iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 22/09/2026

This looks great! Do you have anything written about it anywhere?

Reposted by Jeni Tennison

Connected by Data @connectedbydata.org · 21/09/2026

Summer’s gone; parliament is back. In this blog for @futuregovforum.bsky.social, @jenitennison.com & @gavinfreeguard.com assert a digital, devolved state needs to be deliberate - and democratic. 🔗 futuregovforum.substack.com/p/a-digital-...

futuregovforum.substack.com

A digital, devolved state needs to be deliberate – and democratic

By Gavin Freeguard and Jeni Tennison

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Gavin Freeguard @gavinfreeguard.com · 18/09/2026

Any attempts to rewire the UK state through devolution will founder and fail if public servants can't share what they've been working on and how. @jenitennison.com and I called for a loud renunciation of the ban in our @futuregovforum.bsky.social piece yesterday

futuregovforum.substack.com

A digital, devolved state needs to be deliberate – and democratic

By Gavin Freeguard and Jeni Tennison

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Diane Coyle @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I have a new blog post with Mihai Codreanu and Arthur Turrell about why AI use makes it important to understand what’s happening in households as well as the ‘official’ economy. www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/blog/ai-hous...

bennettschool.cam.ac.uk

AI, household time, and productivity - Bennett School of Public Policy

AI is changing how households spend their time, from managing finances and accessing public services to education and menu planning. Diane Coyle, Mihai Codreanu and Arthur Turrell argue that understan...

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The Future Governance Forum (FGF) @futuregovforum.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Often the thinking around devolution simply assumes that our current data, digital systems and AI will exist and work. But to properly meet the needs of a devolved and democratic state, we must deliberately design these systems. 👏@gavinfreeguard.com @jenitennison.com shorturl.at/iguyG

futuregovforum.substack.com

A digital, devolved state needs to be deliberate – and democratic

By Gavin Freeguard and Jeni Tennison

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Reposted by Jeni Tennison

Gavin Freeguard @gavinfreeguard.com · 17/09/2026

There are lots of big (& good!) ideas on 'rewiring the state' - but we can't assume the tech underpinning it will just work & we need to bring the public in A digital, devolved state needs to be deliberate - and democratic Delighted to write for @futuregovforum.bsky.social with @jenitennison.com

futuregovforum.substack.com

A digital, devolved state needs to be deliberate – and democratic

By Gavin Freeguard and Jeni Tennison

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Reposted by Jeni Tennison

blair @blairaf.com · 09/09/2026

If you're interested in working on trans issues in AI policy or equity/justice in AI more generally, I'm still looking for PhD students! Email me if you'd like to apply

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 07/09/2026

This is somehow both astonishing and unsurprisingly at the same time

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 07/09/2026

I literally lol'd at "The computational conundrum of adding one to a number aside" and then had to explain what had so greatly amused me to my partner.

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

"You might be surprised that this guidance hasn't substantially changed from what we've given in previous resources …" One in the eye for UK Gov't bods who have been pointing to CC's recent work on AI as an argument for rolling back open licensing of public sector information #techpolicy #opendata

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Connected by Data @connectedbydata.org · 04/09/2026

🚨 PAIRSx Public Sector 5th Nov 2026 🚨 🚨 Open for submissions 🚨 If you’re working in and around public and public sector worker involvement on public sector data, digital or AI, we would love to hear about your work! Find out more at

pairs.site

PAIRSx Public Sector 2026 | PAIRS: Participatory AI Research & Practice Symposium

A space to present research and case studies on the state of the art in participatory development and governance of AI, and to build stronger connections across the field.

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Dr. Elinor Carmi @elinorcarmi.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

It is that simple.... "a new Technology in Schools Coalition, made up of students, educators, parent leaders, elected officials, advocates, union partners and experts in the field will convene to assess the impact of the moratorium and limited pilots". www.nyc.gov/mayors-offic...

nyc.gov

Mayor Mamdani and Chancellor Samuels Put Students First with Nation’s Broadest Generative AI Moratorium in Schools

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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

"There's an ineffable aspect to my favorite pieces of software where I don't think of it is as feature matrix but rather as an interface made by a human for humans that's a joy to use. And when you build software with AI, it leads to worse software." brettcodes.com/im-done-usin...

brettcodes.com

I'm done using AI

Why I'm stopping using AI for coding (and anything else) after using it earnestly for a year and coming to understand the harms it causes on personal, societal, and environmental levels.

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 29/08/2026

Yes, I wouldn't ask for anything significant at the long listing stage. Point would be to add a tiny piece of friction that identifies applicants that are just spamming applications. Ask them to give a link to a recent article on a relevant topic, for example; at interview ask why they picked it.

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 29/08/2026

You want to filter out people who haven't actually read the ad themselves. So put in place processes that indicate where that's happening. Prioritise those who have demonstrated they care enough about getting the job that they will at least read the auto-generated CV and take out the stray "banana".

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 29/08/2026

Sorry if I've been sloppy with language. I think when recruiting you want to filter out people who are using AI to apply for dozens of jobs each day that they don't actually care about, not those who use AI to improve their CV to get a job they really want.

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 29/08/2026

Yeah I'm certain we don't get to a better place through AI escalation. The point of these interventions is to filter down to the people who actually care about the job quickly, so it's feasible for a human to read their resumes. An ad can be explicit that AI generated applications will be rejected.

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 29/08/2026

Or include one of those "your application must include the word banana" instructions in small white text, and filter out those that do. Or add an image in the ad that includes instructions only humans will read.

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 29/08/2026

I was also pondering explicitly opening applications for a short period eg just the 24 hours before your deadline. Humans will take note to apply during that period but maybe AI based applications would miss the requirement?

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 29/08/2026

It's so broken. One suggestion I heard was to respond to applications with a short relevant exercise. The idea is that those applying in automated ways to jobs they don't care about will fail to respond.

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 29/08/2026

(In general, I think the UK's AI strategy is neglecting the service layer, where we already have strengths to build on. In one light you can see AISI as a govt-subsidised service to big tech firms. Maybe we should build more such expert service providers and actually, you know, charge for it.)

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 29/08/2026

Finally, the line between compute and cyber security is not straight. Generic LLMs may be impressively capable but it still takes skills to guide them. That's the bottleneck. So better, I think, to invest in the skills and services to improve cybersecurity with low cost / low resource open models.

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 29/08/2026

A blanket "build all data centres" just means we carry the environmental (in its broadest sense) costs for what's ultimately US benefit. Quite aside from the climate and water impacts (which I know James will dispute), the reality looks like loss of wildlife: vm.tiktok.com/ZN8FM3sfH/

vm.tiktok.com

TikTok - Make Your Day

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 29/08/2026

If we imagine a future disaster where each country tries to requisition use of data centres, you can be damn sure all the Amazon, OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, Google etc owned data centres in the UK would be mustered for US defence, not the UK's.

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 29/08/2026

Therefore our cyber defence must be based on open source LLMs, not beholden to access to US restricted models. In addition, just because a data centre is physically located in the UK, that doesn't make it under UK (or state) control, certainly not in short order.

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 29/08/2026

Counterpoint to James' deliberatively provocative piece: Hugging Face were unable to use US AI to counter OpenAI's cyber attack because (outside internal use and favoured customers) they have guardrails against cyber security uses.

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 29/08/2026

I'm struck by how genuinely beneficial / public interest uses of AI are arising from applying classic machine learning, not LLMs. For example, assisting surgeons: www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

theguardian.com

London neurosurgeons perform first successful AI-assisted operation to remove brain tumour

Surgeons aided by real-time analysis of camera footage that identified critical anatomy in brain to be avoided

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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

It’s really important that independent organisations can hold Government to account. I’m on the Board of @nao.org.uk which does this and we are looking for two new Board members. Could you help spread the word so we can get the best possible field of candidates roles.saxbam.com/advert-detai...

NAO
National Audit Office
National Audit
Office
Non-Executive Directors

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United Tech & Allied Workers @utaw.tech · 21/08/2026

Our friends at @data-cwu.bsky.social in Ireland are hosting a Workers' AI Counter Summit in October, register below and we'll see you there!

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 21/08/2026

The press is always so negative about AI. Why oh why wasn't this written up as "AI reduces patient caseload, saves GP surgeries time for those who need it"? www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

theguardian.com

Frustrated GP patients hang up as Yorkshire accent baffles AI receptionist

‘Emma’ the Rotherham chatbot has 17 languages says AI firm – but health watchdog says system struggling with local ‘twangs’

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 20/08/2026

Btw I thought I remembered a story about walking back from purely digital marriage in Singapore, but can't find the reference. in prodding around on this I did find this piece on ritual in marriages dl.designresearchsociety.org/cgi/viewcont...

dl.designresearchsociety.org

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 20/08/2026

Yes, but I think of the purpose of speed bumps as being giving time to think. I feel that's different from the purpose of ritual, which is about celebration and recognition of an important transition. You might put a speed bump in an *application* for something, but ritual in its collection?

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 20/08/2026

Curious how service designers think about this.

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 20/08/2026

I'm not arguing that we shouldn't enable people to do these things digitally – it's important for accessibility and inclusion that we do. But perhaps there should still be things that are inconvenient by default. Collecting that first passport or driving licence. Divorce.

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 20/08/2026

Seeing gangs of teenagers clutching envelopes on the streets today makes me think that things like getting exam results (and getting married!) are also about community, peer support and shared experience. We can easily neglect these in our push to individualised, friction-free digital services.

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 20/08/2026

Not the main point of @bm.wel.by's piece, but this sent me on a bit of a jag about the importance of ritual and occasion-making in public services and how we can lose that through digitisation.

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Creative Commons @creativecommons.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

The recent emergence of generative artificial intelligence has had a phenomenal impact on cultural heritage institutions, threatening their economic stability and clashing with the values and norms of the commons. Read more and learn how to get involved in our newest blog post! buff.ly/KrNeMYU

creativecommons.org

Open Heritage in the Age of Artificial Intelligence - Creative Commons

Creative Commons shares how the rise of generative artificial intelligence has affected cultural heritage institutions and open sharing.

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 13/08/2026

I dunno if anyone else is watching Kanishka Narayan's TikTok feed as avidly as me, but he's developing a nice little theme of taking a bite of food while looking thoughtful.

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 12/08/2026

Oh fab, I looked to tag you but you weren't here! Great work – really interesting :)

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Gavin Freeguard @gavinfreeguard.com · 11/08/2026

According to @dsonic.bsky.social over on The Other Place (h/t a civil society colleague), the DCMS ministerial briefs have been announced Steph Peacock (who shadowed data/digital infrastructure in opposition) gets GDS, not Ian Murray (who had been minister for GDS while at DSIT)

A screenshot of a tweet by Doniya Soni-Clark which reads:

Confirmed DCMS briefs!

Ian Murray MP, Minister of State

Responsible for:
• Media (including BBC Charter Review)
• Online harms and misinformation
• Creative industries
• Telecommunications, digital infrastructure and Ofcom
• International

Stephanie Peacock MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State

Responsible for:
• Sports
• Ceremonials
• Tourism
• Office for the Impact Economy
• Government Digital Service (Digital Products & Digital Transformation)
• Place - overview of DMCS’s overall impact and presence in communities and responsibility for place based programmes including the allocation of arts funding in Arts Everywhere and Town and City of Culture.

Baroness Twycross, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State

Responsible for:
• Heritage, including world and living heritage
• Covid commemoration
• Appointments
• ALBs (general oversight and reform)
• Honours
• Corporate Minister

A screenshot of a tweet by Doniya Soni-Clark (continued) which reads:

Ruth Mackenzie, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State

Responsible for:
• Arts Council and sponsorship
• Museums and cultural property (including the museums funding in Arts Everywhere)
• Libraries

Vicky Foxcroft, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State

Responsible for:
• Youth
• Civil Society
• Gambling
• National Lottery
• Digital Inclusion and Skills

Baroness Lloyd, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State - Minister for Space, Cyber and Regulatory Reform joint with BSIT

Responsible for:
• National Cyber Security
• Government Cyber Security
• Spectrum Negotiations (with Minister Murray. POs will provide further guidance)

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Jonty Wareing @jonty.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

I always suspected a UK government would eventually reverse course on "coding in public". So I've been backing up all government code. For six years. Today I finally generated a report on what has been deleted. Its much worse than I realised. github.com/uk-gov-mirro...

Deleted UK Government code repositories

Total deleted repositories: 1526
Organisations affected: 56

See RECENTLY_DELETED.md for the most recently deleted repositories.

Organisation Deleted Repos % Deleted
hmrc 195 9.8%
nhsdigital 169 33.8%
SkillsFundingAgency 154 22.7%
informatics-lab 154 100.0%
UKHomeOffice 101 7.5%
ministryofjustice 74 2.8%
ONSdigital 66 4.3%
moj-analytical-services 65 75.6%
ukwa 47 46.1%
dwp 46 6.7%
UKGovernmentBEIS 43 27.4%

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 07/08/2026

Not into septuagenarian but apple sauce was good for my pill-avoidant teen

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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 06/08/2026

For me, it's not just that the car is crashing, it's that it's crashing into other people. Totally irresponsible.

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