Alex Hern
@hern.bsky.social
AI writer at the Economist. I write about it, that is. I’m still human. One of literally dozens of people online who is not American.
Reposted by Alex Hern
Elon Musk has long been able to shrug off problems that would have imperilled most bosses. But the reaction to an update to Grok, the AI chatbot linked to X, poses a fresh test of his imperviousness econ.st/4sDn9db
Photo: AP
Photo: AP
January 13, 2026 at 9:02 PM
Elon Musk has long been able to shrug off problems that would have imperilled most bosses. But the reaction to an update to Grok, the AI chatbot linked to X, poses a fresh test of his imperviousness econ.st/4sDn9db
Photo: AP
Photo: AP
Incredibly proud of my father, whose lifetime of work supporting new writing in British theatre was recognised last night by the Stage. www.thestage.co.uk/news/copy-of...
The Stage Awards 2026: Winners in full
Explore the complete list of The Stage Awards 2026, in association with Tysers Live, including theatre of the year, producer of the year and more
www.thestage.co.uk
January 13, 2026 at 11:16 AM
Incredibly proud of my father, whose lifetime of work supporting new writing in British theatre was recognised last night by the Stage. www.thestage.co.uk/news/copy-of...
Wonder if this is all a big misunderstanding and musk thinks we’re all calling grok “pedo AI” because it’s a “generic insult” for “creepy old AI” www.nytimes.com/2019/12/03/b...
January 13, 2026 at 7:57 AM
Wonder if this is all a big misunderstanding and musk thinks we’re all calling grok “pedo AI” because it’s a “generic insult” for “creepy old AI” www.nytimes.com/2019/12/03/b...
am i old
at one point they confidently claim that the [56k no!] in the thread title was grover's estimate of his costs, not that it was a warning to people on dial-up internet that the thread had a lot of photos in it
!["...house, doing it all DIY [56k no!]" "...still like $50,000."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:meahz4jzfyksx7fuock3u3zd/bafkreif4cssril2yzaqhozpwm3jlewwxxqfcvhllbf2uwmoxd5sx4tugai@jpeg)
January 12, 2026 at 3:14 PM
am i old
me explaining to the fact checkers why every number in my piece is suspiciously round
January 12, 2026 at 2:41 PM
me explaining to the fact checkers why every number in my piece is suspiciously round
Statement from the UK Technology Secretary, whose most recent post on Twitter was 9:10am yesterday
January 12, 2026 at 1:31 PM
Statement from the UK Technology Secretary, whose most recent post on Twitter was 9:10am yesterday
"[x productivity tool] paid for itself by cancelling unwanted subscriptions" is always so insane to me. how many of you are actually sitting there spaffing out money without even knowing it?
January 12, 2026 at 11:10 AM
"[x productivity tool] paid for itself by cancelling unwanted subscriptions" is always so insane to me. how many of you are actually sitting there spaffing out money without even knowing it?
if there is space in the middle of the carriage which is otherwise full to the gills and i have to brusquely push past you to get to it it is not _me_ who is the rude one
January 12, 2026 at 9:01 AM
if there is space in the middle of the carriage which is otherwise full to the gills and i have to brusquely push past you to get to it it is not _me_ who is the rude one
Immediately folding this take into my personal canon
This is something I'm increasingly evangelical about. Especially since it's easier than ever to stay inside and not engage with the outside world, so you need more residents than ever just to reach the critical mass of community-minded individuals needed to make clubs and public events viable.
"With housing, more density means more community"
A mum at one of the many kids parties I went to today told me she'd read an article a few years ago and this really stood out to her. It's cos a parent not from Oxford asked me how we managed to have such a brilliant load of local shops (1/3)
A mum at one of the many kids parties I went to today told me she'd read an article a few years ago and this really stood out to her. It's cos a parent not from Oxford asked me how we managed to have such a brilliant load of local shops (1/3)
January 11, 2026 at 9:28 PM
Immediately folding this take into my personal canon
Bleakly funny that they’re continuing the whataboutery even when it makes no sense
FOX: Where’s the protest against the regime that's killing people in the street right now?
Trent: They are doing those today. It’s called the ICE protests
FOX: Are they talking about Iran at the ICE protests?
Trent: No, I think they are talking about the regime that is shooting people in the face
Trent: They are doing those today. It’s called the ICE protests
FOX: Are they talking about Iran at the ICE protests?
Trent: No, I think they are talking about the regime that is shooting people in the face
January 11, 2026 at 7:03 PM
Bleakly funny that they’re continuing the whataboutery even when it makes no sense
Reposted by Alex Hern
The number of one-off structural changes that disadvantage young people vs their parents at the same age is pretty staggering
January 11, 2026 at 2:44 PM
The number of one-off structural changes that disadvantage young people vs their parents at the same age is pretty staggering
Reposted by Alex Hern
When I'm at the Pearly Gates and Saint Peter asks me whether I used my time on earth wisely, I will likely not apprise him of the day I spent upwards of four and a half hours solving this enormous Connections Grid
January 10, 2026 at 4:34 PM
When I'm at the Pearly Gates and Saint Peter asks me whether I used my time on earth wisely, I will likely not apprise him of the day I spent upwards of four and a half hours solving this enormous Connections Grid
Meme going around here that the Grok policy change (around only generating images when @ed by a paid user) was a “hallucination”. It wasn’t, it’s a real policy change; the misreporting is that this does NOT limit free users from generating images using other interfaces for Grok, such as its app.
January 10, 2026 at 9:49 AM
Meme going around here that the Grok policy change (around only generating images when @ed by a paid user) was a “hallucination”. It wasn’t, it’s a real policy change; the misreporting is that this does NOT limit free users from generating images using other interfaces for Grok, such as its app.
Worth noting that X hasn't even made the Grok nudification feature available to paying users only. Any user, free or paid, can still use the tool on Grok's dedicated site; the bit that's behind the paywall is specifically being able to tweet @-grok to generate pics
Scathing words from No 10 on X making the Grok image tool available only to paying users: “That simply turns an AI feature that allows the creation of unlawful images into a premium service. It's not a solution. In fact, it's insulting to victims of misogyny and sexual violence."
January 9, 2026 at 1:26 PM
Worth noting that X hasn't even made the Grok nudification feature available to paying users only. Any user, free or paid, can still use the tool on Grok's dedicated site; the bit that's behind the paywall is specifically being able to tweet @-grok to generate pics
@hkesvani.bsky.social i enjoy that you can really _see_ the intrusive thoughts
January 9, 2026 at 12:30 PM
@hkesvani.bsky.social i enjoy that you can really _see_ the intrusive thoughts
thomaswc.com/2025.html a 45x45 connections grid
thomaswc.com
January 9, 2026 at 12:02 PM
thomaswc.com/2025.html a 45x45 connections grid
Weird to claim a £48 main is the best value takeaway in London but the sporadic Sushi Tetsu takeaway meals are a truly phenomenal quantity of incredible fish
January 8, 2026 at 7:18 PM
Weird to claim a £48 main is the best value takeaway in London but the sporadic Sushi Tetsu takeaway meals are a truly phenomenal quantity of incredible fish
speccing out an alarm system for my new house and hate the fact that this implicitly involves selecting which ~smart home ecosystem~ I will be forced to painfully extricate myself from in a decade's time
January 8, 2026 at 4:30 PM
speccing out an alarm system for my new house and hate the fact that this implicitly involves selecting which ~smart home ecosystem~ I will be forced to painfully extricate myself from in a decade's time
Reposted by Alex Hern
I avoided Home Assistant for the longest time for being a UI mess and this isn't helping my impression of it
January 8, 2026 at 1:12 PM
I avoided Home Assistant for the longest time for being a UI mess and this isn't helping my impression of it
lots of great insights here but one thing that did catch my eye is that Polanski is the only party leader who people would rather see as a junior partner in a coalition with Starmer
January 8, 2026 at 12:31 PM
lots of great insights here but one thing that did catch my eye is that Polanski is the only party leader who people would rather see as a junior partner in a coalition with Starmer
The Friends episode where Joey reads Little Women has as its initial premise the idea that he only reads Stephen King novels not classics
I rewatched FRIENDS & was struck at the multitude of establishing shots in scenes where one of the gang is sitting in their apartment reading a contemporary fiction novel
January 7, 2026 at 3:23 PM
The Friends episode where Joey reads Little Women has as its initial premise the idea that he only reads Stephen King novels not classics
Oh my god they’re doing British food _again_
January 6, 2026 at 8:41 PM
Oh my god they’re doing British food _again_
Reposted by Alex Hern
A heck of a chart: in every single one of the 10 major US cities that built the most housing between 2017 and 2023, rents for older, existing units fell—often by quite a bit.
January 6, 2026 at 5:18 PM
A heck of a chart: in every single one of the 10 major US cities that built the most housing between 2017 and 2023, rents for older, existing units fell—often by quite a bit.
missed the fifth anniversary of this piece which is I think one of the most prescient I've worked on
Facebook, QAnon and the world's slackening grip on reality
The coronavirus pandemic has left us living more and more of our lives online. But the place where we chat with friends, get our news and form our opinions is full of vile and dangerous conspiracy the...
www.theguardian.com
January 6, 2026 at 4:08 PM
missed the fifth anniversary of this piece which is I think one of the most prescient I've worked on
new yorkers (morning), is the staten island railway "a subway"?
[i fear the answer is ‘oh no the light rail on staten island run by the department of subways using subway rolling stock with a subway fare schedule is actually a distinct rapid transit service’]
[i fear the answer is ‘oh no the light rail on staten island run by the department of subways using subway rolling stock with a subway fare schedule is actually a distinct rapid transit service’]
January 6, 2026 at 11:30 AM
new yorkers (morning), is the staten island railway "a subway"?
[i fear the answer is ‘oh no the light rail on staten island run by the department of subways using subway rolling stock with a subway fare schedule is actually a distinct rapid transit service’]
[i fear the answer is ‘oh no the light rail on staten island run by the department of subways using subway rolling stock with a subway fare schedule is actually a distinct rapid transit service’]