldwide create huge societal costs.

alandix.com/blog/2026/04...

I won’t be at CHI in Barcelona, but I'd like to highlight two events I would have been part of had I been there: the UXR POV Workshop and the panel on Reporting Standards and Checklists in the Age of AI.

alandix.com/blog/2026/04...

The Abomination of AI – part 4 – why is this happening? Network externalities, the way one person’s use of AI and digital tech changes its value for others, creates positive feedback loops, leads to runaway growth and emergent monopolies, the nemesis of free markets.
alandix.com/blog/2026/04...

The Abomination of AI – part 3 – a different kind of apocalypse Doomsayers worry about the point when AI becomes sentient, outgrowing its creators. The real danger is more insidious: the massive financial and human impacts of AI seem almost obscene.

The Abomination of AI – part 3 – a different kind of apocalypse.
Doomsayers worry about the point when AI becomes sentient, outgrowing its creators. The real danger is more insidious: the massive financial and human impacts of AI seem almost obscene.
alandix.com/blog/2026/04...

The Abomination of AI – part 2 – the impact of AI The obvious impact of AI is in the things it does directly. Some technologies also change the very nature of society, affecting even those who do not use them. Cars are an obvious example. AI is su...

The Abomination of AI – part 2 – the impact of AI. The obvious impact of AI is in the things it does directly, but some technologies also change the very nature of society, affecting even those who do not use them. Cars are one example, AI is also.
alandix.com/blog/2026/03...

The Abomination of AI – part 1 – setting the scene AI can be used for good or ill, but the AI industry seems out of control. Digital tech and AI undermine the assumptions of market economics, driving massive inequality. What drives this and what can w...

The Abomination of AI – part 1 – setting the scene. First of a series of posts based on my ICoSCI 2026 keynote. The AI industry seems out of control as digital tech and AI undermine the assumptions of market economics driving massive inequality.

alandix.com/blog/2026/03...

The BBC Charter Review is time for bold choices to secure benefits of public service media for generations The BBC warns this Charter Review is the moment to make clear choices to back the organisation and support all that it delivers for the UK

Just finished my response to UK gov consultation on the BBC charter. Really important to ensure independent and high quality BBC available to all. Not perfect, but amongst the best in the world, despite so much external pressure.
www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...

Sorry, that should have been 60K words, I was getting confused with AI for HCI!
It was still a daunting challenge, trying to sum up all of evaluation or design in around 7K words each!

@routledgebooks.bsky.social

Manuscript of Human–Computer Interaction the Basics sent to the publisher at the end of last week. It is a succinct ~30K word overview of #HCI that tries to open up the area to the newcomer, and along the way offer some fresh insights for the experienced UXer.

basics.hcibook.com

Beyond the Algorithm: Designing Human-Centric Public Service with AI How can AI truly serve the community? A dialogue on the potential of HCI in designing smart public services, placing human ethics at the heart of digital transformation and public sector innovation.

Video and slides now online for my talk last week "Beyond the Algorithm: Designing Human-Centric Public Service with AI" – How can AI truly serve the community? HCI and human ethics at the heart of digital transformation and public sector innovation.
alandix.com/academic/tal...

Looking forward to "Beyond the Algorithm: Designing Human-Centric Public Services with AI", tomorrow.

"A dialogue on the potential of HCI in designing smart public services, placing human ethics at the heart of digital transformation and public sector innovation."

www.linkedin.com/posts/phd-sd...

The Abomination of AI AI can be used for tremendous good, not least in medicine, as well as frivolous and dangerous uses, such as exploitative online pornography. However, it also has large scale structural impacts on the...

Lightly edited video now available of "The Abomination of AI" my keynote at ICoSCI.

How the intrinsic nature of AI technology interacts with market economics, to create self-feeding loops and runaway effects that fundamental change the world we live in.

alandix.com/academic/tal...

The Abomination of AI AI can be used for tremendous good, not least in medicine, as well as frivolous and dangerous uses, such as exploitative online pornography. However, it also has large scale structural impacts on the...

The Abomination of AI – keynote at ICoSCI yesterday, slides uploaded now. While AI can be used for good or ill, far more critical are the structural impacts of AI on society, global economics and the environment.

@cardiffmet.bsky.social

alandix.com/academic/tal...

REF 2021 – Assessing Value for Money This microsite presents the results of a value for money exercise based on an analysis of public domain data from the UK REF 2021 Research Assessment Exercise.  Note this analysis focuses solely on Un...

Where does £1m of research spend create the greatest amount of high-quality research? UK REF 2021 data includes both income and research quality, so you can work it out. Value-for-money research league tables look a little different from the usual ones!
alandix.com/ref2021/

Front cover of IxD&A journal no. 65, including special section map-based interfaces and interactions

Great to see Proper Maps, my stimulated paper in IxD&A Journal. The paper explores maps of varying levels of propriety to explore the theoretical and practical world of cartography and suggest how digital technology can enable a diverse ecology of improper mapping doi.org/10.55612/s-5...

AI for HCI manuscript sent to publisher Sent the manuscript of AI for Human-Computer Interaction to the publisher. It explores the rich human side of AI including how AI can help in user experience design and how effective interfaces can he...

I’ve sent the manuscript of AI for Human-Computer Interaction to @routledgebooks.bsky.social. It explores the rich human side of AI including how AI can help in user experience design and how effective interfaces can help make AI usable and useful. Due out early 2026.

alandix.com/ai4hci/2025/...

UK academics: during the REF pause a question to ponder ... REF is designed to allocate money. If you had a million to spend where would you invest it to maximise REF 4*/3* outcomes?

(for non UK academics, REF is 7 yearly exercise to measure uni research quality)

Teaser: answer coming soon ....

Statistics for HCI – second edition A new edition of Stats of HCI in prep for 2026 including new chapters on Empirical and Simulation Methods, Big Data and AI.

Yay, the new edition of Statistics for HCI has been sent to Springer !  All on track to be published in first half of 2026. New chapters on big data, AI and computation heavy stats. Post-its in marked up 1st ed made me feel like a PhD student in a viva again :-/

alandix.com/statistics/s...

Explaining ourselves - people, computers and AI As humans we constantly act and speak so that implicitly or explicitly we make our intentions more understandable by others. This talk explores a number of ways in which this can also be possible in o...

Explaining Ourselves - people, computers and AI – slides of talk at University of Bath on Wednesday. Exploring the rich space of communications between humans, AI and plain old computers. From epistemic interaction and coherent XAI to explainable user interfaces (XUI)

alandix.com/academic/tal...

Personal data sovereignty -- anonymisation and aggregation is not enough Data that has been anonymised and aggregated it is often regarded as safe and outside privacy laws, but as todays news shows this is not the case, it can still violate personal data sovereignty.

Personal Data Sovereignty — anonymisation and aggregation is not enough. Today's news emphasises that big computation and data mean we need to look further than standard ideas of privacy.
alandix.com/blog/2025/11...

Yesterday I finished the first draft text of "Human–Computer Interaction the Basics", a short overview of HCI for the @routledgebooks 'the Basics' series. Loads of work still to do, but a milestone. Draft ToC at: basics.hcibook.com

Why AI? In some ways AI is just another technology we still need to understand users and their contexts, and match the appropriate technology with user needs even if that sometimes means not using technology ...

Notes and slides for "Why AI?" my keynote yesterday at the Wales User Experience Research Summit 2025. Thanks to Admiral for organising a wonderful day.
alandix.com/academic/tal...

Yikes, ACM tells porkies about DOIs! We just encountered this problem when verifying references for my upcoming AI for HCI book.

nickwalker.us/blog/2024/ac...

A walk around the unspoilt coastline of Wales Twelve years ago, I walked one thousand miles around the entire periphery of Wales. One might imagine unspoilt coastline and mediaeval castles, but the coast is also the historic industrial heart of t...

Slides available from "A walk around the unspoilt coastline of Wales" my talk about the rich heritage of human activity around the periphery of Wales. Part of a meeting of the strategic research network Heritage Practice Communities in a Digitized World.
alandix.com/academic/tal...

another year another Tiree Ultra Finished 2025 Tiree Ultramarathon and the toughest weather yet, 50mph (80kph) winds at some points of the day and wind flung hail that stung every bit of exposed flesh.  However the spirit of the day,...

Finished 2025 Tiree Ultramarathon and the toughest weather yet, 50mph (80kph) winds at some points of the day and wind flung hail that stung every bit of exposed flesh. However the spirit of the day, as ever, was wonderful.
alandix.com/blog/2025/09...

Reflections The challenge The first day was clearly going to be the biggest personal challenge, a marathon length run over the mountain pass between Brecon and Merthyr.  I hadn't realised how anxious about it I h...

Last post about 65-for-65. Having now turned 65 I've written some reflections on the experience: 70 miles running in five days through spectacular Welsh mountains and valleys and over £1300 raised for @cancerresearchuk.org ‬ - thank you so much to all who contributed.
alandix.com/65-for-65/re...

Crime and Policing Bill: counter-terrorism and national security factsheet

In the UK looking suspicious is illegal: "it an offence to wear any uniform, or wear, carry or display an article ... in a way which would arouse reasonable suspicion that the individual is a supporter or member of a proscribed organisation." www.gov.uk/government/p...

Alan in front of Aberaeron horse statue

Finished 65 for 65. Day 5 Aberaeron - Llanerchaeron loop 6.5 miles, so total of just over 70 miles in 5 days, averaging a half marathon a day, but heavily front loaded.

www.justgiving.com/page/alan-di...