Eerke Boiten
@eerkeboiten.bsky.social
Prof Cyber Security and Head of School Computer Science and Informatics at De Montfort University. Own views. He/him.
Formal methods (last ever books on Z or refinement). Cyber security. Privacy. Data politics. Not all hypes. DM:eerke.boiten@dmu.ac.uk.
Formal methods (last ever books on Z or refinement). Cyber security. Privacy. Data politics. Not all hypes. DM:eerke.boiten@dmu.ac.uk.
Pinned
Eerke Boiten
@eerkeboiten.bsky.social
· Nov 6
Does current AI represent a dead end?
Eerke Boiten, Professor of Cyber Security at De Montfort University Leicester, explains his belief that current AI should not be used for serious applications.
www.bcs.org
Most important thing I have written in ages.
Because none of the tools we have in software engineering to manage complexity are applicable, current AI is at a dead end, and it is irresponsible to use it for significant applications.
BCS website (next IT Now magazine): www.bcs.org/articles-opi...
Because none of the tools we have in software engineering to manage complexity are applicable, current AI is at a dead end, and it is irresponsible to use it for significant applications.
BCS website (next IT Now magazine): www.bcs.org/articles-opi...
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
The second problem with this — after the fact that it will bankrupt a bunch of institutions — is that the government doesn’t seem to know if it wants to a) raise lots of money from intentional students or b) discourage universities from relying on international students. You can’t have both!!
These are HEPI estimates of the 20 institutions affected: I think this illustrates the impact if the tariff is absorbed in full by institutions.
What share of the 6% tariff different universities may try to pass on to fees - or the impact might be on demand if they did - is not publicly known.
What share of the 6% tariff different universities may try to pass on to fees - or the impact might be on demand if they did - is not publicly known.
November 24, 2025 at 11:06 AM
The second problem with this — after the fact that it will bankrupt a bunch of institutions — is that the government doesn’t seem to know if it wants to a) raise lots of money from intentional students or b) discourage universities from relying on international students. You can’t have both!!
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
Automating work is often fine (should we expect delivery drivers to walk everywhere? and ask people for directions rather than look at a map?), but delivery companies rolling out lots of robots that use pavements and don't obey basic pavement etiquette is just asking for trouble/pushback
Just as you thought food delivery companies couldn't inflict any more misery on society:
Instead of using lowly-paid gig economy contractors to deliver groceries, they're replacing humans with robots, who, in turn, force humans off the pavement into road traffic.
Instead of using lowly-paid gig economy contractors to deliver groceries, they're replacing humans with robots, who, in turn, force humans off the pavement into road traffic.
November 28, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Automating work is often fine (should we expect delivery drivers to walk everywhere? and ask people for directions rather than look at a map?), but delivery companies rolling out lots of robots that use pavements and don't obey basic pavement etiquette is just asking for trouble/pushback
Asked about this after my conference talk on AI yesterday, I said the system was already broken (pay-to-publish, exploitation by publishers, write-only papers, reviewer shortage and quality reduction) and that AI has "merely" accelerated the need to address this ...
The AI slop paper in Nature Scientific Reports will apparently be retracted. That’s a good and necessary first step. Let’s talk about what else to do.
1/6
1/6
On the Factor Fexcectorn and autism bicycle AI slop study: I got an answer from Springer Nature this morning that this scientific paper will be retracted! 🧪
Full story: nobreakthroughs.substack.com/p/riding-the...
Full story: nobreakthroughs.substack.com/p/riding-the...
November 28, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Asked about this after my conference talk on AI yesterday, I said the system was already broken (pay-to-publish, exploitation by publishers, write-only papers, reviewer shortage and quality reduction) and that AI has "merely" accelerated the need to address this ...
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
i know WHY this is but that just makes it even more of a kick in the pants lmao
November 28, 2025 at 3:28 AM
i know WHY this is but that just makes it even more of a kick in the pants lmao
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
"Runctitiononal features"? "Medical fymblal"? "1 Tol Line storee"? This gets worse the longer you look at it. But it's got to be good, because it was published in Nature Scientific Reports last week: www.nature.com/articles/s41... h/t @asa.tsbalans.se
November 27, 2025 at 9:30 AM
"Runctitiononal features"? "Medical fymblal"? "1 Tol Line storee"? This gets worse the longer you look at it. But it's got to be good, because it was published in Nature Scientific Reports last week: www.nature.com/articles/s41... h/t @asa.tsbalans.se
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
A quick reminder of who Nigel Farage was most concerned about when Putin's tanks first rolled into Ukraine
November 27, 2025 at 8:22 PM
A quick reminder of who Nigel Farage was most concerned about when Putin's tanks first rolled into Ukraine
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
BBC tells staff they cannot quote Trump line removed from Reith Lecture www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
BBC tells staff they cannot quote Trump line removed from Reith Lecture
Journalists not allowed to repeat Rutger Bregman’s corruption claims against US president in coverage of edit
www.theguardian.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:29 PM
BBC tells staff they cannot quote Trump line removed from Reith Lecture www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
"far right has seized on housing...because progressives have abandoned it. Their answer – blaming immigrants for scarcity – is morally & economically wrong [but] will continue...if the centre left offers only market solutions and technocratic supply-side fixes." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
To halt the far right, Europe’s progressive parties must fix its housing crisis. Our research shows how | Tarik Abou-Chadi, Björn Bremer and Silja Häusermann
The mantra of ‘build, build, build’ misses something crucial: that few can afford these new homes, say Tarik Abou-Chadi, Silja Häusermann and Björn Bremer
www.theguardian.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:38 PM
"far right has seized on housing...because progressives have abandoned it. Their answer – blaming immigrants for scarcity – is morally & economically wrong [but] will continue...if the centre left offers only market solutions and technocratic supply-side fixes." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
On AI’s ‘mediocrity trap’ — experiments indicates that while AI helps the less skilled make something passable, the highly skilled don’t use it to produce something better than they could have; they produce something ok, but lose motivation to make it great. www.jin-li.org/uploads/1/1/...
November 26, 2025 at 9:18 PM
On AI’s ‘mediocrity trap’ — experiments indicates that while AI helps the less skilled make something passable, the highly skilled don’t use it to produce something better than they could have; they produce something ok, but lose motivation to make it great. www.jin-li.org/uploads/1/1/...
Don't care for this "sport" or its competitors but this BBC headline is pithy and they once again misrepresent the Supreme Court by talking about an unqualified "legal definition of a woman". www.bbc.co.uk/sport/weight...
Transgender athlete 'was very dishonest', says world's strongest woman Andrea Thompson
A British athlete crowned world's strongest woman says she was
www.bbc.co.uk
November 26, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Don't care for this "sport" or its competitors but this BBC headline is pithy and they once again misrepresent the Supreme Court by talking about an unqualified "legal definition of a woman". www.bbc.co.uk/sport/weight...
I am happy to pay more tax overall, but I would have found it more appropriate if it had been in relation to my decent income or my pretty decent house - rather than in relation to driving electric cars. (Not sure how they are even going to implement that for the plug-in hybrid.)
November 26, 2025 at 12:35 PM
I am happy to pay more tax overall, but I would have found it more appropriate if it had been in relation to my decent income or my pretty decent house - rather than in relation to driving electric cars. (Not sure how they are even going to implement that for the plug-in hybrid.)
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
I missed this the other day, but Ofcom fined the creators of a prolific "nudification" service—that lets people create non-consensual nude images with just a couple of clicks—for... a lack of age verification technology 🤦
Ofcom fines deepfake nudification site for lack of age checks
The regulator said it had also opened new investigations into 20 porn sites over suspected online safety breaches.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 26, 2025 at 10:50 AM
I missed this the other day, but Ofcom fined the creators of a prolific "nudification" service—that lets people create non-consensual nude images with just a couple of clicks—for... a lack of age verification technology 🤦
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
This is why OpenAI is selling so aggressively to education at all levels—they want to create entire generations of users incapable of reading, writing and thinking without ChatGPT to hold their hands
And teachers and professors should call this out for what it actually is
And teachers and professors should call this out for what it actually is
To bear out this rosy projection, HSBC assumes that OpenAI will become "as ubiquitous [...] as Microsoft 365" (345mm users worldwide) while bringing in 10x the number of users (3bn).
November 25, 2025 at 11:11 PM
This is why OpenAI is selling so aggressively to education at all levels—they want to create entire generations of users incapable of reading, writing and thinking without ChatGPT to hold their hands
And teachers and professors should call this out for what it actually is
And teachers and professors should call this out for what it actually is
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
‘Risk exiting the market’
what a way to package the complete collapse of higher education
what a way to package the complete collapse of higher education
November 25, 2025 at 7:21 PM
‘Risk exiting the market’
what a way to package the complete collapse of higher education
what a way to package the complete collapse of higher education
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
Here's a thread from Twitter shared with Sophia's permission in which she finally is able to talk about Graham using the police as HIS personal goon squad and getting Sophia arrested at home by EIGHT armed police officers, somewhat putting the standard Heathrow armed cops in perspective.
November 25, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Here's a thread from Twitter shared with Sophia's permission in which she finally is able to talk about Graham using the police as HIS personal goon squad and getting Sophia arrested at home by EIGHT armed police officers, somewhat putting the standard Heathrow armed cops in perspective.
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
I’m a past winner of the Orwell Prize & won partly because I exposed Vote Leave’s unlawful activities.
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove Made Orwell Prize Judge Despite Record of Attacking Journalists and Dodging Scrutiny
Critics say "Orwell would have enjoyed the irony" of the former Conservative minister's appointment
bylinetimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:53 PM
I’m a past winner of the Orwell Prize & won partly because I exposed Vote Leave’s unlawful activities.
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Hello UK racist intimidation is winning. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Scottish school cancels Christmas play after ‘racist and abusive’ messages
Show at Cauldeen primary school in Inverness had included a scene explaining hardship faced by Syrian refugees
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Hello UK racist intimidation is winning. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
NEWS --> BBC confirms to me that they did edit a line out of historian @rutgerbregman.com's speech. It called Trump "the most openly corrupt president in US history."
BBC also confirms this was done on the advice of lawyers. So Trump's threats worked.
New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/2036...
BBC also confirms this was done on the advice of lawyers. So Trump's threats worked.
New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/2036...
Trump’s Fury at BBC Gets Unnerving Results with Pro-MAGA Edit Stunner
First, British Broadcasting Corporation execs resigned after Trump complained about a segment. Now the BBC edited out a line from a historian that was critical of Trump. Where does this end?
newrepublic.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:10 PM
NEWS --> BBC confirms to me that they did edit a line out of historian @rutgerbregman.com's speech. It called Trump "the most openly corrupt president in US history."
BBC also confirms this was done on the advice of lawyers. So Trump's threats worked.
New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/2036...
BBC also confirms this was done on the advice of lawyers. So Trump's threats worked.
New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/2036...
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
The BBC has, in the space of a few minutes, in its reporting about the innocent child victim in the Glinner case, completely destroyed any possible claim it is "too woke" or "not transphobic enough".
cc @fromtga.bsky.social
cc @fromtga.bsky.social
In the span of a hour, they stealth edited the article from trans woman to "biological male who identifies as a woman." The BBC isn't fit for purpose.
It looks like that BBC page has been updated in the last few minutes, so that's no longer the last sentence. I think part of it has been moved to this paragraph in the middle of the article, and the age is no longer mentioned:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
November 25, 2025 at 3:39 PM
The BBC has, in the space of a few minutes, in its reporting about the innocent child victim in the Glinner case, completely destroyed any possible claim it is "too woke" or "not transphobic enough".
cc @fromtga.bsky.social
cc @fromtga.bsky.social
Haha, Linehan's lawyer talks about a "momentary lapse of control".
It's over 7 years since his first police warning against harassing trans people.
It's over 7 years since his first police warning against harassing trans people.
Graham Linehan cleared of harassment but guilty of criminal damage to trans activist's phone
Graham Linehan cleared of harassment but guilty of criminal damage to trans activist's phone
Father Ted creator Graham Linehan has been found guilty of criminal damage to the phone of a trans activist but not guilty of harassment.
news.sky.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Haha, Linehan's lawyer talks about a "momentary lapse of control".
It's over 7 years since his first police warning against harassing trans people.
It's over 7 years since his first police warning against harassing trans people.
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
Today I learned that stalking a 17 year old girl, writing up a 400 page 'dossier' about her, falsely reporting her to the police and smashing her phone does not constitute 'harassment'.
One wonders what *would*.
One wonders what *would*.
Graham Linehan cleared of harassment but guilty of criminal damage to trans activist's phone
Graham Linehan cleared of harassment but guilty of criminal damage to trans activist's phone
Father Ted creator Graham Linehan has been found guilty of criminal damage to the phone of a trans activist but not guilty of harassment.
news.sky.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Today I learned that stalking a 17 year old girl, writing up a 400 page 'dossier' about her, falsely reporting her to the police and smashing her phone does not constitute 'harassment'.
One wonders what *would*.
One wonders what *would*.
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
I don’t like subtweeting people I consider online friends, but there is a subset of people who are very worried about the ongoing radicalisation of our political elite but won’t ever acknowledge the echoes with the radicalisation of their colleagues on trans rights
And few who are sympathetic to us, some who are friendly with me on here, will ever stick their head above the parapet
November 25, 2025 at 12:37 PM
I don’t like subtweeting people I consider online friends, but there is a subset of people who are very worried about the ongoing radicalisation of our political elite but won’t ever acknowledge the echoes with the radicalisation of their colleagues on trans rights
Fascinating talk, worth watching. It has convinced me that the situation on explainability for LLMs is much worse than I had been presenting it. The lens here is "plausibility" vs "faithfulness", and tensions between them. "plausibility" matters because it is akin to transparency phrasing in law 1/n
Pleased to note my Cambridge lecture on how technical approaches to the right of explanation have gone haywire in the LLM era, is already up!
youtu.be/wLxuq3I2d_s?...
Many thanks to @CIPIL who um may not be here? And to @jennifercobbe for her v kind invitation! 1/3
youtu.be/wLxuq3I2d_s?...
Many thanks to @CIPIL who um may not be here? And to @jennifercobbe for her v kind invitation! 1/3
Faithful or Traitor? The Right of Explanation in a Generative AI World: CIPIL Evening Seminar
YouTube video by Cambridge Law Faculty
youtu.be
November 25, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Fascinating talk, worth watching. It has convinced me that the situation on explainability for LLMs is much worse than I had been presenting it. The lens here is "plausibility" vs "faithfulness", and tensions between them. "plausibility" matters because it is akin to transparency phrasing in law 1/n
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
Founders on LinkedIn still seem to be struggling with the difference between telling people about their humble beginnings and admitting to straight up committing fraud.
November 24, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Founders on LinkedIn still seem to be struggling with the difference between telling people about their humble beginnings and admitting to straight up committing fraud.
Re needles and haystacks. I've heard for many years that intelligence services need AI to combat the scale of communications data collected (even presented as a reassurance "no human looks at it") but still not any claims that AI analysis of large scale comms (meta)data prevented terrorist attacks.
Echoes of big data narratives ten years ago, Larry Page claiming large medical databases save lives, I paraphrased it then as any large enough medical data set includes the solution to cancer, just need to find it in the haystack.
Ok so.
"The Genesis Mission will build an integrated AI platform to harness Federal scientific datasets — the world’s largest collection ... — to train scientific foundation models and create AI agents to test new hypotheses, automate research workflows, and accelerate scientific breakthroughs."
"The Genesis Mission will build an integrated AI platform to harness Federal scientific datasets — the world’s largest collection ... — to train scientific foundation models and create AI agents to test new hypotheses, automate research workflows, and accelerate scientific breakthroughs."
November 25, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Re needles and haystacks. I've heard for many years that intelligence services need AI to combat the scale of communications data collected (even presented as a reassurance "no human looks at it") but still not any claims that AI analysis of large scale comms (meta)data prevented terrorist attacks.