Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 13h

@johnthornhill.bsky.social right here: The hype around AGI is not only ridiculous - but distracts from the very important gains that we should get from AI systems.

We are unlikely to have human level AI soon - but we could easily have higher productivity - which would be very useful.

Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 13h

The flawed Silicon Valley consensus on AI - excellent column by @johnthornhill.bsky.social. "Instead of hyperventilating about AI ushering in a new era of abundance, wouldn’t it be better to drop the rhetoric and build AI systems for more defined, realisable goals?" www.ft.com/content/3474...

The flawed Silicon Valley consensus on AI

Serious questions remain about what will happen if we do — and don’t — replicate human intelligence

www.ft.com

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Reposted by Rob Blackie

Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 13h

The flawed Silicon Valley consensus on AI - excellent column by @johnthornhill.bsky.social. "Instead of hyperventilating about AI ushering in a new era of abundance, wouldn’t it be better to drop the rhetoric and build AI systems for more defined, realisable goals?" www.ft.com/content/3474...

The flawed Silicon Valley consensus on AI

Serious questions remain about what will happen if we do — and don’t — replicate human intelligence

www.ft.com

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Reposted by Rob Blackie

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 15h

Tomorrow, a week on from Thursday's attack on the Manchester synagogue, this will be marked as a day of solidarity and mourning by civic groups from across all faiths and none. You are also invited to join online sharing #britainstandstogether

More information
together.org.uk/articles/bri...

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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 17h

Stop the bats.

Clearly your car.

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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 17h

Hamish Badenoch is who?!

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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 17h

Let's hope for something better!

Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 17h

No?!

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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 17h

If you want to abolish stamp duty, and bring in a land value tax, here is a good way to do it:

Abolish stamp duty for people moving house - but only levy the land value tax on those properties.

Now there is a short term cost but at the gain of long term tax revenues.

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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 17h

Thank you.

Reposted by Rob Blackie

James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 19h

Badenoch does not provide even the slightest hint as to what her 'proper' strategy for tackling climate change would be.

The plan is lots of policies that would increase emissions and undermine clean tech investment, while insisting the party is not climate sceptic.

Deeply, deeply unserious.

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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 19h

Excellent article from Stephen Bush.

Robert Jenrick is being openly racist by judging people by the colour of their skin, and it's a scandal that he's not been sacked.

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 20h

One of the Conservative party's contributions to our country has been keeping people who think you can measure integration through skin colour out of office - what next, are they only going to be lukewarm on the property-owning democracy?

Thank the Tories for keeping Robert Jenrick out of high office

Shadow justice secretary’s comment about not seeing a ‘white face’ shows he does not understand integration

www.ft.com

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Reposted by Rob Blackie

Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 20h

Without one I just couldn’t balance work/kids and would have given in and bought a car. The biggest challenge for mass take-up is everyone’s buying them through regressive Cycle to Work tax dodge. So a £5k bike costs 12 x £241 monthly payments if you’re high earner or 12 x £416 if you’re in poverty.

Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 1d

Electric cargo bikes can replace many everyday car trips for the average family and “reshape suburban family mobility”, say Oxford University researchers. 49 British households were loaned e-cargo bikes for school runs, shopping trips, family outings and other day-to-day use.

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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 19h

This morning I met an MP's team who got a voicemail from somebody in a shared house complaining that the washing machine was being used to wash cats.

On investigation it turned out to be... The cat's blanket.

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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 20h

@gavinjackson.bsky.social

I thought this would be interesting given our exchange the other day.

Joachim Klement research on inequality of spending in the USA

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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 21h

Lime are making big money out of ebikes in London.

There's a danger that they will become an monopoly - driving their competitors out of business. And if that happens, we can expect prices to rise.

Just like they did when Uber dominated London's minicabs.

Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 1d

Lime’s UK revenue from renting out e-bikes and scooters hit £111m last year. www.londoncentric.media/p/lime-is-ea...

Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 22h

If you want to damage economic growth, then mandating British steel for construction is an excellent way to do it.

Higher prices for building things, and much less ability to negotiate a good price with the small number of steel producers.

Sharon Graham @unitesharon.bsky.social · 22h

The UK must introduce strict rules to ensure that all UK infrastructure developments & public sector projects must use domestic produced steel. This must be the first step in protecting a foundation industry which is critical for the economic success of our nation & vital for national security. 2/2

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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 22h

A reminder of how the world works: even the government finds money down the back of the sofa.

Chris Giles @chrisgiles.ft.com · 23h

There goes my long held view that cash government receipts were accurate because you just had to add some columns in a bank account

on.ft.com/3J0Y6yE ONS revises down government borrowing estimates after data error

ONS revises down UK government borrowing by £2bn after VAT error

[FREE TO READ] Office for National Statistics reduces estimate for current fiscal year just weeks before Rachel Reeves’ Budget

on.ft.com

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Reposted by Rob Blackie

Omar Khan @omaromalleykhan.bsky.social · 1d

I know statistics are poorly understood and are misused. But facts matter

Between the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them

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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 1d

So they actually want 88% immigrants? That's an intriguing turn.

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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 1d

Glad I'm not the only person humming it!

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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 1d

Reform's idea of a great country is the UAE.

Which is 88% immigrants.

Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 1d

We must emulate the United Arab Emirates, apparently.

Where to even start...?

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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 1d

BTW you might find this (and the video that prompted it) interesting on this note.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3HB...

Some thoughts on the Sutton interview

YouTube video by Dwarkesh Patel

www.youtube.com

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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 1d

This is the fundamental LLM problem: It knows nothing except words. And words aren't the same as reality.

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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 1d

I'm going to be astonished if they announce the final figures before the local elections in London.... unless they really want to have a catastrophic result?

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Reposted by Rob Blackie

Dov Waxman @dovwaxman.bsky.social · 1d

On the second anniversary of the outbreak of the Gaza war that Hamas initiated with its horrific surprise attack in southern Israel, it’s worth taking stock of the war’s devastating toll. Here's a long thread, which is not exhaustive, of the toll:

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