Ciarán O'Connor

Ciarán O’Connor: Donald Trump is in danger of being swallowed up by an Epstein conspiracy he helped to create Trump is learning that conspiracy theories are elastic, self-sealing and practically impossible to disprove to a base radicalised over time

Ciarán O’Connor: The Epstein files have become a purity test for MAGA diehards and, unable to substantiate the claims they campaigned on for years, these political figures have found themselves cast as the villains they once promised to oust.

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

Conspiracy Theories | Galway International Arts Festival Endless conspiracy theories flood our phones in conversation with Saoirse McHugh every day, straining credulity, but with an increasing number of enthusiastic followers.

I'm going back to the Galway International Arts Festival once again for another fascinating tech-focused conversation, this time chatting to @ciaranoconnor.bsky.social and Cian O'Mahony about conspiracy theories!

Dress code: Tinfoil hats optional.

www.giaf.ie/festival/eve...

New episode of the Enough About AI podcast with @donalmulligan.com & @ciaranoconnor.bsky.social is out now, discussing alignment, AI being "too sycophant-y" and the risk of letting superintelligence out of the box.

Available on all pod platforms & our site: podcast.enoughaboutai.com/2421061/epis...

Alignment Anxieties & Persuasion Problems - Enough About AI Dónal and Ciarán continue the 2025 season with a second quarterly update that looks at some recent themes in AI development. They're pondering doom again, as we increasingly grapple with the evidence ...

New @enoughaboutai.com episode with @ciaranoconnor.bsky.social out, covering alignment issues, the problems of powerful AI persuasiveness, AI in academia, and letting superintelligence out of the box. Find it wherever you get podcasts, or on the site here:
podcast.enoughaboutai.com/2421061/epis...

DCU's Dr Dónal Mulligan @donalmulligan.com and Ciarán O'Connor @ciaranoconnor.bsky.social discuss key issues related to AI and academia in the latest episode of their podcast 'Enough About AI'. You can listen to the full episode here: launch.dcu.ie/3YHqlHk

Illicit masses being held in Derry Illicit masses are being held in Derry where priests are administering the sacraments without the authority of the Catholic Church. The Bishop of Derry has issued a warning about the services carried ...

Quite an interesting story going on in Derry. Would really like to hear more from anyone in contact with this group.

*****
Illicit masses in Derry. The Bishop has issued a warning about services held by fundamentalist group SSPX Resistance. Via @drivetime.bsky.social

www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...

Ireland’s Kate O’Connor wins pentathlon silver medal at World Indoor Championships Kate O’Connor was won her first ever global medal – and Ireland’s first at the World Indoor Championships for 19 years – after a superb showing in the pentathlon in Nanjing, China, today.

Ireland’s Kate O’Connor wins pentathlon silver medal at World Indoor Championships

www.independent.ie/sport/other-...

Springtime for Putin as Trump embraces Kremlin’s distorted reality Vladimir Putin must be rubbing his hands with glee that Russian-backed disinformation campaigns backing Brexit and Trump 1.0 have caused an existential crisis in the West, writes Ciaran O'Connor

Disinformation, used to advance the cause of resurgent nativist populism, has succeeded.

I wrote something for the @irishexaminer.bsky.social about the last few weeks in disinfoland.

www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

A new year and a new season of our Enough About AI pod.

This episode takes stock of everything that's happened since November including: Trump, Musk and OpenAi; China and Deepseek; and a runthrough of reasoning models.

Available on all the usual platforms.

X under Musk’s leadership: Substantial hate and no reduction in inauthentic activity Numerous studies have reported an increase in hate speech on X (formerly Twitter) in the months immediately following Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform on October 27th, 2022; relatedly, despite ...

The 'feeling' that X under Musk is a different place than before is quantified in this new study titled 'Substantial Hate'

1️⃣ hate speech up to 50% higher;
2️⃣ hate speech increase persistent;
3️⃣ no reduction in inauthentic accounts

#commsky @polcomm.bsky.social

journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

“During COVID … there was a subsection of those interested in wellness who saw it as the "ultimate truth” and their own thinking overlapped with conspiracy theories."

I spoke to Brendan O’Connor about 'conspirituality' on @rteradio1.bsky.social on Feb 8th.

www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...

"A supposedly UK-based network of Telegram channels is hoping to spark civil war in Britain – but the operation appears to be run from Russia.

HOPE not hate can reveal that a network of Telegram channels is offering cash to UK citizens willing to commit acts of terror and vandalism"

“We know that the architecture of platforms makes it astonishingly easy for sensationalist allegations to go viral – enragement sadly equals engagement – and platforms often prioritise user attention over accuracy.”

The police broke the law to spy on journalists - and that should worry us all A landmark judgment has found that forces across the UK illegally tried to discover journalists’ sources—now we need the full story

What happened when two Northern Irish journalists reported on a loyalist massacre? They were arrested and spied on by police

Plus: Two former Tory ministers and ex chief whip break government anti corruption rules

All new on Democracy for Sale:
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/the-police...

A screenshot of Mick O'Keffee's tweet celebrating Verona Murphy's Ceann Comhairle appointment but translating what that means in parentheses.

Mick O'Keeffe has the same issue Chay Bowes has, except that the former is talking to Americans and the latter to Russians. Both have to say shit like "speaker", "Irish Prime Minister", "The Irish Parliament" etc.

‘Impossible’ to create AI tools like ChatGPT without copyrighted material, OpenAI says Pressure grows on artificial intelligence firms over the content used to train their productsBusiness live – latest updatesThe developer OpenAI has said it would be impossible to create tools like its groundbreaking chatbot ChatGPT without access to copyrighted material, as pressure grows on artificial intelligence firms over the content used to train their products.Chatbots such as ChatGPT and image generators like Stable Diffusion are “trained” on a vast trove of data taken from the internet, with much of it covered by copyright – a legal protection against someone’s work being used without permission. Continue reading...

‘Impossible’ to create AI tools like ChatGPT without copyrighted material, OpenAI says

Why the Far Right Stumbled in Ireland’s Election | The Dark State Get more from The Dark State on Patreon

Why did the far right and anti-immigration parties fail to make a breakthrough in the General Election? I went on @johnmooneyirl.bsky.social's Dark State podcast and tease out some potential explanations.

www.patreon.com/posts/why-fa...

Ireland is primed to be a video game development hub, so why hasn't it broken big? Ireland is home to a well-educated, English-speaking, diverse workforce and is already the tech hub of Europe. So why hasn't it truly penetrated the video game industry?

REPORT: Over the last eight months I've been trying to get to the bottom of why (despite being the ideal candidate) Ireland is not a video game development hub. The answer?

A lack of government understanding surrounding the sector.

For Shacknews:
www.shacknews.com/article/1424...

The Irish Times view on social media regulation: Ireland caught in the middle As the European home of some of the major tech players, the State has a crucial role in an area where tensions are likely with the US

X is taking legal action against Coimisiún na Meán in the High Court in Dublin.

As the European home of some of the major tech players, the State has a crucial role in an area where tensions are likely with the US.

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/edit...

To understand why the HSE is in such a financial mess, look no further than Cork's Glenwood House Millions of euro were spent, a great deal of it wasted, on Glenwood and other mental health facilities in Cork

This is instructive if you're ever trying to understand how the health budget increased by billions in recent years and yet nothing seemed to improve

www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

How Luigi Mangione ignited the internet <a href='https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sky-news-daily/id951048357' target='_blank'>👉 Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app 👈</a>

Katherine Keneally joins Sky News’ Daily Podcast to break down the social media reactions to the murder of Brian Thompson that has ignited debates about the state of healthcare in the United States. ow.ly/2HG150UsIKX

Liz Carolan: TikTok’s annus horribilis of 2024 creates problems for Ireland European Commission plans to crack open tightly guarded black box of social media firm’s algorithmic operations

"The EU may be taking a step toward a deeper understanding — and potentially stricter oversight — of the algorithmic systems that drive the platforms." - @lizcarolan.com on the ball as per.

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2024/12/17/tiktoks-annus-horribilis-of-2024-creates-problems-for-ireland/

Sally Hayden is truly one of the Irish Times' finest young reporters. I'm proud that an Irish paper a fraction of the size of most big USA dailies often has its own reporters and stringers on the ground covering important world news rather than just relying on wire service copy

Judge orders UK government to set up Sean Brown inquiry The UK government has been ordered to hold a public inquiry into the murder of GAA official Sean Brown by a judge in Northern Ireland.

The Sean Brown JR is being handed down this morning. Full judgment not yet available, but Humphreys J in the High Court has ordered a FULL PUBLIC INQUIRY as the only way to fulfill the UK's right to life obligation. Hilary Benn had previously directed the family to ICRIR:

www.rte.ie/news/ireland...

I recently wrote about use of Cellebrite phone-cracking tech by gardaí, Cellebrite's links to Israel's military, and its use by states that violate human rights. Eitay Mack, an Israeli lawyer, has now written to Cellebrite & Israel's MOD to cease selling to Georgia.
thecurrency.news/articles/169...

Victims of Syria chemical attacks speak freely for first time The UN's chemical watchdog says dozens were killed in a chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta in 2018.

'I want justice': Victims of Syria chemical attacks speak freely for first time www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Gardaí overwhelmed as anti-immigrant protesters break into asylum camp and threaten to burn residents Gardaí were overwhelmed when antimigrant protesters broke into an asylum seekers’ centre and threatened to burn the residents amid ‘desperate’ scenes.

Gardaí overwhelmed as anti-immigrant protesters break into asylum camp in Athlone

extra.ie/2024/12/10/n...

Romania’s election aftershock Social media manipulation, rural discontent and mainstream complacency: Romania’s cancelled elections offer a stark warning for Europe’s democracies

Social media manipulation, rural discontent and mainstream complacency: Romania’s cancelled elections offer a stark warning for Europe’s democracies

www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...

New episodes of our podcast, 'Enough About AI,' out now:

Episode 5 - Misinformation & Regulation
Episode 6 - Doom of humanity? Artificial General Intelligence

podcast.enoughaboutai.com

Listen wherever you get your podcasts 📻 📡 🤳

Inside the hunt for hidden cells in Sednaya prison, Syria’s ‘human slaughterhouse’ Exclusive: The Guardian gains access to Sednaya jail, where prisoners are rumoured to be trapped underground – as desperate relatives wait for news

Inside the hunt for hidden cells in Sednaya prison, locally known as “the human slaughterhouse”, the most notorious torture complex of the Syrian government’s vast network of detention centres.

www.theguardian.com/world/2024/d...