A thought sparked by Google’s IO: AI as it is deployed increasingly really tethers us more closely to information but mediated through the largest platforms (here Google) – it really is a centralisation of information that we are seeing.
Against my better judgment, I wrote something short on the claim that UK news isn't paying enough attention to the Claude Fable quagmire and AI more broadly.
Didn't expect a shoutout when I read this great FT Alphaville piece which takes a good look at open-weight models. In a nutshell, 1) locally run models see some real demand growth because they are a) good enough, b) cheaper, and c) don't come with IP security concerns (see OpenAI's mathematics news)
While I cannot be at @ecreaeu.bsky.social this year to co-present, please check out our AI work presented by great colleagues @richardfletcher.bsky.social, @amyrossarguedas.bsky.social and @waqasejaz.bsky.social.
One of the interesting epistemic side-effects of AI diffusion to me is the two-tier system that seems to have emerged around it in terms of information access/quality and people’s perception of what AI can(not) do as a result.
✨ 🤖 A brief summary of the AI findings of the Digital News Report 2026, a 48-country survey of news use and attitudes, now out by the @reutersinstitute.bsky.social.
Last summer, I co-organised a small symposium on AI agents which in light of the OpenAI/Hugging face news feels prescient. Some quotes from the symposium report: "Several of those present argued that many of the most pressing risks are systemic."
"It feels like the talk about hallucinations has somewhat died down" – this observation from my friend @kirstenaeddy.bsky.social who hosted me at @pewresearch.org today for a talk got me thinking. At least to me, it feels like she is right.
Not entirely sure I agree with everything argued in this short commentary pre-print on AI slop, but I do think the authors get one thing right: It’s too easy to dismiss AI slop.
