iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Am I taking this too seriously? Maybe. But we are increasingly seeing AI used to make claims about all sorts of things. Constructing the past is fundamental to history. But good historical construction relies on deep respect for people and the traces they leave. This fails that test.

Which brings us to the sources. Only some are directly cited in producing the 'life' and most are statistical. We see far fewer studies which explore the deep structures of life in the past: gender norms, kinship, education, emotions etc. Where they do appear, they are paraphrased by AI

120 0

Go back far enough in time and, despite evidence of Indigenous presence in North America going back over 20,000 years, North America is shown as an empty land. Indigenous presence is erased.

And the California coast in the mid 1800s? A period officially recognised as a genocide of Indigenous peoples? Again, there is no sign of violence, forced labour, removal or colonisation. What we have instead is a generic Indigenous person, isolated from the realities of the period and of history.

By contrast, enslaved people appear in the American South. But their life stories don't tell of the impact of enslavement - even on the causes of death. People are not beaten, punished or abused. AI Black communities do not cling to their history and humanity in the face of social death.

And who is missing. Not a single person from the twenty I generated on the Guinea coast in the 1750s had so much as heard of the impacts of the TAST. Atlantic slavery was apparently not a statistical reality for people in West Africa in the 1750s!

'Meena' sees Halley's Comet and the red skies of the Cosiguina eruption. But she does not witness the violence of the first Indian War of Independence. Never watches the summary execution of those who took part. Her India is not fighting against repression and for independence because it isn't real.

Projects like this invite us to confuse a statistical past with the real past. We reconstruct missing lives for all sorts of reasons. But that is painstaking work which demands a deep respect for human dignity and historical methods. AI people never suffer prejudice or the violence of colonisation.

111 0

For each person I can ask AI to fabricate a life story based on stats and a handful of source materials. But Roger never saw Halley's Comet. He didn't breakfast on oat bread or chat with the traders in the town. He didn't leave any descendants, not because of dysentery, but because he never lived.

Once you have a person you can then get the model to 'draw' a timeline of them based on the probabilities listed. Less is said about how this works but I assume it's a basic probability tree. Here are 3 versions of the same stats from 1058. This could be interesting again for looking at life chances

First, the positives. I like the fact you can specify a year and a place and get a good sense of changing life expectancies etc. As @freereed59.net noted earlier, there's loads of potential for Medicine Through Time teachers. There are sources for the data...though they are quite broad

We shift from archaeology and history into supposition in rather too smooth a manner I fear

Alex Ford @apf102.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

A name change I can get behind. Take that old Bristol down a peg or two

030 0

King Gustav when his 5 year old bounds in at 6 am on a Sunday

022 0

Alex Ford @apf102.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Old things Olympus OM20 | 50mm f1.8 | Ilford Delta 400 @800 #ishootfilm #filmisnotdead

050 0

Alex Ford @apf102.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Looks like someone in Derby is trying to one-up @iandawson51.bsky.social

240 0

Alex Ford @apf102.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Not at all concerning! Don’t buy The Beano 😂

241 0

Alex Ford @apf102.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Just been to where they invented the rainbow 😂

000 0

Alex Ford @apf102.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

The irony of this statement popping up on a Sex Matters post detailing why trans and non-binary pupils should not be afforded privacy is excruciating.

Finally there is a focus on the battle for curriculum time. I leave this here as a provocation because I wonder now, nearly 20 years later, if the thieves of curriculum time have indeed managed to eat away at the space we make for real historical thinking and, ultimately, historical consciousness.

112 0

Chris notes also how, even in the early 2000s, we were fighting an intergenerational battle to keep historical thinking central to the history curriculum. Not some woolly notion of thinking skills, but real, grounded historical ways of making sense of the past and present.

100 0

Second, he notes that there is a long history of teachers aware of history's ethical dimensions, seeking to make it meaningful for all. That we still have to fight battles to get people to accept curriculum construction cannot be value-free and that historical thinking matters is crazy.

100 0

First I think it's important that Chris addresses the fact that some of the myths about history teaching in the late 20th century were (and remain) myths. Here he discusses the idea that progressive history teaching was just getting pupils to imagine they were badgers (IYKYK)

100 0

Alex Ford @apf102.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Reading @cculpin.bsky.social 's 2007 Medlicott Lecture again today. I am struck by how relevant so much of this lecture remains. Partly in educating a new generation of #historyteacher s about past struggles and partly because those struggles are still playing out 🧵 www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...

100 0

Michael Gove breaking irony meters across the nation today!

Alex Ford @apf102.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

A brilliantly written and encouraging review of Netflix’s Little House on the Prairie by @johnniejae.bsky.social . Was keen to see this but didn’t know what to expect. Might well watch it with the 9yo now. Definitely one for American West #historyteacher s in the UK redpopnews.com/netflixs-lit...

120 0

Alex Ford @apf102.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Really interesting provocation here on how we enact stories through video games via Sara Humphreys “Manifest Destiny 2.0”. Am now having to play RDR on Switch 2 for research… despite the brilliant conversion on Switch 2, it’s already making me feel quite uncomfortable

011 0

Alex Ford @apf102.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Olympus 35RC | Ilford SFX 200 Developed in HC110 #ishootfilm #filmisnotdead

0100 0

Alex Ford @apf102.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Malham Cove back in May Trying out Ilford SFX. Think my red filter is a bit rubbish!! Mostly over exposed and soft! Olympus 35RC | SFX200 | HC110 #ishootfilm #filmisnotdead

0100 0

Alex Ford @apf102.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Up on Rawdon Billing earlier this month. Finally got around to developing Mamiya 6 IVb | Kodak Tri-X 400 | HC110 #ishootfilm #filmisnotdead

1110 0

And the exciting conclusion

Honestly - it’s just daily delights at the moment! Another one from the pen of the youngest. Better plotted than the books they gave her at the start of the year … looking at you “Goat in the Road”

310 0

Well done to Dan for organizing such an amazing event and special thanks to everyone who came, presented, talked, and shared in the conference Special thanks to the talented Evie Wormald for the photos www.linkedin.com/in/evie-w-23... Watch this space for news about #SHP27!

Well what a weekend it was at @1972shp.bsky.social Summer Conference! Looking through the photos and there is just so much joy!! From workshops to keynotes to Bildung sessions...It felt exactly as @danlyndon.bsky.social has always described it - like a #historyteacher family coming together! #SHP26

111 0

Alex Ford @apf102.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Moments of calm. Just what I need this morning. Wimbleball Reservoir Mamiya 6 folder | Kodak Tri-X 400 | Orange Filter | HC110 #ishootfilm #trix400

030 0

Super blog from @victoriacrooks.bsky.social as ever…even if I had to engage with football as part of it (suspect I am in the minority there). The need for mentors (and ITE tutors) to make space for trainee reflection is so key uonhistoryteachertraining.school.blog/2026/07/13/t...

Alex Ford @apf102.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

5 is such an amazing age 🥰

260 0

Alex Ford @apf102.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Missed this at the time, but this is an excellent article… and applies beyond the realm of politics also!