Kate Devlin
@drkatedevlin.bsky.social
Academic; writer. Professor of AI & Society, Chair-Director @kings-dfi.bsky.social, King’s College London. Eye-rolling at AI nonsense on a daily basis. #academicsky . Norn Irish in Norwich.
Pinned
Kate Devlin
@drkatedevlin.bsky.social
· Dec 9
Turned On
'Illuminating, witty and written with a wide open mind' - Sunday TimesAn exploration of humans, sexuality, interaction and technology through the lens of the se…
www.bloomsbury.com
Wondering what to get the person who has everything for Christmas? Might I suggest my book: a pop-sci foray into love, sex, history, psychology, philosophy, AI, and robots? Still timely, still relevant. Described by one reviewer as “not enough tentacle porn”.
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/turned-on...
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/turned-on...
It's difficult to convey the face I'm making in words but essentially it's eyes of horror with a strong grimace and an angry frown and a general air of weary despair.
NEW: The Transportation Department, which oversees the safety of airplanes, cars and pipelines, plans to use Google Gemini to draft new regulations.
“We don’t need the perfect rule,” said DOT’s top lawyer. “We want good enough.”
By @jessecoburn.bsky.social
“We don’t need the perfect rule,” said DOT’s top lawyer. “We want good enough.”
By @jessecoburn.bsky.social
Government by AI? Trump Administration Plans to Write Regulations Using Artificial Intelligence
The Transportation Department, which oversees the safety of airplanes, cars and pipelines, plans to use Google Gemini to draft new regulations. “We don’t need the perfect rule,” said DOT’s top lawyer....
www.propublica.org
January 26, 2026 at 2:36 PM
It's difficult to convey the face I'm making in words but essentially it's eyes of horror with a strong grimace and an angry frown and a general air of weary despair.
Reposted by Kate Devlin
Happy Tolstoy Horse Day to all who celebrate.
FALLEN IN LOVE OR IMAGINE THAT I HAVE,
WENT TO A PARTY AND I LOST MY HEAD,
BOUGHT A HORSE I DIDN’T NEED AT ALL,
I COULD NEVER DIE, I’M CHUCK NORRIS,
FUCK THE GOVERNMENT AND FUCK BORIS
FALLEN IN LOVE OR IMAGINE THAT I HAVE,
WENT TO A PARTY AND I LOST MY HEAD,
BOUGHT A HORSE I DIDN’T NEED AT ALL,
I COULD NEVER DIE, I’M CHUCK NORRIS,
FUCK THE GOVERNMENT AND FUCK BORIS
January 25, 2026 at 10:48 AM
Happy Tolstoy Horse Day to all who celebrate.
FALLEN IN LOVE OR IMAGINE THAT I HAVE,
WENT TO A PARTY AND I LOST MY HEAD,
BOUGHT A HORSE I DIDN’T NEED AT ALL,
I COULD NEVER DIE, I’M CHUCK NORRIS,
FUCK THE GOVERNMENT AND FUCK BORIS
FALLEN IN LOVE OR IMAGINE THAT I HAVE,
WENT TO A PARTY AND I LOST MY HEAD,
BOUGHT A HORSE I DIDN’T NEED AT ALL,
I COULD NEVER DIE, I’M CHUCK NORRIS,
FUCK THE GOVERNMENT AND FUCK BORIS
Reposted by Kate Devlin
Another thing I learned in the town hall is that the events in Minneapolis are being well-documented because of the thousands of people who trained to become legal observers after the murder of George Floyd
We are observers, not protestors. We show up to document and film the atrocities ICE is committing. Using 5 year olds as bait. Kidnapping senior citizens. Breaking down doors without warrants. Murdering poets and nurses. Media has all of that information because *observers* were there to document it
January 25, 2026 at 12:25 AM
Another thing I learned in the town hall is that the events in Minneapolis are being well-documented because of the thousands of people who trained to become legal observers after the murder of George Floyd
I'm just a PhD, standing in front of a government, asking it to make evidence-based decisions.
Calling all the PhDs I know to make monumental annoyances of themselves (and honestly, who better)
January 23, 2026 at 2:09 PM
I'm just a PhD, standing in front of a government, asking it to make evidence-based decisions.
"Kate, you should use AI to handle your terrible email inbox!"
Microsoft Copilot: "Sorry, it looks like I can’t respond to this. Let’s try a different topic. Suggestions: Write a rap song. Show me some cool facts. Teach me a new word!"
Microsoft Copilot: "Sorry, it looks like I can’t respond to this. Let’s try a different topic. Suggestions: Write a rap song. Show me some cool facts. Teach me a new word!"
January 21, 2026 at 2:01 PM
"Kate, you should use AI to handle your terrible email inbox!"
Microsoft Copilot: "Sorry, it looks like I can’t respond to this. Let’s try a different topic. Suggestions: Write a rap song. Show me some cool facts. Teach me a new word!"
Microsoft Copilot: "Sorry, it looks like I can’t respond to this. Let’s try a different topic. Suggestions: Write a rap song. Show me some cool facts. Teach me a new word!"
Never not relevant.
January 21, 2026 at 10:31 AM
Never not relevant.
Reposted by Kate Devlin
Before we get too relaxed about this only being targeted at criminals, let’s consider what this government considers to be very criminal
January 20, 2026 at 5:50 AM
Before we get too relaxed about this only being targeted at criminals, let’s consider what this government considers to be very criminal
"If you use AI, you are the one who is accountable for whatever you produce with it. You have to be certain that whatever you produced was correct. You cannot ask the system itself to do this." Great, accessible blogpost from @j2bryson.bsky.social
Here's my blog about that how to use and not use AI, including #genAI joanna-bryson.blogspot.com/2025/02/gene... and here's Noy & Zhang 2023 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... anyway both papers follow from how we know genAI is built to work. It's just nice to see empirical confirmation. #AIEthics 2/2
Generative AI use and human agency
artificial and natural intelligence, including politics, policy, ethics and security
joanna-bryson.blogspot.com
January 17, 2026 at 3:24 PM
"If you use AI, you are the one who is accountable for whatever you produce with it. You have to be certain that whatever you produced was correct. You cannot ask the system itself to do this." Great, accessible blogpost from @j2bryson.bsky.social
Reposted by Kate Devlin
I miss the evil billionaires who'd try to buy their way into heaven by funding massive public libraries
January 17, 2026 at 6:41 AM
I miss the evil billionaires who'd try to buy their way into heaven by funding massive public libraries
When I was a single parent I really wanted something like this, no word of a lie.
The most popular paid Apple Store download in China is ‘Are You Dead’. The app requires users to “check in” by pressing a button. If they fail to do so over two consecutive days, the app sends a message to an emergency contact nominated by the user
www.ft.com/content/e92d...
www.ft.com/content/e92d...
China’s ‘Are You Dead?’ app checks in on growing cohort of people living alone
Popularity among Chinese Apple users highlights concerns created by rapidly changing demographics
www.ft.com
January 13, 2026 at 8:58 PM
When I was a single parent I really wanted something like this, no word of a lie.
Reposted by Kate Devlin
New Book Announcement! My latest releases this week- Full info on how to order here: www.curiouspublications.com/portfolio-1/...
January 13, 2026 at 4:03 PM
New Book Announcement! My latest releases this week- Full info on how to order here: www.curiouspublications.com/portfolio-1/...
The emphatic gestures here illustrate how good the questions were and how excited I got answering them. Thank you, @greenwichskeptics.org
Thanks @drkatedevlin.bsky.social for the wonderful talk and thanks everyone for the record attendance!
January 12, 2026 at 11:20 PM
The emphatic gestures here illustrate how good the questions were and how excited I got answering them. Thank you, @greenwichskeptics.org
I'm feeling this particularly about AI right now where all the research funding in the UK seems to require a defence/security/safety angle or a health angle. I get why, but I also think it's hugely shortsighted.
This gets me back to one of my main critiques of academia, which is that most people go where the funding is, particularly in science, and it leads to so much harm when a particular field or methodology or style of investigation is overfunded.
January 11, 2026 at 2:48 PM
I'm feeling this particularly about AI right now where all the research funding in the UK seems to require a defence/security/safety angle or a health angle. I get why, but I also think it's hugely shortsighted.
Reposted by Kate Devlin
That heaviness you feel after events like yesterday is real. We've all accumulated a lot of mental and emotional weight in the first year of Trump's disastrous presidency. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/the-physic...
The physical weight of Trumpism
That heaviness you feel, that drag on your mental health, that drain on your emotional energy and lethargy in the face of world events, like yesterday, is real.
www.doomsdayscenario.co
January 8, 2026 at 4:12 PM
That heaviness you feel after events like yesterday is real. We've all accumulated a lot of mental and emotional weight in the first year of Trump's disastrous presidency. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/the-physic...
What an absolutely frustrating first week back to work post-Christmas. It has felt like pulling teeth. I've had to bribe myself repeatedly to stay at my desk. This is what comes from Taking Time Off. I always knew that a harmonious work/life balance was a terrible idea. *walks away muttering darkly*
January 9, 2026 at 12:04 PM
What an absolutely frustrating first week back to work post-Christmas. It has felt like pulling teeth. I've had to bribe myself repeatedly to stay at my desk. This is what comes from Taking Time Off. I always knew that a harmonious work/life balance was a terrible idea. *walks away muttering darkly*
My Granny and Granda doing the pools so we had to listen to the most monotonous list of football results ever while they made wee inky kisses in leaky biro on strips of thin paper.
Without revealing your actual age,what's something you remember that if you told a younger person they wouldn't understand?
January 9, 2026 at 11:05 AM
My Granny and Granda doing the pools so we had to listen to the most monotonous list of football results ever while they made wee inky kisses in leaky biro on strips of thin paper.
Reposted by Kate Devlin
Oh hey, listen, just a quick word.
Do not do this.
Do not do this.
OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health, encouraging users to connect their medical records
OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health, encouraging users to connect their medical records
But it’s “not intended for diagnosis or treatment.”
buff.ly
January 8, 2026 at 8:58 AM
Oh hey, listen, just a quick word.
Do not do this.
Do not do this.
Is there such a thing as a retreat where you go and learn how to become a pro at time management and they sort out your infinite work projects and send you on your way all calm and focused? If not, can someone invent that? (I can't because I have a brain full of ideas and no way of corralling them.)
January 7, 2026 at 11:44 AM
Is there such a thing as a retreat where you go and learn how to become a pro at time management and they sort out your infinite work projects and send you on your way all calm and focused? If not, can someone invent that? (I can't because I have a brain full of ideas and no way of corralling them.)
People who use the term "big spoon" and "little spoon" to describe human spooning behaviour are incorrect in their descriptions because spoons actually nestle together best when they are a similar size to each other. The terms should actually be "outer spoon" and "inner spoon".
This place needs some Innocuous Discourse pronto. Quote this with a take that’s not political or aggressive
January 6, 2026 at 9:11 PM
People who use the term "big spoon" and "little spoon" to describe human spooning behaviour are incorrect in their descriptions because spoons actually nestle together best when they are a similar size to each other. The terms should actually be "outer spoon" and "inner spoon".
Reposted by Kate Devlin
How is technology reshaping modern love? Great panel discussion we are holding on this topic on 26 March with @drkatedevlin.bsky.social @lukebrunning.bsky.social @shannonphilip.bsky.social
Book here - free - in person or online www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/events/the-a...
Book here - free - in person or online www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/events/the-a...
Love in the time of tech
Explore how technology is transforming modern love. Take part in an interactive chat-app installation and join an expert-led panel discussion exploring how technology is reshaping modern love.
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk
January 6, 2026 at 9:06 PM
How is technology reshaping modern love? Great panel discussion we are holding on this topic on 26 March with @drkatedevlin.bsky.social @lukebrunning.bsky.social @shannonphilip.bsky.social
Book here - free - in person or online www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/events/the-a...
Book here - free - in person or online www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/events/the-a...
I did this today (only for 600 words, though) then had to lie on the sofa for half an hour to recover.
Broke my post-break malaise about approaching writing with the self-command: "You've got one hour, write this thing! You've done it before!"
It worked. 1200 words in 60 minutes. Sometimes you just have to remind yourself what you're capable of.
It worked. 1200 words in 60 minutes. Sometimes you just have to remind yourself what you're capable of.
January 6, 2026 at 3:46 PM
I did this today (only for 600 words, though) then had to lie on the sofa for half an hour to recover.
Reposted by Kate Devlin
Join us on Monday, 12 Jan at 19:30 for "Your AI Is Not in Love with You (No Matter How Much You Love It)" with Prof. Kate Devlin - @drkatedevlin.bsky.social at The Plume of Feathers, Greenwich.
Why are people falling for machines, and should we be worried?
greenwichskeptics.org#next-talk
Why are people falling for machines, and should we be worried?
greenwichskeptics.org#next-talk
January 6, 2026 at 10:34 AM
Join us on Monday, 12 Jan at 19:30 for "Your AI Is Not in Love with You (No Matter How Much You Love It)" with Prof. Kate Devlin - @drkatedevlin.bsky.social at The Plume of Feathers, Greenwich.
Why are people falling for machines, and should we be worried?
greenwichskeptics.org#next-talk
Why are people falling for machines, and should we be worried?
greenwichskeptics.org#next-talk