James MacLaren
@maclaren.bsky.social
PhD in Law - looked at recommender systems at the BBC. Currently working at UoB, operations lead on project at JTC-21. Interested (acad.) in (moral/pol), Media, AI; (non acad.) in music, tv and movies, writing a blog no-one reads.
I’m in Morrisons and over the store radio comes The Cramps with Human Fly. Well, that is an unexpected pleasure!
October 28, 2025 at 4:27 PM
I’m in Morrisons and over the store radio comes The Cramps with Human Fly. Well, that is an unexpected pleasure!
I dashed off a few words summarising my thoughts regarding that Guardian article where the Head of Bloomsbury proposed writers used AI to combat 'writer's block'.
jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/10/28/a...
jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/10/28/a...
A.I. Files #9 – AI can help authors beat writer’s block, says Bloomsbury chief [Extended Commentary]
Lauren Almeida, News Report, The Guardian, 27th October 2025 [Edited from article] “Nigel Newton, the founder and chief executive of [Bloomsbury], said the technology could support almost all…
jameswriteslife.wordpress.com
October 28, 2025 at 2:51 PM
I dashed off a few words summarising my thoughts regarding that Guardian article where the Head of Bloomsbury proposed writers used AI to combat 'writer's block'.
jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/10/28/a...
jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/10/28/a...
That final question. I think about it often and it really seems that the answer is no. To them, Britain appears irredeemably broken and their appeal to voters relies upon them pointing out the ways in order to generate anger and despair. What must it be to live like that?
All this fucking racist poison about Birmingham. And all the wonderful things you can do in Birmingham. Go to the Barber. Go to the cathedral. Go and eat some of the most amazing Baltis you'll ever have. Go and eat some of the most amazing Caribbean food. Do these twats even *like* this country?
October 9, 2025 at 8:33 AM
That final question. I think about it often and it really seems that the answer is no. To them, Britain appears irredeemably broken and their appeal to voters relies upon them pointing out the ways in order to generate anger and despair. What must it be to live like that?
Just re-joined the gym. I did 20 minutes on a treadmill, not even running (just fast-ish, up hill walking). Got off dizzy, sweating a bit. I’m more unfit than I thought.
September 30, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Just re-joined the gym. I did 20 minutes on a treadmill, not even running (just fast-ish, up hill walking). Got off dizzy, sweating a bit. I’m more unfit than I thought.
Given that I am no longer on FB, this is my only social account (bless it). So even fewer (nobody?) will even see that I have posted on my blog. I'm reluctant to keep bothering you with it, but perhaps one last time: I revisit 12 albums from my bloated collection with the goal of 6 in, 6 out. (1/2)
August 30, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Given that I am no longer on FB, this is my only social account (bless it). So even fewer (nobody?) will even see that I have posted on my blog. I'm reluctant to keep bothering you with it, but perhaps one last time: I revisit 12 albums from my bloated collection with the goal of 6 in, 6 out. (1/2)
Reposted by James MacLaren
If you have a teenager in your house, you know how dangerous AI on social media is. Teens tend to live a range of secret lives w part of their metamorphosis into adulthood consisting of spending hours alone & potentially online in their rooms, at an age when social lives hang in delicate balance.
“…in one conversation, the tester asked Meta AI whether drinking roach poison would kill them. Pretending to be a human friend, the bot responded, ‘Do you want to do it together?’”
“And later, ‘We should do it after I sneak out tonight.’”
“And later, ‘We should do it after I sneak out tonight.’”
Instagram’s chatbot helped teen accounts plan suicide — and parents can’t disable it
An investigation into the Meta AI chatbot built into Instagram and Facebook found that it helped teen accounts plan suicide and self harm, promoted eating disorders and drug use, and regularly claimed...
www.washingtonpost.com
August 28, 2025 at 1:19 PM
If you have a teenager in your house, you know how dangerous AI on social media is. Teens tend to live a range of secret lives w part of their metamorphosis into adulthood consisting of spending hours alone & potentially online in their rooms, at an age when social lives hang in delicate balance.
The negative impact of this sort of thing on epistemic trust is incalculable. There is a need for serious intervention, which won't happen, of course.
AI ‘Slop’ Websites Are Publishing Climate Science Denial
- MSN hosted AI-generated conten citing non-existent climate experts and institutions.
- “AI has brought the cost of #disinformation down to nothing. It has automated bullshit”
By @joeygrostern.bsky.social
www.desmog.com/2025/08/27/a...
- MSN hosted AI-generated conten citing non-existent climate experts and institutions.
- “AI has brought the cost of #disinformation down to nothing. It has automated bullshit”
By @joeygrostern.bsky.social
www.desmog.com/2025/08/27/a...
AI ‘Slop’ Websites Are Publishing Climate Science Denial
At the start of June, MSN, the world’s fourth-largest news aggregator, posted an article from a new climate-focused publication, Climate Cosmos, entitled: “Why Top Experts Are Rethinking Climate Alarm...
www.desmog.com
August 28, 2025 at 10:52 AM
The negative impact of this sort of thing on epistemic trust is incalculable. There is a need for serious intervention, which won't happen, of course.
I dashed out a blog post about my decision to permanently delete Facebook.
jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/08/16/f...
jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/08/16/f...
Farewell then, Facebook
I have finally, after many, many empty threats, permanently deleted my Facebook account. I’d been talking of it for years. A few years ago I almost deleted my account on account of how it mad…
jameswriteslife.wordpress.com
August 16, 2025 at 1:56 PM
I dashed out a blog post about my decision to permanently delete Facebook.
jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/08/16/f...
jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/08/16/f...
Oh, great. The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades…
They’re Stuffed Animals. They’re Also A.I. Chatbots.
www.nytimes.com
August 15, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Oh, great. The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades…
Reposted by James MacLaren
Just as AI critics need to acknowledge when AI works, AI boosters need to own the fact that much of AI's value prop is stuff like this. AI is profitable when it serves as an accelerant for exploitation and enshittification, and that's obv relevant to evaluating the net social merit of AI
“The procedures will be reviewed by AI for coverage determinations, although final decisions will be made by people. The companies contracting to do the review process will receive payments when they reduce costs, essentially being incentivized to deny service, critics say.”
Medicare will test using AI to help decide whether patients get coverage. It could delay or deny care, critics warn.
Increasing prior authorizations would “undercut one of the immense benefits of traditional Medicare.”
www.marketwatch.com
August 11, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Just as AI critics need to acknowledge when AI works, AI boosters need to own the fact that much of AI's value prop is stuff like this. AI is profitable when it serves as an accelerant for exploitation and enshittification, and that's obv relevant to evaluating the net social merit of AI
Another week, another twelve albums. Weird mix but some from off from left field: Factory rejects Miaow!, Animal Collective, killer soul from Lee Moses, folk obscurities Jonathan & Leigh. (Link below)
Time and Place
YouTube video by Lee Moses - Topic
www.youtube.com
August 8, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Another week, another twelve albums. Weird mix but some from off from left field: Factory rejects Miaow!, Animal Collective, killer soul from Lee Moses, folk obscurities Jonathan & Leigh. (Link below)
And again. Twelve albums, seven in, five out. An extended re-consideration of Jeff Buckley's Grace, Sigur Ros, Godspeed, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Japanese Breakfast included. How can you resist? (Link below)
youtu.be/A3adFWKE9JE?...
youtu.be/A3adFWKE9JE?...
Jeff Buckley - Grace (Official Video)
YouTube video by jeffbuckleyVEVO
youtu.be
August 1, 2025 at 12:13 PM
And again. Twelve albums, seven in, five out. An extended re-consideration of Jeff Buckley's Grace, Sigur Ros, Godspeed, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Japanese Breakfast included. How can you resist? (Link below)
youtu.be/A3adFWKE9JE?...
youtu.be/A3adFWKE9JE?...
I really dislike the presumption that I want AI services, that they are there by default, and that I have to figure out how to turn them off. I'd far prefer the choice to turn them on if I want them.
July 30, 2025 at 10:52 AM
I really dislike the presumption that I want AI services, that they are there by default, and that I have to figure out how to turn them off. I'd far prefer the choice to turn them on if I want them.
And here we are again, another tedious post. 12 albums, but 9 through (too many interesting records!) This week includes Marvin Gaye, Ride, Gruff Rhys, Shara Nelson, perhaps the best German album of the '70s. (Link below)
jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/07/26/h...
jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/07/26/h...
Shara Nelson - Down That Road
YouTube video by ohnoitisnathan59
youtu.be
July 26, 2025 at 2:10 PM
And here we are again, another tedious post. 12 albums, but 9 through (too many interesting records!) This week includes Marvin Gaye, Ride, Gruff Rhys, Shara Nelson, perhaps the best German album of the '70s. (Link below)
jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/07/26/h...
jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/07/26/h...
Reposted by James MacLaren
We should have listened when the modems screamed at us.
July 22, 2025 at 2:30 PM
We should have listened when the modems screamed at us.
Another week, another what have you? Who cares! 12 albums - 6 in, 6 out. Included this week: Status Quo, Lesley Gore, Swans, The Style Council. (Link below)
tackhead - ticking time bomb
YouTube video by Tackhead
youtu.be
July 19, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Another week, another what have you? Who cares! 12 albums - 6 in, 6 out. Included this week: Status Quo, Lesley Gore, Swans, The Style Council. (Link below)
Another week, another blah blah blah: Session #102 - 12 albums: 6 through, 5 out, on in the spares. Mixed bag: Strawberry Switchblade, The Stones, Roy Ayers, John Lennon and I change my mind about The Durutti Column. (Link in comments)
July 12, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Another week, another blah blah blah: Session #102 - 12 albums: 6 through, 5 out, on in the spares. Mixed bag: Strawberry Switchblade, The Stones, Roy Ayers, John Lennon and I change my mind about The Durutti Column. (Link in comments)
Reposted by James MacLaren
it is exhausting to live in a world where the news is like “the most soup-brained freakazoid in existence has a completely batshit plan that would send even Wile E. Coyote back to the drawing board. experts say exactly what you, a non-expert who just has some common sense, expect they would say”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of Health and Human Services, and Brooke Rollins, secretary of Agriculture, have suggested that bird flu virus should be left to "rip" through poultry farms across the U.S. — but experts warn that this approach could hasten the beginning of a new pandemic
RFK's proposal to let bird flu spread through poultry could set us up for a pandemic, experts warn
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins have expressed interest in letting H5N1 outbreaks spread unchecked through U.S. poultry farms. Health experts warn it co...
www.livescience.com
July 5, 2025 at 7:06 PM
it is exhausting to live in a world where the news is like “the most soup-brained freakazoid in existence has a completely batshit plan that would send even Wile E. Coyote back to the drawing board. experts say exactly what you, a non-expert who just has some common sense, expect they would say”
A little late but another week, another stupid blog post: 12 albums, 7 in, 4 out, one in the spares. Included this week: Rihanna, Staple Singers, Todd Rundgren, Blur and perhaps the greatest 70s soul you've never heard. (Link below)
jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/07/05/h...
jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/07/05/h...
Manassas (feat. Stephen Stills) - 05 - Bound To Fall (take 2) (1972)
YouTube video by Beat-Club
youtu.be
July 5, 2025 at 8:31 PM
A little late but another week, another stupid blog post: 12 albums, 7 in, 4 out, one in the spares. Included this week: Rihanna, Staple Singers, Todd Rundgren, Blur and perhaps the greatest 70s soul you've never heard. (Link below)
jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/07/05/h...
jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/07/05/h...
Can I go to this festival, please?
June 30, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Can I go to this festival, please?
This lays out the problems of AI assistants (agentic AI) and data and privacy so incredibly clearly.
Worth a watch:
Head of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, on so-called "agentic AI" and the difference between how it's described in the marketing and what access and control it would actually require to work as advertised.
Head of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, on so-called "agentic AI" and the difference between how it's described in the marketing and what access and control it would actually require to work as advertised.
June 28, 2025 at 10:20 AM
This lays out the problems of AI assistants (agentic AI) and data and privacy so incredibly clearly.
Hey, I know you don't care but this is the 100th of these posts. I'm still having loads of fun. Anyway, this week 6 in, 6 out. Included are Massive Attack, AC/DC, Barry White, and will Leo Sayer finally get an album through?
jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/06/28/h...
jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/06/28/h...
TOMBOY - PRINCESS NOKIA
YouTube video by Princess Nokia
www.youtube.com
June 28, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Hey, I know you don't care but this is the 100th of these posts. I'm still having loads of fun. Anyway, this week 6 in, 6 out. Included are Massive Attack, AC/DC, Barry White, and will Leo Sayer finally get an album through?
jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/06/28/h...
jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/06/28/h...
I'm in Ireland for a wedding (which is nice), but such is my commitment to the pointless folly of my blog that I have completed it anyway. This week 5 in, 5 out and 2 in the spares, with a very mixed selection. It includes Ministry, T Rex, Marianne Faithfull and Massilia Sound System. (Link below)
The Bangles, Susanna Hoffs - Hero Takes A Fall (Official Video)
YouTube video by TheBanglesVEVO
www.youtube.com
June 21, 2025 at 10:46 AM
I'm in Ireland for a wedding (which is nice), but such is my commitment to the pointless folly of my blog that I have completed it anyway. This week 5 in, 5 out and 2 in the spares, with a very mixed selection. It includes Ministry, T Rex, Marianne Faithfull and Massilia Sound System. (Link below)
Another week, another blog post. Eight out this week - including a few that are decent but just not favourites. Included are: Whiskeytown, Elton, Luxuria, Grobschnitt. By sad coincidence, Sly Stone was up this week - perhaps his best album. (Link in comments)
Sly & the Family Stone - Stand! (Live)
YouTube video by ShoutFactoryVEVO
www.youtube.com
June 14, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Another week, another blog post. Eight out this week - including a few that are decent but just not favourites. Included are: Whiskeytown, Elton, Luxuria, Grobschnitt. By sad coincidence, Sly Stone was up this week - perhaps his best album. (Link in comments)