Matt Luckcuck

The conversion of academic content into new forms by AI and automation is comical here but it's also a serious matter. It's best understood as the transformation of academic labour into assets that *others* profit from. Edtech companies, research services, publishers, AI firms - they're all at it.

Wood face.

A small brown creature in a coat pocket

A heart with legs and a distance gaze saying CAN I COME OVER AND STARE AT YOU LIKE THIS?

A pylon man saying YOU’RE ELECTRIC

Some little brown creatures in my hand wearing bobble hats

T’Shoppe is open 💘🛒🐦

hellohalloweeno.etsy.com

A wonderful haul of things from Vimtotime

Everyone needs to stop what they're doing and buy stuff from @vimtotime.bsky.social RIGHT NOW. I mean look at this glorious haul of lovely things (half of weren't even ordered because she cares about packaging things in a lovely, lovely way. Check out the cat muffin sticker.

Grandpa Simpson yelling at a cloud

Back in my day, AI used to stand for Adobe Illustrator! And we hated that, too!

Want to attend #FMAS2025 but can't travel to Paris?
Worry not! FMAS runs as a hybrid event.

Register here to attend online: ifm2025.ens.psl.eu/registration/

This year again, #FMAS2025 is colocated with iFM.

You can register for the conference here: ifm2025.ens.psl.eu/registration/

Seventh International Workshop on Formal Methods for Autonomous Systems

We have 10 accepted papers this year. Congratulations to all the authors!
You can have a look at the accepted papers here: fmasworkshop.github.io/FMAS2025/#ac...

"In my area of expertise - management and organisational studies – the standard opinion goes as follows: 'Everything depends on how you use Al, it has good and bad sides. We will have to adapt, because those who cannot work with Al will be replaced.' If you say something along these lines, you are supposedly being constructive and nuanced, but all these statements are based on zero evidence." Philosopher Vanrie also questions the discourse of 'inevitability' around Al that has seeped into Ghent University's policy. "The conviction that generative Al is inevitable leads to it creeping in everywhere, and this eventually makes it seem inevitable. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. But there's nothing

"Since when did we [universities] become Big Tech's free PR department?"

Building confidence during your PhD Doing a PhD can feel like wandering through a forest with no map. You’re constantly questioning whether you’re smart enough, working hard enough or heading in the right direction. If yo…

Doing a PhD can feel like wandering through a forest with no map. You’re constantly questioning whether you’re smart enough, working hard enough or heading in the right direction. If you’re feeling this way, you’re not alone. More importantly, you’re not broken. patthomson.net/2025/10/25/b...

This is a really nice phrasing of what I've been trying to put into words about the idea of 'using LLMs to learn to program'.

"“You can only critically assess the output of an AI chatbot if you have the skills to do so, and you don’t develop these skills by using AI. Before you can be critical of an AI summary, you have to learn to understand a text without having it summarized by an AI tool.”

An illustration by Sandhya Prabhat of a group of children smiling while reading and sharing books, as magic, animals, creatures and buildings swirl around them. Plus the words: "BookTrust's Great Books Guide 2025-25 - order the books online"

Have you been using our #GreatBooksGuide in your school?

If any of our picks caught your eye, head over to our friends at Browns Books - they have a discount for schools, plus they'll donate to us with every sale from their Great Books Guide page:

https://www.brownsbfs.co.uk/BookTrust-Great-Books

The debate: Are facial recognition cameras in Sainsbury's a step too far? - BBC News As Sainsbury's uses facial recognition cameras to crack down on shoplifting, four experts debate the technology's pros and cons.

It's me: your local, friendly, left-wing, bleeding heart, liberal, woke academic (and I regret nothing): www.bbc.co.uk/news/resourc...

20.00 FILM: THE FANTASTIC 404 LISTING NOT FOUND

Largest study of its kind shows AI assistants misrepresent news content 45% of the time – regardless of language or territory An intensive international study was coordinated by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and led by the BBC

The urge to just paste this link into an all-staff email...

Hot new translated fiction!

The Woman Dies by Aoko Matsuda, tr. by Polly Barton - #SIGNED by both ✍️🔥

52 sharp, surreal, darkly funny tales exposing everyday sexism in modern Japan. A must-read for bold fiction lovers.
www.foxlanebooks.co.uk/product-page...

.

Good morning. We are open. 📖☕️

And pencil case looks very smug about it 😏

Figurative engraving of a deer, Rowtor Rocks, Birchover. Image credit Anna Clark

Prehistoric cup and ring marks, Rowtor Rocks, Birchover. Image credit Anna Clark

Derbyshire Archaeology Day 2026

Talks include:
"Rowtor Rocks: prehistoric art and ritual in the White Peak"
Prof. George Nash and Anna Clark of the Derbyshire Rock Art Group

A special one, this - some stunning new rock art finds at Rowtor!

Tickets here: chesterfieldtheatres.co.uk/shows/derbys...

A photo of Yuen looking happy, wearing a white blouse.

Yuen Ting Chan is a Senior Automation Scientist and Molecular Biologist at @nhm-london.bsky.social. She has brought automation to molecular labs for 12+ years, translating lab protocols into bespoke scripts for liquid handling instruments.

Listen to our chat: www.robottalk.org/2025/10/17/e...

Editorial: AI-proof the Core Curriculum The Core Curriculum is an essential part of a Catholic education that must be saved from AI.

go, student newspaper of Notre Dame and Saint Mary

"employ in-class essays, oral exams+ rigorous discussions — that are far more difficult to use AI tools to complete. a close reading of the text should constitute the bulk in any introductory humanities class."
www.ndsmcobserver.com/article/2025...

1 Nurse: It’s become a real problem in this area 2 Nurse: We’ve seen the whole community lost to addiction 3 Show a building sign posted: Westminster ‘X’ Addiction Clinic With various Westminster people or looking at their phones outside it Nurse: Ministers, Spads, Researchers… 4 Nurse: Most mornings we’ll get a call about someone acting strangely [Nurse on phone taking a call] Ok - we’ll be right over 5 Nurse: We just have a gentle chat [Nurses approach a minister –Robert Jenrick? - standing in the Palace of Westminster Minister: I understand your concerns… 6 Nurse: Are you OK love? Minister: Yes I’m just hearing legitimate concerns from real voters 7 Nurse: That’s a robot, a Nazi and a poorly-disguised Russian [Show that the people he is talking to are precisely these characters] Nurse 2: Give us your phone, love 8 Nurse: At the clinic we put them in a Grass-Touching Pod, with a real voter to talk to [We see them back at the clinic, holding the minister's head and pushing him into a glass isolation booth with a grass floor. And it is a baffled looking woman, on a chair, ready to talk to him.] 9 Minister: YOU MUST BE WORRIED ABOUT THE COMING CIVIL WAR [woman looks baffled] 10 woman: I just want a bus service Minister: LOOK AT MY FLAG [produces a St George's flag] [ends]

#Caturday 🖤

A banana on a table.

You narna...

Two geese crossing the road. At a human person crossing point!

End of Level Cross(ing)

Two geese strutting around on the pavement.

End of Level Boss?

@vimtotime.bsky.social

This seems like a very bad idea, unfortunately from my field. It might be a 'conference' but I don't think this is good science.

Surely this means there will be hallucinations in both the production and reviewing of the papers? Bonkers.