Pete West-Oram

A thing about AI in higher ed right now is that half of us are scrambling to deal with the implosion of our information environment that broke reading/writing/source verification, while the other half is trying to achieve a massive institutional buy-in of the very thing that's causing the implosion

The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.

One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc

The current REF system really encourages temporary staff to burn down their own careers - either you complete research because you need it for your CV, but an institution can claim any resulting outputs before making you redundant so you've nothing to take elsewhere, or...

I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is probably the first time in American history a sitting governor has used that particular -- and particularly apt -- phrase in a public speech

image of andrew cuomo at his nyc mayoral election watch party with disco elysium ui text overlay that reads: Suggestion [Challenging: Failure] - You thought you did everything right. You had the money, the power, and the fame. Where did it all go wrong? Why couldn't those sniveling little city dwellers see that you were meant to lead them? You're now a twice certified loser from a family of winners. Your father's name is on a bridge. Your name is next to a Wikipedia entry that says "sexual harassment allegations."

Nick Pettigrew @Nick_Pettigrew Polio was eradicated because Jonas Salk chose not to patent the vaccine, if you want a perfect example of a socialist act. Quote Garry Kasparov @Kasparov63 · Jun 24 Socialism is like polio, it comes back when people forget about the horrible damage it did last time.

REMINDER: A socialist act by a New Yorker was a major reason why polio was eliminated in the US.

I knew it would take less than a day for a tiktok dj to make something.

"we must respect everyone's beliefs" is not inherently fascist, but it gives permission for fascism to exist.

One of the mostly socially corrosive ideas currently percolating is that it isn't the content of a person's beliefs that matter, only that they (claim to) have those beliefs. We should not respect all beliefs, some are not only wrong but cruel, evil and wrong. Substance matters.

I suppose it was only a matter of time, once judges decided that transphobia was protected under the Equality Act, before they decided that full blown fascism was (www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crim...).

AI search summaries are something we have been talking about a lot at @pifonline.bsky.social recently.

It was great to chat to @zoeamar.bsky.social for this @charitycomms.bsky.social article about the issues charities are facing – and how they can respond.

I can answer this. I interviewed Peterson's tailor a few years ago, although the interview was never published because I fell behind on work. Here is the story of this suit. 🧵

I've built a socioeconomic system that depends on everyone to do useful work and act ethically except the people at the top, who get unimaginable rewards for being antisocial frauds and criminals. And I think it will stand the test of time

9/16, through the sophisticated methodology of aiming for the most asinine, incoherent combination of beliefs and votes. www.americansurveycenter.org/results/p7QT...

This is what happened to my Grandfather in Frankfurt, Germany on 9th November 1938, commonly known as Kristallnacht.

Windrush commissioner: Black Britons asking if UK is ‘going backwards’ Rev Clive Foster says rhetoric targeting legal migrants makes some wonder if history is repeating itself

'The Rev Clive Foster said Windrush scandal survivors were questioning whether “history is repeating itself” as UK politicians target legal migrants.'

Essential, timely reading.

Kate, Pete and Sheena's fundraiser for Rockinghorse Help Sheena Campbell raise money to support Rockinghorse Children's Charity

I'll be running in the annual Santa Dash 5k this December to help raise money for Rockinghorse Children's Charity, a Brighton based charity which supports sick and disabled children across Sussex. If you're able to sponsor me, you can do so here: www.justgiving.com/page/santa-d...

One of my colleagues discovered a journal had published an article co-authored by her that she never wrote. Appears to have been AI generated and put behind a paywall. Identity fraud, plagiarism, exploitation. Just more awesome benefits of AI...
#NihilismAndTechnology

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

Yet again, we can't afford to let LLMs become a source of epistemic grounding for society.

Ostensibly the party of law and order with a plan to deport migrants even if they’ve done nothing more than live here legally and claim support to which they’ve contributed and are entitled. Years of targeting migrants disguised as concern about legality paving the way to this and open violence.

British.

This #HealthLiteracyMonth I want to highlight why we need to make #HealthInformation more accessible.

Each of the data points in the infographic are included in indvidual posts in the thread below, along with their references.

I've also highlighted some useful #HealthLiteracy resources.

You can at least rely on southern rail being hugely unreliable. And uncomfortable. And overcrowded. And Late.

Job Opportunity at University of Leeds: Lecturer/Associate Professor in Philosophy Are you an experienced academic in Philosophy with the ambition to carry out world-leading research and deliver an exceptional student experience in a research-intensive Russell Group University? Woul...

@leedsprhs.bsky.social
Our vacancy for a Lecturer or Associate Professor in Social Philosophy has now been advertised: jobs.leeds.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx.... Please spread the word! The closing date for applications is 5 Nov 2025.

Using ChatGPT

Version of the Simpsons 'bus driver taps the sign' meme in which the tapped text reads 'Your reminder that the UK book industry is worth over £7bn, more than four times the steel industry (1.7bn) and six times the fishing industry (£1.1bn) so maybe English degrees do have a point after all.'

Kemi made me do it.

This was not a sample of academics.

New! Cassetteboy vs Keir Starmer.

This took absolutely ages, so if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi.com/cassetteboy we'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

This passage nearly broke me.

Unless the government introduces PR, there will be a far right government in power in 2029. And like the compliant liberals they always were, the Labour party are building the administrative tools to help those fascists round you and your friends up for deportation. Frightening.