Sign in

Nic Fox

@foxnic.bsky.social
1.1K followers 443 following 272 posts

Researching harmed & missing children w/ ML+NLP (“AI”) + more. Ex IT worker. Papers + preprints: * doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2024.23335… * doi.org/10.1080/30679125.2025.26121… * doi.org/10.21428/cb6ab371.524bcce2

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Nic Fox
Shiro Sirius @shirosiri.us · 29/07/2026
I don’t want to be too sensationalist about this but also I’m the least violent person in the world and I think if someone said this to my face I’d hit them
"A physical book is a delivery mechanism for information," it continues.
"Once that information has been extracted and encoded into an Al model, the delivery mechanism has served its purpose. What remains is paper, ink, and binding material. The book is not destroyed. Its value has migrated.
The paper returns to the material cycle; the knowledge enters the intellectual one."
10731401324
Reposted by Nic Fox
University of Manchester School of Social Sciences @uomsoss.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Women's experiences of roads and transport networks are not always fully reflected in the evidence used to inform road safety policy and planning. A new study aims to better understand women's experiences of travel and road safety across Greater Manchester www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/w...
113
Reposted by Nic Fox
evacide @evacide.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Claude warns users that by hitting the "share button" anyone with the link can view the content, but it is not clear that they are creating a document that can be indexed by Google and will come up in searches. futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com
A Whole Bunch of People's Claude Chats Are Publicly Accessible Online, and There's Some Wildly Private Stuff in There
A trove of documents generated by Anthropic's Claude were indexed by Google. They included medical records and student information.
48749
Reposted by Nic Fox
Paris Marx @parismarx.com · 18/07/2025
Silicon Valley’s alliance with Donald Trump was a mask off moment and showed the world we can’t depend on US tech companies. For the past few months, I’ve been trying to get off US tech and I put together a guide so you find alternatives too. I hope you find it helpful!
disconnect.blog
Getting off US tech: a guide
I’m in the process of dropping US tech services. Here’s how I did it, and options you should consider.
12459462574
Reposted by Nic Fox
Rachel Holliday Smith @rachelholliday.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
I'm been wondering if it would come to this and apparently it has. huge move from cloudflare, which hosts a fifth of all websites on earth.
adweek.com
Publishers Are Preparing to Opt Out of Google Search
The nuclear option is gaining traction as web traffic collapses and Google refuses to negotiate with content creators
7843661467
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
If you’re a women who travels in Greater Manchester you may be interested in this survey on women’s road safety👇 Please share. #GreaterManchester #RoadSafety #cycling #walking #PublicTransport #GenderEquality #Bolton #Oldham #Tameside #Rochdale #Wigan #Mcr #Stockport #Salford #Bury #Trafford
143
Reposted by Nic Fox
Joshua Rozenberg @joshuarozenberg.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Dame Victoria Sharp, who retires this summer as president of the High Court King’s Bench division, has given a warning about the risks to judicial independence of artificial intelligence. rozenberg.substack.com/p/intelligen...
rozenberg.substack.com
Intelligence v Independence
AI could undermine the judiciary, a senior judge fears
0146
Reposted by Nic Fox
Faculty of Humanities @uomhums.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
How safe do women feel using our roads, and where are the gaps in understanding? A new study led by @manchester.ac.uk with GMCA is capturing women’s lived experiences of travel and road safety across Greater Manchester. www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/w... 📊 Take the survey: uom.link/RoadSafety
manchester.ac.uk
New survey seeks women's experiences of travel and road safety in Greater Manchester
Women across Greater Manchester are being invited to take part in a major new study exploring how safe they feel when travelling around the region, as researchers seek to know more about the unique ch...
056
Reposted by Nic Fox
Claes Holtzmann @claeshs.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Court holds Google liable for false claims in AI Overviews. Seems significant. "A regular search engine just points to outside websites. But AI overviews generate 'independent, new, and substantive statements' by evaluating and combining content from various third-party sites" the-decoder
the-decoder.com
Landmark German ruling declares Google's AI Overviews are Google's own words and makes it liable for false answers
A German regional court has ruled that Google is directly liable for the content of its AI search overviews. According to the court, previous limited liability protections for search engine operators don't apply to AI overviews. In this case, Google's AI had falsely linked two publishers to fraud and made claims that didn't appear in any of the linked sources. The ruling could set a precedent for AI-generated content liability worldwide.
3024491011
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
“…Europe’s dependence on [US tech]…major risks to data privacy. The US Cloud…compels [US orgs] to hand over data requested by US law enforcement regardless of where it is stored…prompted numerous European countries…to replace [MS] software with local [OS] alternatives” cybernews.com/tech/microso...
cybernews.com
Microsoft allegedly leaked data of Dutch civil servants’ to the US government
Dutch civil servants working in the regulatory agencies responsible for implementing digital laws have reportedly had their emails and minutes leaked to the US government by Microsoft.
010
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
“…more hands-on, more meeting-heavy work simultaneously, with the human-focused parts of the role paying for it. The build cost collapsed, the alignment cost rose, the thinking time disappeared, and the productivity gains got captured by output volume rather than output quality. “
020
Reposted by Nic Fox
IEEE Spectrum @spectrum.ieee.org · 17/05/2026
New research reveals how nearly imperceptible audio in videos, calls, or music can trigger unauthorized AI actions without users noticing. spectrum.ieee.org/voice-ai-audio-at…
0189
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
“the revelation that Palantir’s platform is ten times slower than existing systems strips away the final defence that their controversial reputation is a necessary trade-off for superior technology.”
031
Reposted by Nic Fox
Warwick Mansell @warwickmansell.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
New: “We have a moral duty to act”: county council launches inquiry into effects of school behaviour policies on children’s mental health educationuncovered.co.uk/news/we-have...
educationuncovered.co.uk
Education Uncovered | News| “We have a moral duty to act”: county council launches inquiry into effects of school behaviour policies on children’s mental health
Today’s children will not be able to look back on their school years with fondness, warns councillor as Cornwall instigates investigation into strict policies said to include sanctions for looking out...
21613
Reposted by Nic Fox
Cool Bike Art @coolbikeart1.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Legendary cyclist Beryl Burton training on the Yorkshire Moors, June 1961. Amongst a host of accolades, she rode 277.25 miles (446 km) in 12 hours in 1967, creating a record that wasn't topped by a woman for 50 years - nor by a man for two years. Happy #BicycleBirthday, Beryl! May 12 (1937-1996)
Low-angle photo of a woman with curly hair riding road bicycle on road with cars behind her.
110926
Reposted by Nic Fox
Ky @ky.fyi · 24/04/2026
I wrote about why I quit my job, and how weird and tiring tech feels these days.
ky.fyi
Do I belong in tech anymore?
On quitting, the spread of AI, and the loss of an ideal.
1281791544
Reposted by Nic Fox
womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
Photographer Chantal Pinzi's photogragraphic series of women skateboarders around the world, including in India #WomensArt
Photograph of a young Indian girl in a white dress mid skateboard jump at a skate park
195262784
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
“…CEO laid off several of his colleagues & mandated that remaining workers use AI chatbots, saying it would boost their productivity. …workers had to spend more time rewriting, correcting errors… Quality decreased…, time to produce a piece of content increased … morale decreased”
120
Reposted by Nic Fox
Joshua Rozenberg @joshuarozenberg.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Reports made by coroners to prevent future deaths have been made more accessible, the chief coroner has announced. A new website is now fully searchable. rozenberg.substack.com/p/open-justi...
rozenberg.substack.com
Open justice
Coroners and MPs holding public bodies to account
0184
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
“when the path of least resistance becomes the default for all aspects of life, difficulty looks like a bug in the system. Expertise is replaced with prompt engineering. Learning curves disappear, and with them goes the satisfaction that comes from doing challenging things”
173
Reposted by Nic Fox
Daniel Suitor @danielsuitor.com · 25/03/2026
You know, once a jury has made its decision you are extremely justified in dropping the "allegedly"
6155171079
Reposted by Nic Fox
Dave Meredith @davemeredith.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
Ring-billed Gull standing on a #Stone watching the sunrise over Colpoy's Bay, Ontario for the #BlueSkyArtShow #BrucePeninsula #BruceCounty #ECK #photography #TenMinutesFromHome #PhotographersOfBluesky
725730
Reposted by Nic Fox
womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
UK contemporary sculptor known as Anna & the Willow creates nature-inspired sculptures made from rods of willow #WomensArt
Lifesize sculpture created with willow rods of a female archer sited on a woodland path
81186255
Reposted by Nic Fox
martinbarrow.bsky.social @martinbarrow.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
In less than a month, new providers of children’s homes, fostering services and secure accommodation will no longer be able to make a profit in Wales — making it the first nation in the UK to take this landmark step. nation.cymru/news/wales-b...
nation.cymru
Wales becomes the first UK nation to remove profit from children's homes, fostering, and secure accommodation
In less than a month, new providers of children’s homes, fostering services and secure accommodation will no longer be able to make a profit in Wales — making it the first nation in the UK to take thi...
01510
Reposted by Nic Fox
Royal Statistical Society @royalstatsoc.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
AI often gets talked about as if it “thinks”. In reality, it is statistical. Our landmark paper argues that understanding this is essential for using AI safely, effectively and ethically. Read more: rss.org.uk/news-publica... Paper: rss.org.uk/RSS/media/Fi...
rss.org.uk
AI is statistical. That matters.
0229
Reposted by Nic Fox
Miriam Cosic @miriamcosic.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Just caught up with this: France is dumping Zoom and Teams. So are soldiers in Austria. And bureaucrats in Germany. They are seeking digital sovereignty, autonomy from the American tech oligarchs. apnews.com/article/euro...
apnews.com
France dumps Zoom and Teams as Europe seeks digital autonomy from the US
European governments are moving away from U.S. tech giants, opting for domestic or open-source alternatives.
12399131
Reposted by Nic Fox
Brandon Rohrer @brandonrohrer.com · 03/03/2026
New parable Junior SWE: what’s the secret to getting good LLM code? Senior SWE: knowing what to look for in code reviews Junior SWE: what’s the secret to knowing what to look for in code reviews? Senior SWE: writing a lot of code by hand
0228
Reposted by Nic Fox
Ruth Mottram @ruthmottram.eurosky.social · 27/02/2026
Criminally funny, but also I'm crying inside Norway comes for the #TechBros www.forbrukerradet.no/breakingfree vimeo.com/1168468796?f...
vimeo.com
The Enshittificator
Digital products and services keep getting worse. In the new report Breaking Free: Pathways to a fair technological future, the Norwegian Consumer Council has delved…
14543345
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
“40 [/]49 providers…273 homes…difficulties securing school placements for children in their care. Some…waited 6 months[+] to get a child into school” “struggles to regulate his emotions, after experiencing trauma…tends to run away from situations he finds overwhelming” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Children in care denied school places, Lincolnshire home warns
Councils seek powers to require more schools to take children as heads say funding would meet needs.
010
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Sounds good. Hope “Failure to engage will have serious consequences, such as possible criminal charges+time behind bars” doesn’t negatively impact neurodivergent children, those w/ trauma or any other children who may find it more difficult to engage w/ the hopefully-not-one-size-fits-all process.
020
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
“we should hold on to our […]rough edges, our lack of fitting in […]the things that make us resist compliance with pressures of power. Instead of feeling guilty or out of place, feeling responsible for fitting in, we should hold ourselves (&each other) responsible for resisting the forces of harm” ❤️
0102
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
The 2nd* paper from my PhD has been published as an open access Brief Report! :) Topics: SEND, exclusion, exploitation, missing children, machine learning ("AI") Paper: doi.org/10.1080/3067... The thread below attempts to explain what its about in a way that's accessible *first solo author paper
Brief Report

SATISFY EASY LADDERS: accessible machine learning to facilitate analysis of larger sensitive text data samples in criminology

Nicola Fox

ABSTRACT
Large-scale data analysis has advanced criminology, but context-rich text is largely analysed manually in small samples. Machine learning (ML) with natural language processing (NLP) allows scalable analysis, but criminological use remains limited...
150
Reposted by Nic Fox
Eryk Salvaggio @eryk.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
This analysis of papers from 1980 to 2025 goes beyond LLMs, but notes one challenge that arises when research questions rely on the same tools and datasets: “the adoption of AI seems to induce authors to converge on the same solutions to known problems rather than create new ones.”
science.org
AI has supercharged scientists—but may have shrunk science
Analysis of 41 million papers finds that although AI expands individual impact, it narrows collective scientific exploration
313939
Reposted by Nic Fox
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 10/01/2026
"The hardest single part of building a software system is deciding precisely what to build. [...] No other part of the work so cripples the resulting system if done wrong. No other part is more difficult to rectify later." Fred Brooks, "No Silver Bullet"
252
Reposted by Nic Fox
Jose Pina-Sánchez 🇪🇺 @jpinasanchez.eurosky.social · 08/01/2026
'The Effect of Counting Rules on Cross-National Comparisons of Homicide', by @davidbuil.bsky.social (who came up with the idea & did all of the data analysis and most of the write up), myself & @marcelo-f-aebi.bsky.social, just out at Social Indicators Research (link.springer.com/article/10.1...).
3114
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
“Maybe not everything has to be digital or digitized, maybe the internet shouldn’t be inserted into absolutely everything, maybe we shouldn’t be constantly connected in the way we’re now expected to be, and generative AI certainly does not need to be forced into every facet of society.” ❤️
112741
Reposted by Nic Fox
Ferhat Tura @ferhattura19.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
📢 New publication – and a great way to end the year In this study, we use MAIHDA (Multilevel Analysis of Individual Heterogeneity and Discriminatory Accuracy) to study who is most at risk of violence victimisation in England and Wales. Paper: doi.org/10.1177/1748... 1/n
1137
Reposted by Nic Fox
TechTonic Justice @techtonicjustice.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
Our work begins with a simple, but bold idea: powerful people using AI to decide our fates is not inevitable. At TechTonic Justice, we’re working for a better today and a better tomorrow. And, we want you to join us!
052
Reposted by Nic Fox
TechTonic Justice @techtonicjustice.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Big Tech is rapidly building out data centers to power AI—without adequate oversight, transparency, or accountability. @publiccitizen.bsky.social has released a new report revealing who truly benefits from the acceleration of AI across all sectors of society, and who is left to pay the price.⬇️
154
Reposted by Nic Fox
Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
Anyone interested in the education debate in the UK, a review by Sir Alan Wood of the safeguarding at the much lauded Mossbourne Academy Victoria Park should be a must read. Damning chscp.org.uk/wp-content/u...
123
Reposted by Nic Fox
Katie Wilkinson @drkwilkinson.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
“Calculators expanded reasoning; the printing press spread knowledge. ChatGPT, by contrast, doesn’t extend cognition—it automates it, turning thinking itself into a service. Rather than democratizing learning, it privatizes the act of thinking under corporate control. “
08334
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
'If you want to be a whistleblower you have to be prepared to lose your job. I’m able to do what I’m doing here because I’m nobody' Old article but new to me. Loved it (Not just because it’s about a mid-life PGR from an IT background). Academic reality though: 😔 www.theguardian.com/science/2014...
theguardian.com
The British amateur who debunked the mathematics of happiness
Andrew Anthony: The astonishing story of the British man who began a part-time psychology course in his 50s – and ended up taking on America's academic establishment
052
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
“institutions reward publication volume and citation metrics above everything else” “Papermills are merely the black-market version of the same sickness: a culture that rewards output, not validity; novelty, not truth; publication, not knowledge.”
094
Reposted by Nic Fox
𝙼𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗 𝙺𝚊𝚗𝚐 @mkang.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
How does a violence intervention program actually work? We interviewed 99 READI participants to find out. Key finding: They came for the job, stayed for the therapy. crimelab.uchicago.edu/resources/wh...
crimelab.uchicago.edu
Why Might READI Chicago Work to Reduce Gun Violence? Qualitative Evidence from the Field - University of Chicago Crime Lab
Building on a body of evidence showing that behavioral science-informed programs can reduce violence among youth and adults, this report highlights findings from a qualitative analysis to understand w...
074
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
“Rather than choosing between two flawed approaches […] we advocate for explicitly acknowledging the model uncertainty they introduce. We demonstrate how this can be achieved…” ❤️
010
Reposted by Nic Fox
Ferhat Tura @ferhattura19.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
Our latest paper(with Ruth Weir, Niels Blom, Oluwole Adeniyi) entitled Increases In Disadvantage and Instability Are Associated With Rising Violence is finally published in the British Journal of Criminology! doi.org/10.1093/bjc/... LinkedIn post: www.linkedin.com/posts/activi...
doi.org
Increases In Disadvantage and Instability Are Associated With Rising Violence
Abstract. This study explores the relationship between changes in neighbourhood characteristics and changes in violence rates across England and Wales from
0135
Reposted by Nic Fox
Youth Endowment Fund @youthendowmentfund.org.uk · 10/10/2025
New report alert: Young people at risk of violence are too often excluded from mental health support — unless they offend first. 🔗 Read the full report youthendowmentfund.org.uk/reports/acce... #WMHD25 #WorldMentalHealthDay #EarlyIntervention #ViolencePrevention
031
Reposted by Nic Fox
David Buil-Gil @davidbuil.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
Short note with Fernando Miró Llinares published on @crimrxiv.com: 'Yet another problem for scholarly communication in criminology: The case of a Spanish journal turned into a paper mill' doi.org/10.21428/cb6...
doi.org
Yet another problem for scholarly communication in criminology: The case of a Spanish journal turned into a paper mill
Founded in 1999, RECPC became one of the most influential Spanish-language journals in criminal law and criminology. After a 2024 change of management, articles of dubious authorship and quality linke...
162