James Aylett
@james.tartarus.org
He/him. Working on privacy and responsible AI; usually worried about both. The pandemic isn't over. If I don't follow you it doesn't mean I don't like you. I've built things you've forgotten.
Reposted by James Aylett
We would open a door, a few flakes of glitter would stick to our fingers, and there would be a picture of a robin.
Yesterday I went to the garden centre—the lighting in the houseplant section is better than a SAD lamp—and the smell of the Christmas trees sent me into a full Proustian reverie.
Yesterday I went to the garden centre—the lighting in the houseplant section is better than a SAD lamp—and the smell of the Christmas trees sent me into a full Proustian reverie.
This poem is dedicated to anyone making a start on their advent calendar today.
December 2, 2025 at 9:11 AM
We would open a door, a few flakes of glitter would stick to our fingers, and there would be a picture of a robin.
Yesterday I went to the garden centre—the lighting in the houseplant section is better than a SAD lamp—and the smell of the Christmas trees sent me into a full Proustian reverie.
Yesterday I went to the garden centre—the lighting in the houseplant section is better than a SAD lamp—and the smell of the Christmas trees sent me into a full Proustian reverie.
Reposted by James Aylett
Today the news will be about the government's proposals for juries.
Please read this thread so as to be informed about the actual practical problems in the criminal justice system - problems which will not be solved by this misconceived and illiberal tinkering.
Please read this thread so as to be informed about the actual practical problems in the criminal justice system - problems which will not be solved by this misconceived and illiberal tinkering.
Here is a list of reasons why some of my hearings and trials this year have been delayed and kicked off into the long grass, stuck in our record court backlog. Serious allegations which will now be tried *years* after the event. 🧵👇
December 2, 2025 at 7:11 AM
Today the news will be about the government's proposals for juries.
Please read this thread so as to be informed about the actual practical problems in the criminal justice system - problems which will not be solved by this misconceived and illiberal tinkering.
Please read this thread so as to be informed about the actual practical problems in the criminal justice system - problems which will not be solved by this misconceived and illiberal tinkering.
Reposted by James Aylett
I've seen this starting to appear on LinkedIn too, and via some usually interesting critical thinkers. In qual research I've done this year, environmental impacts of AI have repeatedly bubbled up as a key public concern. Can't help but wonder if there are moves to close that down.
There is a movement to "prove that the datacenter water issues is fake". If you venture into Muskrat's hell site, you can see the community note these people put on this great piece of investigative journalism, accusing them of unfairly implicating datacenters.
www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...
www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...
'The Precedent Is Flint': How Oregon's Data Center Boom Is Supercharging a Water Crisis
Amazon data centers constructed in eastern Oregon's farmland have worsened a water pollution problem that’s been linked to cancer and miscarriages.
www.rollingstone.com
December 1, 2025 at 10:36 PM
I've seen this starting to appear on LinkedIn too, and via some usually interesting critical thinkers. In qual research I've done this year, environmental impacts of AI have repeatedly bubbled up as a key public concern. Can't help but wonder if there are moves to close that down.
Reposted by James Aylett
historically this has always gone really well for all parties involved and been like really good for art, so i'm pretty excited
Netflix’s new bid to buy Warner Bros is a mostly cash offer.
The company is arranging a mega-loan to be able to buy WB
(Source: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...)
The company is arranging a mega-loan to be able to buy WB
(Source: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...)
December 1, 2025 at 10:23 PM
historically this has always gone really well for all parties involved and been like really good for art, so i'm pretty excited
Reposted by James Aylett
every trans person i see post about the OU suspension knows that the suspended target is trans & a grad student, & has an innate awareness that this is about purging trans employees. every cis person i see thinks the target is a rando professor & that this is about giving conservatives good grades
December 1, 2025 at 12:04 AM
every trans person i see post about the OU suspension knows that the suspended target is trans & a grad student, & has an innate awareness that this is about purging trans employees. every cis person i see thinks the target is a rando professor & that this is about giving conservatives good grades
Reposted by James Aylett
I named my fists Dunning and Kruger because I’m amazing at fistfights
December 1, 2025 at 3:23 AM
I named my fists Dunning and Kruger because I’m amazing at fistfights
Reposted by James Aylett
*sighs in consulting for 25 years*
it never was
it never was
Providing good information to decision-makers and expecting them to make correspondingly good decisions is no longer an effective theory of change in a world where leaders are captured by their own counter-knowledge and produce their own disinformation, even at the threat to all of our lives.
December 1, 2025 at 3:57 PM
*sighs in consulting for 25 years*
it never was
it never was
Some airlines now board by group 0 and I can only assume they were worried some status fliers used to being in group 1 would have been offended so now we have group 0 instead of the superior approach of giving them names starting Suckling Pigs (0), then Fabled Ones (1), and on down to et cetera.
December 1, 2025 at 3:59 AM
Some airlines now board by group 0 and I can only assume they were worried some status fliers used to being in group 1 would have been offended so now we have group 0 instead of the superior approach of giving them names starting Suckling Pigs (0), then Fabled Ones (1), and on down to et cetera.
Reposted by James Aylett
"how do you feel like the new mayor is doing?"
"Well NBC 4, I wonder if some people in his administration aren't overlooking his disabled constituents by refusing to use alt text in their social media communications despite constant gentle reminders and that worries me."
"Well NBC 4, I wonder if some people in his administration aren't overlooking his disabled constituents by refusing to use alt text in their social media communications despite constant gentle reminders and that worries me."
December 1, 2025 at 12:41 AM
"how do you feel like the new mayor is doing?"
"Well NBC 4, I wonder if some people in his administration aren't overlooking his disabled constituents by refusing to use alt text in their social media communications despite constant gentle reminders and that worries me."
"Well NBC 4, I wonder if some people in his administration aren't overlooking his disabled constituents by refusing to use alt text in their social media communications despite constant gentle reminders and that worries me."
Reposted by James Aylett
tl;dr: I hate what we call "cryptocurrency" today *because* it's 100% orthogonal to the original vision of "internet money you can actually use as payment for goods and services" and we would have been much better off if that vision had won instead
December 1, 2025 at 12:02 AM
tl;dr: I hate what we call "cryptocurrency" today *because* it's 100% orthogonal to the original vision of "internet money you can actually use as payment for goods and services" and we would have been much better off if that vision had won instead
Reposted by James Aylett
But of course, we all know the best Christmas anything is Muppet Christmas Carol, one of the few literary adaptations better than the book.
two muppets are chained to each other and one is laughing
ALT: two muppets are chained to each other and one is laughing
media.tenor.com
December 1, 2025 at 2:02 AM
But of course, we all know the best Christmas anything is Muppet Christmas Carol, one of the few literary adaptations better than the book.
Reposted by James Aylett
after the Blue Labour fiasco I should have disbanded my radical experimentalist Labour UK theatre troupe.
November 30, 2025 at 8:16 PM
after the Blue Labour fiasco I should have disbanded my radical experimentalist Labour UK theatre troupe.
Reposted by James Aylett
What is the point of a heavily altered family photo—like turning someone’s frown into a smile?
I Fixed My Bad Family Photos. Here’s How to Do It—and When to Stop.
New AI-powered tools from Google, Adobe, Apple and others can improve group shots and fun selfies.
www.wsj.com
November 30, 2025 at 9:54 PM
What is the point of a heavily altered family photo—like turning someone’s frown into a smile?
Reposted by James Aylett
just called ai "the mediocrity machine" in a meeting and the tech bro is shaking a finger at me and twitching so hard he can't even plug what's happening into the machine so it can tell him how to respond
November 30, 2025 at 11:47 PM
just called ai "the mediocrity machine" in a meeting and the tech bro is shaking a finger at me and twitching so hard he can't even plug what's happening into the machine so it can tell him how to respond
Reposted by James Aylett
So wish Gary Larson would do a panel about Tr. Rex and Triceratops' visit to the Stegosaurus Museum...
November 30, 2025 at 1:02 PM
So wish Gary Larson would do a panel about Tr. Rex and Triceratops' visit to the Stegosaurus Museum...
Reposted by James Aylett
*goes to a natural history museum and holds up a bouquet to an Allosaurus skeleton so they can finally see some flowers*
I don’t know a lot.
But I know a lot about dinosaurs.
Now we all know dinosaurs lived for millions of years right?
But does you mind actually wrap around how long they dominated for?
Lets get a little perspective.
Did you know Allosaurus never saw flowers but T.rex did?
But I know a lot about dinosaurs.
Now we all know dinosaurs lived for millions of years right?
But does you mind actually wrap around how long they dominated for?
Lets get a little perspective.
Did you know Allosaurus never saw flowers but T.rex did?
November 29, 2025 at 11:28 PM
*goes to a natural history museum and holds up a bouquet to an Allosaurus skeleton so they can finally see some flowers*
Reposted by James Aylett
There is hope for the future
There was an article in The Guardian a few weeks back about how Gen Z find bookshops preferable to online shopping, and a key factor was that an algorithm will offer you 6000 books identical to the one you just finished whereas a bookseller will offer you three that are different but meet the vibe.
November 30, 2025 at 12:19 AM
There is hope for the future
Reposted by James Aylett
my “AI is over” anecdote is that my wife was hired over the summer to write scripts for a big tech company explaining how to use their AI tools and after many rounds of revisions, the latest notes said “we’re finding a lot of AI fatigue among our users” and to remove all references to AI
Anecdotally on twitter seeing a big shift the last few days from every AI slop account saying every other creative field is “over” and they’re in control now to now posting about how nobody likes them and it’s not fair and they’ll persevere and real artists respect and uplift eachother
November 30, 2025 at 12:27 AM
my “AI is over” anecdote is that my wife was hired over the summer to write scripts for a big tech company explaining how to use their AI tools and after many rounds of revisions, the latest notes said “we’re finding a lot of AI fatigue among our users” and to remove all references to AI
Reposted by James Aylett
Browsing museums, galleries, libraries, bookstores have been some of the best hours of my life, but yes, its not instant gratification and its designed to take time
The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
Bookselling is like the most "people go to the store and buy what looks cool to them without a particular agenda" type business left, and your purchases have a huge influence on what is ordered, what is displayed, and what is recommended.
November 29, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Browsing museums, galleries, libraries, bookstores have been some of the best hours of my life, but yes, its not instant gratification and its designed to take time
Reposted by James Aylett
The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
Bookselling is like the most "people go to the store and buy what looks cool to them without a particular agenda" type business left, and your purchases have a huge influence on what is ordered, what is displayed, and what is recommended.
November 29, 2025 at 6:44 PM
The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
Reposted by James Aylett
“Out we come, bloodied and squawling, with the knowledge that for all the points of the compass theres only one direction, and time is its only measure.”
RIP Tom Stoppard
RIP Tom Stoppard
BREAKING: British playwright Tom Stoppard, who won an Academy Award for the screenplay for “Shakespeare In Love," dies at 88.
Playwright Tom Stoppard who won Academy Award for screenplay for “Shakespeare In Love" has died
British playwright Tom Stoppard, who won an Academy Award for the screenplay for 1998’s “Shakespeare In Love” has died. He was 88.
bit.ly
November 29, 2025 at 6:32 PM
“Out we come, bloodied and squawling, with the knowledge that for all the points of the compass theres only one direction, and time is its only measure.”
RIP Tom Stoppard
RIP Tom Stoppard
Reposted by James Aylett
My first batch of mince pies didn't turn out great (too much filling that then escaped and they stuck to the tin) so I threw them all in a bowl and smushed them up, added some heavy cream and now I don't care what anyone says I just invented Mince Pie Mess and it's amazing.
November 29, 2025 at 4:40 PM
My first batch of mince pies didn't turn out great (too much filling that then escaped and they stuck to the tin) so I threw them all in a bowl and smushed them up, added some heavy cream and now I don't care what anyone says I just invented Mince Pie Mess and it's amazing.
"Pay up" should totally be sama's new nickname
We'll be keeping a close eye on any developments. (BTW: as with the Anthropic case, you may eventually be able to claim compensations for stolen or scraped work. That's right—Pay up, Altman.)
November 29, 2025 at 4:58 PM
"Pay up" should totally be sama's new nickname
Reposted by James Aylett
The OpenAI ruling writers should know about 👀 (if your work was scraped for LLM training, this affects you). www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...
OpenAI Loses Key Discovery Battle as It Cedes Ground to Authors in AI Lawsuits
The issue has been a major battleground in discovery. OpenAI could be on the hook for hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars if it was aware it was infringing on copyrighted material.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
November 28, 2025 at 3:47 PM
The OpenAI ruling writers should know about 👀 (if your work was scraped for LLM training, this affects you). www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...
Reposted by James Aylett
I have been reading all the "students these days" threads from various sides and I have an essay's worth of thoughts -- there's a lot of complexity and heterogeneity that is hard to communicate on social media. There are a couple of things I will say here though. 1/
November 29, 2025 at 4:20 PM
I have been reading all the "students these days" threads from various sides and I have an essay's worth of thoughts -- there's a lot of complexity and heterogeneity that is hard to communicate on social media. There are a couple of things I will say here though. 1/