iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

even more fun abroad, when they may pretend to listen to people from another part of the world talking about local political/economic problems, then with an air of world-weary wisdom intervene to explain how it is all the fault of the US/CIA

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

(not pushing that view myself - I have the general impression that it has its limits given that our curriculum is not taught directly to the PISA tests and there's a lot of variation in the samples, but I couldn't be less of an expert)

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I've seen a lot of wider commentary alleging that this is as much Goodhart's Law as it is genuinely improved fundamentals among English pupils; interested in your take on whether that's true (or to what extent)

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

We don't want to know the responses to this

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Alex Hern @hern.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Ave u got a license for that GPU, m8?

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Yeah, or a writer like Robert Byron who is funny enough to make even the bits of The Road to Oxiana where he doesn't do anything for weeks still entertaining, rather than need to embellish to create content worth reading about

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

I was looking at writing about a v long journey and asked advice from a successful travel writer, who cheerfully told me to just travel a bit, fly home, chill out, workshop ideas, then go back, etc, then write it up like I did one long tough slog. Like it was naive to even *try* to do it for real!

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Robin Wigglesworth @robinwigglesworth.ft.com · 09/08/2026

The UK’s willingness to blow up its two genuine world-leading industries (finance and higher education) is quite something.

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

On the other hand this is itself a function of marketing - The Time Traveller's Wife (or even A Court of Thorns and Roses) is much more likely to be sold as a romance novel than Ender's Game is to be put in a section entitled "war"

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

also Deutsche Bahn: the delay is 31 minutes, so you should change at Koblenz to a different train which is due to depart 3 minutes after you arrive there. no, don't worry that most of the other trains don't stop at Koblenz. what platform? 3, sure also Deutsche Bahn: take the next train in an hour

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

I want to believe that, but what we know from European Parliament elections aren't a great sign - especially when the voting patterns so clearly track sentiment about national government, not the parties' behaviour at European level

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

A baguette is a javelin, a naan is a discus. Choose your weapon

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Man at least Surf Dracula was telling you something new

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Advancing AI brings security concerns alongside economic opportunities, and serious state capacity is essential. Building on the success of the AI Security Institute, the government should go further to bring in the best possible people to work on the critical issues facing us today

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

AI is advancing at a phenomenal pace, and the UK is very well placed to be an indispensable part of the value chain. The government should double down on our competitive advantage in domains that require a world-class talent, R&D and business environment, like chips

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Thanks to @channel4news.bsky.social for speaking yesterday about why now is the crucial moment for the UK government to ensure the UK is at the forefront of global AI and tech progress - it's a hugely exciting opportunity and we have to seize it!

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

At DSIT, Kanishka has been a fantastically effective champion of bringing in top talent to tackle the most important challenges, in excellent teams like AISI and Sovereign AI. Keeping this focus on UK state capacity is vital to seizing the opportunity we have right now in AI.

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Great to speak to @mayadh.bsky.social at @sifted.eu about the opportunity Kanishka Narayan has to make an even bigger impact in his new Cabinet role. Machinery of government changes grab headlines, but the factors that really drive long term impact are people, and clarity of purpose.

Quote from Sifted article on Kanishka Narayan's appointment as AI Minister, attending cabinet:

Narayan’s new role will sit across the newly created department for business, innovation, science and trade, and the cabinet office.

This makes sense, says Alexandru Voica, policy chief at London AI startup Synthesia. “AI policy cuts across public services, national security, industrial strategy and regulation, so giving the cabinet office a central role makes sense.”

“We’re hoping to see Kanishka empowered with the right levers and people at the heart of government to drive his plans to make AI a success for Britain,” Ed Bithell, strategy and partnerships lead at AI chip startup Fractile, tells Sifted.

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Tom Westgarth @tomwestgarth.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

I'm in the @financialtimes.com, discussing what it might take for the new DSIT Machinery of Government changes to work. Lots of very thoughtful commentary in the piece from folks that understand what it takes to drive change in government. Some further thoughts from me below 🧵

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Also some "local officials write to imperial capital to say everything's under control, central officials take them at face value" in there? Reminds me of Ming/Qing officials in Guangzhou reporting that the foreigners in/around Macau are very humble and grateful for the opportunity to send tribute

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

As @lewisgoodall.com noted on DSIT, quality of people (and clear purpose) ultimately matters more than structures. Kanishka has championed getting the right people in to work on tech and AI; hopefully his moving closer to the heart of government and great No.10 team under Jade Leung will fuel this

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Kanishka Narayan's appointment is a really positive development - he is fantastically capable and credible on AI. Key questions: what levers he will have in his new role, as well as whether HMG keep excellent teams in AISI, No 10 etc, well-empowered in the new structure

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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

One of Truss's worst legacies is to give the lobby an obsession with small moves in gilt prices.

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

I've heard about the king's equerry at least five times and nobody has bothered to say anything about politics

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Great timing for the BBC, barely twelve hours after broadcasting an advert for themselves during the World Cup final, to do hours of live coverage of a massive political event with absolutely zero insight provided

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

"The point of DSIT" encompasses many things including AISI (one of the best things any government has on AI), research commissioning like ARIA, developing public tech assets like AIRR, but also making complex and urgent policy decisions on science/tech - DBT ministers already handle a huge agenda

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Afraid as someone in a research-intensive tech company I have to disagree - DSIT is currently structurally well set up to support us, and I don't think I see any preferable alternative to justify all the friction of restructuring (plus as Stephen says there just isn't time)

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

The only person on the pitch in the running for the Golden Boot is on their side, how is this possible

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

I would also say that Sunak was more effectual than most commentary gives him credit for in the area where imv he most wanted to drastically change the government's direction, tech policy, including through the creation of a strong DSIT and AISI

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Looking back I particularly appreciate their Stakhanovite work on that mod given that it was not enough (and surely nothing would have been) to get the game even close to being realistic enough to make literally any Roman tactics I knew of actually work

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Rome: Total Realism, you say?

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George Eaton @georgeeaton.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

One of the biggest myths in politics is that social democracy is obsolete. The AI revolution, climate change and the social care crisis all demand an active state – and the centre left has answers. New column by me for @arguablymag.bsky.social. www.arguably.uk/p/social-dem...

arguably.uk

Social democracy for the 21st century

The AI revolution, climate change and the social care crisis demand an active state

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Perhaps this person's children are among the people who now seem to believe that Deliveroo drivers also order Deliveroo

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Alison Killing @alisonkilling.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

NEW: Xinjiang has the highest detention capacity in the world, according to FT analysis - enough space for almost 1 in 40 people in the region - more than five years after the Chinese govt announced the camps had closed.

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Def big overlap, although I think relatability does occasionally help bring a politician down by a boring/trivial story, like Chris Huhne and his speeding ticket

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

This is what made Partygate more damaging than the contracting scandal imv

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Suggest a third axis for whether it's easy to explain why it's wrong to someone who has never been near public administration (or to simplify further, whether it's the sort of misdemeanour a normal person could conceivably also commit)

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Can you still run it but with a sort of viva at the end where they defend the argument?

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

You must understand: Lily, who works doing data analysis for the University of Bristol and lives in a house share is middle class. Brian, her landlord, who is a self employed plumber declaring around a third of his income is working class.

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

Yes, but then they would have had to ask fewer questions about whether abortion legislation should happen at "regional or state level" (eventually the quiz just gave up on the pretence that it works outside the US and asked me do you hate the ACLU)

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

I have a feeling that this is because for a lot of very political people, good/effective politics partly consists of an inquisition to reveal and denounce people with hidden unacceptable views, when actually forcing those people to *keep those views hidden* is pretty good and effective politics

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

"Fair enough, you're getting the hang of Australian politics pretty quickly for a pom"?

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

"Eco-anxiety" is arguably the diagnosis that you are proportionally concerned about climate change's potential impact on the world, but the social world around you is not budging

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

If anything this is a confirmation of your wider point about groupthink - the rational thing to freak out about has been climate change for at least 20y, and it doesn't even register for most people because there's a groupthink consensus that it's somehow not as bad as the experts think

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

But what about the starboard gumbrils?!

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

guy who believes Red Detachment of Women was robbed at the 1962 Oscars

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

On the operational question, perhaps trying to set these things up would also usefully expose a bunch more people in political parties, in a really immediate way, to how it is far too hard to run a pub or similar business right now...

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

That's the touch grass issue again to some extent right - my dad used to drink in the Tory club in his town because it was the one with a snooker table! The parties might be more "normal" if they had more normal people going through, etc

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Ed Bithell @edbithell.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

Why not though! Many young people in particular wish they had more third spaces. In particular I think we are short on places similar to village pubs/student union bars, where you can go and feel you'll run into someone you know without scheduling it with specific friends

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