Joe Hodson
@joehodson.bsky.social
Paralegal with masters in international maritime law, interested in languages, ethics, governance, environmental protection and human rights. Mythology-loving humanist.
Reposted by Joe Hodson
I think the AI discourse gets far too wrapped up in ideal use cases (only a small number of which exist) and neglects the profound negative externalities this industry and its finances impose on society. Only focusing on the good is childish; adults can recognize good and bad can exist in tension.
"A number of high-profile AI staffers have decided to call it quits, with some explicitly warning that the companies they worked for are moving too fast and downplaying the technology’s shortcomings."
By design, Gen AI privileges speeding up, when really what we all need is to sloooooow down.
By design, Gen AI privileges speeding up, when really what we all need is to sloooooow down.
AI researchers are sounding the alarm on their way out the door | CNN Business
“The world is in peril,” warned the former head of Anthropic’s Safeguards Research team as he headed for the exit. A researcher for OpenAI, similarly on the way out, said that the technology has “a po...
www.cnn.com
February 12, 2026 at 3:10 PM
I think the AI discourse gets far too wrapped up in ideal use cases (only a small number of which exist) and neglects the profound negative externalities this industry and its finances impose on society. Only focusing on the good is childish; adults can recognize good and bad can exist in tension.
Reposted by Joe Hodson
An extremely short horror story I wrote, set in the future.
February 12, 2026 at 11:40 AM
An extremely short horror story I wrote, set in the future.
I worry that a "commission" on PR might kick the can too far down the road. We need protection from minority rule before the next roll of the electoral dice!
The Gov have just announced major reforms to our democracy with the draft Representation of the People Bill, aiming to protect against foreign interference & empower young people. I've long been pushing for these changes. Here's what I want to see in the Bill. ⬇️
#Disinformation #Democracy
#Disinformation #Democracy
February 12, 2026 at 9:39 AM
I worry that a "commission" on PR might kick the can too far down the road. We need protection from minority rule before the next roll of the electoral dice!
Reposted by Joe Hodson
Right, another key thing that historians do is working with important records that have not been digitized.
And the vast majority of the world’s records *have not been digitized* and thus do not exist in any format that LLMs/AI can work with.
And the vast majority of the world’s records *have not been digitized* and thus do not exist in any format that LLMs/AI can work with.
it's literally impossible for an LLM to do a historian's job
it's not even LLMs sucking it's that they need data input to do anything and where's that data supposed to be coming from without historians
never met a computer that can dig through a thousand year old book in a library
it's not even LLMs sucking it's that they need data input to do anything and where's that data supposed to be coming from without historians
never met a computer that can dig through a thousand year old book in a library
February 11, 2026 at 8:36 PM
Right, another key thing that historians do is working with important records that have not been digitized.
And the vast majority of the world’s records *have not been digitized* and thus do not exist in any format that LLMs/AI can work with.
And the vast majority of the world’s records *have not been digitized* and thus do not exist in any format that LLMs/AI can work with.
Reposted by Joe Hodson
Point of no return: a hellish ‘hothouse Earth’ getting closer, scientists say
Point of no return: a hellish ‘hothouse Earth’ getting closer, scientists say
Continued global heating could set irreversible course by triggering climate tipping points, but most people unaware
The world is closer than thought to a “point of no return” after which runaway global heating cannot be stopped, scientists have said.
Continued global heating could trigger climate tipping points, leading to a cascade of further tipping points and feedback loops, they said. This would lock the world into a new and hellish “hothouse Earth” climate far worse than the 2-3C temperature rise the world is on track to reach. The climate would also be very different to the benign conditions of the past 11,000 years, during which the whole of human civilisation developed. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
February 11, 2026 at 4:06 PM
Point of no return: a hellish ‘hothouse Earth’ getting closer, scientists say
Contemptible! No product deserves this kind of artificial protection from competing products designed as direct substitutes and advertised as such in an honest way.
Oatly banned from using word ‘milk’ to market plant-based products in UK
Oatly banned from using word ‘milk’ to market plant-based products in UK
Supreme court makes ruling after Swedish firm’s long-running battle with trade association Dairy UK
*
Business live – latest updates
The Swedish-based drinks manufacturer Oatly has been banned from using the word “milk” to market its plant-based products, after a ruling by the UK supreme court.
The alt-milk manufacturer has been in a long-running legal battle with the trade association Dairy UK after Oatly trademarked phrases associated with the dairy sector. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
February 11, 2026 at 1:19 PM
Contemptible! No product deserves this kind of artificial protection from competing products designed as direct substitutes and advertised as such in an honest way.
Reposted by Joe Hodson
The timewasters who brought this case are going to have a fit when they hear about peanut butter and lemon curd.
February 11, 2026 at 12:50 PM
The timewasters who brought this case are going to have a fit when they hear about peanut butter and lemon curd.
Reposted by Joe Hodson
🔥Climate change is fueling deadly fire conditions that threaten some of the world’s oldest trees🌳
New analysis by @wwattribution.bsky.social has found that climate change made the weather that accompanied recent wildfires in Chile and Argentina about 2.5-3 times more likely 🧵
New analysis by @wwattribution.bsky.social has found that climate change made the weather that accompanied recent wildfires in Chile and Argentina about 2.5-3 times more likely 🧵
February 11, 2026 at 10:23 AM
🔥Climate change is fueling deadly fire conditions that threaten some of the world’s oldest trees🌳
New analysis by @wwattribution.bsky.social has found that climate change made the weather that accompanied recent wildfires in Chile and Argentina about 2.5-3 times more likely 🧵
New analysis by @wwattribution.bsky.social has found that climate change made the weather that accompanied recent wildfires in Chile and Argentina about 2.5-3 times more likely 🧵
Mass murderers
‘Total Victory’ for a small group of conservative ideologues; complete disaster for the planet and its inhabitants. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/c...
Trump Allies Near ‘Total Victory’ in Wiping Out U.S. Climate Regulation
www.nytimes.com
February 10, 2026 at 9:09 PM
Mass murderers
Reposted by Joe Hodson
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW: “.. In our in-progress research, we discovered that AI tools didn’t reduce work, they consistently intensified it.”
hbr.org/2026/02/ai-d...
hbr.org/2026/02/ai-d...
February 10, 2026 at 1:17 PM
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW: “.. In our in-progress research, we discovered that AI tools didn’t reduce work, they consistently intensified it.”
hbr.org/2026/02/ai-d...
hbr.org/2026/02/ai-d...
Reposted by Joe Hodson
Israel committed war crimes "before the eyes" of Labour politicians.
Labour's response was to provide them with training, weapons, intelligence and political support.
Labour's response was to provide them with training, weapons, intelligence and political support.
Wes Streeting told Peter Mandelson that Israel was 'committing war crimes before our eyes', messages between the two men have revealed
Wes Streeting told Peter Mandelson: 'Israel is committing war crimes before our eyes'
www.thenational.scot
February 10, 2026 at 1:43 PM
Israel committed war crimes "before the eyes" of Labour politicians.
Labour's response was to provide them with training, weapons, intelligence and political support.
Labour's response was to provide them with training, weapons, intelligence and political support.
Reposted by Joe Hodson
Something compelled me to make this
February 10, 2026 at 10:57 AM
Something compelled me to make this
Reposted by Joe Hodson
AOC on DHS Warehouses: I think every American should be alarmed. They are building—and have built—a black box system that disappears people, both immigrants and U.S. citizens alike.
February 10, 2026 at 1:30 AM
AOC on DHS Warehouses: I think every American should be alarmed. They are building—and have built—a black box system that disappears people, both immigrants and U.S. citizens alike.
February 9, 2026 at 6:26 PM
You can cherry pick Jesus either way.
He is not such a benign progressive male role model when, for instance, he talks about how he's going to throw lawbreakers into a fiery furnace like he's Nebuchadnezzar. Or when his relationship with the church is likened to an expressly patriarchal marriage.
He is not such a benign progressive male role model when, for instance, he talks about how he's going to throw lawbreakers into a fiery furnace like he's Nebuchadnezzar. Or when his relationship with the church is likened to an expressly patriarchal marriage.
Jesus, in the gospels, is not what we, or for that matter, the ancient world, would have thought of as “virile”, which is to say, “sexually dominant”, writes Anglican priest Alice Goodman
Clerical life: Jesus isn‘t manly enough for the far right
The thwarted desire for a certain kind of male saviour has been with us from the beginning
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
February 9, 2026 at 12:32 PM
You can cherry pick Jesus either way.
He is not such a benign progressive male role model when, for instance, he talks about how he's going to throw lawbreakers into a fiery furnace like he's Nebuchadnezzar. Or when his relationship with the church is likened to an expressly patriarchal marriage.
He is not such a benign progressive male role model when, for instance, he talks about how he's going to throw lawbreakers into a fiery furnace like he's Nebuchadnezzar. Or when his relationship with the church is likened to an expressly patriarchal marriage.
Reposted by Joe Hodson
We are all going to just have to work much harder to force this government to bring forward electoral reform. How, I don't quite know but there are better brains than mine to know what to do. But my God we need to get it done.
February 9, 2026 at 9:11 AM
We are all going to just have to work much harder to force this government to bring forward electoral reform. How, I don't quite know but there are better brains than mine to know what to do. But my God we need to get it done.
Reposted by Joe Hodson
Agreed. One of the problems with British Parliamentary democracy is that it is TOO presidential. Proportional representation and coalition government would break down the centralising tendencies of the “main” parties and lead to more honest and forthright parliamentarians.
Presidential democracy is certainly worse though.
February 9, 2026 at 9:09 AM
Agreed. One of the problems with British Parliamentary democracy is that it is TOO presidential. Proportional representation and coalition government would break down the centralising tendencies of the “main” parties and lead to more honest and forthright parliamentarians.
Reposted by Joe Hodson
Justifications for dragging the Labour Party to the right almost always cite winning the next general election. You can’t do anything if you’re not in power. But what is the point of winning if you don’t do anything useful when you are in power? Lying to get elected is destroying trust.
It's telling that all of the defences of McSweeney focus on the last general election, rather than anything at all he has been responsible for since
February 9, 2026 at 8:46 AM
Justifications for dragging the Labour Party to the right almost always cite winning the next general election. You can’t do anything if you’re not in power. But what is the point of winning if you don’t do anything useful when you are in power? Lying to get elected is destroying trust.
Reposted by Joe Hodson
Pls read whole piece. Neither Mandelson or Mosley were asked about Mandelson’s role in fixing Starmer’s visit to Palantir & subsequent £240m deal. It finally made headlines on Weds when a q was asked in Parliament.
But honestly, BBC also has qs to answer
open.substack.com/pub/broligar...
But honestly, BBC also has qs to answer
open.substack.com/pub/broligar...
Peter Thiel's New Model Army
The Palantirisation of the UK military is a national security disaster
open.substack.com
February 8, 2026 at 10:13 AM
Pls read whole piece. Neither Mandelson or Mosley were asked about Mandelson’s role in fixing Starmer’s visit to Palantir & subsequent £240m deal. It finally made headlines on Weds when a q was asked in Parliament.
But honestly, BBC also has qs to answer
open.substack.com/pub/broligar...
But honestly, BBC also has qs to answer
open.substack.com/pub/broligar...
Reposted by Joe Hodson
It's also genuinely and intensely depressing that the people who like to think themselves the sensible grown ups in the room view climate action as, effectively, a frivolous little luxury for the wokies as opposed to a simple necessity if we want civilisation to continue relatively successfully
February 8, 2026 at 6:00 PM
It's also genuinely and intensely depressing that the people who like to think themselves the sensible grown ups in the room view climate action as, effectively, a frivolous little luxury for the wokies as opposed to a simple necessity if we want civilisation to continue relatively successfully
Oh happy day!
February 8, 2026 at 5:38 PM
Oh happy day!
It's obviously good that a certain disgraced former Prince has been stripped of all his titles.
But I also think it's important to not simply call him by his lone first name, because that still gives him a certain unmerited distinction from how we talk about other public figures.
But I also think it's important to not simply call him by his lone first name, because that still gives him a certain unmerited distinction from how we talk about other public figures.
February 8, 2026 at 11:25 AM
It's obviously good that a certain disgraced former Prince has been stripped of all his titles.
But I also think it's important to not simply call him by his lone first name, because that still gives him a certain unmerited distinction from how we talk about other public figures.
But I also think it's important to not simply call him by his lone first name, because that still gives him a certain unmerited distinction from how we talk about other public figures.
"The parliamentary system breaks down if the governing party’s leadership can threaten their internal opponents with losing their seats unless they fall into line."
itcouldbesaid.substack.com/p/it-could-b... This was meant to be about Labour's alternatives to Starmer but I just wrote & wrote about what a moral disgrace he is that I realised that was the column. Starmer is a bad man doing bad things for bad reasons. Quitting now is the only way to prove me wrong
It Could Be Said #84 Sir Keir Starmer Is Not A Good Man
Will is tired of pretending that he thinks the Prime Minister is honourable
itcouldbesaid.substack.com
February 8, 2026 at 9:06 AM
"The parliamentary system breaks down if the governing party’s leadership can threaten their internal opponents with losing their seats unless they fall into line."
Reposted by Joe Hodson
The commandment to offer the firstborn
YouTube video by Dan McClellan
youtu.be
February 7, 2026 at 6:43 PM
Reposted by Joe Hodson
If he does he is basically saying he wants Reform to win. This would be a spectaculary arrogant, and delusional, choice for Starmer, which let's be honest would at least be on brand. Labour won't win a General Election with Starmer as leader no matter when it's called, let's just face that reality.
Will Keir Starmer use his nuclear option to try to head off a leadership challenge? www.independent.co.uk/voices/keir-...
Will Keir Starmer use his nuclear option to try to head off a leadership challenge?
The prime minister’s allies have hinted that he will call a general election, says John Rentoul
www.independent.co.uk
February 7, 2026 at 4:30 PM
If he does he is basically saying he wants Reform to win. This would be a spectaculary arrogant, and delusional, choice for Starmer, which let's be honest would at least be on brand. Labour won't win a General Election with Starmer as leader no matter when it's called, let's just face that reality.