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Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 1d

That “AI” Big Tech business sales model redescribed as it actually is

Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 1d

That defence AI job creation exercise in full.

The US Deferred Resignation Program is a great way to lose people.

It also happens to create personnel gaps in military decision making.

Happily this can be replaced by automated systems.

Hey presto! Decision Support Defence Tech share prices go up!

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Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 1d

That defence AI job creation exercise in full.

The US Deferred Resignation Program is a great way to lose people.

It also happens to create personnel gaps in military decision making.

Happily this can be replaced by automated systems.

Hey presto! Decision Support Defence Tech share prices go up!

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Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 1d

The stories that military organisations tell themselves.

They’re funny, aren’t they! 😂

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Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 1d

When the AI bubble blows, defence tech will be left high and dry.

Good luck to everyone in uniform relying on this stuff.

Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 1d

Premium: The AI Bubble's promises are impossible. NVIDIA's customers are running out of money, GPUs die in 3-5 years, most 1GW data centers will never get built, and OpenAI's Abilene data center doesn't won't have the power it needs before 2028 - if it ever does.
www.wheresyoured.at/the-ai-bubbl...

The AI Bubble's Impossible Promises

Readers: I’ve done a very generous “free” portion of this newsletter, but I do recommend paying for premium to get the in-depth analysis underpinning the intro. That being said, I want as many people ...

www.wheresyoured.at

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Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 1d

YAY!!!🙌 💪

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Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 1d

Back to Blighty next week. Two talks.

One at the @theturing.bsky.social the other at @cvtrc.bsky.social

Both on my book. Different audiences. Will be good fun.

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Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 1d

Fantastic review of my book (in Dutch) from @psguu.bsky.social

"The great merit of War in the Smartphone Age lies in the way Ford brings together digital infrastructure and human experience. He convincingly demonstrates how the smartphone ecosystem has engaged civilians in warfare"

I'm very happy!

Peter Schrijver @psguu.bsky.social · 2d

𝗪𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗔𝗴𝗲
door @warmatters.bsky.social

Mijn recensie in de Militaire Spectator: militairespectator.nl/artikelen/wa...
1/2

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Reposted by Matthew Ford

The Conflict, Violence & Terrorism Research Centre (CVTRC) @cvtrc.bsky.social · 2d

We're excited to welcome Dr Matthew Ford
@warmatters.bsky.social to Royal Holloway next week to talk on: 'War in the Smartphone Age: Conflict, Connectivity & the Crises at Our Fingertips' chaired by CVTRC Snr Fellow @benoloughlin.bsky.social
📆16 Oct, 5:15-6:30pm in Shilling Lecture Theatre

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Reposted by Matthew Ford

Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 2d

Private Eye offers up an excellently scornful commentary on the relentless polling. It’s become ridiculous and has oversimplified our politics to dangerous levels of stupid and irresponsible.

SHOCK POLL:
NIGEL FARAGE WILL BE PM TOMORROW
IN an amazing poll conducted
by The Pointless Polling Company, it was revealed that voters' intentions
may well change over the next three and a half years and at present it's 100 percent impossible to guess what the next government might look like.
However, 99 percent of journalists
agree that it would be much more fun if we had an election tomorrow and everybody resigned and everything was chaos and Farage had a go at being PM, just for the hell of it, because it was so much fun when
Brexit happened and then the government kept falling every five minutes and we could write endless pieces about (cont. p94)

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Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 2d

Did you get round to getting a copy? Am interested in what you thought!

Reposted by Matthew Ford

David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 7d

Centrists promise but can't deliver enhanced growth in one country leading to better services, populists promise simple solutions to everything founded on immigration control and mostly deliver chaos. Alternatives are thin on the ground.

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Reposted by Matthew Ford

David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 7d

Right populists v centrists with the further left usually marginalised is the new electoral geography. Like in other fields like economics, there's a struggle to come to terms with this emerging world

Finbarr Bermingham @fbermingham.bsky.social · 7d

Looks like populist billionaire Andrej Babis will come out on top in Czech election

Known to be much friendlier to China than current government. Will this see an extension of Beijing’s "silk curtain" running through Budapest, Belgrade, Bratislava?

Populist billionaire Babis on track to win Czech election

A victory would raise the prospect of a government that would boost Europe's anti-immigration camp and reduce support for Ukraine.

www.reuters.com

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Reposted by Matthew Ford

tadaaa.bsky.social @tadaaa.bsky.social · 7d

Same vibe tbh

Picture of a book titled "one hundred proofs that the earth is not a globe"

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Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 8d

Saturday morning wholesome goodness…

IRL “social connections of all shapes and sizes contribute to our wellbeing”.

Key takeaways: stop doomscrolling. Start chatting to people.😀 www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-bo...

Social fitness is the biggest predictor of a happy life. Here’s how to improve yours | BBC Science Focus Magazine

Enjoying the weather? Did you see the game? Small-talk and simple face-to-face interactions have a bigger effect on our wellbeing than you might think. So, do you fancy a cuppa?

www.sciencefocus.com

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Reposted by Matthew Ford

MatthTheGeek 🇫🇷 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 @matththegeek.bsky.social · 8d

Almost as if giving Palantir / Anduril access to anything important was a terrible idea from the start. Crazy dat.

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Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 9d

What a surprise:

“The Army should treat the NGC2 prototype version as “very high risk” because of the “likelihood of an adversary gaining persistent undetectable access”
www.reuters.com/business/aer...

Anduril and Palantir battlefield communication system has deep flaws, Army memo says

The much-needed modernization of the U.S. Army's battlefield communications network being undertaken by Anduril, Palantir and others is rife with "fundamental security" problems and vulnerabilities, and should be treated as a "very high risk," according to a recent internal Army memo.

www.reuters.com

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Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 9d

I think we need a magic money trees

Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 9d

Is British defence policy just a case of moving deckchairs around the titanic?

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Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 9d

And as the tech won’t work first time around we’re defo going to need the capacity to sustain a long war.

But still. Silver bullets.

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Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 9d

We need growth.

Or we need to eat grass.

Or we need AI.

Or we need conscription.

Can someone choose how to pay for it. And if the AI can’t be made to work then what we do to make up for the shortfall between ambition and reality?

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Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 9d

I’m all for global responsibilities. But can we also temper this with a realistic appraisal of what UK can afford. And tailor the strategy accordingly?

a sad cat is looking at the camera with the words pretty pretty please written below it .

ALT: a sad cat is looking at the camera with the words pretty pretty please written below it .

media.tenor.com

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Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 9d

Brits struggling to come to terms with the reality. Can’t afford it all and unwilling to make choices accordingly.

Three years in and we’re still dicking about

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Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 9d

Brits struggling to come to terms with the reality. Can’t afford it all and unwilling to make choices accordingly.

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Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 9d

One of those days

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Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 9d

SS Britain

a man and woman are flying through the air in the ocean

ALT: a man and woman are flying through the air in the ocean

media.tenor.com

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Matthew Ford @warmatters.bsky.social · 9d

Is British defence policy just a case of moving deckchairs around the titanic?

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