Mark Vanderbeeken

Excellent survey questions in this survey of citizens in 9 EU countries. The results provide surprising insights that deviate from what we commonly hear and read.

Why dynamic pricing is becoming the rule, not the exception Is the era of fixed prices over?

"Every company talks about “customer-centricity,” but surveillance pricing reveals the tension between serving customers better and extracting maximum value from them."
@rgmcgrath.bsky.social
www.fastcompany.com/91451686/dyn...

Following Belgian news from abroad, it is often the case that international news about Belgian matters is filtered by the fact that correspondents only read French and not Dutch. This has on occasion lead to some omissions, sometimes even bias. So there is an international component to this.

YouTube video by NPR Music David Byrne: Tiny Desk Concert

"OK. We've got one more" [13:50]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNmc...

Deliberative democracy experiments are striking a nerve and could become scalable.

Landcommanderij Alden-Biesen | Flanders Visiting Alden Biesen? Discover heritage, exhibitions, and events at this historic Landcommanderij in Flanders.

Highly recommended place to visit
www.alden-biesen.be/en

The second wave of deliberative democracy, that could become scalable We are inundated with negative stories about the decline of democracy, the public decision-making system that requires us to come to collectively agreed-upon solutions on what our societies and govern...

I wrote a short article on the second wave of deliberative democracy
www.linkedin.com/pulse/second...

YouTube video by vpro documentary The Attack | VPRO Documentary

A Kosovo scenario, not dissimilar to Masala's one in the Baltics:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YSP...
Documentary for Dutch TV @vpro.nl by Dutch reporter @bramvermeul.bsky.social

@yasmingreen.bsky.social @floorboon.bsky.social @semafor.com @delibdemjournal.bsky.social @democracyactionnet.bsky.social @deldemucan.bsky.social @jggross.bsky.social

Democracy Is in Trouble. This Region Is Turning to Its People.

Innovative citizen participation experiments in the news:
- Belgium
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/w...
www.buergerdialog.be/en/
- NL (use transl. engine)
www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...
www.burgerberaadklimaat.nl
- USA
medium.com/jigsaw/we-th...
wethepeople-250.org
#deliberativedemocracy #citizensassemblies

Video: Opinion | Goodbye, Price Tags. Hello, Dynamic Pricing. Shopping has always been a game. And now it’s being rigged against you.

Great journalism by New York Times on algorithmic price discrimination ↘️ www.nytimes.com/video/opinio...

The AI Shift: Is AI about to break polling? Online surveys are susceptible to bogus respondents and synthetic samples warrant scepticism

Elisabeth Costa of the Behavioural Insights Team: “One of the joys of human interaction and qualitative research is that people can surprise you — give you new insights on mental models or hidden barriers. You’re unlikely to be surprised by a synthetic participant.”
www.ft.com/content/1298...

The threat of analytic flexibility in using large language models to simulate human data: A call to attention Social scientists are now using large language models to create "silicon samples" - synthetic datasets intended to stand in for human respondents, aimed at revolutionising human subjects research. How...

Can large language models stand in for human participants?
Many social scientists seem to think so, and are already using "silicon samples" in research.

One problem: depending on the analytic decisions made, you can basically get these samples to show any effect you want.

THREAD 🧵

La sesta volta quest'anno.

Ook vanavond is hij er weer te gast 🙄

Excellent article. Writing this from Italy, it strikes me how your analysis is highly pertinent for political leaders here (both on the populist and "mainstream" left and on the far right), on opinion leaders that we see, mostly uncontested, on TV every single day, and on Italian (social) media.

The plan is good but it needs to be fundamentally changed. 🙄

Pervasive video recording has real impact (independent of tech and AI).
GenZ and GenAlpha who don't dance at concerts because friends might judge them on IG videos.
People who don't go to political protests as they don't know where videos by sidewalk recorders end up.
@carissaveliz.bsky.social

When I participated recently in a political demonstration, I witnessed many people on the sidewalks recording the demonstration (so therefore me) on their phones, and I honestly had two thoughts about it. Who knows where these videos end up and how this impacts participation?

Even without drones, (some?) young people in Dutch speaking areas, so I saw reported, don't want to dance at concerts as they don't want videos shared on IG that they can't control the content of. It might be a personal impression of someone, but it is not surprising.

Mechanical Dog - New Kingdom - The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Met presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy.

www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...

Published also in English and without paywall.
en.ilsole24ore.com/art/wide-fie...

Primaries in the 'wide field', who would win? YouTrend: Conte ahead by 14 points over Schlein The 5stelle leader favoured with 43%, well ahead of Schlein and Salis

Quite astonishing

en.ilsole24ore.com/art/wide-fie...

YouTube video by Sky News Trump's peace plan: Will Ukraine give up 20% of their land?

Found this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nACN...

Bedingungen auf russischer Seite?

Really smart journalists...

Drumrolls, please! I’m thrilled to share the cover for my forthcoming #book from @doubledaybooks.bsky.social
(Penguin Random House), #PROPHECY. This is the best book I’ve written: the boldest, the most innovative, the most personal. I have poured my soul into it like never before. 1/

Can I quietly ask we stop talking about what "AI" *could* do in education and identify instead what's actually happening with AI in education? I'll start...

Dutch Banks to Cut Thousands of Jobs Amid Cost Drives, AI Push Bankers in the Netherlands are facing thousands of cuts as their employers increasingly adopt artificial intelligence and seek to trim costs.

"Simplify" - the new buzzword

"The further streamlining of the organisation is expected to lead to a reduction of between 850 to 950 FTEs, to occur in phases throughout 2026."

newsroom.asnbank.nl/en/asn-bank-...

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

I am still missing a defining analysis of these times we are living through. Aim high!