richardlmac
@richardlmac.bsky.social
Reposted by richardlmac
📢NEW OP-ED! Together with the brilliant @taniaduarte.bsky.social, @markwong.bsky.social, @suoman.bsky.social & @timdavies.org.uk we wrote for @techpolicypress.bsky.social why the new UK Government AI Skills Hub is undermining our democracy.
Our 🔑 points are->🧵
www.techpolicy.press/the-real-cos...
Our 🔑 points are->🧵
www.techpolicy.press/the-real-cos...
The Real Cost of the UK’s ‘Free AI Training for All’ is Democracy
Researchers argue the UK's 'AI Skills Hub' should be re-thought with input from civil society groups and public interest organizations.
www.techpolicy.press
February 10, 2026 at 5:22 PM
📢NEW OP-ED! Together with the brilliant @taniaduarte.bsky.social, @markwong.bsky.social, @suoman.bsky.social & @timdavies.org.uk we wrote for @techpolicypress.bsky.social why the new UK Government AI Skills Hub is undermining our democracy.
Our 🔑 points are->🧵
www.techpolicy.press/the-real-cos...
Our 🔑 points are->🧵
www.techpolicy.press/the-real-cos...
Reposted by richardlmac
@zarahsultana.bsky.social : "[Keir Starmer] had full confidence in a man that was besties with a convicted nonce. What a disgrace.. large sections of the media also played their part. Mandelson didn't simply drift back into public life, he was rehabilitated, rebranded.. "
February 4, 2026 at 4:56 PM
@zarahsultana.bsky.social : "[Keir Starmer] had full confidence in a man that was besties with a convicted nonce. What a disgrace.. large sections of the media also played their part. Mandelson didn't simply drift back into public life, he was rehabilitated, rebranded.. "
I am 100 per cent with this student
Interesting conversation today touched on an example of a student given homework that *required* the use of AI (to generate something and then critique the generation) who refused on the basis of a deep moral objection to AI and said the homework was therefore inaccessible to them.
February 3, 2026 at 6:56 PM
I am 100 per cent with this student
Reposted by richardlmac
Oh, also a related thought. The improving capabilities of AI models doesn't change my view of what human students should learn whatsoever. Our work is to be humans, not something else.
February 2, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Oh, also a related thought. The improving capabilities of AI models doesn't change my view of what human students should learn whatsoever. Our work is to be humans, not something else.
Reposted by richardlmac
The UK government is proposing radical and punitive changes to settlement rules. This is settlement, not citizenship. The consultation is open until 12 February; please respond to it and oppose these evil proposals. Amnesty have a good guide: www.amnesty.org.uk/resources/gu...
Guidance for responding to 'A Fairer Pathway to Settlement' consultation
We are Amnesty International UK. We are ordinary people from across the world standing up for humanity and human rights.
www.amnesty.org.uk
January 22, 2026 at 10:22 AM
The UK government is proposing radical and punitive changes to settlement rules. This is settlement, not citizenship. The consultation is open until 12 February; please respond to it and oppose these evil proposals. Amnesty have a good guide: www.amnesty.org.uk/resources/gu...
I’m with you. I found myself reading a bunch of university library AI statements today and found them uniformly sad in the anxious rush to express their enthusiasm for so-called AI. Cory Doctorow had it right when he said it’s the asbestos of our age.
Whatever my uni declares, I am not going to engage with AI. I am not going to use AI or teach students to use it. I am going to continue to explain to students why it is harmful. Absolutely absurd to allow this anti-intellectual, environmentally devastating technology into the university at all.
January 20, 2026 at 10:36 PM
I’m with you. I found myself reading a bunch of university library AI statements today and found them uniformly sad in the anxious rush to express their enthusiasm for so-called AI. Cory Doctorow had it right when he said it’s the asbestos of our age.
Reposted by richardlmac
Fascinating essay on *why* some cultures are terrified of reheating rice and others just...do it every day.
The justification cycle - racialised thinking, call to science, appeal to long past and/or 'traditional' wisdom - seems universal for this sort of food story #histFood
The justification cycle - racialised thinking, call to science, appeal to long past and/or 'traditional' wisdom - seems universal for this sort of food story #histFood
Grain of Terror
Why is the Western world so afraid of reheating rice? Joe Zadeh reports. Illustration by Ibrahim Rayintakath
open.substack.com
January 19, 2026 at 6:58 PM
Fascinating essay on *why* some cultures are terrified of reheating rice and others just...do it every day.
The justification cycle - racialised thinking, call to science, appeal to long past and/or 'traditional' wisdom - seems universal for this sort of food story #histFood
The justification cycle - racialised thinking, call to science, appeal to long past and/or 'traditional' wisdom - seems universal for this sort of food story #histFood
Reposted by richardlmac
I've put together a list of the most helpful activities/visualizations/tools I've found for introducing students to the mechanics of LLMs (which I do every year). miriamposner.com/blog/introdu...
Introducing beginners to the mechanics of machine learning – Miriam Posner
miriamposner.com
January 12, 2026 at 10:04 PM
I've put together a list of the most helpful activities/visualizations/tools I've found for introducing students to the mechanics of LLMs (which I do every year). miriamposner.com/blog/introdu...
Reposted by richardlmac
An epidemic of workforce demoralization? "Intensive AI use is demotivating and deskilling, fuelling boredom and mediocrity. We could even see a reverse ‘productivity J-curve’: short-term productivity gains rapidly overwhelmed by a deterioration in labour quality" newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
Cédric Durand, After AI — Sidecar
Legacies of the bubble.
newleftreview.org
January 15, 2026 at 2:47 PM
An epidemic of workforce demoralization? "Intensive AI use is demotivating and deskilling, fuelling boredom and mediocrity. We could even see a reverse ‘productivity J-curve’: short-term productivity gains rapidly overwhelmed by a deterioration in labour quality" newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
Reposted by richardlmac
The #Ashes defeat is not a failure of #Bazball, but the culture of English #cricket that led to it.
As #ICEC briefly achieved, the conversation as to why we in the UK are increasingly uncompetitive (and unimaginative) needs to be widened:
angrysoutherneroopnorth.blogspot.com/2025/12/beyo...
As #ICEC briefly achieved, the conversation as to why we in the UK are increasingly uncompetitive (and unimaginative) needs to be widened:
angrysoutherneroopnorth.blogspot.com/2025/12/beyo...
a man wearing a hat and sunglasses is pointing his finger at the camera .
ALT: a man wearing a hat and sunglasses is pointing his finger at the camera .
media.tenor.com
December 31, 2025 at 12:39 PM
The #Ashes defeat is not a failure of #Bazball, but the culture of English #cricket that led to it.
As #ICEC briefly achieved, the conversation as to why we in the UK are increasingly uncompetitive (and unimaginative) needs to be widened:
angrysoutherneroopnorth.blogspot.com/2025/12/beyo...
As #ICEC briefly achieved, the conversation as to why we in the UK are increasingly uncompetitive (and unimaginative) needs to be widened:
angrysoutherneroopnorth.blogspot.com/2025/12/beyo...
I laughed at Barney Ronay’s demolition piece on Will Jacks but also felt uncomfortable about it. And then I read this: The Thick Of It open.substack.com/pub/arrangem...
The Thick Of It
A story in three parts as Adelaide says fuckity-bye to England
open.substack.com
December 23, 2025 at 10:58 AM
I laughed at Barney Ronay’s demolition piece on Will Jacks but also felt uncomfortable about it. And then I read this: The Thick Of It open.substack.com/pub/arrangem...
Reposted by richardlmac
The #Ashes defeat is not simply a failure of the structure of English #cricket. But an example of how British institutions are run by, and in the interests of, the privately educated.
I think (as #ICEC achieved briefly) the conversation needs to be widened:
www.suttontrust.com/our-research...
I think (as #ICEC achieved briefly) the conversation needs to be widened:
www.suttontrust.com/our-research...
Elitist Britain 2019 - The Sutton Trust
Analysis of the educational backgrounds of 5,000 of Britain's leading people.
www.suttontrust.com
December 21, 2025 at 11:16 AM
The #Ashes defeat is not simply a failure of the structure of English #cricket. But an example of how British institutions are run by, and in the interests of, the privately educated.
I think (as #ICEC achieved briefly) the conversation needs to be widened:
www.suttontrust.com/our-research...
I think (as #ICEC achieved briefly) the conversation needs to be widened:
www.suttontrust.com/our-research...
Reposted by richardlmac
Will Jacks and decline of civilisation
www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/d...
www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/d...
Waste of Jacks’ talent speaks volumes for England’s bodged Ashes planning | Barney Ronay
The highly talented England player is simply being used for when either the batting or bowling goes wrong
www.theguardian.com
December 19, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Will Jacks and decline of civilisation
www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/d...
www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/d...
Reposted by richardlmac
I think this post nails the actual problem, for researchers at least—AI hallucinations would simply not be a problem in academic work if we’d not normalized citation-as-signaling rather than actual engagement—you can only cite a fake paper if you’re not in the habit of reading the papers you cite
Do not cite an academic paper unless you’ve read it
AI Is Inventing Academic Papers That Don't Exist -- And They're Being Cited in Real Journals
Academic articles from authors using large language model are creating an ecosystem of fake research that threatens human knowledge itself.
www.rollingstone.com
December 19, 2025 at 7:01 PM
I think this post nails the actual problem, for researchers at least—AI hallucinations would simply not be a problem in academic work if we’d not normalized citation-as-signaling rather than actual engagement—you can only cite a fake paper if you’re not in the habit of reading the papers you cite
Reposted by richardlmac
Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
December 19, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Love this, especially the mournful 41 which carries 67’s ghost.
I have written an elegy to Six-Seven, which is dead, or at least dying. It is not a meme—memes are the purview of greedy adulthood attention thirst—but a case of Childlore. Though irritating, it should have been left alone.
‘Six-Seven’ Is Over
Grown-ups killed it.
www.theatlantic.com
December 12, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Love this, especially the mournful 41 which carries 67’s ghost.
Reposted by richardlmac
🧵
I was driving my quite elderly mother around this wkd and put on one of my fav songs: Gil Scott-Heron’s “Lady Day and John Coltrane.”
“What’s this about?” she asked
“How greats like Billie Holiday can transport you."
"I saw her, you know," mom said. "At the end."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aRN...
I was driving my quite elderly mother around this wkd and put on one of my fav songs: Gil Scott-Heron’s “Lady Day and John Coltrane.”
“What’s this about?” she asked
“How greats like Billie Holiday can transport you."
"I saw her, you know," mom said. "At the end."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aRN...
Gil Scott-Heron - Lady Day And John Coltrane (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Ace Records
www.youtube.com
December 9, 2025 at 7:01 PM
🧵
I was driving my quite elderly mother around this wkd and put on one of my fav songs: Gil Scott-Heron’s “Lady Day and John Coltrane.”
“What’s this about?” she asked
“How greats like Billie Holiday can transport you."
"I saw her, you know," mom said. "At the end."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aRN...
I was driving my quite elderly mother around this wkd and put on one of my fav songs: Gil Scott-Heron’s “Lady Day and John Coltrane.”
“What’s this about?” she asked
“How greats like Billie Holiday can transport you."
"I saw her, you know," mom said. "At the end."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aRN...
Absolutely dripping in condescension. As usual.
Make a political hero of Zack Polanski if you want. Just don’t forget to engage your brain | Marina Hyde
Make a political hero of Zack Polanski if you want. Just don’t forget to engage your brain | Marina Hyde
The Green party leader is riding high in the polls. But across the political spectrum, uncritical adulation leads nowhere fast, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde
www.theguardian.com
December 9, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Absolutely dripping in condescension. As usual.
Before wading in on the Ashes, quips about golf, the presumed arrogance of Bazball, hooting about training too hard etc etc folks should read this: Journey to the End of the Night open.substack.com/pub/arrangem...
Journey to the End of the Night
Cricket turns toxic in the very week it's reminded again of why it shouldn't
open.substack.com
December 8, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Before wading in on the Ashes, quips about golf, the presumed arrogance of Bazball, hooting about training too hard etc etc folks should read this: Journey to the End of the Night open.substack.com/pub/arrangem...
Reposted by richardlmac
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
www.cityam.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:27 AM
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
Reposted by richardlmac
Irony being that the entire Farage-isation of British politics is built on the phenomenon of white right-wingers who don't want to "integrate" with the reality of multi-ethnic Britain, don't want to accept migrants as their fellow citizens, and don't want people of colour moving into their street.
Wow. Robert Jenrick doubles down by branding a black journalist's questions "ridiculous" and saying that the problem is not his comments, but "journalists like you who pop up and try to knock me down", adding that "this is the reason why terrorist attacks happen". ~AA
October 7, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Irony being that the entire Farage-isation of British politics is built on the phenomenon of white right-wingers who don't want to "integrate" with the reality of multi-ethnic Britain, don't want to accept migrants as their fellow citizens, and don't want people of colour moving into their street.
Trying to decide whether an output is of ‘profound influence’ or merely ‘lasting influence’ #REF2029
a red robot with big eyes and a yellow smile on its face
ALT: a red robot with big eyes and a yellow smile on its face
media.tenor.com
October 2, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Trying to decide whether an output is of ‘profound influence’ or merely ‘lasting influence’ #REF2029
Reposted by richardlmac
Very pleased to see this piece on HS2 and intra-green contention out in the world. Much thanks to the team at Environmental Politics, including two very supportive and patient peer reviewers. @mediacomgold.bsky.social
New article!
NIMBYs, shills and liars: ancient woodland, high-speed rail and the legibility of justifications by Richard MacDonald
doi.org/10.1080/0964...
NIMBYs, shills and liars: ancient woodland, high-speed rail and the legibility of justifications by Richard MacDonald
doi.org/10.1080/0964...
September 18, 2025 at 7:13 AM
Very pleased to see this piece on HS2 and intra-green contention out in the world. Much thanks to the team at Environmental Politics, including two very supportive and patient peer reviewers. @mediacomgold.bsky.social