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Nicole Kobie

@njkobie.bsky.social
127 followers 30 following 24 posts

Transport and tech for PC Pro, Wired, Forbes, etc. work@nicolekobie.com Buy my book, The Long History of the Future: biturl.top/ryAZFn

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Nicole Kobie @njkobie.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
www.wired.com/story/one-of...
wired.com
One of AI’s Fiercest Critics Says All the Doom Talk Is ‘Meant to Distract Us’
Timnit Gebru argues that AI companies are stoking fears of extinction to avoid discussing actual harms, like autonomous weapons.
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Timnit Gebru @timnitgebru.blacksky.app · 31/07/2026
We're in the era of incompetence & cybercrimes headlined as "unprecedented model capabilities gone rogue." So OpenAI & Anthropic are trying to one up each other with such incompetence because the "press release as a service" performing media & clueless politicians parrot pre IPO CEO talking points.
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Nicole Kobie @njkobie.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
But yeah let's rollout Palantir everywhere across government. Fascinating, terrifying reading: www.theguardian.com/news/2026/ma...
theguardian.com
AI got the blame for the Iran school bombing. The truth is far more worrying
LLMs-gone-rogue dominated coverage, but had nothing to do with the targeting. Instead, it was choices made by human beings, over many years, that gave us this atrocity
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Nicole Kobie @njkobie.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Bewildering story from the Guardian about Waymo having to learn "quirks" of London roads like zebra crossings www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
US robotaxis undergo training for London’s quirks before planned rollout this year
Waymo cars have been earning their stripes by getting used to zebra crossings while awaiting a government green light
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Nicole Kobie @njkobie.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
Excellent reporting on AI-generated spokespeople from @pressgazette.co.uk pressgazette.co.uk/news/named-5...
pressgazette.co.uk
Named: 50 'experts' and linked brands publishers should treat with caution
Experts and brands associated with more than 1,000 likely faked stories.
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Donna Ferguson @donnalferguson.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
As the head of the Freelance Chapter for Women in Journalism, I wanted to flag up this amazing course that some brilliant journalists are running. I've already signed up. I'm so sick of hearing that AI is coming for my job - now I hope I can gain the AI skills I need to fight back.
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Nicole Kobie @njkobie.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
Bring back fact checking! I find this so fascinating. It can’t just be someone trying to make it as a freelancer, this must be a research project or something? pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/d...
pressgazette.co.uk
Wired and Business Insider remove 'AI-written' freelance articles
Wired and Business Insider have removed freelance articles over concerns they were written by AI under a fake name.
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Nicole Kobie @njkobie.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
Delighted to have had my book reviewed by @peterhemminger.com in my hometown's best magazine, the excellent @albertaviews.bsky.social Check it out here: albertaviews.ca/the-long-his...
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ændra. @aendra.com · 27/06/2025
Spot-on.
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Jacob Aron @jjaron.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
Once more I ask, if LLMs are so good, why do people have to be bribed or cajoled into using them? www.ft.com/content/f8ca...
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Nicole Kobie @njkobie.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
So Evri says delivery robots are good because they can wait for disabled people to come to the door -- as long as ten minutes! Imagine buying robot dogs so you don't have to pay couriers well enough to let them wait at the door. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Evri to trial delivery robots in Barnsley
The dog-like robots will wait with parcels at customers' homes for longer than human couriers.
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Nicole Kobie @njkobie.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Happy @alcs.co.uk day to all who celebrate.
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Matthew Sparkes @sparkes.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
These policies are not only a hugely effective way to cut carbon emissions, lower air pollution, improve public health and foster stronger communities, but they're also popular among voters. London needs to catch up. bsky.app/profile/reut...
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Nicole Kobie @njkobie.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
Imagine if traffic lights didn't require pedestrians to whack a (probably pointless) beg button but could actually see people and prioritise them? Excellent AI project from @astonuniversity.bsky.social www.forbes.com/sites/nicole...
forbes.com
How Smart AI Traffic Lights Could Prioritise People Over Cars
AI traffic lights system uses deep reinforcement learning, so each decision is assessed as part of its training using pre-decided metrics such as wait times.
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Teresa Heffernan @tjheffernan.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
Unbelievable...we get chatbots that are wrong 60% of the time and some mythical AGI that promises to save the world. The real logic: the AI industry distracts from the Oil industry and needlessly drives up electricity demand to distract from renewable energy, which could soon manage current needs.
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Nicole Kobie @njkobie.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Love this, hate tablets mounted in cars, not least because looking at them makes me carsick
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ændra. @aendra.com · 14/02/2025
I'm actively looking for a new role, ideally outside of journalism and fully remote. If you wouldn't mind resharing my LinkedIn post I'd be most grateful. 🙏🏼 www.linkedin.com/posts/aendra...
linkedin.com
Ændra Rininsland on LinkedIn: #opentowork
Hi everyone! I’m seeking a new role and would appreciate your support. If you hear of any opportunities or just want to catch up, please send me a message or…
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Nicole Kobie @njkobie.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
I really feel for AI makers on this one. Imagine doing so much hard work, only for someone else to use your work in an unauthorised way without payment to make their AI system better. I can't imagine what that would be like. Poor lads. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Microsoft Probing If DeepSeek-Linked Group Improperly Obtained OpenAI Data
Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI are investigating whether data output from OpenAI’s technology was obtained in an unauthorized manner by a group linked to Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek, ...
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Nesta @nestauk.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Will we ever get flying cars? 🚗 Join us online on 11 Feb with author Nicole Kobie @njkobie.bsky.social to explore why the futures of tomorrow always seem just out of reach. Register to attend: bit.ly/3WjN9fa
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The Pulse @thepulse.whyy.org · 10/01/2025
We often see the future as a sudden breakthrough, but in reality, it unfolds gradually through incremental progress, pushed forward by innovators. On this episode, we explore what it takes to create the future and why some ideas fail. 🔗 lnk.to/whyy-thepulse
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Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
Truth from @bcmerchant.bsky.social - from "The fires are everywhere": www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/the-fires-...
"I’m thinking of how little progress we’ve made in addressing the root causes of the climate crisis, of course, and how adept our elites have become at kicking the can down the road. I’m thinking of how it is in vogue in Silicon Valley to argue that AI will “solve” the climate crisis. And also how, while AI is obviously not the reason wildfires reign over LA every other year, it fairly neatly embodies the ethos that got us here: A technological solution will bail us out, if the problem is worth addressing at all, and in the meantime, we can burn even greater quantities of fossil fuels until we figure it out. This argument is invariably made by rich men who will be best insulated from the fallout of more and worse wildfires."
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Nicole Kobie @njkobie.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
This by @davidzipper.bsky.social is great. Buses are great. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Don’t Shrink the Bus
Could Tesla’s Cybercab and similar smaller vehicles replace traditional trains and buses? Unfortunately, the idea of “personal rapid transit” has some big drawbacks.
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Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
My interview with @njkobie.bsky.social about her book "The Long History of the Future: Why Tomorrow’s Tech Still Isn’t Here." Stream the show (interview starts at 3:48): wfmu.org/archiveplaye... Episode links: www.wfmu.org/playlists/sh... More Techtonic: techtonic.fm
The cover of "The Long History of the Future: Why Tomorrow’s Tech Still Isn’t Here" by Nicole Kobie shows a giant robot standing amidst a futuristic cityscape and self-driving cars.
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Nicole Kobie @njkobie.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Wrote about robots for @newscientist www.newscientist.com/article/2457... TLDR: if a robot is walking and talking, odds are it's an avatar or really heavily programmed. And when super smart androids do get built, expect a better reveal than delivering canapes and chat at a party.
newscientist.com
Don’t be fooled by Elon Musk’s chatty Optimus robots
The long history of robotics should teach us to be more sceptical when it comes to autonomous humanoid robots, says Nicole Kobie
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Nicole Kobie @njkobie.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
So I'm not even really on this site (I have yet to decide if I can be bothered) but I already get more interactions than in the other place and so far no one is yelling at me.
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Nicole Kobie @njkobie.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
This was a nice welcome to blue sky!
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