Dr Stephanie Hare

AI thrives where education has been devalued | The Observer A culture that views knowledge as a means to an end invites the misuse of new technology

“It is less that AI is the cause of degradation in reading and thinking, and more that the creation of a culture that views knowledge primarily in an instrumental manner has made it easier to misuse AI.” My ‪@theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/opinion...

Tech giants blocking some Ukraine and Gaza posts under new online rules Tech companies are restricting debates of public interest to comply the Online Safety Act, analysis shows.

A wide range of public interest content, including posts about the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine and parliamentary debates on grooming gangs, is now being blocked for UK online users by social media companies trying to comply with the Online Safety Act.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

University sidelines scientist who exposed toxic metals in Lake Maurepas The SELU scientist who discovered alarming levels of toxic chemicals in Lake Maurepas was abruptly removed from her research position without explanation.

A university scientist who discovered alarming levels of toxic chemicals in a lake in southeastern Louisiana was abruptly removed from her research position this week without explanation

Google could be reading your ChatGPT conversations. Concerned? You should be Thousands of shared ChatGPT chats are now appearing in Google search results.

Turns out that #Google was publicly logging ChatGPT conversations that people had shared (privately, or so they thought) with friends. There are conversations about mental health, sex, etc. Do you still think #OpenAI take #privacy seriously? By @stokel.bsky.social

fastcompanyme.com/technology/g...

Palantir gets $10 billion contract from U.S. Army The software company’s enterprise contract over the next decade cements its central role in warfighting for years to come.

"The U.S. Army issued Palantir a contract Thursday worth up to $10 billion over the course of the next decade. The new contract, the largest ever awarded to the software and data analysis company, cements Palantir’s role as a major processor of data for the military." wapo.st/41gmXEy

Energy in Britain has gotten scarce—and thus expensive.

Prices are high in absolute terms, and further above the European average than any point in at least 40 years (barring the 22/23 shock).

What's behind this, and is it crimping growth? I took a look for @economist.com. (🧵)

And for those keeping track at home, you don't need AI for any of these things to do them well.

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight set to write next James Bond movie Reports say British writer, whose credits include Dirty Pretty Things, will work with Denis Villeneuve on relaunch British screenwriter Steven Knight has reportedly been tapped to write the next James Bond movie. According to Deadline, Knight recently met director Denis Villeneuve and landed the job after various other writers were also considered. Villeneuve is currently filming the third Dune instalment. Continue reading...

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight set to write next James Bond movie

Trump to bring back presidential physical fitness test canceled by Obama Trump plans to sign an executive order resurrecting the presidential fitness test, which for decades pushed America’s children to do 40 push-ups, 10 pull-ups and a 6.5-minute mile.

President Trump will bring back the presidential fitness test, which pushed children to do 40 push-ups, 10 pull-ups and a 6.5-minute mile.

It was disbanded by the Obama administration in 2012.

Bloodied Faces, Sobbing Children: Immigration Officers Smash Car Windows to Speed Up Arrests We’ve documented nearly 50 incidents of immigration officers shattering car windows to make arrests — a tactic experts say was rarely used before Trump took office. ICE claims its officers use a “mini...

Normalizing violence and brutality, one smashed window at a time. "ICE says its officers “use only the level of force that is objectively reasonable.” Across America, what’s “reasonable” has changed." projects.propublica.org/trump-ice-sm...

This is how you create a secret police force in America, little by little.

Venezuelan men tell NBC News they experienced physical and psychological torture, including one man’s allegation that he was sexually assaulted, after the Trump administration sent them to a notorious prison in El Salvador. NBC News’ Didi Martinez reports.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Seine swimming pool opening gives Paris mayor another jewel in her green crown Making the famed river swimmable is one of the final big projects Anne Hidalgo will inaugurate before she leaves office next year.

“Hidalgo spearheaded legislation that constrains her eventual successor from reversing her policies & long-term goals, such as the creation of 55 acres of new green areas by 2040…”

New Seine swimming pools are just the latest city-building legacies Paris Mayor @annehidalgo.bsky.social is leaving.

Army Secretary forces West Point to rescind appointment given to Easterly The United States Military Academy abruptly ended the appointment of Jen Easterly to a high-profile academic position in West Point’s Department of Social Sciences, according to a memorandum issued We...

In another episode of “we live in the stupidest timeline,” Jen Easterly, a woman I have (1) never met and (2) did not work for, had her appointment at West Point terminated because Laura Loomer lied about both of us in a tweet.

cyberscoop.com/jen-easterly...

How Trump’s U-turn on chips could unleash Chinese AI China has top-flight models. But export controls left it struggling to run them

Something that’s been missing in the discussion of chip controls is that they’re not just having an effect on AI training runs. Chinese labs are also suffering an inference crunch. Or were, until the trump White House changed course. Me this week:
economist.com/science-and-...

Travel advice as EU announces launch date for Entry/Exit System Travellers can expect information campaigns and awareness-raising activities at border crossing points.

“The system will register the traveller’s name, biometric data, and the date and place of entry and exit. Facial scans and fingerprint data taken during the first registration is stored in the EES database for three years”

www.euronews.com/travel/2025/...

Meta brought AI to rural Colombia. Now students are failing exams When Meta embedded AI bots in its apps, even students in the most remote corners of Colombia gained access. But rather than boosting learning, it’s getting in the way.

the enshittification of education is underway

restofworld.org/2025/colombi...

Zuckerberg claims ‘superintelligence is now in sight’ as Meta lavishes billions on AI In advance of Meta’s quarterly earnings report, CEO says his company aims to bring powerful AI into the lives of millions

"Zuckerberg did not provide any details of what would qualify as “superintelligence” versus standard artificial intelligence." But hell, we let him say this stuff and dutifully report it anyway.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

will humbly pipe up and argue that the "French style" (bland covers that look the same for every novel) are good because they usually mean the book will cost like, six quid, so Quite Annoying for British publishers to follow suit but still price everything at 12.99 or whatever

To whom it may concern, and it should concern the editor: I was quoted in your publication: https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/oceans/can-we-engineer-our-way-out-of-ocean-acidification/ Still, others aren't convinced that good intentions are enough. Dr. David Ho, Professor of Oceanography at University of Hawaii at Manoa, a cofounder and the Chief Science Officer of |C|Worthy, a non-profit that works on verifying ocean-based carbon dioxide removal, believes carbon removal efforts like ocean alkalinity enhancement shouldn't be left solely in the hands of private companies. "They have no way to prove that what they're doing is effective - that's a big problem," Dr Ho said. The crux of the dilemma, he explains, is that we are fighting a planetary-scale problem, but are doing it with tools that are still being built and tested. Geoengineering is not inherently good or bad, but it is inherently powerful. And power, especially when exercised in ecosystems as complex and fragile as the ocean, must be handled with caution. However, I have never spoken to your reporter, nor would I have said those things. I would like you to remove my quote from your story, and issue a public correction and apology. Furthermore, you should look into whether the other parts of the article are also factually correct. Thanks. d.

WTF? I was quoted in this story but I have never spoken to the reporter nor would I have said those things. Is everything just generated by LLMs these days?

cosmosmagazine.com/earth/oceans...

For the next three years I'll have the (additional) post of Frank Jackson Professor of the Environment at Gresham College, giving a series of free public lectures on Earth and how it works. All will be freely available online. You can see their whole programme here: www.gresham.ac.uk/whats-on?see...

Students take note, here is a good example why you should not trust AI but do your own research. While some of the information is correct, I have never written a word about ‘champion diplomacy’, I never used this concept in my research nor does it show up in a single one of my publications.

Scientists Say New Government Climate Report Twists Their Work A new Department of Energy report “fundamentally misrepresents” climate research and leaves out key context, multiple scientists cited in the report tell WIRED.

NEW: i spoke to nine (!) scientists across several disciplines whose work was cited in the new Department of Energy report that downplays the severity of climate change. all of them say their work was misrepresented, cherry picked, and/or lacked context —

How to Read an "AI" Press Release — Sonja Drimmer Every so often someone like Mark Zuckerberg or Sam Altman will dribble out some unadorned text in Times New Roman font, announcing with stentorian certitude the advent of a new world that their latest...

Zuckerberg farted out some nonsense today, and since most media outlets refuse to report critically any time a tech CEO offers them some a pseudoserious press release, I've decided to do it for them.

sonjadrimmer.com/blog-1/2025/7/30/how-to-read-an-ai-press-release

As OP points out, Zuck never defines "superintelligence," but if the term means anything it must mean intelligence greater than that of humans, right? "Super" is latin for "over" or "beyond."

*If* we somehow managed to build computers smarter than us, what's to say they would do our bidding?

It's weird how every time Meta sees the future it always involves Meta knowing more about us

just to add a bit to this... i'd like to see a citation for the claim that current trends have us all spending less time in productivity software and more time creating and connecting

How to Read an "AI" Press Release — Sonja Drimmer Every so often someone like Mark Zuckerberg or Sam Altman will dribble out some unadorned text, announcing with stentorian certitude the advent of a new world that their latest product will avail. Zuc...

here's a useful critical annotation of zuck's "superintelligence" memo sonjadrimmer.com/blog-1/2025/...