Ian Graham
@iangraham.bsky.social
At University of Edinburgh Business School. Have always been interested in innovation, now particularly interested in service innovation, and very interested in the use of IT in UK elections. Prepared to teach entrepreneurship if my arm is twisted.
Reposted by Ian Graham
‘The world of giant digital platforms often turns on surprisingly small matters, such as whether or not users are willing to spend a few seconds doing something they don’t absolutely need to do.’
Donald MacKenzie on the history and future of Google Search.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Donald MacKenzie on the history and future of Google Search.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Donald MacKenzie · The Future of Search: Will we still google it?
I’m starting to feel some pre-emptive nostalgia when I do a Google search. Yes, it’s true, search can sometimes take...
www.lrb.co.uk
November 18, 2025 at 5:50 PM
‘The world of giant digital platforms often turns on surprisingly small matters, such as whether or not users are willing to spend a few seconds doing something they don’t absolutely need to do.’
Donald MacKenzie on the history and future of Google Search.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Donald MacKenzie on the history and future of Google Search.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by Ian Graham
These Tureen tests are getting crazy
November 8, 2025 at 5:58 PM
These Tureen tests are getting crazy
Reposted by Ian Graham
Tony Harrison RIP. He was so much more, but the anger, the energy, the thrill of V back in the day was really something
youtu.be/7if44iVP3_I?...
youtu.be/7if44iVP3_I?...
Tony Harrison - v. (1/2)
YouTube video by MarukuMedia
youtu.be
September 27, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Tony Harrison RIP. He was so much more, but the anger, the energy, the thrill of V back in the day was really something
youtu.be/7if44iVP3_I?...
youtu.be/7if44iVP3_I?...
Reposted by Ian Graham
"Voltaire, me, Molière, Omar Khayyám, Lord Byron, and that - that's Salman Rushdie's chair."
The Blasphemers' Banquet, of 1989
Remembering Tony Harrison
Background: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bla...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=p19s...
The Blasphemers' Banquet, of 1989
Remembering Tony Harrison
Background: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bla...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=p19s...
Blasphemers' Banquet - Tony Harrison BBC
YouTube video by Ton Har
www.youtube.com
September 27, 2025 at 12:28 PM
"Voltaire, me, Molière, Omar Khayyám, Lord Byron, and that - that's Salman Rushdie's chair."
The Blasphemers' Banquet, of 1989
Remembering Tony Harrison
Background: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bla...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=p19s...
The Blasphemers' Banquet, of 1989
Remembering Tony Harrison
Background: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bla...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=p19s...
Reposted by Ian Graham
⭐Doors Open Day 2025 at Edinburgh Futures Institute⭐
🗓️ Saturday, 27 September | 10:00 to 16:00
Join us on Doors Open Day 2025! Meet our staff, students and partners and discover how they are shaping better futures for all.
👉 Free entry! See the full programme efi.ed.ac.uk/event/doors-...
🗓️ Saturday, 27 September | 10:00 to 16:00
Join us on Doors Open Day 2025! Meet our staff, students and partners and discover how they are shaping better futures for all.
👉 Free entry! See the full programme efi.ed.ac.uk/event/doors-...
Doors Open Day 2025 at Edinburgh Futures Institute - Edinburgh Futures Institute
This September, explore the fascinating history and exciting future of this special Edinburgh landmark.
efi.ed.ac.uk
September 8, 2025 at 1:24 PM
⭐Doors Open Day 2025 at Edinburgh Futures Institute⭐
🗓️ Saturday, 27 September | 10:00 to 16:00
Join us on Doors Open Day 2025! Meet our staff, students and partners and discover how they are shaping better futures for all.
👉 Free entry! See the full programme efi.ed.ac.uk/event/doors-...
🗓️ Saturday, 27 September | 10:00 to 16:00
Join us on Doors Open Day 2025! Meet our staff, students and partners and discover how they are shaping better futures for all.
👉 Free entry! See the full programme efi.ed.ac.uk/event/doors-...
Reposted by Ian Graham
Why is it always a children's book? When do we get a celebrity who decides to edit a Festschrift or prepare an annotated edition of a primary source text?
September 11, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Why is it always a children's book? When do we get a celebrity who decides to edit a Festschrift or prepare an annotated edition of a primary source text?
Reposted by Ian Graham
Under FOI I've obtained a copy of the unpublished full strategic review on electoral registration and conduct, which informed some of the govt plans announced last month on reforming electoral law. It has a substantial section on overseas voters which seems to have been completely ignored.
August 19, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Under FOI I've obtained a copy of the unpublished full strategic review on electoral registration and conduct, which informed some of the govt plans announced last month on reforming electoral law. It has a substantial section on overseas voters which seems to have been completely ignored.
Reposted by Ian Graham
Did you know Bluesky's founder has an #STS degree? In a new article, Erin Burkett and I explain why, despite current threats to humanities and social science, "STEM-in-Society programs" like STS are more important than ever. And we guide funders and university leaders how to better support them.
STEM-in-Society Programs Deserve Institutional Support
STEM-in-society programs have proven their utility and have never been more needed—but they are in jeopardy nationwide.
issues.org
August 20, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Did you know Bluesky's founder has an #STS degree? In a new article, Erin Burkett and I explain why, despite current threats to humanities and social science, "STEM-in-Society programs" like STS are more important than ever. And we guide funders and university leaders how to better support them.
Reposted by Ian Graham
"Asked to generate intervention plans for struggling students, AI teacher assistants recommended more-punitive measures for hypothetical students with Black-coded names and more supportive approaches for students the platforms perceived as white" www.chalkbeat.org/2025/08/06/a...
Annie and Lakeesha struggle in school. AI teacher assistants treated them very differently.
A Common Sense Media study found that prominent teacher assistants that use AI generated recommendations that appeared to be rooted in racial stereotypes based on students’ names. About a third of tea...
www.chalkbeat.org
August 6, 2025 at 7:25 PM
"Asked to generate intervention plans for struggling students, AI teacher assistants recommended more-punitive measures for hypothetical students with Black-coded names and more supportive approaches for students the platforms perceived as white" www.chalkbeat.org/2025/08/06/a...
Reposted by Ian Graham
If AI is being used extensively in office jobs, then should we be letting students use AI in the classroom?
No - here's why.
With reference to 3 papers that show what you do in a job isn't the template for what you do in the classroom.
substack.nomoremarking.com/p/education-...
No - here's why.
With reference to 3 papers that show what you do in a job isn't the template for what you do in the classroom.
substack.nomoremarking.com/p/education-...
August 4, 2025 at 12:25 PM
If AI is being used extensively in office jobs, then should we be letting students use AI in the classroom?
No - here's why.
With reference to 3 papers that show what you do in a job isn't the template for what you do in the classroom.
substack.nomoremarking.com/p/education-...
No - here's why.
With reference to 3 papers that show what you do in a job isn't the template for what you do in the classroom.
substack.nomoremarking.com/p/education-...
Reposted by Ian Graham
Coding interviews from people who left government earlier this year, and this is a fantastic quote in response to a question about what DOGE tech folk don't understand.
August 4, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Coding interviews from people who left government earlier this year, and this is a fantastic quote in response to a question about what DOGE tech folk don't understand.
Reposted by Ian Graham
on.ft.com/45cJxz9 It’s time to retire the word ‘technology’
It’s time to retire the word ‘technology’
The word spans too much and clarifies too little
on.ft.com
July 30, 2025 at 7:15 AM
on.ft.com/45cJxz9 It’s time to retire the word ‘technology’
Reposted by Ian Graham
BIG NEWS: After a long investigation we have uncovered that Axon's Draft One--a program that uses genAI to write police reports based on body-worn camera audio--is *designed* not to retain the data on which parts were written by an officer and which parts were written by AI. A looming disaster.
Axon’s Draft One is Designed to Defy Transparency
Axon Enterprise’s Draft One — a generative artificial intelligence product that writes police reports based on audio from officers’ body-worn cameras — seems deliberately designed to avoid audits that...
www.eff.org
July 10, 2025 at 4:47 PM
BIG NEWS: After a long investigation we have uncovered that Axon's Draft One--a program that uses genAI to write police reports based on body-worn camera audio--is *designed* not to retain the data on which parts were written by an officer and which parts were written by AI. A looming disaster.
Reposted by Ian Graham
‘Stone suits the poetry. Or perhaps it’s the other way round. I think poetry suits stone, more than it suits paper, certainly more than it suits a screen. The poetry releases something latent in the stone.’
Kathleen Jamie visits the Canongate Wall in Edinburgh: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/ju...
Kathleen Jamie visits the Canongate Wall in Edinburgh: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/ju...
Kathleen Jamie | At the Canongate Wall
The stone suits the poetry. Or perhaps it’s the other way round. I think poetry suits stone, more than it suits paper...
www.lrb.co.uk
July 10, 2025 at 8:50 AM
‘Stone suits the poetry. Or perhaps it’s the other way round. I think poetry suits stone, more than it suits paper, certainly more than it suits a screen. The poetry releases something latent in the stone.’
Kathleen Jamie visits the Canongate Wall in Edinburgh: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/ju...
Kathleen Jamie visits the Canongate Wall in Edinburgh: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/ju...
Reposted by Ian Graham
My cartoon in this weeks @newyorker.com
June 30, 2025 at 2:40 PM
My cartoon in this weeks @newyorker.com
Reposted by Ian Graham
This article from @threadinburgh.scot is a jolly read. But when you get to the end, you realise that it is making a point that should worry all of us, even if we are not interested in the history of large suburban villas in #Edinburgh .
threadinburgh.scot/2025/06/27/t...
threadinburgh.scot/2025/06/27/t...
The thread about the Salisbury Arms and the famous literary association that never was
My eye was caught by a claim in local news that the author Arthur Conan Doyle once frequented the Salisbury Arms. In the best spirit of Sherlock Holmes, this thread sets out to thoroughly and factu…
threadinburgh.scot
June 27, 2025 at 6:20 AM
This article from @threadinburgh.scot is a jolly read. But when you get to the end, you realise that it is making a point that should worry all of us, even if we are not interested in the history of large suburban villas in #Edinburgh .
threadinburgh.scot/2025/06/27/t...
threadinburgh.scot/2025/06/27/t...
Reposted by Ian Graham
New, from me: how might automation fail in public services?
The Australian Robodebt case provides a compelling set of insights that governments lurching toward AI or algorithms need to pay attention to. 🧵
substack.com/home/post/p-...
The Australian Robodebt case provides a compelling set of insights that governments lurching toward AI or algorithms need to pay attention to. 🧵
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Robodebt: When automation fails
Lessons from Australia's use of algorithms to detect welfare fraud become more relevant in the age of AI
substack.com
June 23, 2025 at 12:11 PM
New, from me: how might automation fail in public services?
The Australian Robodebt case provides a compelling set of insights that governments lurching toward AI or algorithms need to pay attention to. 🧵
substack.com/home/post/p-...
The Australian Robodebt case provides a compelling set of insights that governments lurching toward AI or algorithms need to pay attention to. 🧵
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Reposted by Ian Graham
“He had a billion streams and no fans.”
The week after a jazz album hit No. 1 on the Billboard chart, it disappeared from the ranking altogether. Its success might never have been real in the first place.
The week after a jazz album hit No. 1 on the Billboard chart, it disappeared from the ranking altogether. Its success might never have been real in the first place.
‘A Billion Streams and No Fans’: Inside a $10 Million AI Music Fraud Case
A chart-topping jazz album! Loads of Spotify and Apple Music plays! Just one problem: The success might not be real.
wrd.cm
May 25, 2025 at 8:53 PM
“He had a billion streams and no fans.”
The week after a jazz album hit No. 1 on the Billboard chart, it disappeared from the ranking altogether. Its success might never have been real in the first place.
The week after a jazz album hit No. 1 on the Billboard chart, it disappeared from the ranking altogether. Its success might never have been real in the first place.
This is very good on the slow adoption of AI in organisations as ideas are generated and trials carried out. Many potential users lag because of lack of knowledge and it takes time for senior managers to commit. This is the area that is most interesting for business school academics.
My problem with the AI memos from Shopify & Duolingo is that they establish urgency but don’t give a vision of the future of work, or a path to get there.
Actually making AI work requires organizational innovation, as well as changes to processes & incentives. open.substack.com/pub/oneusefu...
Actually making AI work requires organizational innovation, as well as changes to processes & incentives. open.substack.com/pub/oneusefu...
Making AI Work: Leadership, Lab, and Crowd
A formula for AI in companies
open.substack.com
May 24, 2025 at 5:48 PM
This is very good on the slow adoption of AI in organisations as ideas are generated and trials carried out. Many potential users lag because of lack of knowledge and it takes time for senior managers to commit. This is the area that is most interesting for business school academics.
Reposted by Ian Graham
Always admired these people and what they do. Fascinating to hear her describe the process.
The 'invisible' five-time Booker nominee who doesn't want to be famous
Sophie Hughes explains why her job is misunderstood - and why she's changed her mind about the threat of AI
inews.co.uk
May 20, 2025 at 7:41 AM
Always admired these people and what they do. Fascinating to hear her describe the process.
Reposted by Ian Graham
In his new book "Empty Vessel," the historian Ian Kumekawa landed on an ingenious way to make the abstractions of globalization feel more concrete: Tell the story of neoliberalism from the perspective of a barge. (The pic is from its stint as a "floating jail" in the East River in 1992.)
The Story of Globalization, as Told Through One Big Barge
www.nytimes.com
May 7, 2025 at 4:18 PM
In his new book "Empty Vessel," the historian Ian Kumekawa landed on an ingenious way to make the abstractions of globalization feel more concrete: Tell the story of neoliberalism from the perspective of a barge. (The pic is from its stint as a "floating jail" in the East River in 1992.)
Reposted by Ian Graham
For academics that are skeptical about AI's ability to provide perceptive & useful results, a fast way to test your assumptions is to give one of your papers as a PDF to o3 (or Gemini 2.5 but it lacks some tools), with the prompt:
"critique this paper"
I have found very good accuracy & insight...
"critique this paper"
I have found very good accuracy & insight...
May 11, 2025 at 1:56 AM
For academics that are skeptical about AI's ability to provide perceptive & useful results, a fast way to test your assumptions is to give one of your papers as a PDF to o3 (or Gemini 2.5 but it lacks some tools), with the prompt:
"critique this paper"
I have found very good accuracy & insight...
"critique this paper"
I have found very good accuracy & insight...