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Evan Hensleigh

@futuraprime.net
3.3K followers 406 following 75 posts

Special Projects Editor at The Economist. Bad puns on The Internet.

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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 04/10/2026
Oh dear. I can only assume they were faced with an unfamiliar word (one wearing a little hat, too!) and panicked accordingly.
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 04/10/2026
Happily, I can report that this is incorrect: we do not say “fête” at all.
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Alison Gopnik @alisongopnik.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This is an excellent article by Leif Wetherby - why AI is a cultural technology not a collection of human-like agents (citing our work on this). And why the anthropomorphism is a distraction from the very real risks and dangers and the way to deal with them. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Stop Talking About A.I. Like a Human (Gift Article)
If we want to figure out the proper way to control A.I. models, we need to recognize what they really are.
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 30/09/2026
Jeeeeeesus wept.
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 30/09/2026
Now I want to see the task force report on the possibility that all the poll respondents have been selected by Maxwell's Demon.
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 29/09/2026
A court case revealing some of these systems’ creators believed they were based on theft surely doesn’t help. You might well assume they mean to go on as they began. “LLMs are a product that destroys its supply chain”, one executive wrote. Perhaps they will also destroy their own customer base?
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 29/09/2026
OpenAI has the same problem (and it looks even worse, since unlike the Anthropic case they were clearly aware of competing work). Now that mathematicians know OpenAI wants to beat them, will they still trust Codex?
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 29/09/2026
It’s entirely possible this is just a coincidence. Biology is the same in California as it is in Denmark. Researchers can end up on parallel paths. But in setting up a biology lab, Anthropic has become a competitor to their own customers. That requires a lot of trust.
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The Economist @economist.com · 28/09/2026
Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris rested on a fragile coalition of voters dissatisfied with Democratic leadership. Our data analysis shows that coalition appears to be fracturing
bit.ly
Donald Trump’s disintegrating coalition
The swing voters of 2024 have abandoned the president
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 27/09/2026
Even for those of us fortunate enough to be in control of our own time and obligations, one might find that opportunities for growth or promotion depend on accepting more structure.
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 27/09/2026
It is similar to spending time in a foreign country: you realise that people (perhaps people you think of as your own forebears!) lived and thought about the world in totally different ways, and that those ways (for a time, imperfectly) worked, too.
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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I’m a dual national. I’m not planing on committing any crimes anytime soon, let alone ones with a sentence of 5+ years, but if I ever did I’m not sure why my second passport should disqualify me from facing the same British justice system as everyone else and instead strip me of my citizenship
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Gretchen McCulloch @gretchenmcculloch.com · 20/09/2026
You know who HAS read Ong on Orality? Ted Chiang, that's who I'll wait while you read this utterly devastating short story
devonzuegel.com
The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling by Ted Chiang — Subterranean Press
When my daughter Nicole was an infant, I read an essay suggesting that it might no longer be necessary to teach children how to read or write, because speech recognition and synthesis would soon rende...
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Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Watching the AI doomer panic the last two weeks and I'm struck by all the strident certainty on display about a subject with little transparency and not very much certainty. I wrote about treating AI as an unexceptional crisis and what that involves. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
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Daniel Knowles @dlknowles.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I really hate the framing of these stories as "an AI agent broke out and hacked something." No, an inadequate sandbox meant that a powerful and unpredictable computer program was set loose on the open internet by the company that designed it. The agency isn't with the "AI agent", it's with the firm
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The Economist @economist.com · 17/09/2026
The Mercator map has adorned school walls for generations, but it warps the size of landmasses. We explore how alternative maps try to remedy these distortions
bit.ly
In search of the least wrong map
The UN wants to adopt a fairer way to trace borders
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 11/09/2026
They’re just trying to weasel out of it.
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Aliette de Bodard @aliettedebodard.com · 10/09/2026
This is worth a read because it eviscerates the narration of "AI solved complex mathematical problems, we can now retire mathematicians" that's currently being pushed by the AI companies. (and in general please remain sceptical of any claims to independent thinking or intent by LLMs)
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Alex Hern @hern.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
It's finally happened: the improved quality of machine transcription and the greater ability to extract value from unlabelled data means "your tech is eavesdropping on you for marketing purposes" has crossed from "false conspiracy theory" to "true and concerning" www.theverge.com/tech/991190/...
theverge.com
LG TVs caught spying even when offline or on standby
Gamers Nexus comes for LG again.
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 02/09/2026
This is odd, because I had this exact problem two weeks ago, a brief search told me the answer was QGIS, and I generated the PNG in about ten minutes. I imagine Simon had some particular need I didn’t, but I can’t imagine the tool was that quick to build. (Probably more fun though!)
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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
I want to expand on this in a short thread. Fascism sucks. It is also not going away: it is an effectively permanent part of modern representative politics because it is an effectively permanent part of human nature. We have to be prepared to push back against it, basically forever.
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Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 20/08/2026
god if you'd told me that one day I'd witness people coming out of shops to take a proper look at the rain falling out of the sky, in ENGLAND
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 19/08/2026
I found their announcement post helpfully clear on how it works and how it affects actual text output: www.anthropic.com/news/claude-... I wonder if writers used to selecting each word carefully find LLMs’ scattershot, “good enough” approach hard to really internalise?
anthropic.com
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Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
In the Renaissance people theorized, since the Aeneid is great, if you wrote poems made only of words & phrases from the Aeneid rearranged they should be great too, since a great source regurgitated should yield greatness. They produced NOTHING we still read. Thinking about that a lot lately.
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The Economist @economist.com · 17/08/2026
The successful candidate will work across the full range of our social platforms plus alerts, newsletters and emerging digital platforms. They will be expected to organise, mentor and inspire our award-winning team. Interested? Apply by August 23rd
bit.ly
The Economist is hiring a Deputy Head of Social Media
We are offering a permanent contract in London to work across social media plus notifications, newsletters and emerging digital platforms
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Dr. Black's Medieval Remedies @winstonblack.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
My god, what an image. Dead kings in a plastic box, carried off as the world burns.
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Lauren Leek @laurenleek.eu · 10/08/2026
We have more data about ourselves than ever. So why is everything converging on the same? In my new post I use data on high streets, Billboard hits, a million films and my own AI personas to expose the algorithms behind the sameness and how to regulate them. laurenleek.substack.com/p/temperatur...
laurenleek.substack.com
Temperature Zero for Culture: Why Everything Is Starting to Look the Same
What 640 London shopping streets, 4,000 Billboard hits, a million films and synthetic AI personas tell us about why everything is flattening into sameness and how to regulate the algorithms behind it.
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 12/08/2026
This is a clear sign the lunatics are running the asylum.
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 12/08/2026
Uh, so who turned out the lights?
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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 02/08/2026
this owns www.inverse.com/input/cultur...
inverse.com
The adorable love story behind Wikipedia’s 'high five' photos
Nearly 14 years later, the tale of this iconic couple can finally be told.
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 31/07/2026
Usually when you try to sell one of these it comes to naut.
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 25/07/2026
I’ve never quite decided if the hyperbolic discussion around AI is marketing or, as this argues, Pygmalion-like affection. But it does shape the discussion around the wrong questions. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com
Why this philosopher turned down Anthropic
The AI industry is courting the humanities — but it is asking the wrong questions
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The Economist @economist.com · 25/07/2026
For most of the past 30 years, the person in charge of The Economist’s covers has been Graeme James. We remember our dear friend and colleague
bit.ly
The Economist’s cover designer, Graeme James, has died, aged 65
His more than 2,500 covers cleverly captured, mocked and ridiculed the world
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 23/07/2026
FWIW, this one has bugged me for decades. “Orientate” is just weird. Apparently it’s a 19th century innovation: to have an orientation, things must be “orientated”, not “oriented”. Americans (one of my professors at uni excepted) never fell for this. www.etymonline.com/word/orientate
etymonline.com
Orientate - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
"to turn or cause to turn toward the east," a back-formation from orientation.… See origin and meaning of orientate.
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 22/07/2026
Because no one wants to pet a flophouse.
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 22/07/2026
It's a fun time to learn that all security was actually security through obscurity. openai.com/index/huggin...
openai.com
OpenAI and Hugging Face partner to address security incident during model evaluation
OpenAI and Hugging Face share early findings from a security incident during AI model evaluation, highlighting advanced cyber capabilities and lessons for defenders.
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 16/07/2026
The Guardian finally ran out of metaphors today. 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔 If you have any spare metaphors, please consider donating.
A screenshot of the Guardian homepage. Headlines include the phrases “Argentina’s late double breaks England hearts”, “Argentina break England hearts”, and “England hearts broken”A screenshot further down on the Guardian homepage. Headlines include the phrases “Argentina break England hearts”, “Argentina’s late double breaks England hearts”, and “Heartbreak for England, again”Even further down the Guardian homepage: “England hearts broken”
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 06/07/2026
Why a bar chart? Why a chart at all? This could have been a table.
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 01/07/2026
It is really hard! I’m not sure I have any advice but patience. (It does get easier as they get older!)
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Tom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
I've decided to compile a definitive thread of photos of the best sheep I've photographed during my walks in the countryside, together with supporting biographical information. I will put the vital story associated with each sheep in the alt text, since some of it is a little long to fit in a post.
A nihilistic sheep, who, like so many other sheep, just wants to watch the world burn, staring at me insouciantly, moments after it has set fire to a large portion of the United Kingdom.
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Polly Mackenzie @pollymackenzie.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
My nine year old asked for a Rosetta Stone cake for his birthday
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 06/06/2026
Nor are they anywhere near the finals of anything. (Though I supposed they did narrowly miss out on the championship.)
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Paul Rissen @r4isstatic.com · 05/06/2026
100% this! Was just having this conversation with a colleague yesterday - studying the process of 'doing history' gives you invaluable skills to be able to question the provenance of sources and understand perspectives. More, please :)
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Jackson O'Lantern-Brien @sprobeforebros.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
GREG DAVIES: seems like a kind of a shit task. Everyone just seems like they're going home normally. ALEX HORNE: well before you say that let's have a look at how Odysseus did. cut to panel of AJAX, MENELAUS, AGAMEMNON, and DIOMEDES who are all staring at ODYSSEUS with his head in his hands
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 28/05/2026
Could you send some of that down our way, please?
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Armin Ronacher @mitsuhiko.at · 24/05/2026
Has been a while since I wrote about agentic engineering, so this time around some learnings of maintaining Pi as a junior maintainer to @mariozechner.at lucumr.pocoo.org/2026/5/24/pi...
lucumr.pocoo.org
Building Pi With Pi
Learnings from post-AI Open Source and how we’re approaching this so far.
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 24/05/2026
Also, Michigan vs Detroit (like most of these, I expect) is so one-sided…
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 24/05/2026
I think you’re probably right, but the other one that comes to mind (NYC aside) is Portland, Oregon. I gather most of the rest of the state hopes for Portland to slide into the sea.
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Alex Elizabeth Byrne McMillan @undeniablyalex.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
YOU’RE LISTENING TO SISYPHUS FM, THE HOME OF NON-STOP ROCK
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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 18/05/2026
The Venetians had this figured this out eight hundred years ago! (I mean it was galleys. “The Chevy Suburban of the 12th century”, as no one calls them. Basically the same thing but no OnStar.)
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