Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Hamilbug @hamilbug.bsky.social · Sep 10

Some great reporting here from @heroceane.bsky.social on how Apple's AI is getting fine-tuned to deal with *sensitive* issues like politics, copyright, and Apple's brand image www.politico.eu/article/appl...

Apple is teaching its artificial intelligence to adapt to the Trump era

Apple policy documents enacted by a subcontractor show how the company shifted its approach to fine-tuning its AI in March, two months after the U.S. president was inaugurated.

www.politico.eu

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Hamilbug @hamilbug.bsky.social · Aug 8

Important reporting here - the HO has steadfastly resisted attempts from MPs, immigration lawyers, and campaigners (plus Mizy) to find out how often the UK's eVisa system malfunctions. A glitch could be devastating, as it could falsely call someone's immigration status into question.

Mizy Judah Clifton (he/him) @mizyjudah.bsky.social · Aug 8

The Home Office insists the transition to a digital-only system of immigration status is going smoothly. For @politico.eu I ask: if the department is so confident, why won't it publish evidence to back that up?
www.politico.eu/article/home...

UK stonewalls questions on how often its post-Brexit eVisa system malfunctions

One immigration lawyer said the Home Office’s “continued denial that there are problems” amounted to “gaslighting.”

www.politico.eu

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Hamilbug @hamilbug.bsky.social · Jul 16

Did you know Britain's spies have their own VC fund? Well they do, and it's coming out of stealth www.politico.eu/article/brit...

Britain’s secretive fund for spies comes out of the shadows

Britain’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund has ties to MI5, MI6, and GCHQ — and now it’s getting extra cash.

www.politico.eu

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Reposted by Hamilbug

Mizy Judah Clifton (he/him) @mizyjudah.bsky.social · Jun 6

SCOOP for @politico.eu: GP leaders are drafting a formal complaint to the Information Commissioner alleging that NHS England broke the law by training generative AI model Foresight on patient records.

www.politico.eu/article/doct...

Doctors to refer NHS to data watchdog over feeding patient data to AI

Patient data that was only supposed to be used for Covid-19 research got plugged into an all-purpose AI model, doctors say.

www.politico.eu

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Hamilbug @hamilbug.bsky.social · May 28

From @mizyjudah.bsky.social: the methodology the UK gov used to calculate how much civil service work can be done by AI assumes that 62% of the work done by the most junior civil servants is "routine" (i.e. AI can do it) www.politico.eu/article/uk-g...

The UK government thinks AI can do 62 percent of the most junior civil servants’ work

Meanwhile, the most senior civil servants perform zero routine (i.e. automatable) work.

www.politico.eu

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Hamilbug @hamilbug.bsky.social · May 27

From Politico's Tom Bristow: Labour's mad rush towards AI is falling way, way short of being a vote-winner

www.politico.eu/article/labo...

Labour’s AI gold rush gets stuck in the mud

Ministers are preparing a string of AI announcements for early June, but voters are skeptical about the technology. That leaves the ruling Labour Party with a huge problem.

www.politico.eu

Hamilbug @hamilbug.bsky.social · May 14

My copy's due to arrive on Friday! Love presents from past me - even if they do not conform to the kallax capacity of current me

Hamilbug @hamilbug.bsky.social · Apr 30

Fun to see Meta pursuing the Ursula-the-sea-witch style of AI data mining (www.theverge.com/news/658602/...)

Hamilbug @hamilbug.bsky.social · Apr 3

Amused if slightly exasperated to report that the government's copyright plans to make creatives "opt out" of having their works scraped for AI are pleasing no-one, AI firms included. www.politico.eu/article/open...

OpenAI, Google reject UK’s AI copyright plan

The U.K. government’s AI copyright plans can’t seem to please anyone.

www.politico.eu

Hamilbug @hamilbug.bsky.social · Mar 24

Rachel Reeves told Kuenssberg that talks with the US about potentially scrapping the Digital Services Tax are 'ongoing.' Tech secretary Peter Kyle went a step further, telling us that 'nothing is off the table' in negotiations with the US www.politico.eu/article/noth...

‘Nothing is off the table’ in Trump trade talks, UK tech chief says

Peter Kyle says both sides are ‘exploring all’ options as London considers putting its Big Tech tax up for negotiation with the U.S.

www.politico.eu

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Reposted by Hamilbug

Ryan Mac 🙃 @rmac.bsky.social · Feb 11

Report on Musk long enough and you start to see him say the same things over and over.

He agreed to buy Twitter then made sweeping accusations about fraud and bots to try to break the deal. He also accused Twitter of harboring "ghost employees" who took paychecks.

www.nytimes.com/live/2025/02...

New York Times excerpt that reads:

Musk makes sweeping claims about federal corruption, without evidence.
The billionaire Elon Musk said in an extraordinary Oval Office appearance Tuesday that he was providing maximum transparency, while offering no evidence for his sweeping claims that the federal bureaucracy is corrupted by cheats and officials who have approved money for “fraudsters.”

Answering questions from the media for the first time since his arrival in Washington to run the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, Mr. Musk stood next to the Resolute Desk and asserted that his work was in the interest of the public and democracy. President Trump sat behind the desk, chiming in with approval as he let the world’s richest man expound for roughly 30 minutes on the rationale for the administration’s overhaul of the federal bureaucracy.

Among Mr. Musk’s claims, offered without evidence, was that some officials at the now-gutted U.S.A.I.D. were taking “kickbacks.” He said that “quite a few people” in the bureaucracy somehow had “managed to accrue tens of millions of dollars in net worth while they are in that position.” He later claimed that some recipients of Social Security checks were as old as 150.

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Reposted by Hamilbug

Joanna Bryson @j2bryson.bsky.social · Jan 29

Nice article on #DeepSeek global political / economic impacts, with a paragraph towards the end talking to me. The Daily Upside by Isobel Hamilton @hamilbug.bsky.social

www.thedailyupside.com/technology/a...

Less is More: Who’s Afraid of DeepSeek?

Yesterday saw a huge selloff in US tech stocks after a Chinese AI chatbot app DeepSeek shot to the top of the Apple App Store. Why the fuss?

www.thedailyupside.com

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Reposted by Hamilbug

Andrew Przybylski @shuhbillskee.bsky.social · Jan 29

Refreshing piece by Amy Fleming in The Guardian, where I joined scholars to unpack misconceptions that disempower parents & young people around tech. Evidence doesn’t support fear—our approach shouldn’t either. Let’s pause panic & do better for families in 2025!

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

All in the mind? The surprising truth about brain rot

Is screen use really sapping our ability to focus and lowering our IQs? The scientists who have actually analysed the data give their verdict

www.theguardian.com

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