Chris Pitcher
@cpitcher.bsky.social
Doing NHS digital stuff. Interested in building things, data, coding, and public policy. Previously an apprenticeship coach, school data manager and teacher.
Reposted by Chris Pitcher
Major UK research resources get long-awaited access to GP data
Naomi Allen, chief scientist at @ukbiobank.bsky.social tells me it is a “watershed moment” for the resource and for global health research in @resprofnews.bsky.social
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-i...
Naomi Allen, chief scientist at @ukbiobank.bsky.social tells me it is a “watershed moment” for the resource and for global health research in @resprofnews.bsky.social
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-i...
Major UK research resources get long-awaited access to GP data - Research Professional News
Government directive for sharing health records hailed as “watershed moment” for projects like UK Biobank
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
February 10, 2026 at 3:51 PM
Major UK research resources get long-awaited access to GP data
Naomi Allen, chief scientist at @ukbiobank.bsky.social tells me it is a “watershed moment” for the resource and for global health research in @resprofnews.bsky.social
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-i...
Naomi Allen, chief scientist at @ukbiobank.bsky.social tells me it is a “watershed moment” for the resource and for global health research in @resprofnews.bsky.social
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-i...
Reposted by Chris Pitcher
I wrote an article for Ada National College for Digital Skills, who run digital technology apprenticeships in the UK
GenAI is amplifying the skills gap in software engineering
All the available evidence suggests that GenAI-assisted coding is most powerful in the hands of highly experienced software engineers, while having neutral or even negative effects for less experience...
www.linkedin.com
February 5, 2026 at 1:41 PM
I wrote an article for Ada National College for Digital Skills, who run digital technology apprenticeships in the UK
Reposted by Chris Pitcher
I don't think people appreciate enough the fact that, at a time where global warming was approaching an inflection point yet renewable energy was finally becoming economically viable, we decided to squander that opportunity because literal death cultists decided we needed Infinite Bullshit Machines.
January 31, 2026 at 4:33 AM
I don't think people appreciate enough the fact that, at a time where global warming was approaching an inflection point yet renewable energy was finally becoming economically viable, we decided to squander that opportunity because literal death cultists decided we needed Infinite Bullshit Machines.
The next round in our game of Who Wants To Be A Software Developer is called "Patching and Upgrades". You'll love it!
www.theregister.com/2026/01/30/o...
www.theregister.com/2026/01/30/o...
OpenAI axes ChatGPT models with just two weeks' warning
: GPT-4o gets second death sentence after last year's reprieve, but this time barely anyone's bothered
www.theregister.com
January 30, 2026 at 2:08 PM
The next round in our game of Who Wants To Be A Software Developer is called "Patching and Upgrades". You'll love it!
www.theregister.com/2026/01/30/o...
www.theregister.com/2026/01/30/o...
A colleague posts this morning...
"I have written a few agents on Co-pilot how do I get them to see docs in our local shared drive?"
As I say, lots of people about to discover things like the constant pain of managing permissions.
"I have written a few agents on Co-pilot how do I get them to see docs in our local shared drive?"
As I say, lots of people about to discover things like the constant pain of managing permissions.
Lots of people vibe coding, or playing with AI agents, or even just relying on Copilot to take meeting notes, will quickly find themselves in a tech support role when it misbehaves or breaks or just disappears. And they probably won't like it.
January 30, 2026 at 9:35 AM
A colleague posts this morning...
"I have written a few agents on Co-pilot how do I get them to see docs in our local shared drive?"
As I say, lots of people about to discover things like the constant pain of managing permissions.
"I have written a few agents on Co-pilot how do I get them to see docs in our local shared drive?"
As I say, lots of people about to discover things like the constant pain of managing permissions.
Reposted by Chris Pitcher
Hang on, I had missed the fact that the AI Skills Hub cost £4m. mahadk.com/posts/ai-ski... If this wasn't tax payers' money it would be quite funny. Also, can only assume PWC spent some time rolling around in gold because they did NOT spend it on building this
The UK paid £4.1 million for a bookmarks site
Or, as they like to call it, the 'AI Skills Hub'. Which was built by PwC because of course it was
mahadk.com
January 29, 2026 at 7:31 PM
Hang on, I had missed the fact that the AI Skills Hub cost £4m. mahadk.com/posts/ai-ski... If this wasn't tax payers' money it would be quite funny. Also, can only assume PWC spent some time rolling around in gold because they did NOT spend it on building this
Reposted by Chris Pitcher
Reading an interview with Streeting in the HSJ on 31 Jan 2025
When asked if he would abolish NHS England his response was: "I could spend a lot of time and money changing job titles and email addresses and not make a difference to the patient interest"
2026 Streeting would strongly disagree
When asked if he would abolish NHS England his response was: "I could spend a lot of time and money changing job titles and email addresses and not make a difference to the patient interest"
2026 Streeting would strongly disagree
January 28, 2026 at 10:06 AM
Reading an interview with Streeting in the HSJ on 31 Jan 2025
When asked if he would abolish NHS England his response was: "I could spend a lot of time and money changing job titles and email addresses and not make a difference to the patient interest"
2026 Streeting would strongly disagree
When asked if he would abolish NHS England his response was: "I could spend a lot of time and money changing job titles and email addresses and not make a difference to the patient interest"
2026 Streeting would strongly disagree
Lots of people vibe coding, or playing with AI agents, or even just relying on Copilot to take meeting notes, will quickly find themselves in a tech support role when it misbehaves or breaks or just disappears. And they probably won't like it.
January 28, 2026 at 10:01 AM
Lots of people vibe coding, or playing with AI agents, or even just relying on Copilot to take meeting notes, will quickly find themselves in a tech support role when it misbehaves or breaks or just disappears. And they probably won't like it.
These AI companies are simultaneously the most money-grabbing, cash-burning, hyper-capitalist businesses we've ever seen, whilst they're also...
seizing the means of production.
seizing the means of production.
January 23, 2026 at 10:51 PM
These AI companies are simultaneously the most money-grabbing, cash-burning, hyper-capitalist businesses we've ever seen, whilst they're also...
seizing the means of production.
seizing the means of production.
A lot of people in Trumpworld - especially those who like to use the phrase "there's a new sheriff in town" recently - would do well to remember that 3 years from now the boot could well be on the other foot.
Jack Smith reminds us that the cases against Trump were dismissed “without prejudice.” Meaning they could be brought again.
January 22, 2026 at 5:44 PM
A lot of people in Trumpworld - especially those who like to use the phrase "there's a new sheriff in town" recently - would do well to remember that 3 years from now the boot could well be on the other foot.
Really wish more focus was on the climate crisis aspect of this story, rather than whatever nonsense the orange convicted felon blurted out today (which he will have forgotten by tomorrow) www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Why is Trump interested in Greenland? Look to the thawing Arctic ice | Gaby Hinsliff
Forecasts suggest that global heating could create a shortcut from Asia to North America, and new routes for trading, shipping – and attack, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff
www.theguardian.com
January 18, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Really wish more focus was on the climate crisis aspect of this story, rather than whatever nonsense the orange convicted felon blurted out today (which he will have forgotten by tomorrow) www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Thanks to everyone involved in organising #ukgc26 and all the attendees for a really interesting day. Keen to keep the conversations going especially anyone who wants to get into it around the NHS / healthcare
January 17, 2026 at 8:23 PM
Thanks to everyone involved in organising #ukgc26 and all the attendees for a really interesting day. Keen to keep the conversations going especially anyone who wants to get into it around the NHS / healthcare
Really, really scary stuff coming out of the US.
Stunning photos from Minneapolis, including this one by John Locher for the Associated Press. www.theatlantic.com/photography/...
January 16, 2026 at 11:29 AM
Really, really scary stuff coming out of the US.
Reposted by Chris Pitcher
It's incredible the extent to which an unreliable statistic oscillating around zero is reported each month as if it actually means anything
This happens so often, yet it is still a thing that dominates and guides the news cycle. Governments and policies live and die on these minor fluctuations, which often prove to be inaccurate in any case.
January 15, 2026 at 7:57 AM
It's incredible the extent to which an unreliable statistic oscillating around zero is reported each month as if it actually means anything
In the real world, there are real problems that cannot be solved with a slick pitch.
"Uptime spells out the bottom line bluntly: 'It is unclear how the industry will continue to deliver capacity at the rate that many projections forecast'"
"Uptime spells out the bottom line bluntly: 'It is unclear how the industry will continue to deliver capacity at the rate that many projections forecast'"
Ignore rosy datacenter expansion projections – there isn't enough power
Ignore rosy datacenter expansion projections – there isn't enough power
Grid and generation capacity are not being added fast enough to support the scale of growth many forecasts assume
A looming shortage of electrical power is set to constrain datacenter expansion, potentially leaving many industry growth forecasts looking overly optimistic.…
dlvr.it
January 14, 2026 at 6:49 PM
In the real world, there are real problems that cannot be solved with a slick pitch.
"Uptime spells out the bottom line bluntly: 'It is unclear how the industry will continue to deliver capacity at the rate that many projections forecast'"
"Uptime spells out the bottom line bluntly: 'It is unclear how the industry will continue to deliver capacity at the rate that many projections forecast'"
Just don't see how the LLM bros solve this problem. We are probably at "peak data" it's all downhill from here as slop poisons the well that models train on, even without folk actively speeding it up!
AI industry insiders launch site to poison the data that feeds them
AI industry insiders launch site to poison the data that feeds them
Poison Fountain project seeks allies to fight the power
Alarmed by what companies are building with artificial intelligence models, a handful of industry insiders are calling for those opposed to the current state of affairs to undertake a mass data poisoning effort to undermine the technology.…
dlvr.it
January 11, 2026 at 2:55 PM
Just don't see how the LLM bros solve this problem. We are probably at "peak data" it's all downhill from here as slop poisons the well that models train on, even without folk actively speeding it up!
Billions and billions of dollars burned for this. Massive carbon emissions for this. Rare earth metals wasted for this. What a mess.
Overheard on bus in Baden-Baden yesterday. Grouo of teenage students.
'Our teacher creates his worksheets with ChatGPT; we answer them using ChatGPT; he marks them using ChatGPT.'
Thanks to my translator (human).
'Our teacher creates his worksheets with ChatGPT; we answer them using ChatGPT; he marks them using ChatGPT.'
Thanks to my translator (human).
December 20, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Billions and billions of dollars burned for this. Massive carbon emissions for this. Rare earth metals wasted for this. What a mess.
Reposted by Chris Pitcher
Whatever the merits of the current doctor strikes in England, the BMA campaign is having a dangerous side-effect that will do the NHS great harm...
December 19, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Whatever the merits of the current doctor strikes in England, the BMA campaign is having a dangerous side-effect that will do the NHS great harm...
Pretty obvious limitation of LLMs which gets lost in all the noise is the random element i.e. same prompt gives different result every time. Fine for one-off tasks, not great for automation. The latter is why we bothered invented machines in the first place: reliably doing some repetitive task.
December 19, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Pretty obvious limitation of LLMs which gets lost in all the noise is the random element i.e. same prompt gives different result every time. Fine for one-off tasks, not great for automation. The latter is why we bothered invented machines in the first place: reliably doing some repetitive task.
Reposted by Chris Pitcher
2/ Almost as significant is the clear message being sent by two dates associated with the Black community being deleted, despite both being federal holidays: parks are no longer free to enter on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (third Monday in January) and Juneteenth (June 19).
December 6, 2025 at 2:11 PM
2/ Almost as significant is the clear message being sent by two dates associated with the Black community being deleted, despite both being federal holidays: parks are no longer free to enter on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (third Monday in January) and Juneteenth (June 19).
Reason 954 why a whole bunch of hypothetical AI data centres just ain't going to get built.
The construction industry, where more than a quarter of workers are foreign-born, has long struggled to find enough workers. Now, industry officials say Trump's immigration crackdown is making it worse.
ICE is sending a chill through the construction industry
The construction industry, where more than a quarter of workers are foreign-born, has long struggled to find enough workers. Now, industry officials say Trump's immigration crackdown is making it worse.
n.pr
November 9, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Reason 954 why a whole bunch of hypothetical AI data centres just ain't going to get built.
Interesting article for lots of reasons. For me it shows some key issues with trying to use LLMs in the real world. The main one being: we all MUST remember these models are NOT intelligence... they do not use "logic" in the human sense, certainly not in the way we would want from a juror. 1/n
ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok make very squishy jury members
ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok make very squishy jury members
All three acquitted a teen in a mock trial based on a case where a judge ruled guilty
Law students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law last month held a mock trial to see how AI models administer justice.…
dlvr.it
November 8, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Interesting article for lots of reasons. For me it shows some key issues with trying to use LLMs in the real world. The main one being: we all MUST remember these models are NOT intelligence... they do not use "logic" in the human sense, certainly not in the way we would want from a juror. 1/n
There were certainly hints yesterday. Now this
November 6, 2025 at 8:09 PM
There were certainly hints yesterday. Now this
If the US Supreme Court in their hearing tomorrow about Trump's tariffs even *hint* to a majority of Justices declaring them unconstitutional - combined with the ongoing govt shutdown - these "jitters" could look a whole lot bigger in 24 hours time
Breaking news: US stocks have dropped as jitters over highly elevated valuations for many artificial intelligence companies intensified and top Wall Street executives said markets were vulnerable to a pullback. on.ft.com/4hIMmhj
November 4, 2025 at 10:21 PM
If the US Supreme Court in their hearing tomorrow about Trump's tariffs even *hint* to a majority of Justices declaring them unconstitutional - combined with the ongoing govt shutdown - these "jitters" could look a whole lot bigger in 24 hours time