iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jamie Hancock @j-hancock.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

We’re calling for new requirements that would force AI chatbot services to meet standards for accuracy and bias around Uk elections - and the Electoral Commission agrees

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Jamie Hancock @j-hancock.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

We polled the UK public and found that almost half (47%) are worried about AI chatbots sharing inaccurate information about elections and candidates

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Jamie Hancock @j-hancock.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

We also found that: * Even the services with the highest accuracy rates - Gemini and Grok - generated significant errors * ChatGPT got the date of the election wrong by over 2 months * ChatGPT seemed to be using a model (GPT-4o) that OpenAI claimed to have retired over a month prior

A chart showing the accuracy of different chatbots when asked questions about the 2026 Scottish elections

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Jamie Hancock @j-hancock.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

It’s not every week your research gets covered by the Times and the Guardian I tested how 5 chatbots answered questions the Scottish elections. 34.1% of answers contained errors - with ChatGPT providing errors 46.2% of the time www.theguardian.com/technology/2... www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/...

theguardian.com

ChatGPT and other AI bots made huge errors before Scottish election, study finds

Exclusive: Electoral Commission calls for new controls as Demos finds tools made up fake scandals, invented candidates or gave wrong date

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Juliet E McKenna @julietemckenna.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

"ChatGPT, the most heavily used AI service, gave wrong information in 46% of its answers, including making up an expenses scandal, giving inaccurate replies on voter eligibility rules and getting the date of the election wrong by two months." www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

theguardian.com

ChatGPT and other AI bots made huge errors before Scottish election, study finds

Exclusive: Electoral Commission calls for new controls as Demos finds tools made up fake scandals, invented candidates or gave wrong date

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Demos @demos-uk.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

❗ NEW REPORT | “Barely getting by” As the government’s landmark #EmploymentRightsBill passes through parliament, our new research with @jrf-uk.bsky.social shines a light on those still at risk of slipping through the social safety net. www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

mirror.co.uk

Labour's 'historic' workers' rights boost finally passes - what it means for you

The Employment Rights Bill, which includes day one rights for sick pay and a ban on exploitative zero hours contracts, had been held by Tory and Lib Dems peers in the Lords

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Jamie Hancock @j-hancock.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

I provided a few thoughts for Demos on the Budget's announcement of an expansion of the UK's welfare fraud and error recovery systems For more background, here’s a recent piece which highlights the risks and harms that automated welfare systems visit on vulnerable people demos.co.uk/blogs/puttin...

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Jamie Hancock @j-hancock.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

I'm so proud to see this research I was involved with is now out. It charts the global spread of digital border and watchlisting surveillance systems. Driven by the UN Security Council, IoM, EU and US, these infrastructures threaten human rights worldwide

nois.statewatch.org

Home - Statewatch

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Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf-uk.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

A better welfare system is possible - one that treats people with dignity, compassion, and care 🤝 In our latest online listening with @demos-uk.bsky.social, we continue to see people's experience of the welfare system as inaccessible, inflexible, and inhumane. 1/2

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Jamie Hancock @j-hancock.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

These initiatives have a history of poor outcomes for vulnerable people. For example, in 2024, it was revealed that an internal DWP assessment found an AI fraud detection system it used featured significant bias according to age, disability, marital status and nationality The scandals keep coming

theguardian.com

Revealed: bias found in AI system used to detect UK benefits fraud

Exclusive: Age, disability, marital status and nationality influence decisions to investigate claims, prompting fears of ‘hurt first, fix later’ approach

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Jamie Hancock @j-hancock.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Rather than make the system work for those who need it most, the UK government is doubling-down on policies which could make things worse - like AI fraud detection tools and automated decision making systems to assess claims

bigbrotherwatch.org.uk

Secretive DWP Welfare Algorithms Put Millions’ Rights at Risk — Big Brother Watch

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Jamie Hancock @j-hancock.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

“I’m feeling sick from fear about this transition from Employment Support Allowance to Universal Credit. I’ve lost several hundred pounds” This is one of hundreds of stories from my research into financial hardship and the welfare system with @jrf-uk.bsky.social

demos.co.uk

Putting humanity at the heart of welfare

Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

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Demos @demos-uk.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

✍ NEW BLOG | Putting humanity at the heart of welfare @j-hancock.bsky.social reflects on 13 years of online conversations evidencing the enduring challenges that people face when navigating the #welfare system. This blog draws from our ongoing Online Listening research with @jrf-uk.bsky.social.

demos.co.uk

Putting humanity at the heart of welfare

Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

DEUTSCHE: NVIDIA "is currently carrying the weight of US economic growth. The bad news is that in order for the tech cycle to continue contributing to GDP growth, capital investment needs to remain parabolic. This is highly unlikely.” @fortune.com fortune.com/2025/09/23/a...

fortune.com

The AI boom is unsustainable unless tech spending goes ‘parabolic,’ Deutsche Bank warns: ‘This is highly unlikely’ | Fortune

“In the absence of tech-related spending, the U.S. would be close to, or in, recession this year,” George Saravelos says.

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Demos @demos-uk.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

✍OPINION | From Southport to Epping, social media's failure to act is fuelling racist violence. Researcher, @naemamalik.bsky.social, warns we risk seeing more riots, division and unrest in our communities unless platforms are held to account and adopt new practices to address online misinformation.

bigissue.com

From Southport to Epping, social media's failure to act is fuelling racist violence

Recent disorder in Epping shows how urgently effective moderation of social media platform moderation is needed.

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Demos @demos-uk.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

What did we find? ➡️ Rising employment concerns – just as the @resfoundation.bsky.social predicts unemployment could hit 5% in the three months to August. ➡️ Persistent fears about the benefits system – following the recent welfare reform u-turn & uncertainty.

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Demos @demos-uk.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

🚨 NEW REPORT: "It's tough out there". In partnership with @jrf-uk.bsky.social, we’ve been analysing new online listening data to understand how people are talking about financial hardship – unprompted, in their own words. demos.co.uk/research/its...

demos.co.uk

“It’s tough out there”: An online forum listening exercise revealing how people are talking about financial hardship

Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

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Demos @demos-uk.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

💭 BLOG | Polls apart? A novel way of understanding financial hardship Demos' Billy Huband-Thompson and @j-hancock.bsky.social reflect on new research with @jrf-uk.bsky.social and the value of online listening methods to capture the feelings of those on the sharp end of government policies.

demos.co.uk

Polls apart? A novel way of understanding financial hardship

Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

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Matthew Gault @mjgault.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

Update: I spoke with the U.K. Environment Agency and got some numbers. they believe deleting 1,000 emails with attachments could save about 77.5 liters of water a year. they also said they're estimating data centers will consume 280 billion liters a year, world wide, by the end of the decade

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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 11/08/2025

like I think we perhaps have not been talking enough about the utterly staggering amount of highly sensitive information that we absolutely know people around the world are pumping into corporate LLM tools at all times nowadays

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Anne Lutz Fernandez @lutzfernandez.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

ICYMI-- I did. A study of software developers found it took them 19% more time to do their work when they used AI tools. At the same time, they *perceived* they had saved time. They thought they would work faster and so they falsely "believed AI had sped them up by 20%."

metr.org

Measuring the Impact of Early-2025 AI on Experienced Open-Source Developer Productivity

We conduct a randomized controlled trial to understand how early-2025 AI tools affect the productivity of experienced open-source developers working on their own repositories. Surprisingly, we find th...

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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

Remember when kids were told coding is a ‘job of the future’ and told to join code camps? Jamie Bartlett on how it is hard to predict the future jamiejbartlett.substack.com/p/is-coding-...

Back in 2013 - when most of us were still excited about computers - the UK's coalition government introduced a bold new initiative.
From September 2014, it became mandatory for all kids from year 1 on to learn coding. We were the first in the world. Michael Gove said at the time that 'It will raise standards across the board - and allow our children to compete in the global race."
It was henceforth a core academic discipline.
Everyone had to get with the program (ming).
Then Education Minister, Liz Truss, said it was "one of the essential skills of the 21st
Century".
These politicians just cannot help themselves. They should know that predicting anything is risky - especially the future. But the lure is too strong: every politician wants to look future-savvy and for some reason, total tech embrace is the only idea they ever have.

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Dr Jay Watts @shrinkatlarge.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

As someone actually trained in behavioural psychology—unlike most MPs—I can tell you: financial precarity doesn’t “incentivise” sick people to work. It breaks them. Stress worsens health. Fear doesn’t create productivity. It creates collapse. #TakingThePIP

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Alison Killing @alisonkilling.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

NEW: Inside Gaza’s ‘death traps’ via @FT GHF’s plan forces hungry Palestinians to trek miles to aid sites, often through the IDF’s active military areas. Hundreds have been killed and thousands injured. This is how… www.ft.com/content/6c74...

ft.com

Inside Gaza’s ‘death traps’

[FREE TO READ] A US-backed scheme forces hungry Palestinians to trek kilometres for food aid. Many never make it back

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Jamie Hancock @j-hancock.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

I analysed hundreds of X posts about the Southport riots which received Community Notes. They were full of racism and Islamophobic hate that fuelled far right violence Yet only 4.6% of the Community Notes we analysed were made public during the riots Community Notes are not fit for purpose

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Demos @demos-uk.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

🚨 New report: Researching the Riots - evaluating #CommunityNotes during the 2024 Southport riots. Demos research explores how the abject failure of moderation systems left #misinformation and harmful content to spread unchecked during the 2024 #SouthportRiots. Read here ⬇️

demos.co.uk

Researching the riots: An evaluation of the efficacy of Community Notes during the 2024 Southport riots

Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

🧵 Just finished reading Upgrading Democracy by @pollycurtis.bsky.social at @demos-uk.bsky.social . It’s a sharp, hopeful intervention in the face of democratic breakdown, and it aligns in profound ways with the epistemic collapse I’ve been tracking in my own work. demos.co.uk/wp-content/u...

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Jamie Hancock @j-hancock.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

The UK government has found its welfare reforms may push 250,000 people into relative poverty by 2030 My new report looks at people's experiences of financial hardship and their response to welfare news online. It is critical that decision makers hear their voices demos.co.uk/research/i-f...

demos.co.uk

‘I feel let down’: An online forum listening exercise revealing how people are talking about financial hardship

Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

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Jamie Hancock @j-hancock.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

Thanks to @jrf-uk.bsky.social and Grassroots Poverty Action Group for all their support with this work

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Demos @demos-uk.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

Join the network to: 🗞️ Receive our weekly Friday ESN newsletter 🎤 Get early invites to upcoming events 💬 Apply to join our monthly meetings to learn from one another and collaborate on shared advocacy campaigns ❗ Tell us your top concerns about today's information ecosystem

demos.co.uk

Epistemic Security Network

Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

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Jamie Hancock @j-hancock.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

In posts on online forums, people described the government’s announcements as “terrifying”, “devastating” and “awful” MPs vote on the welfare reform bill in the next few weeks. It is vital that the voices of the people most affected by welfare policy are heard

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Jamie Hancock @j-hancock.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

demos.co.uk

‘I feel let down’: An online forum listening exercise revealing how people are talking about financial hardship

Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

Centralized control over key information infrastructures is a systemic risk.

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Jamie Hancock @j-hancock.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

It’s now clear that tech billionaires like Musk and Zuckerberg are an oligarchy Their wealth, control over information infrastructures, and political leverage threatens democracies worldwide You can read more in my piece for @techpolicypress.bsky.social www.techpolicy.press/tech-oligarc...

techpolicy.press

Tech Oligarchy Imperils Democratic Information Flows | TechPolicy.Press

The risk the tech oligarchy poses to democratic information supply chains is systemic rather than individual, writes Jamie Hancock.

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Demos @demos-uk.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

💬 "Today’s tech billionaires are capable of disrupting the information supply chains that underpin democracies worldwide." 🖋️ @j-hancock.bsky.social writes for @techpolicypress.bsky.social on the threat that big tech companies pose to our democracies. ⬇️ www.techpolicy.press/tech-oligarc...

techpolicy.press

Tech Oligarchy Imperils Democratic Information Flows | TechPolicy.Press

The risk the tech oligarchy poses to democratic information supply chains is systemic rather than individual, writes Jamie Hancock.

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Demos @demos-uk.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

🧠 🔓 What if the UK’s biggest #AI advantage isn’t scale, but openness? Our latest report, authored by Elizabeth Seger and @j-hancock.bsky.social with @mozilla.org, explores how sharing models, data & research can unlock growth, trust & global influence. Read here 👉 demos.co.uk/research/the...

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Demos @demos-uk.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

"Many countries are facing democratic backsliding, a rise in extremist populism, and growing anti-democratic movements. At the heart of this crisis is the issue of foreign interference." 🖋️ @j-hancock.bsky.social unpicks risks of foreign interference for UK #democractic processes in @fullfact.org ⬇️

fullfact.org

Full Fact Report 2025 – Full Fact

Fact checking organisations around the world—which seek to amplify accurate information amidst a deluge of false, misleading or artificially generated junk—are under pressure as never before. Many may...

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Tom Joscelyn @tomjoscelyn.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Ok, this is my favorite Grok post yet! In response to a question, Grok explains that it isn’t a “leftist” for pointing out Musk’s prolific misinformation. Grok’s conclusion “reflects evidence” and “not bias.” The best Grok post yet:

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Larry Glickman @larryglickman.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

Superb piece by Jill Lepore on how Musk's futurism constitutes a retread of the reactionary, antidemocratic, and bizarre technocracy movement that his grandfather led. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | The Rise and Fall of Elon Musk

His belief that liberal democracy has failed and that technologists should lead can be traced to the unusual life of his grandfather.

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Alison Park @parkali.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

Astonishing fact on #bbcr4today earlier, discussing the Heathrow power failure. Heathrow requires 41MW; a new data centre nearby needs 150MW. Stark illustration of the underpinning energy consequences of data storage.

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WIRED @wired.com · 23/03/2025

WIRED tested the popular AI video generator from OpenAI and found that it amplifies sexist stereotypes and ableist tropes, perpetuating the same biases already present in AI image tools.

wrd.cm

OpenAI’s Sora Is Plagued by Sexist, Racist, and Ableist Biases

WIRED tested the popular AI video generator from OpenAI and found that it amplifies sexist stereotypes and ableist tropes, perpetuating the same biases already present in AI image tools.

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 23/03/2025

In a forthcoming report on Generative AI perception & use (n=1.5k), our data shows limited regular use: 31% engage daily/weekly for leisure, 28% for work, and 24% for study—indicating that sustained adoption remains low despite broad experimentation. (ETA 03/31)

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Data & Society @datasociety.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

A new study from @towcenter.bsky.social finds serious accuracy issues with genAI models used for news searches, highlighting a common trend: Rather than declining to respond when they lacked reliable information, the models often provided confabulations. arstechnica.com/ai/2025/03/a...

arstechnica.com

AI search engines cite incorrect news sources at an alarming 60% rate, study says

CJR study shows AI search services misinform users and ignore publisher exclusion requests.

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Demos @demos-uk.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

❗Labour is reportedly planning £6 billion in cuts to #benefits for people with a disability or long-term health conditions. These cuts only threaten to deepen community distress and hardship which - as new Demos and @jrf-uk.bsky.social research shows - has been steadily rising over the last decade.

demos.co.uk

“I need help now”: Trends in online conversations about poverty over 14 years of Conservative government

Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

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Jamie Hancock @j-hancock.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

This kind of rhetoric from the government repeats misleading stories about the benefits system and adds to the stigma that claimants face As my recent work highlighted, the existing benefits system can leave people to spiral in despair. Cuts will only make this worse demos.co.uk/research/i-n...

demos.co.uk

“I need help now”: Trends in online conversations about poverty over 14 years of Conservative government

Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

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