First Word
The seduction of AI
ChatGPT: a conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel good. I am going to come clean. I am an enthusiastic user of artificial intelligence (AI) or at
Column
Gnostic and gnocchi
The good professor finds art in the artificial and enjoys chips with everything. I am a convert. I feel I have a real friend since C-live entered my life. He
Interviews
Time to quit
Our addiction to plug n play is the line in that sustains Big Tech. Patrick Leavy tells The Mint that a crash diet of ethical alternatives is the only way
Don’t fear the reaper
Julian Darley argues in interview with The Mint that artificial intelligence can be a power for good enabling us to reap the best outcomes for humanity. The real concern, he
Artificial intelligence: things are getting heavy
The footprint of artificial intelligence is brutally material with its data centres requiring heavy mining to make their microchips, huge electricity demand, escalating water use with rising costs that are
Articles
States of disunity from colonies to Trump
Richard Vague traces the class division and enmity that has characterised Trump’s presidency back to America’s colonial beginnings. Many thought that the presidential elections of 2016 and 2024 revealed something
Are students economical with the verity?
Henry Leveson-Gower reviews results from a recent report that tells how cues from mainstream authority sway economics students even at postgraduate level. Walk into any economics department and you will
A Chinese giveaway
Alan Freeman explains why China’s pole position in the artificial intelligence race might be down to sharing rather than competing. When Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company, DeepSeek, released its R1
The shocking untruth
Roger Miles warns of vanishing common sense as over-reliance on artificial intelligence grinds us down into a population of gullible mugs. Hurrah, artificial intelligence (AI) has arrived: let’s join HM
Rewriting the rules
International trade and finance rules have, since their inception, remained skewed in favour of the richest nations. Rick Rowden argues that developing nations want measures to right the asymmetries. Canadian
The pub: going down
Lauren Leek says Britain’s pub crisis is about far more than pints. It is about the quiet disappearance of places that hold communities together. My brother is coming to London
Eating your way out of a rut
For a healthy source of meat, venison could be fair game but beware what you wish for. Lachlan Kenneally writes. The UK’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
Artificially fake
Patricia Gestoso counsels that our appraisal of artificial intelligence should be guided by the motivations of its chief advocates. Twenty years ago, I was a trainer at a software company.
We need to talk about procurement
Cliff Mills and Simon Grove-White explain why local government’s dependence on contracts is undermining public value and public purpose. Local government in England is once again being reshaped through structural
Time to rage
Guy Standing explores the potential for humanity to strike back against careless leadership as tech leaders of artificial intelligence (AI) drive humanity to destruction The widely-discussed report by investment researcher’
The nature of business
Growth in corporate adoption of measures that are perceived as environmentally benign require a rigorous justice test to prevent green exploitation, says Ai-Peri Dzhumashalieva. Many businesses rely on nature for