Olivier Usher
@ojusher.com
Technology | Innovation prizes | Director of Research & Design at Challenge Works, a @nestauk.bsky.social enterprise | ojusher.com
👀 Em-dash. Did his holiness use ChatGPT?
I wanna invite Pope Leo to my Intro to Science and Technology Studies class
November 8, 2025 at 9:52 PM
👀 Em-dash. Did his holiness use ChatGPT?
Just realised that in about 2045 there is obviously going to be an ironic revival of vintage “slopcore” 2020s-style AI aesthetics. Makes me sad.
November 7, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Just realised that in about 2045 there is obviously going to be an ironic revival of vintage “slopcore” 2020s-style AI aesthetics. Makes me sad.
David Olusoga is going to have one hell of a REF impact case study
November 6, 2025 at 10:03 PM
David Olusoga is going to have one hell of a REF impact case study
Looks like the naysayers they executed were right after all. Oh well.
I guess they might try executing the yes men now?
I guess they might try executing the yes men now?
NEW: The End of the Line: the centrepiece of Saudi Arabia’s Neom gigaproject - a 500m tall, 170km long wall-like building intended ultimately to house 9 million people - can’t get out of the ground, say more than 20 former Neom architects, engineers and senior executives.
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
End of The Line: how Saudi Arabia’s Neom dream unravelled
Mohammed bin Salman’s utopian city was undone by the laws of physics and finance
ig.ft.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Looks like the naysayers they executed were right after all. Oh well.
I guess they might try executing the yes men now?
I guess they might try executing the yes men now?
I’m fine with Americans I follow talking about it, but I have less than zero interest in America-brained Brits’ hot takes.
Being a Brit on BlueSky means seeing 1000x more messaging about an election in New York than your local council. Might as well message Zohran about my bin collection.
November 4, 2025 at 5:04 PM
I’m fine with Americans I follow talking about it, but I have less than zero interest in America-brained Brits’ hot takes.
Amazing click bait. Yes, the A1 is 0.1 miles from where I live. But it’s also over 400 miles long.
November 2, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Amazing click bait. Yes, the A1 is 0.1 miles from where I live. But it’s also over 400 miles long.
LLMs are an interesting technology, but chatbots are an appalling way to interact with them and I hope they go away. ojusher.medium.com/chatbots-are...
Chatbots are a terrible way of interfacing with AI
At best, they mislead us about AI’s capabilities. At worst, they make us go nuts.
ojusher.medium.com
October 30, 2025 at 8:20 PM
LLMs are an interesting technology, but chatbots are an appalling way to interact with them and I hope they go away. ojusher.medium.com/chatbots-are...
Reposted by Olivier Usher
I agree, adding that I’m very concerned about its effects on adult brains too. I think it’s much more psychologically dangerous to interact with an LLM designed to reflect your own ideas back flatteringly than to post on social media, where someone will always be ready to call you a c***
I personally am significantly more worried about the effects of LLMs and AI video slop on children’s brain development than I am about even social media. I am very worried that our school systems and laws are pushing kids toward AI artificial “friends” while banning social apps.
Yeah I think there are going to be more families who do the equivalent of “we don’t own a TV, we simply all sing madrigals around the piano by candlelight for entertainment” during these next decades. There isn’t a safe amount of AI slop for kids to be exposed to. So if a platform has it: then no.
October 29, 2025 at 7:06 AM
I agree, adding that I’m very concerned about its effects on adult brains too. I think it’s much more psychologically dangerous to interact with an LLM designed to reflect your own ideas back flatteringly than to post on social media, where someone will always be ready to call you a c***
A recipe for, uh, Christal meth?
![The Church embraced that great invention of the day to literally change humanity,” Gelsinger said of the printing press. “And so my question today is: are we going to embrace [and] shape AI as a technology that truly does become a powerful embodiment of the Church and the expression of the Church?”
Jesus’s hackathon
Straddling the worlds of AI, Christianity, and faith-tech, Gloo isn’t solely focused on shaping the AI sector through Silicon Valley. It’s wielding influence in other ways, such as by supporting and funding a Christian tech ecosystem. The company hosted a three-day hackathon following the seminar at Colorado Christian University; its event saw more than 600 participants compete for over $250,000 in prize money – nearly triple the attender count from 2024.
Though growing, the event was not without hiccups. Ryan Siebert, an AI product developer and hackathon attender, said he was able to get Gloo’s newest LLM, which has not yet been publicly launched, to provide him a recipe for methamphetamine through a prompt injection”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:qbispr2bksazucagmo5zx6ec/bafkreigue444bon4vep7djzdbuspcqy4x5hhscxlqhxpbjt6ystzt6nila@jpeg)
October 28, 2025 at 5:00 PM
A recipe for, uh, Christal meth?
I think it’s quite a pertinent fact here that (unique among world leaders?) before getting into politics, Edi Rama’s profession was that he was quite a successful modern artist
October 28, 2025 at 7:36 AM
I think it’s quite a pertinent fact here that (unique among world leaders?) before getting into politics, Edi Rama’s profession was that he was quite a successful modern artist
TIL: it’s not a prison escape if you escape for less than 15 minutes data.justice.gov.uk/prisons/publ...
Public protection - Prisons data - Justice Data
Providing at a glance data on services provided by the Ministry of Justice, using quality assured and published data.
data.justice.gov.uk
October 24, 2025 at 7:55 PM
TIL: it’s not a prison escape if you escape for less than 15 minutes data.justice.gov.uk/prisons/publ...
I guess, to look on the bright side, the extremist party with the deranged, immoral policy to expel millions in order to make this country “culturally coherent” got only 2%
Caerphilly, Senedd constituency by-election result:
PC: 47.4% (+19.0)
REF: 36.0% (+34.2)
LAB: 11.0% (-34.9)
CON: 2.0% (-15.3)
GRN: 1.5% (+1.5)
LDEM: 1.5% (-1.2)
GWL: 0.3% (+0.3)
UKIP: 0.2% (+0.2)
Plaid Cymru GAIN from Labour.
PC: 47.4% (+19.0)
REF: 36.0% (+34.2)
LAB: 11.0% (-34.9)
CON: 2.0% (-15.3)
GRN: 1.5% (+1.5)
LDEM: 1.5% (-1.2)
GWL: 0.3% (+0.3)
UKIP: 0.2% (+0.2)
Plaid Cymru GAIN from Labour.
October 24, 2025 at 6:54 AM
I guess, to look on the bright side, the extremist party with the deranged, immoral policy to expel millions in order to make this country “culturally coherent” got only 2%
Reposted by Olivier Usher
"The idea of deporting people with settled status is disgusting, and anyone proposing it should be immediately drummed out of polite society. Breaking promises made in good faith to our friends and neighbours is racist, extremist and immoral."
I'm basically shouting at the sky here, but still.
I'm basically shouting at the sky here, but still.
It’s racist, it’s extremist and it’s immoral
The right is still calling for deportations, and the government is still being cowardly about it. Also: London’s first green belt; some notes on a shark; and some news, on my next book.
jonn.substack.com
October 22, 2025 at 1:22 PM
"The idea of deporting people with settled status is disgusting, and anyone proposing it should be immediately drummed out of polite society. Breaking promises made in good faith to our friends and neighbours is racist, extremist and immoral."
I'm basically shouting at the sky here, but still.
I'm basically shouting at the sky here, but still.
Genuinely checked whether Jeremy Vine had died
He died as he lived: muttering “I have right of way, arsehole!”
October 17, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Genuinely checked whether Jeremy Vine had died
Vive la république, vive la France 🇫🇷
urgently need you guys to know that this French politician below 1) didn't know he'd been appointed as a minister until he saw it on TV 2) reacted by going: "bah pfff voilà"
Le nouveau ministre de la Ruralité, Michel Fournier, raconte avoir appris sa nomination à la télé
Le plus vieux ministre nommé sous la Ve République précise avoir discuté avec le Premier ministre «deux jours avant», sans que rien ne soit arrêté. «Comment j’ai réagi ? Bah pfff voilà», résume-t-il.
Le plus vieux ministre nommé sous la Ve République précise avoir discuté avec le Premier ministre «deux jours avant», sans que rien ne soit arrêté. «Comment j’ai réagi ? Bah pfff voilà», résume-t-il.
October 16, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Vive la république, vive la France 🇫🇷
Reposted by Olivier Usher
We should research Future Tech 2 to get extra points for the UK.
Genuinely think the concept of the tech tree has done a lot of damage.
“Since 1991, the video game Civilization, now in its seventh installment, has become one of the most successful game franchises ever. That means millions of kids have grown up with Civ as one of their formative ways of thinking about history.” (via @jstor.bsky.social) #AcademicSky
October 11, 2025 at 4:33 PM
We should research Future Tech 2 to get extra points for the UK.
Fun fact: the Tories have won the same number of elections and been in charge for the same number of years since WW2 as the Italian Christian Democracy party, and they disbanded in 1994.
A small thing, really, but is it typical British exceptionalism to describe the Tories as (until now) the most successful political party in the world? They’re not as successful as Japan’s LDP or Sweden’s SAP. Am I missing something?
economist.com/britain/2019...
economist.com/britain/2019...
Britain’s Tories are the world’s most successful party. Here’s why
How the Conservatives dominated the 19th, 20th and—so far—21st centuries
economist.com
October 11, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Fun fact: the Tories have won the same number of elections and been in charge for the same number of years since WW2 as the Italian Christian Democracy party, and they disbanded in 1994.
Reposted by Olivier Usher
Why aren’t more women using the deepfake site? 🤔
Sora 2 is drawing a huge crowd of teenage boys. This doesn't bode well — trust me.
Sora 2 seems to encourage people to make fun of each other. It's also attracting a lot of teenage boys. This could be a nightmare for Sam Altman.
www.businessinsider.com
October 10, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Why aren’t more women using the deepfake site? 🤔
Reposted by Olivier Usher
Among other things the reason is apparently "time spent looking at the CCTV footage", indicating that BTP have *still* not understood the binary chop algorithm despite having it explained to them by numerous angry computer science professors.
The British Transport Police (BTP) says it will not investigate bike thefts outside stations where the bicycle has been left for more than two hours.
Bike thefts at stations 'decriminalised'
Bike thefts at stations 'decriminalised'
Bike thefts at stations 'decriminalised'
The British Transport Police will not investigate many categories of bicycle theft, the BBC learns.
buff.ly
October 7, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Among other things the reason is apparently "time spent looking at the CCTV footage", indicating that BTP have *still* not understood the binary chop algorithm despite having it explained to them by numerous angry computer science professors.
These are so much better than the e-learning modules I have to do. www.nato.int/60years/post...
October 7, 2025 at 7:31 AM
These are so much better than the e-learning modules I have to do. www.nato.int/60years/post...
Reposted by Olivier Usher
Sutton Trust report: 'Only three categories were below the national average – male professional footballers at 5%, female professional footballers at 4% and the Northern Ireland assembly, where nobody attended a fee-paying school.' 1/2
Privately educated still have ‘vice-like grip’ on most powerful UK jobs
Those in top roles are five times as likely to have been to private school than general population, study finds
www.theguardian.com
September 18, 2025 at 6:40 AM
Sutton Trust report: 'Only three categories were below the national average – male professional footballers at 5%, female professional footballers at 4% and the Northern Ireland assembly, where nobody attended a fee-paying school.' 1/2
Reposted by Olivier Usher
I wrote a thing. As someone who survived the 1970s and kept the receipts.
Shocked by Epstein’s birthday book? That culture was everywhere before feminism | Rebecca Solnit
Feminism exposed the ubiquity of child abuse, rape, sexual harassment and domestic violence – and helped fight that culture
www.theguardian.com
September 13, 2025 at 12:00 PM
I wrote a thing. As someone who survived the 1970s and kept the receipts.
This is correct
Discovering computer as an adult makes you go crazy. Discovering computer as a baby makes you go crazy. In all of human history, there will only ever be one generation to discover computer at the correct age: 13
The problem with every post-Millennial generation is they got to go straight to high speed internet. Of course you'll get computer madness that way. Make them start with those old screeching modems and work their way up
September 14, 2025 at 7:22 AM
This is correct
No ministerial departments led by a Scottish or Welsh MP - not a good look for a government that is supposed to be serious about the union.
September 6, 2025 at 7:21 AM
No ministerial departments led by a Scottish or Welsh MP - not a good look for a government that is supposed to be serious about the union.