Niall Firth
@niallfirth.bsky.social
Journalist. Executive editor, newsroom. MIT Technology Review
It's week 4 of State of AI, our partnership with the
@financialtimes.com
This week, @eileenguo.bsky.social kickstarts a conversation with @melissahei.bsky.social on the privacy implications of our new reliance on chatbots.
www.technologyreview.com/2025/11/24/1...
@financialtimes.com
This week, @eileenguo.bsky.social kickstarts a conversation with @melissahei.bsky.social on the privacy implications of our new reliance on chatbots.
www.technologyreview.com/2025/11/24/1...
The State of AI: Chatbot companions and the future of our privacy
MIT Technology Review’s senior reporter for features and investigations, Eileen Guo, and FT tech correspondent Melissa Heikkilä discuss the privacy implications of our new reliance on chatbots.
www.technologyreview.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:32 AM
It's week 4 of State of AI, our partnership with the
@financialtimes.com
This week, @eileenguo.bsky.social kickstarts a conversation with @melissahei.bsky.social on the privacy implications of our new reliance on chatbots.
www.technologyreview.com/2025/11/24/1...
@financialtimes.com
This week, @eileenguo.bsky.social kickstarts a conversation with @melissahei.bsky.social on the privacy implications of our new reliance on chatbots.
www.technologyreview.com/2025/11/24/1...
As part of our conspiracy package (please read the whole thing, it's a joy!) we covered the DebunkBot. It's effective (and non-judgy, which must be a big part of its effectiveness.) Recommend playing around even if you don't have a pet conspiracy theory! debunkbot.com
DebunkBot | Conspiracies
DebunkBot is an AI system for evidence-based dialogue that reduces misbelief. Built on peer-reviewed research and designed with safety and measurement in mind, DebunkBot helps address false claims in ...
debunkbot.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:59 AM
As part of our conspiracy package (please read the whole thing, it's a joy!) we covered the DebunkBot. It's effective (and non-judgy, which must be a big part of its effectiveness.) Recommend playing around even if you don't have a pet conspiracy theory! debunkbot.com
Today we have the latest in our collaboration with the @financialtimes.com. This week, we're talking all things WAR, with @jamesodonnell.bsky.social and @helenwarrell.bsky.social www.technologyreview.com/2025/11/17/1...
The State of AI: How war will be changed forever
In this conversation, Helen Warrell, FT investigations reporter and former defense and security editor, and James O’Donnell, MIT Technology Review’s senior AI reporter, consider the ethical quandaries...
www.technologyreview.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Today we have the latest in our collaboration with the @financialtimes.com. This week, we're talking all things WAR, with @jamesodonnell.bsky.social and @helenwarrell.bsky.social www.technologyreview.com/2025/11/17/1...
What is the chance your plane will be hit by space debris?
It's low but, um, never zero.
www.technologyreview.com
November 17, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Damnit I loved Sonder.
November 14, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Damnit I loved Sonder.
The latest edition of our State of AI collaboration with the @financialtimes.com is live: this time @caseycrownhart.bsky.social debates with @pilitaclark.bsky.social about why the US is falling behind on power generation. www.technologyreview.com/2025/11/10/1...
The State of AI: Energy is king, and the US is falling behind
Casey Crownhart, MIT Technology Review’s senior climate reporter and Pilita Clark, FT columnist (and a former environment correspondent) ask whether power limitations are about to cost the US its tech...
www.technologyreview.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:26 PM
The latest edition of our State of AI collaboration with the @financialtimes.com is live: this time @caseycrownhart.bsky.social debates with @pilitaclark.bsky.social about why the US is falling behind on power generation. www.technologyreview.com/2025/11/10/1...
According to internet listicles, The Simpsons has predicted the future anywhere from 17 to 55 times.
What's going on?https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/30/1126462/the-simpsons-conspiracy-theories-al-jean/
What's going on?https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/30/1126462/the-simpsons-conspiracy-theories-al-jean/
Can “The Simpsons” really predict the future?
We asked Al Jean, the longest-serving showrunner, about all the conspiracy theories.
www.technologyreview.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:23 PM
According to internet listicles, The Simpsons has predicted the future anywhere from 17 to 55 times.
What's going on?https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/30/1126462/the-simpsons-conspiracy-theories-al-jean/
What's going on?https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/30/1126462/the-simpsons-conspiracy-theories-al-jean/
As part of our package on conspiracies, I wrote about techniques you can use to talk to family and friends who have gone off the deep end. www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/30/1...
How to help friends and family dig out of a conspiracy theory black hole
Some tried and trusted techniques that might help.
www.technologyreview.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:55 AM
As part of our package on conspiracies, I wrote about techniques you can use to talk to family and friends who have gone off the deep end. www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/30/1...
Today, as part of our New Conspiracy Age package, we have @willdouglasheaven.bsky.social ruffling some feathers to lay out his argument for why AGI is the biggest conspiracy of all. 👀
www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/30/1...
www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/30/1...
How AGI became the most consequential conspiracy theory of our time
The idea that machines will be as smart as—or smarter than—humans has hijacked an entire industry. But look closely and you’ll see it’s a myth that persists for many of the same reasons conspiracies d...
www.technologyreview.com
November 4, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Today, as part of our New Conspiracy Age package, we have @willdouglasheaven.bsky.social ruffling some feathers to lay out his argument for why AGI is the biggest conspiracy of all. 👀
www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/30/1...
www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/30/1...
The first instalment of our subscriber-only collaboration with the FT is live today. Our @caiwei.bsky.social speaks with John Thornhill about who is winning the AI race: China or Silicon Valley www.technologyreview.com/2025/11/03/1...
The State of AI: Is China about to win the race?
In this conversation, the FT’s John Thornhill and MIT Technology Review’s Caiwei Chen consider the battle between Silicon Valley and Beijing for technological supremacy.
www.technologyreview.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:09 PM
The first instalment of our subscriber-only collaboration with the FT is live today. Our @caiwei.bsky.social speaks with John Thornhill about who is winning the AI race: China or Silicon Valley www.technologyreview.com/2025/11/03/1...
This feature about the Mandela effect is just joyous. www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/30/1...
Why do so many people think the Fruit of the Loom logo had a cornucopia?
It’s a popular example of the “Mandela effect,” or a collective false memory. And while some people may laugh and move on, others spend years searching for an explanation.
www.technologyreview.com
October 31, 2025 at 4:17 PM
This feature about the Mandela effect is just joyous. www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/30/1...
Reposted by Niall Firth
Excited to be working with @financialtimes.com on this. aboutus.ft.com/press_releas...
ABOUT THE FT
The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy.
aboutus.ft.com
October 30, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Excited to be working with @financialtimes.com on this. aboutus.ft.com/press_releas...
Reposted by Niall Firth
So proud of this AMAZING new package up on @technologyreview.com today all about CONSPIRACIES. Helmed/conceived by @asilverman.bsky.social it covers everything from medical conspiracies, to the Simpsons, to Fruit of the Loom and much more. Dive in and enjoy! www.technologyreview.com/supertopic/t...
The New Conspiracy Age
There’s never been a better time to be a conspiracy theorist. An MIT Technology Review series The New Conspiracy Age Everything is a conspiracy theory now. Conspiracists are all over the White House, ...
www.technologyreview.com
October 30, 2025 at 10:08 AM
So proud of this AMAZING new package up on @technologyreview.com today all about CONSPIRACIES. Helmed/conceived by @asilverman.bsky.social it covers everything from medical conspiracies, to the Simpsons, to Fruit of the Loom and much more. Dive in and enjoy! www.technologyreview.com/supertopic/t...
Excited to be working with @financialtimes.com on this. aboutus.ft.com/press_releas...
ABOUT THE FT
The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy.
aboutus.ft.com
October 30, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Excited to be working with @financialtimes.com on this. aboutus.ft.com/press_releas...
Reposted by Niall Firth
As part of @technologyreview.com's big new package on conspiracy theories, I went long on weather modification — what's possible, what's not, what's happening and where, and why people will probably always find ways to blame weather disasters on shady forces:
Why it’s so hard to bust the weather control conspiracy theory
From effective rain-enhancing technology to a long, secretive history of trying to weaponize storms, there’s fertile ground for misinformation.
www.technologyreview.com
October 30, 2025 at 2:02 PM
As part of @technologyreview.com's big new package on conspiracy theories, I went long on weather modification — what's possible, what's not, what's happening and where, and why people will probably always find ways to blame weather disasters on shady forces:
So proud of this AMAZING new package up on @technologyreview.com today all about CONSPIRACIES. Helmed/conceived by @asilverman.bsky.social it covers everything from medical conspiracies, to the Simpsons, to Fruit of the Loom and much more. Dive in and enjoy! www.technologyreview.com/supertopic/t...
The New Conspiracy Age
There’s never been a better time to be a conspiracy theorist. An MIT Technology Review series The New Conspiracy Age Everything is a conspiracy theory now. Conspiracists are all over the White House, ...
www.technologyreview.com
October 30, 2025 at 10:08 AM
So proud of this AMAZING new package up on @technologyreview.com today all about CONSPIRACIES. Helmed/conceived by @asilverman.bsky.social it covers everything from medical conspiracies, to the Simpsons, to Fruit of the Loom and much more. Dive in and enjoy! www.technologyreview.com/supertopic/t...
This is such a brilliant and interesting piece. Recommend. www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/21/1...
The astonishing embryo models of Jacob Hanna
Scientists are creating the beginnings of bodies without sperm or eggs. How far should they be allowed to go?
www.technologyreview.com
October 28, 2025 at 5:39 PM
This is such a brilliant and interesting piece. Recommend. www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/21/1...
Our new print magazine, The Body Issue, launches today and what a cover!! The contents are pretty brilliant too. Check out features about ageing clocks, extreme temperatures, bespoke babies and more. www.technologyreview.com/magazines/th...
The Body issue
Genetically-optimized babies, new ways to measure aging, and embryo-like structures made from ordinary cells: this issue explores how technology can advance our understanding of the human body—and pus...
www.technologyreview.com
October 22, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Our new print magazine, The Body Issue, launches today and what a cover!! The contents are pretty brilliant too. Check out features about ageing clocks, extreme temperatures, bespoke babies and more. www.technologyreview.com/magazines/th...
V good.
![1
Nurse:
It’s become a real problem in this area
2
Nurse:
We’ve seen the whole community lost to addiction
3
Show a building sign posted:
Westminster ‘X’ Addiction Clinic
With various Westminster people or looking at their phones outside it
Nurse:
Ministers, Spads, Researchers…
4
Nurse:
Most mornings we’ll get a call about someone acting strangely
[Nurse on phone taking a call]
Ok - we’ll be right over
5
Nurse:
We just have a gentle chat
[Nurses approach a minister –Robert Jenrick? - standing in the Palace of Westminster
Minister:
I understand your concerns…
6
Nurse:
Are you OK love?
Minister:
Yes I’m just hearing legitimate concerns from real voters
7
Nurse:
That’s a robot, a Nazi and a poorly-disguised Russian
[Show that the people he is talking to are precisely these characters]
Nurse 2:
Give us your phone, love
8
Nurse:
At the clinic we put them in a Grass-Touching Pod, with a real voter to talk to
[We see them back at the clinic, holding the minister's head and pushing him into a glass isolation booth with a grass floor. And it is a baffled looking woman, on a chair, ready to talk to him.]
9
Minister:
YOU MUST BE WORRIED ABOUT THE COMING CIVIL WAR
[woman looks baffled]
10
woman:
I just want a bus service
Minister:
LOOK AT MY FLAG
[produces a St George's flag]
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreicahofq6s4xow7vowj7dx6odw6ejdwr4kwcmzta7qwi4hg2nvywji@jpeg)
October 20, 2025 at 8:45 AM
V good.
Really fascinating dive into the world of BECCS - a carbon removal approach that captures the emissions from burning wood and other biomass.
And why Microsoft and others are so gung-ho about it right now. new from @jtemple.bsky.social www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/15/1...
And why Microsoft and others are so gung-ho about it right now. new from @jtemple.bsky.social www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/15/1...
Big Tech’s big bet on a controversial carbon removal tactic
Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage can scale faster than other approaches. But some experts are dubious about the climate benefits.
www.technologyreview.com
October 16, 2025 at 2:59 AM
Really fascinating dive into the world of BECCS - a carbon removal approach that captures the emissions from burning wood and other biomass.
And why Microsoft and others are so gung-ho about it right now. new from @jtemple.bsky.social www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/15/1...
And why Microsoft and others are so gung-ho about it right now. new from @jtemple.bsky.social www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/15/1...
Reposted by Niall Firth
Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage can scale faster than other approaches. But some experts are dubious about the climate benefits.
Big Tech’s big bet on a controversial carbon removal tactic
Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage can scale faster than other approaches. But some experts are dubious about the climate benefits.
www.technologyreview.com
October 15, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage can scale faster than other approaches. But some experts are dubious about the climate benefits.
This is happening tomorrow! If you’re at @sxswsydney.com come along! Heckle! (Don’t heckle.)
Next Wednesday I’m going to speaking at Darling Harbour Theatre about all things AI @sxswsydney.com. It’s going to be fun!
October 14, 2025 at 6:34 AM
This is happening tomorrow! If you’re at @sxswsydney.com come along! Heckle! (Don’t heckle.)
Here’s a palate-cleanser of the ‘always watch it when it pops up’ variety vimeo.com/288590683?fl...
Differences // CBeebies
Producer: Nick Fewtrell DoP: David Procter Editor: Eve Ashwell Agency: Karmarama 2 x Gold British Arrows, D&AD Pencil, APA Collection and Cannes Lion Shortlist.
vimeo.com
October 12, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Here’s a palate-cleanser of the ‘always watch it when it pops up’ variety vimeo.com/288590683?fl...
Chatfishing!! Bleugh
You may call it ‘Chatfishing’, but I shall only refer to it as ‘Cyrano de Berger-App’
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
‘I realised I’d been ChatGPT-ed into bed’: how ‘Chatfishing’ made finding love on dating apps even weirder
Where once people were duped by soft-focus photos and borrowed chat-up lines, now they have to watch out for computer-generated charm. But it’s one thing to use a witty phrase – another thing entirely...
www.theguardian.com
October 12, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Chatfishing!! Bleugh
Next Wednesday I’m going to speaking at Darling Harbour Theatre about all things AI @sxswsydney.com. It’s going to be fun!
October 10, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Next Wednesday I’m going to speaking at Darling Harbour Theatre about all things AI @sxswsydney.com. It’s going to be fun!