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Owen Barder @owen.org · 20d

Haha. Academia.edu account duly cancelled.

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Owen Barder @owen.org · Sep 4

Oh. The stochastic parrot does not boost productivity.

www.theregister.com/2025/09/04/m...

M365 Copilot fails to up productivity in UK government trial

: AI tech shows promise writing emails or summarizing meetings. Don't bother with anything more complex

www.theregister.com

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Reposted by Owen Barder

Soumaya Keynes @soumayakeynes.ft.com · Sep 3

As a former resident of wonk-land, this made me snort

www.economist.com/britain/2025...

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Owen Barder @owen.org · Sep 2

I would happily buy a smart speaker that responds to voice commands to play music or the radio, and to control lights and other home automation, but which does not make recordings nor send data to a tech company. Why does this not exist? Is there not a big enough market for it?

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Owen Barder @owen.org · Sep 1

I think my family in Denmark might want to quibble with that ....

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Owen Barder @owen.org · Sep 1

Chris - let me know if you want me to try to help you to move the archive. - Owen

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Owen Barder @owen.org · Aug 18

The evidence in favour of unconditional cash transfers continues to mount.

University of Oxford @ox.ac.uk · Aug 18

NEW: A new study by @oxfordcsae.bsky.social reveals that giving unconditional cash transfers to pregnant women in rural Kenya significantly reduces infant and child mortality.

Read more ⬇️
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-08...

Study finds giving pregnant women cash transfers cuts infant

A new study by Associate Professor Dennis Egger (Department of Economics and Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford) and researchers at the University of California, Berkeley

www.ox.ac.uk

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Owen Barder @owen.org · Aug 15

Why does the amount of computational power needed for each query go up when the number of queries or number of users goes up?

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Owen Barder @owen.org · Aug 15

The marginal cost is greater than zero (perhaps non trivially so). But why would the marginal cost increase with the number of users?

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Owen Barder @owen.org · Aug 12

If the ad-supported streamers are doing it, they are doing it very badly. We get adverts (and trailers) that are almost entirely irrelevant to me or anyone in the household.

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Owen Barder @owen.org · Aug 12

All this. Also, why aren't the advertisements targeted?

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Owen Barder @owen.org · Aug 12

This does not signal a high degree of tech literacy among UK civil servants (at least, not the ones in DEFRA responsible for water). It might have been a good idea to check this with DSIT.

www.gov.uk/government/n...

Screen shot of DEFRA press release which says

HOW TO SAVE WATER AT HOME
Install a rain butt to collect rainwater to use in the garden.

Fix a leaking toilet – leaky loos can waste 200-400 litres a day.

Use water from the kitchen to water your plants.

Avoid watering your lawn – brown grass will grow back healthy.

Turn off the taps when brushing teeth or shaving.

Take shorter showers.

Highlighted bullet: Delete old emails and pictures as data centres require vast amounts of water to cool their systems.

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Owen Barder @owen.org · Aug 6

Lots of people seem to want to produce content using AI, but nobody seems to want to consume content produced by AI.

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Owen Barder @owen.org · Aug 6

Giving cash has low overheads and it demonstrably works. (Though I don't think that evidence is driving decisions about foreign assistance right now.).

NPR @npr.org · Aug 6

This man in Mozambique is one of many who've received a cash sum with no strings attached. The Trump administration has criticized and curtailed the practice. Advocates are pushing back with evidence.

With $1K in cash aid, he built a life-changing barbershop. Now cash aid is under fire

This man in Mozambique is one of many who've received a cash sum with no strings attached. The Trump administration has criticized and curtailed the practice. Advocates are pushing back with evidence.

n.pr

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Owen Barder @owen.org · Aug 4

This is true - but it is only going to be politically feasible if digital systems are also designed to protect the liberty and privacy of the citizen.

That is possible, but it has not been on offer in the UK.

owen.org/blog/12159/

Why we need government digital identities and how to do it safely - Owen Abroad

The Government is considering whether and how to introduce digital government identities. This is partly because the Tony Blair Institute has made the case (here) and also because - as the Institute c...

owen.org

Owen Barder @owen.org · Aug 4

Same in Denmark, where much of my family lives.

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Owen Barder @owen.org · Aug 4

Why we need government digital identities and how to do it safely.

New by me, restating what was clear 20 years ago.

owen.org/blog/12159/

Why we need government digital identities and how to do it safely - Owen Abroad

The Government is considering whether and how to introduce digital government identities. This is partly because the Tony Blair Institute has made the case (here) and also because - as the Institute c...

owen.org

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Owen Barder @owen.org · Aug 1

New from me: are we 'freeloading' on US innovation?

President Trump thinks we are.
Q: is this important? A: Yes, very.
Q: Is President Trump's solution a good one? A: No.
Q: What should we do instead? A: see my blog post ...

owen.org/blog/12125/

Are we ‘freeloading’ on US innovation? – Owen Abroad

owen.org

Owen Barder @owen.org · Jul 31

I'm not excited about the machine refusing to work if I don't feel like doing this though.

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Owen Barder @owen.org · Jul 31

My Siemens coffee machine threatens to stop working if I do not frequently use (expensive) descaling tablets. I keep wondering if this is even legal.

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Owen Barder @owen.org · Jul 31

Why doesn't the Government provide a simple age verification service?

owen.org/blog/12110/

Age verification as digital public infrastructure – Owen Abroad

owen.org

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Owen Barder @owen.org · Jul 30

True. He does have a good way of getting a point across.

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Owen Barder @owen.org · Jul 30

That said, it was a good piece by Janan today.

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Owen Barder @owen.org · Jul 30

I thought this was a pretty familar point? It is a version of survivorship bias. Today's architecture, pop songs, literature, companies etc seem worse because we compare the average today with the selection from the past that survives - on our streets, playlists, bookshelves and in our memories.

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Owen Barder @owen.org · Jul 30

The token could be bound to the device?

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