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.
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
@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
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
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
@simonwillison.net's "Generate an SVG of a pelican riding a bicycle" progress in 14 months. On the left, Gemini Flash 1.5; on the right, Gemini Flash 3
simonwillison.net/tags/pelican...
simonwillison.net/tags/pelican...
December 18, 2025 at 10:25 AM
@simonwillison.net's "Generate an SVG of a pelican riding a bicycle" progress in 14 months. On the left, Gemini Flash 1.5; on the right, Gemini Flash 3
simonwillison.net/tags/pelican...
simonwillison.net/tags/pelican...
it’s good, after all the heat and noise, to be reminded that there really are Nimbys. yes, there has been some semantic drift, but there really are people who think the reason why there should not be a national infrastructure project is because they, personally, do not want to hear it being built.
December 16, 2025 at 9:29 AM
it’s good, after all the heat and noise, to be reminded that there really are Nimbys. yes, there has been some semantic drift, but there really are people who think the reason why there should not be a national infrastructure project is because they, personally, do not want to hear it being built.
this stuff is so great because hey, here in Europe… she'd have been summarily fired too. We have great labour rights! It's really hard to summarily fire people! This'll do it though
December 12, 2025 at 4:43 PM
this stuff is so great because hey, here in Europe… she'd have been summarily fired too. We have great labour rights! It's really hard to summarily fire people! This'll do it though
There Is No Antimemetics Division, qntm (2025)
December 12, 2025 at 9:58 AM
There Is No Antimemetics Division, qntm (2025)
here, roughly, is what you get if you turn the chart into an actual "number of visitors to America" chart
December 11, 2025 at 2:00 PM
here, roughly, is what you get if you turn the chart into an actual "number of visitors to America" chart
quite fun that everyone was stunned by figures showing a massive decline in trips to america, then everyone realised it was a statistical artefact of a different date for easter, and then… there was a massive decline in trips to america www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
December 11, 2025 at 1:37 PM
quite fun that everyone was stunned by figures showing a massive decline in trips to america, then everyone realised it was a statistical artefact of a different date for easter, and then… there was a massive decline in trips to america www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
eye was struck by this, in the martin lewis newsletter, because it… just doesn't seem like a very good outcome of policy? an £8,000 bill landed on a credit card company based on their involvement in a £300 deposit for a second hand car purchase
December 10, 2025 at 12:23 PM
eye was struck by this, in the martin lewis newsletter, because it… just doesn't seem like a very good outcome of policy? an £8,000 bill landed on a credit card company based on their involvement in a £300 deposit for a second hand car purchase
Two ways to read this. One is “she lost on every substantive claim, completely failed in her attempts to ban trans staff from the workplace, and won mild procedural victories against her employers handling of her case”.
The other way is, I guess, “point one is longer so it must be more important”
The other way is, I guess, “point one is longer so it must be more important”
December 8, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Two ways to read this. One is “she lost on every substantive claim, completely failed in her attempts to ban trans staff from the workplace, and won mild procedural victories against her employers handling of her case”.
The other way is, I guess, “point one is longer so it must be more important”
The other way is, I guess, “point one is longer so it must be more important”
Please, my monetary policy transmission mechanism, it’s very sick
December 7, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Please, my monetary policy transmission mechanism, it’s very sick
Tesla doing a pop up with a car that’s not road legal
December 7, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Tesla doing a pop up with a car that’s not road legal
Elden Ring sequel has weird vibes
December 5, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Elden Ring sequel has weird vibes
Mansion tax? That's a quarter of a gen-z-drinking-less. Road charging? Four fifths. Capital gains on employee ownership? About half.
November 26, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Mansion tax? That's a quarter of a gen-z-drinking-less. Road charging? Four fifths. Capital gains on employee ownership? About half.
From now on, when discussing the budget, please use “is this measure bigger than the cost to the exchequer of gen Z drinking less” as your metric for assessing whether something actually raises or costs a significant sum
November 26, 2025 at 12:28 PM
From now on, when discussing the budget, please use “is this measure bigger than the cost to the exchequer of gen Z drinking less” as your metric for assessing whether something actually raises or costs a significant sum
Posting to policy pipeline, check.
November 26, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Posting to policy pipeline, check.
We’re doing this in the GCs too
November 18, 2025 at 2:22 PM
We’re doing this in the GCs too
ONS is so bad. (This is about specifically British nationals.) www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...
November 18, 2025 at 11:26 AM
ONS is so bad. (This is about specifically British nationals.) www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...
When an AI-powered writing tool was rolled out on a job site, the length of proposals exploded. Signals employers used to identify good candidates — like quality of writing, and relevance of experience — became ubiquitous. That was OK for bad candidates, but terrible for good ones.
November 14, 2025 at 10:51 AM
When an AI-powered writing tool was rolled out on a job site, the length of proposals exploded. Signals employers used to identify good candidates — like quality of writing, and relevance of experience — became ubiquitous. That was OK for bad candidates, but terrible for good ones.
Sometimes the takes I generate are too powerful for a WhatsApp group
November 11, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Sometimes the takes I generate are too powerful for a WhatsApp group