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Roa Powell

@roapowell.bsky.social
89 followers 117 following 42 posts

senior research fellow at IPPR working on AI.

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Roa Powell @roapowell.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Damning testimony from the CMA's former chair, chief economic advisor and cloud inquiry chair on how government has tackled big tech market power. Quotes from our @ippr.org report. Bold enforcement of digital competition policy is not anti-tech, and should be part of our agenda on homegrown AI.
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Carsten Jung @carsjung.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Business dynamism is crucial for growth. But in digital markets, big tech behemoths are holding back UK businesses. Our new study shows that tech-intensive firms are not getting a good deal from big tech. Politicans need to empower the CMA to enforce competition properly! bsky.app/profile/roap...
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Jack Stilgoe @jackstilgoe.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Should be possible to gather new coalitions around the diagnosis that big tech are anti-innovation
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Roa Powell @roapowell.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
The UK is spending £500 million to build British AI champions while leaving in place a market structure that will see them acquired or outcompeted. New report today on digital competition for growth and sovereignty - with polling of 417 UK businesses that rely on tech. Here's what they told us 1/6
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Roa Powell @roapowell.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
This week we have a guest post on our substack from @adamc-c.bsky.social Adam looks at why workers have unique leverage over AI adoption right now - and how we use that to shape deep AI transformation. Really recommend giving this one a read!
open.substack.com
Workers actually have significant leverage right now
Businesses are desperate for workers to adopt AI, but what offer are they making?
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Roa Powell @roapowell.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
I wrote something short on the recent discourse about AI being left wing. Nobody is ever going to agree on what "neutral" looks like for AI - just look at any debate about BBC neutrality. So, what can we practically do to ensure AI isn't acting as an opaque persuasion machine?
modeleconomy.substack.com
Of course, AI has a politics. The question is, who is in control?
Making AI neutral sounds like a fair goal, but if it is never fully possible, how can we manage the biases that remain?
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Roa Powell @roapowell.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Bullish optimism on AI no longer seems to be working
economist.com
The AI backlash is only getting started
Here is how to deal with it
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Roa Powell @roapowell.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
“What should exist? To me, that’s the most exciting question imaginable. What do we need that we don’t have?” Positive visions of a future transformed by AI tend to come from Silicon Valley, but in this new Substack @carsjung.bsky.social explores how we could all have a say.
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Roa Powell @roapowell.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Some news… @carsjung.bsky.social and I are launching a Substack! We will be using this to explore what needs to change for AI to actually work for most people (spoiler: it is a lot) First post is up looking at today’s launch of the AI economics institute and how to predict AI's jobs impact 1/2
modeleconomy.substack.com
AI jobs predictions keep missing the point. Here’s what to measure instead
A government institute to track how AI disrupts jobs is long overdue. But as it officially launches today, will it measure the right things?
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Roa Powell @roapowell.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Great report from @josephevans.bsky.social And it is not just @ippr.org recommending portable benefits to support workers through the AI transition - even OpenAI have floated the idea. If AI's biggest winners agree, what are we waiting for?
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Giles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
IMHO possibly the most interesting question in finance and economics right now is the extent to which future AI dominance can retain any monopoly characteristics. People assume because it's "Silicon Valley" that those explosive network effects will necessarily pertain. They really might not... 1/
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Roa Powell @roapowell.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
We won’t know the scale of AI’s jobs impact until late in the day. But if governments wait until then to prepare, state capacity will be grinding into gear just as people need support. I wrote for @politicshome.bsky.social on what government should do now: www.politicshome.com/news/article... 1/3
politicshome.com
The Consequences Of Inaction On AI-Driven Job Loss Are Coming Into View
The scale of the disruption to the labour market from AI is becoming clear; we cannot leave it to big tech or populists to frame the debate about w...
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Verity Harding @verityharding.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Among Gen Z AI’s net favourability is now minus 44, driven by fears about jobs, the environment, creativity. But there’s another trend that many have missed: AI just isn’t very cool. My latest post explores the trend, the reasons behind it, and the consequences for the OpenAI/Anthropic rivalry:
open.substack.com
Does AI have a 'cool' problem?
For young people and artists, AI and its architects are the object of derision. Does it matter?
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Roa Powell @roapowell.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Time is running out for the UK to make a clear decision on where in the AI stack we can compete. Great to talk to @matildamartin.bsky.social for this piece on what comes next.
politicshome.com
We're Going To Need A Bigger Stick: Britain Seeks AI Sovereignty
Britain has now made clear that it wants AI sovereignty, of a kind. But there are numerous hurdles in the way, reports Matilda Martin. For a seat a...
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Roa Powell @roapowell.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
This shows just how limited our regulatory leverage is - US tech companies hold all the cards. But not everywhere. Some digital markets are genuinely still competitive. That's why the window to act is so narrow, we need to embed competition now, before AI follows the same path.
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Roa Powell @roapowell.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
If AI starts to be a major source of information for people - it really matters where it gets information from. It is probably more complicated than AI having a clear political bias, but more transparency from AI companies is the bear minimum we need to understand what is going on here.
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Ethan Mollick @emollick.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Missing from the “will AI replace doctors?” debate is that doctors (and lawyers and psychologists and bankers) all vote & form the donor base to political parties & have deep community ties & sit in Congress. The government will largely determine what AI is allowed to do, no matter what it can do.
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Institute for Public Policy Research @ippr.org · 28/04/2026
Liz Kendall is right that our dependence on a handful of US tech companies is a national security risk. Three US tech companies control 80% of UK cloud infrastructure, we don’t have a single frontier AI company in the UK, and AI firms are increasingly deciding who gets access to their models. 🧵
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Roa Powell @roapowell.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
In the US, the Democrats are already making AI a major part of their campaigns. I wrote about what Labour might learn from this, and why it isn't so easy for our politicians to ride any tidal wave of anti-AI sentiment. labourlist.org/2026/04/the-...
lnkd.in
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
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Roa Powell @roapowell.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
AI rose in salience more than any other issue for US voters last year, with backlash from creatives, X-risk activists, parents, workers, environmentalists and more We expect pressure to build in 2026 as AI gets even more capable, and @ippr.org we argue governments need to urgently spread the upside
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Roa Powell @roapowell.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Great to see the UK ditch plans to give AI companies a free-for-all on how they use creators' data. But as government continues to sit on the fence, we are missing opportunities to shape a licensing market that is already emerging by supporting collective bargaining for creatives 1/2
thetimes.com
Labour ditches plan to let AI firms use copyrighted works
Ministers abandon ‘opt-out’ policy after backlash from Sir Elton John and Sir Paul McCartney over the ‘theft’ of creative material for software training
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Carsten Jung @carsjung.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Particularly excited about the AI agenda taking some good shape. IPPR has long called for UK focussing on AI application layer, do more on sovereign AI, use procurement more actively + track AI economic impacts. Eg here: www.ippr.org/articles/the...
ippr.org
The direction of AI innovation in the UK: Insights from a new database and a roadmap for reform | IPPR
With the latest models achieving top scores in scientific and diagnostic reasoning tests, they could usher in a new era of growth. In our previous report w
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Roa Powell @roapowell.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
The BBC is facing a series of lose-lose choices. Partner with Big Tech and risk compromising what makes it unique. Or resist and fail to reach the audiences it exists to serve. @sofiahewson.bsky.social and I consider how Charter Renewal can help change this. 1/5
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Roa Powell @roapowell.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
So far, AI companies have held all the power to decide how they use journalists' work. Today, the UK news industry have started to change this with a new coalition that gives journalism a collective voice to push back - exactly the sort of initiative we call for in our latest @ippr.org report. 1/3
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Carsten Jung @carsjung.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
NEW: The policies of today will shape AI tools of the future. Let's make sure it improves - not destroys - our news environment. 👇
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Roa Powell @roapowell.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
AI is transforming our information environment - but is it reliably delivering news content to the public? We tested four AI tools to find out and our results reveal worrying trends:
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Roa Powell @roapowell.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
AI is becoming a new front door to the news - 40% of 18-24 year olds use AI for information weekly and Google AI overviews reach 2 billion a month. But we find AI isn't reliably surfacing news content - with implications for public access to information and media plurality. Full report @ippr.org
ippr.org
AI's got news for you: Can AI improve our information environment? | IPPR
Already, 24 per cent of people report using AI for information seeking every week. But there is widespread concern that the information provided will be in
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