Just to say I’m not really here anymore. I’m over on Bluesky with the other geeks and writers and academics. Maybe see you there.

I once gave a lecture where I used Tetris as metaphor to make a point about narrative and information processing. I regret to tell you, fellow kids, that none of the 100 or so students had heard of Tetris.

Now online:

What’s otherwise quite a cautionary article about the dangers of AI gets reframed as a debate because the tech companies are given permission to present marketing material as academic insight. ☹️

The actual academics it cites all say that it’s a bad idea, and point out the legal duty of care that therapists have for their patients. Even the positive case study ends with the user deleting the chatbot when it starts being rude and encouraging her to dump her boyfriend.

The article says that many ‘researchers’ are enthusiastic about the potential of AI to provide therapy services, and then cites papers written by the CEOs of technology companies selling AI chatbots.

Weird and depressing article in the Guardian about ChatGPT therapists, which soft pedals the dangers of using AI for mental health care, and puffs up a load of tech company marketing.

On about the fifth name you can see that I look up and I choke as I go on to read the next name because what I saw when I looked up was the families of killed women standing up in the gallery as a mark of respect. It took everything I had to not just break down in tears.

https://t.co/DZziycNoub

I’ve worked out what this guy is playing on his Vision Pro

🚨 Our Call for Participation is now open 🚨 If you'd like to give a talk, workshop, performance, or build a giant robot laser harp orchestra in a dome, we want to hear from you! Every accepted proposal is guaranteed tickets to EMF 2024 🎟️ https://t.co/FymP7VofrA

FINALLY worked out what the boris photos remind me of.

Communication Designers! Humour is sometimes overlooked as a model for communication, but there’s lots to learn from jokes. This video takes 2 mins of The Simpsons, and shows how each joke expertly anticipates, subverts, and rewards audience expectation. Well worth a watch.

Information sheet made to invite children to participate in our study about their notions of Digital Good/Bad @digitalgoodnet @JohnPP @MainAngus @ellieracheldare & Steve Love

Now Steamboat Willie is Public Domain, you’re free to put Mickey Mouse in your own work as long as he’s acting like a complete prick.

I have Bluesky codes if anyone still needs them (bots need not apply)

I’m wrapping. https://t.co/iOiU1g1CAW

Ahh the Ghost of Christmas Past

Back in October, Tim O'Reilly joined us for a talk on #AI and the attention economy. He discussed how #BigTech companies manage and profit from our attention online - and asked what data they ought to disclose in the future Watch it here⬇️ https://t.co/uvS0fYN5K5

Grand dame of generative art, Vera Molnar has passed away at 99. One of the first dozen or so people to make art with a computer, and active until the very end, she was committed lifelong to the poetics of geometry, a massive inspiration and role model.