Nicholas Beale
@Starcourse
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Chair, 695th Lord Mayor's Ethical AI Initiative. Personal views only. Blog on science & religion etc. Work in Strategy & Search. I only follow people I’ve met.
London, England
Joined January 2018
#unethicalOptimizationPrinciple paper now out in @royalsociety Open Science. Thanks to brilliant co-authors Heather Battey, Anthony Davison & Robert Mackay. @DameWendyDBE gave us quote for press: "This is a really important paper. It shows that… (1/n) https://t.co/XEwCR7LV0Y
royalsocietypublishing.org
Abstract. If an artificial intelligence aims to maximize risk-adjusted return, then under mild conditions it is disproportionately likely to pick an unethi
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"This is not a forecast, stresses Dr Green, but a best-case scenario for Reform." Why is @TheEconomist so one-sidedly over-hyping Reform? At present it has clearly peaked & the Conservatives are closing the gap at >2%/month. https://t.co/Qp8KHTHJ44
economist.com
Claims that it has hit a ceiling are probably wishful thinking
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“I stay away from science fiction as much as I can,” he says. “I don’t think it’s helpful to fantasise about the future of artificial intelligence. It causes people to either over-invest or under-invest. I try to stay as practical as I can.”👏👏👏
“I work from the moment I wake up until I go to bed. I have zero hobbies. Everything is, number one, take care of family, and then after that, 100 per cent work.” FT Person of the Year: Jensen Huang via @FT
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Reform are sinking in the polls as their ridiculous bubble is deflating, and the Conservatives are riding, closing the gap at >2% per month. Next year the Conservatives will overtake them. https://t.co/weLpWknASZ
thetimes.com
Scott Benton, who left parliament last year after a lobbying exposé, is said to be considering an attempt to return under the banner of Nigel Farage’s party
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Fascinating that Hamersmyth is Anglo-Saxon. (Evidence is apparently mainly linguistic, but compelling. Ham/Hamm is apparently Old English for a water meadow, land in a river bend, or an enclosure)
Major update to our map of Anglo-Saxon London... we've now added etymologies for each place name... so you can find out what your bit of London used to be called.... and why. (High-res version on link.) https://t.co/ngxyZXCumo
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Unless Ajax is cancelled & everyone involved fired no one will believe 🇬🇧 is serious. Downsize our forces to what we can equip properly & cut MoD staff by 50-80%. Y we should also raise defence spending to 5% of GDP but not with existing wasteful culture. https://t.co/hAWqgM5W3g
thetimes.com
Even in a crowded field of procurement disasters, the saga of these armoured fighting vehicles stands out
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We cannot afford this nonsense. The US National Security Strategy makes it crystal clear that we must up our defence budget to 5% of GDP or risk being swallowed up. We don’t have a decade to do this. https://t.co/DKQOdaY6Es
thetimes.com
Britain’s offshore oil and gas industry is being sacrificed on the altar of ideology
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“AGI…will not happen…it ignores…physical constraints of computation…exponential costs of linear progress, and…fundamental limits…Superintelligence is a fantasy…These ideas persist…because they serve as compelling narratives in an echo chamber that rewards belief”
My new blog post discusses the physical reality of computation and why this means we will not see AGI or any meaningful superintelligence:
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Unless they cancel this disaster & fire all the people involved the MoD will continue to waste money on an epic scale. https://t.co/YrqbPo2jZp via @ft
ft.com
Despite fixes, soldiers report numbness in their hands and feet, nausea and vomiting
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Donations should be capped to £100k and donations from foreign residents banned. It’s outrageous that a Thai resident can buy a party & influence our democracy in this way. https://t.co/qcHCF2Vwa5 via @ft
ft.com
Conservatives returned funds in July from private German bank given ‘in good faith’
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Appalling state of the navy is due to inexcusable incompetence of MoD. We have one of the biggest defence budgets in the world - it’s largely wasted. Sack 75% of the officials, halve the size of the forces but equip them properly with kit that works! https://t.co/HFrrNY2iMG
thetimes.com
Even as operations around Britain by Russia’s submarines increase, the Royal Navy remains in a parlous state. Only a handful of warships exist to protect home waters
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“In the US, Send is so out of control that 38% of students at Stanford University are registered as disabled.” Staggering from @aliceTTimes
https://t.co/FGDnfBfwn6
thetimes.com
The way children with special needs are diagnosed and educated requires an overhaul or they will continue to be failed
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Sensational ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fallen Angels at @MenChocFactory with @Deejanie Richard Teverson, Sarah Twomey, Christopher Hollis, Alexandra Gilbreath & Graham Vick, directed by @luscombechris - & w Elaine Page in the audience 👏👏👏👏👏👏
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We urgently need legislation to ban anyone other than MPs from selecting a PM, banning foreign donors & limiting political donations to (say) £100k. That this kind of speculation is even plausible damages the economy. https://t.co/y0jZAfZmJQ via @ft
ft.com
The Labour backbencher looks poised to make a swift comeback if Keir Starmer steps down as UK prime minister
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No UK taxpayer money should go towards any such ridiculous courses. https://t.co/sf3ydZQlWK
thetimes.com
Students at the University of Glasgow are also being warned about Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and The Treasure Seekers by Edith Nesbit
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Congratulations to @ARC_Cambridge Founder-Director Prof Simon Baron-Cohen for winning the prestigious Grawemeyer Award in Pyschology #ExTRINordinary #cambridgeuniversity
Sir Simon Baron-Cohen has received the 2026 Grawemeyer Award in Psychology, a distinction described as carrying Nobel Prize-level prestige. He is honored for pioneering scientific research into the role of prenatal hormones in autism.
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Good. A step in the right direction backing @katebingham2. We need a £10bn increase in UK private sector investment in & by UK Scaleups. https://t.co/udFZW1X84I
thetimes.com
State development agency makes largest investment in its history with commitment to Dame Kate Bingham’s SV8 Biotech
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Economic growth is largely driven by dynamism, and the falls in dynamism after the GFC & Pandemic largely explain our poor productivity. This bill will almost certainly reduce it further. https://t.co/bZFxGpcIu3
thetimes.com
The government’s pro-union reforms put Labour interests before the country’s
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We need two urgent changes to the law about political parties: 1) Ban all foreign donations and cap donations to £100kpa. 2) Ban Party Members from any say in changing a sitting PM. It should be the MPs only who decide this. (consider Truss) https://t.co/tTAbDtw4fq
thetimes.com
In the clearest sign yet that it is preparing for a change of prime minister, Labour Together wants views on potential leadership contenders
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