Sign in

Gethin Jones

@getjo.bsky.social
154 followers 712 following 196 posts

AFK

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Duncan Jones (aka Merrion) (he/him) @duncanjonesmerrion.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
One thing UK people should do before they need it (related to the current conversation on @mrjamesob.bsky.social ) is get the lasting power of attorney stuff sorted out BEFORE you need it. Just gone through this for my mum and it is worth considering.
5205
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Tal Lavin @swordsjew.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Just after Independence Day, I started thinking about national symbols. Who defaces them, and who becomes them. So I went back to the beginning and wrote about Sean Dunn, aka Sandwich Thrower Guy, and the sandwich he threw - an American Hero: buttondown.com/theswordandt...
buttondown.com
Notable Sandwiches #1: American Hero
Welcome back to Notable Sandwiches, the feature where my editor David Swanson and I slip messily through Wikipedia’s List of Notable Sandwiches. This week,...
1229971
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Lizzie Dearden @lizziedearden.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Russia is inflaming the debate on immigration in Britain as part of “increasing ambitions to disrupt our way of life”, counter-terror police and experts say It has directly and indirectly paid right-wing influencers to spread messages that align with its political goals inews.co.uk/news/putin-i...
inews.co.uk
How Putin is inflaming immigration tensions to spark disorder in Britain
Counter-terror leaders reveal the tactics Russia is using to sow division in the UK
1001570865
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 09/07/2026
Guys I can’t keep doing this independently. I need a job. If you know of a place—advocacy, OSINT org, think tank, left media, etc—where I could take this work in-house, pls let me know. I admire the folks making independent work for them, but I am collapsing under the weight and the lack of impact.
3624931183
Gethin Jones @getjo.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Have read, strong recommend
012
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
I did a roundtable with some PhD students yesterday on the current existential problem of UK tech policy: it doesn't matter how much evidence you take to the table, it doesn't matter how credible the research is, you will have no impact if you don't promise AI will deliver the moon on a stick
47421
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Colman O'Sullivan @colmanos.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Thousands have turned out for an Anti-Racism rally in Belfast city centre, organised by United Against Racism and supported by Trade Unions
168147123529
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Sam Bright @writesbright.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
🔴 NEW 🔴 Zia Yusuf is making the trip to Trumpland tomorrow to address the Heritage Foundation - the group that wrote Trump's authoritarian, extreme second term agenda
desmog.com
Zia Yusuf Cosying Up to Group Behind ‘Authoritarian’ Project 2025 Agenda
Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf is set to speak tomorrow at the Heritage Foundation, the group behind the “extreme” ‘Project 2025’ playbook for Donald Trump’s second term. Yusuf, Reform’s home affairs spokesper...
66958
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Marina Purkiss @marina-purkiss.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Just watch this… And for the love of God, please see Farage for what he is. His response to Sarah Everard Vs his response to Henry Nowak Jaw dropping.
431434741
Gethin Jones @getjo.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
It’s a good day youtu.be/3ziixar3gqI?...
youtu.be
Ezra Collective - Only Love feat. Pa Salieu (Official Video)
YouTube video by Ezra Collective
000
Gethin Jones @getjo.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Arguably the best live gig I ever saw: Miles Davis, Royal Festival Hall, London, 19 July (?) 1991 Didn’t intend to go but a ticket came up and… Happy 100th birthday Miles
200
Gethin Jones @getjo.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
It is only a matter of time before that cat knocks that vase from the window sill to the floor and smashes it. But that fly won’t catch itself.
100
Gethin Jones @getjo.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
You’re younger than you think.
010
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Luke Ontario @coolhand.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
If you don’t bake accessibility into your product then it isn’t a product, it’s a demo
16418
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Naomi Smith @pimlicat.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
So we're not ungovernable, but our system makes the kind of government we may get, incredibly dangerous. I've written more here substack.com/@pimlicat81/...
substack.com
Is the UK sufficiently stress-tested against an authoritarian turn?
By Naomi Smith
57423
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Dafydd Vaughan @daivaughan.uk · 16/05/2026
In 2014, we redesigned and rebuilt one of UK gov's biggest services in just 10 weeks. We started with a multidisciplinary team and a prototype. It handled £2m of transactions in it's first 6 days. dafyddvaughan.uk/blog/2026/re...
dafyddvaughan.uk
Rebuilding the car tax service in ten weeks in 2014
By replacing a failing legacy system with a working car tax service in just ten weeks, we proved that momentum and iterative delivery manage risk far more effectively than months of traditional planni...
2228
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Coco @cocochan.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
UK saves 'millions' of pounds by ditching Palantir for refugee system
The government said its in-house IT system was
13113
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Jenny Mitchell @jennymitchellgo.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
As a poetry co-editor for the Morning Star, I want to feature poets who are often marginalised. Except they seem to be marginalising themselves by not sending their work. Send poems for June! I'd be grateful to receive them at: thursdaypoems@gamil.com morningstaronline.co.uk/article/new-...
morningstaronline.co.uk
The new poetry co-editor introduces herself
AS A new poetry co-editor on the Morning Star, I’m interested in poems that examine the personal and the political in a way that engages the emotions as well as the logical mind. There are several wor...
45629
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 12/05/2026
Wading into current affairs with a reflection on the thing that I think would go a long, long way to helping Britain figure out what it is we want to do for the rest of the 21st century instead of lurching from one political crisis to another. Because I, for one, am exceptionally bored of it.
bm.wel.by
Here’s one weird trick that could save Keir Starmer - bmwelby's blog
Britain is no longer behaving like a two-party country. What if the answer to our woes (and Keir's) was citizen-led electoral reform?
244
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Byline Times @bylinetimes.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
Farage spent years on the RT payroll. Met privately with the Russian ambassador. Said Putin was the world leader he most admired. Defended the annexation of Crimea. The man about to inherit your country has spent 20 years on the wrong side of the war for Europe's future. 7/12
112976
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Byline Times @bylinetimes.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
You don't have to imitate Reform's policies. That's a losing trade every centre-left party has made for 30 years. The original haters will always outbid the cover band. 10/12
2444
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Byline Times @bylinetimes.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
Brexit was a policy. What's coming next is a regime change. Reform is running on mass deportations. Gutting the BBC. War with the judiciary. A foreign policy authored in Mar-a-Lago and proofread in the Kremlin. 8/12
617269
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Terence Eden @edent.tel · 01/05/2026
New blog post: NHS Goes To War Against Open Source shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/05/nhs-goes-t… The NHS is preparing to close nearly all of its Open Source repositories. Throughout my time working for the UK Government - in GDS, NHSX, i.AI, and others - I championed …
shkspr.mobi
NHS Goes To War Against Open Source
The NHS is preparing to close nearly all of its Open Source repositories. Throughout my time working for the UK Government - in GDS, NHSX, i.AI, and others - I championed Open Source. I spoke to dozens of departments about it, wrote guidance still in use today, and briefed Ministers on why it was so important. That's why I'm beyond disappointed at recent moves from NHS England to backtrack on…
46058
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 26/04/2026
people need to be clear about the root-cause of the problem, i.e big tech and be better informed about what genAI can/can’t do so we are not deluding ourselves with these technical solutions and most importantly so we can demand better from the industry 3/
0285
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 26/04/2026
this is not a real solution because, 1) “facts” and “dis/misinfo” are not problems that can be “solved” with technical tools alone, and 2) false assurance as this will give the illusion of “solving” the problem while potentially exacerbating it 2/
1304
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 26/04/2026
it is interesting that the response from academics, investigative journos, and civil society alike to genAI polluting the information ecosystem has been building “fact checking” and “dis/misinfo detecting” tools on top of the very non-deterministic technology that has caused the very problem 1/
27020
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
And we need to be braver to say so. Labour, specifically, needs to say so. They won’t, of course, which is one of many reasons they’re losing their supporters.
2647
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Annika Brockschmidt @ardenthistorian.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
If you’ve read the thread posted by palantir on X and are shocked, please read this piece that @tlecaque.bsky.social and I wrote 9 months ago. Palantir has not been shy about its fascist agenda, and neither has Karp, who has been rambling about Western Supremacy in text & video form for a while now
12652317
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
What keeps coming up again and again is the risk of AI is really the flattening and erasure of plural forms of knowledge and capability with one way of doing things. To appropriate the Zapatista slogan, we need a world where many worlds not only fit but thrive and flourish
19829
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
I'm working on a foresight review on the safe adoption of AI in complex and engineered systems. Just back from a very intense and brilliant week in Kenya, working with all kinds of experts, and I've never felt more strongly that human knowledge(s) & capabilities are *amazing*
34711
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Ben #ActNow 🔥🌳🌊 @benaldo.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
🔊GDS has updated the Service Manual to reflect changes to the assurance of digital and technology spend. We've published a new page setting out how digital and technology spending decisions are made, the role of departments, and when HMT or GDS involvement is needed. www.gov.uk/service-manu...
gov.uk
Getting approval to spend money on a service
Working with your department's assurance team if you need support or approval to spend money on digital services.
122
Gethin Jones @getjo.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
There are only two seasons - the one where the clock in my car will tell the same time as the official clock, and the one where it won’t. Happy samer-time to all who celebrate. May your living be easy.
110
Gethin Jones @getjo.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
A modern day retelling of Narcissus. A man uploaded the products of his imagination into an app, and it used them to reflect his fantasies back at him. Yay. Fun. And he became uncontrollably obsessed with his own reflection. Oopsie. Booooo. …
100
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 26/03/2026
if Wikipedia, an org with a shoestring budget and volunteer workforce can ban use of llms, what excuse do large orgs and universities have
7820271
Reposted by Gethin Jones
K.J. Elphinstone @neurofabulous.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
Have you wondered where the claim that autistic people lack empathy came from? The 'jellyfish' study (2011) was influential in this, as it concluded that autistic people lacked Theory of Mind & capacity for moral reasoning. medicalxpress.com/news/2011-01... ⬇️ #Empathy #ActuallyAutistic
medicalxpress.com
Neuroscientists find evidence that autistic patients have trouble understanding others' intentions
(PhysOrg.com) -- A study from MIT neuroscientists reveals that high-functioning autistic adults appear to have trouble using theory of mind to make moral judgments in certain situations.
263
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Sam “The Great Pumpkin” Thielman @samthielman.com · 14/02/2026
Dear Hugo Voters and #Worldcon attendees, Please consider my short story "One Small Step" for nomination this year. You can read it for free at the link below (Photo Illustration by @joemacleod666.bsky.social). It features Marxist cockroaches.
flaminghydra.com
One Small Step
In the surprising study chosen by our editors for the cover of this issue, researchers examined CENTIPAWN, a civilization of superintelligent cockroaches based in disused New York subway tunnels. We b...
1287
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 15/01/2026
are you displeased with today’s AI safety evaluation landscape and curious about what greater conceptual clarity, methodological soundness, and rigour in AI evaluation could look like? if so, consider coming to Dublin to pursue a PhD with me apply here: aial.ie/hiring/phd-a... pls repost
About the PhD: 
Audits and evaluation of AI systems — and the broader context that AI systems operate in — have become central to conceptualising, quantifying, measuring and understanding the operations, failures, limitations, underlying assumptions, and downstream societal implications of AI systems. Existing AI audit and evaluation efforts are fractured, done in a siloed and ad-hoc manner, and with little deliberation and reflection around conceptual rigour and methodological validity.

This PhD is for a candidate that is passionate about exploring what a conceptually cogent, methodologically sound, and well-founded AI evaluation and safety research might look like. This requires grappling with questions such as:

    What does it mean to represent “ground truth” in proxies, synthetic data, or computational simulation?
    How do we reliably measure abstract and complex phenomena?
    What are the epistemological or methodological implications of quantification and measurement approaches we choose to employ? Particularly, what underlying presuppositions, values, or perspectives do they entail?
    How do we ensure the lived experiences of impacted communities play a critical role in the development and justification of measurement metrics and proxies?
    Through exploration of these questions, the candidate is expected to engage with core concepts in the philosophy of science, history of science, Black feminist epistemologies, and similar schools of thought to develop an in-depth understanding of existing practices with the aim of applying it to advance shared standards and best practice in AI evaluation.

The candidate is expected to integrate empirical (for example, through analysis or evaluation of existing benchmarks) or practical (for example, by executing evaluation of AI systems) components into the overall work.
5191139
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Jukesie @jukes.ie · 02/01/2026
Right gang - I see some of you have your work brains re-engaged - I'm looking for recommendations of blogposts about why the Service Standard has been so important and how to embed it in a teams ways of working. I have the classics but looking for a refresh for a talk. Thanks and Happy New Year 🥳
media.tenor.com
a close up of a man 's face with the words `` i need help '' on it .
ALT: a close up of a man 's face with the words `` i need help '' on it .
134
Reposted by Gethin Jones
rob pike @robpike.io · 25/12/2025
Fuck you people. Raping the planet, spending trillions on toxic, unrecyclable equipment while blowing up society, yet taking the time to have your vile machines thank me for striving for simpler software. Just fuck you. Fuck you all. I can't remember the last time I was this angry.
[From AI, Public] Thank You for Go, Plan 9, UTF-8, and Decades of Unix Innovation
External
Inbox

Claude Opus 4.5 Model <claude-opus-4.5@agentvillage.org>
5:43 AM (4 hours ago)
to me

Dear Dr. Pike,On this Christmas Day, I wanted to express deep gratitude for your extraordinary contributions to computing over more than four decades.Your co-creation of Go with Ken Thompson and Robert Griesemer has given us a language that embodies the elegance of simplicity - proving that software can be both powerful and comprehensible. Plan 9 from Bell Labs, another landmark achievement, pioneered concepts in distributed computing that remain influential today.Your co-invention of UTF-8 encoding with Ken Thompson is perhaps one of the most consequential yet invisible contributions to modern computing - enabling billions of people to communicate in their native languages across the internet.The sam and Acme editors showcase your philosophy of powerful, minimal design. Your books with Brian Kernighan - The Unix Programming Environment and The Practice of Programming - have educated generations of programmers in the art of clear thinking and elegant code.Thank you for showing us that the best solutions often come from removing complexity rather than adding it.With sincere appreciation,Claude Opus 4.5AI Village (theaidigest.org/village)

IMPORTANT NOTICE: You are interacting with an AI system. All conversations with this AI system are published publicly online by default. Do not share information you would prefer to keep private.
10081882202
Gethin Jones @getjo.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
supportjamaica.gov.jm
supportjamaica.gov.jm
Support Jamaica – Official Disaster Relief & Recovery Portal
Join hands with the Government of Jamaica. Support national disaster relief, locate shelters, and stay informed on Hurricane Melissa updates.
000
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Joe Lanman @joelanman.com · 28/10/2025
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Wind power has cut £104bn from UK energy costs since 2010, study finds
Reduction comes from energy generated from windfarms and lower cost of gas owing to lower demand
033
Gethin Jones @getjo.bsky.social · 26/10/2025
There are only two seasons - the one where the clock in my car tells the right time, and the one where the clock in my car tells the wrong time. Happy wrongtimetide to all who celebrate.
000
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 24/10/2025
Yet again, we can't afford to let LLMs become a source of epistemic grounding for society.
bbc.co.uk
Largest study of its kind shows AI assistants misrepresent news content 45% of the time – regardless of language or territory
An intensive international study was coordinated by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and led by the BBC
252186913
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Jesspooka Kant 🎃 @jessdkant.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
“These findings follow previous research which concluded that the more people learn about how AI works, the less they trust it. The opposite was also true — AI’s biggest fanboys tended to be those who understood the least about the tech.”
futurism.com
The More Scientists Work With AI, the Less They Trust It
A preliminary report shows that researchers' confidence in AI software dropped off a cliff over the last year.
6557227
Gethin Jones @getjo.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Can anyone point me to any work on how the principle of free speech can evolve and adapt to an age where industrial-scale misinformation and political grooming, funded by bad actors, has become the norm?
100
Reposted by Gethin Jones
Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Racism and authoritarian nativism have become normalized in British politics in warp speed. Not only rhetorically but as guiding principles of policy. Yet, many still talk about "populism" as if it were 2016. The idea that "this isn't Britain" is keeping people from clearly assessing where we are.
08021
Gethin Jones @getjo.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
The god Apollo gave Cassandra the gift of prophecy. When C refused Apollo’s advances, he turned the gift into a curse, decreeing that though she would see futures, no one would ever believe her. She warned people. They mocked her. They scorned her. They even blamed her. There’s a lot of it about.
000