Jamie Hancock

A better welfare system is possible - one that treats people with dignity, compassion, and care 🤝

In our latest online listening with @demos-uk.bsky.social, we continue to see people's experience of the welfare system as inaccessible, inflexible, and inhumane. 1/2

Revealed: bias found in AI system used to detect UK benefits fraud Exclusive: Age, disability, marital status and nationality influence decisions to investigate claims, prompting fears of ‘hurt first, fix later’ approach

These initiatives have a history of poor outcomes for vulnerable people. For example, in 2024, it was revealed that an internal DWP assessment found an AI fraud detection system it used featured significant bias according to age, disability, marital status and nationality

The scandals keep coming

Secretive DWP Welfare Algorithms Put Millions’ Rights at Risk — Big Brother Watch

Rather than make the system work for those who need it most, the UK government is doubling-down on policies which could make things worse - like AI fraud detection tools and automated decision making systems to assess claims

Putting humanity at the heart of welfare Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

My latest blog looks at what has gone wrong with the welfare system - and how things could be done differently

Putting humanity at the heart of welfare Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

“I’m feeling sick from fear about this transition from Employment Support Allowance to Universal Credit. I’ve lost several hundred pounds”

This is one of hundreds of stories from my research into financial hardship and the welfare system with @jrf-uk.bsky.social

Putting humanity at the heart of welfare Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

✍ NEW BLOG | Putting humanity at the heart of welfare

@j-hancock.bsky.social reflects on 13 years of online conversations evidencing the enduring challenges that people face when navigating the #welfare system.

This blog draws from our ongoing Online Listening research with @jrf-uk.bsky.social.

The AI boom is unsustainable unless tech spending goes ‘parabolic,’ Deutsche Bank warns: ‘This is highly unlikely’ | Fortune “In the absence of tech-related spending, the U.S. would be close to, or in, recession this year,” George Saravelos says.

DEUTSCHE: NVIDIA "is currently carrying the weight of US economic growth. The bad news is that in order for the tech cycle to continue contributing to GDP growth, capital investment needs to remain parabolic. This is highly unlikely.”

@fortune.com
fortune.com/2025/09/23/a...

From Southport to Epping, social media's failure to act is fuelling racist violence Recent disorder in Epping shows how urgently effective moderation of social media platform moderation is needed.

✍OPINION | From Southport to Epping, social media's failure to act is fuelling racist violence.

Researcher, @naemamalik.bsky.social, warns we risk seeing more riots, division and unrest in our communities unless platforms are held to account and adopt new practices to address online misinformation.

What did we find?

➡️ Rising employment concerns – just as the @resfoundation.bsky.social predicts unemployment could hit 5% in the three months to August.

➡️ Persistent fears about the benefits system – following the recent welfare reform u-turn & uncertainty.

“It’s tough out there”: An online forum listening exercise revealing how people are talking about financial hardship Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

🚨 NEW REPORT: "It's tough out there".

In partnership with @jrf-uk.bsky.social, we’ve been analysing new online listening data to understand how people are talking about financial hardship – unprompted, in their own words.

demos.co.uk/research/its...

Polls apart? A novel way of understanding financial hardship Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

💭 BLOG | Polls apart? A novel way of understanding financial hardship

Demos' Billy Huband-Thompson and @j-hancock.bsky.social reflect on new research with @jrf-uk.bsky.social and the value of online listening methods to capture the feelings of those on the sharp end of government policies.

Update: I spoke with the U.K. Environment Agency and got some numbers.

they believe deleting 1,000 emails with attachments could save about 77.5 liters of water a year.

they also said they're estimating data centers will consume 280 billion liters a year, world wide, by the end of the decade

like I think we perhaps have not been talking enough about the utterly staggering amount of highly sensitive information that we absolutely know people around the world are pumping into corporate LLM tools at all times nowadays

Post on /r/transgenderUK entitled “Reddit now censors LGBTQ+ content under OFCOM’s new ‘Online Safety Act’”

post text: “I honestly can't even think of words to describe how vile this is. Here's a screenshot of what I now see when I search "lgbt" with my VPN switched off. Occasionally a banner appears at the top of the screen saying something about needing to verify ID to access "mature content" but the button doesn't even work. The fact that we're now considered "mature content" makes me feel sick.”

The screenshot referenced in the previous image, showing the results of a search on Reddit for the term LGBT. No results from LGBT-specific subreddits appear; instead, posts from /r/Conservative, /r/Islam, /r/JustUnsubbed, etc are highlighted.

the UK’s Internet age verification law has led to the effective censorship of all LGBT content on Reddit

what a shocking and unexpected turn of events!

Measuring the Impact of Early-2025 AI on Experienced Open-Source Developer Productivity We conduct a randomized controlled trial to understand how early-2025 AI tools affect the productivity of experienced open-source developers working on their own repositories. Surprisingly, we find th...

ICYMI-- I did.

A study of software developers found it took them 19% more time to do their work when they used AI tools.

At the same time, they *perceived* they had saved time. They thought they would work faster and so they falsely "believed AI had sped them up by 20%."

Back in 2013 - when most of us were still excited about computers - the UK's coalition government introduced a bold new initiative. From September 2014, it became mandatory for all kids from year 1 on to learn coding. We were the first in the world. Michael Gove said at the time that 'It will raise standards across the board - and allow our children to compete in the global race." It was henceforth a core academic discipline. Everyone had to get with the program (ming). Then Education Minister, Liz Truss, said it was "one of the essential skills of the 21st Century". These politicians just cannot help themselves. They should know that predicting anything is risky - especially the future. But the lure is too strong: every politician wants to look future-savvy and for some reason, total tech embrace is the only idea they ever have.

Remember when kids were told coding is a ‘job of the future’ and told to join code camps?

Jamie Bartlett on how it is hard to predict the future
jamiejbartlett.substack.com/p/is-coding-...

As someone actually trained in behavioural psychology—unlike most MPs—I can tell you: financial precarity doesn’t “incentivise” sick people to work. It breaks them. Stress worsens health. Fear doesn’t create productivity. It creates collapse. #TakingThePIP

Inside Gaza’s ‘death traps’ [FREE TO READ] A US-backed scheme forces hungry Palestinians to trek kilometres for food aid. Many never make it back

NEW: Inside Gaza’s ‘death traps’ via @FT
GHF’s plan forces hungry Palestinians to trek miles to aid sites, often through the IDF’s active military areas. Hundreds have been killed and thousands injured. This is how…
www.ft.com/content/6c74...

I analysed hundreds of X posts about the Southport riots which received Community Notes. They were full of racism and Islamophobic hate that fuelled far right violence

Yet only 4.6% of the Community Notes we analysed were made public during the riots

Community Notes are not fit for purpose

Researching the riots: An evaluation of the efficacy of Community Notes during the 2024 Southport riots Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

🚨 New report: Researching the Riots - evaluating #CommunityNotes during the 2024 Southport riots.

Demos research explores how the abject failure of moderation systems left #misinformation and harmful content to spread unchecked during the 2024 #SouthportRiots.

Read here ⬇️

🧵 Just finished reading Upgrading Democracy by @pollycurtis.bsky.social at @demos-uk.bsky.social .
It’s a sharp, hopeful intervention in the face of democratic breakdown, and it aligns in profound ways with the epistemic collapse I’ve been tracking in my own work.
demos.co.uk/wp-content/u...

‘I feel let down’: An online forum listening exercise revealing how people are talking about financial hardship Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

The UK government  has found its welfare reforms may push 250,000 people into relative poverty by 2030

My new report looks at people's experiences of financial hardship and their response to welfare news online. It is critical that decision makers hear their voices

demos.co.uk/research/i-f...

Thanks to @jrf-uk.bsky.social and Grassroots Poverty Action Group for all their support with this work

Epistemic Security Network Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

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In posts on online forums, people described the government’s announcements as “terrifying”, “devastating” and “awful”

MPs vote on the welfare reform bill in the next few weeks. It is vital that the voices of the people most affected by welfare policy are heard

‘I feel let down’: An online forum listening exercise revealing how people are talking about financial hardship Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

The UK government  has found its welfare reforms may push 250,000 people into relative poverty by 2030

My new report looks at people's experiences of financial hardship and their response to welfare news online. It is critical that decision makers hear their voices

demos.co.uk/research/i-f...

Centralized control over key information infrastructures is a systemic risk.

Tech Oligarchy Imperils Democratic Information Flows | TechPolicy.Press The risk the tech oligarchy poses to democratic information supply chains is systemic rather than individual, writes Jamie Hancock.

It’s now clear that tech billionaires like Musk and Zuckerberg are an oligarchy

Their wealth, control over information infrastructures, and political leverage threatens democracies worldwide

You can read more in my piece for @techpolicypress.bsky.social

www.techpolicy.press/tech-oligarc...

Tech Oligarchy Imperils Democratic Information Flows | TechPolicy.Press The risk the tech oligarchy poses to democratic information supply chains is systemic rather than individual, writes Jamie Hancock.

💬 "Today’s tech billionaires are capable of disrupting the information supply chains that underpin democracies worldwide."

🖋️ @j-hancock.bsky.social writes for @techpolicypress.bsky.social on the threat that big tech companies pose to our democracies. ⬇️ www.techpolicy.press/tech-oligarc...

🧠 🔓 What if the UK’s biggest #AI advantage isn’t scale, but openness?

Our latest report, authored by Elizabeth Seger and @j-hancock.bsky.social with @mozilla.org, explores how sharing models, data & research can unlock growth, trust & global influence.

Read here 👉 demos.co.uk/research/the...