iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Hidden perks of being clumsy: Periodically spilling a glass of water over my to-be-dealt-with pile of post and paperwork. Always refreshing to realise that most of it could have been thrown away weeks ago. Quickest way I know to clear a tabletop.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I don't remember a version of the Ship of Theseus where each plank gets replaced with a screaming demon, and when the whole thing is nothing but demons bolted together screaming for your soul, you realise that whether this can still be called a ship isn't actually the most pressing question.

undark.org

AI Presents Science with a ‘Ship of Theseus’ Problem

Opinion | AI can replace each part of the scientific process, leaving the enterprise recognizable but devoid of human judgment.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

A rare occasion where I have to be dressed up vaguely fancy tonight, and as usual only my nails got the memo #nailsky

Short nails with black base and silver painted diagonally across the corners so that it crosses over to form a more opaque silver triangle at the centre of the tip.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Tapping on and off the Tube with a smart watch is one of those rare things that feels totally natural, as though it was designed for left handers. I know it's a holdover from people having an Oyster card in their right hand, but I'm not taking the ease for granted.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Writing in philosophy I never understood any of my papers, but not quite like this. I get the thinking behind the suggestion of oral exams for authors, but I don't know anyone who came out of their PhD viva thinking "that was great; I'd love to do that for everything I write in my career!"

timeshighereducation.com

Researchers submitting AI-assisted papers they ‘don’t understand’

Computer sciences journal editor is developing an AI system that will question authors about their understanding of their submissions

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Those websites that have so many adverts they are basically unusable? Accessing an academic paper is starting to feel like that, with all the ways AI is popping up offering to "help".

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

It may not be as deadly as carspreading, but currently incensed by fridgespreading. Why are appliances all massive now?! It's almost like we live in a patriarchy where size is the only indicator of status people understand...

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

AI summaries: deskilling both skim reading and detailed reading in one fell swoop

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Reposted by Ruth Hibbert

Herbiⓥore @herbivoreclub.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Calling veganism ableist can erase the very disabled people it claims to defend. Veganism already means avoiding animal exploitation as far as is possible and practicable. Veganism does not demand the impossible. It asks what is possible.

open.substack.com

Veganism Isn’t Ableist. Excluding Disabled People From It Is

One of the most common criticisms thrown at veganism is that it is ableist.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

On the train they said we were only 14 minutes late, but then I get a follow up email saying it was actually 15 mins and I'm entitled to delay repay to the tune of £1.38! And the exact same story on the return! Drinks are on me I guess. (I do appreciate the emails to be fair).

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Photos from summer 2026 looking like colour hasn't been invented yet

A brown and black starling on brown grass. It's a colour photo, but might as well be sepia.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Last picnic of the summer and everyone wants some

Eight crows standing about on some very dry brown grass in the park. All looking in different directions and pretending not to be interested.

A starling very close to a black and white trainer on brown grass.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

TV shows where the character hasn't driven a car for many years and suddenly has to, and is clearly a lethal menace, but somehow it's packaged as cute slapstick and not gallows humour

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Abstract watercolour #nailart in honour of the rain #nailsky

Nail art on short nails, with white background and abstract watercolour pattern in blue and grey, although what looks like grey was actually teal polish. Left hand.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

I miss well-read interesting people who Knew The Literature in their area, and a hundred other things besides. They were pretty cool back in the day.

chronicle.com

AI Is Ruining Scholarship

When we outsource literature review to algorithms, we lose entire sectors of knowledge.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Just mis-overheard "would you like milk in the americano, or just ideas?" (On reflection I think they said "or just as is"). But yes, I will have a double shot of your finest thoughts and inspirations please.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

British identity is a weird thing. Not classy enough to be European; not cool enough to be American; just bobbing along awkwardly in between. But at least we had rain. We really confidently owned being the place it rained a lot, back in the day.

bbc.co.uk

More than two-thirds of England now in drought

The East Midlands, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, Kent and East Sussex, and Solent and the South Downs have moved into drought status.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

A younger person on my train just took a pic of their friend (who has hair in rollers) with a disposable camera. Recognised the sound of winding on the film. Sat here with my e-reader and wireless headphones feeling ancient.

bbc.co.uk

Digital cameras and wired earphones are back - and 'a bit more real'

We're surrounded by more advanced tech in 2026, so why are young people going back to basics?

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

My lunchtime walk: "Oh hey there, weather cool enough to walk at a decent speed. Where've you bee...Oh never mind, you've gone."

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

When illustrating the tragedy of car dependency, getting groceries is amateur class. How else are you supposed to meet criminals and walk your dog? These are the real questions.

bbc.co.uk

Author Lynda La Plante banned from driving for six months

The best-selling crime author is disqualified from driving despite saying a ban would end her career.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

I thought doing more less well was the definition of success in late stage capitalism. Assumed this was a feature not a bug. Scientists using LLMs will ‘do more, less well’, modelling study predicts www.nature.com/articles/d41...

nature.com

Scientists using LLMs will ‘do more, less well’, modelling study predicts

Research suggests that the combination of incentives to publish and the use of large language models will lead to more papers, but they will be less refined.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Sure GenAI could have been a source of optimism and excitement if 1. It wasn't being sold to us by stone cold sociopaths and 2. it came at a different point in capitalism's death spiral. As it is, I'm sick of coming across new aspects of the polycrisis that it's accelerating to warp speed.

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Reposted by Ruth Hibbert

Scientists for Global Responsibility @responsiblesci.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

35 UK universities have joined the Defence Universities Alliance and will receive funding to “support the UK's future defence capability.” Universities must not become conveyor belts into industries that profit from death and destruction. Sign the petition 👇 peopleandplanet.org/petitions/st...

peopleandplanet.org

Stop universities from joining the UK war machine | People & Planet

Add your voice, sign the petition.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

I couldn't go vegan/sell my car/stop buying shit I don't need. People might think I'm weird! But also I'm a maverick, I don't follow the herd, and I don't care what people think.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

So many candidates for the aspect of human nature most likely to kill us all, but the massive gap between realising something is the right thing to do and actually doing it has to be a strong contender.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

These dystopian taps have been in place for years and I never see them advertising anything except themselves

Tap with advertising screen attached reading "advertise here from only £99 per month"

Tap with advertising screen attached reading "caught you looking! Tele taps offers a captive audience"

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Politicians are all for austerity with our finances but never with our natural resources. Where is the scolding that if and when we have the energy and water "budgets" for data centres we can turn ourselves into cognitively and emotionally de-skilled potatoey lumps all we want, but not before?

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Almost autumnal scenes in London's hot dry weather at the minute

Tree with a few green leaves and a few brown leaves, surrounded by brown leaves on the ground, and brown dead looking grass

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

It's not that I'm against a thorough and widespread philosophical education for AI; I just think humans should get that too. Don't act all surprised when the robots form a more functional society than ours. We're setting a low bar right now.

economist.com

Why big AI labs are hiring so many philosophers

The technology presents all sorts of thorny problems—a philosopher’s favourite kind

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

And now he's chancellor, and the cartoon schoolboy got defence. I'm not exactly reassured.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

There isn't enough janky amateur #nailart on here, so here you go #nailsky And not to stereotype folks on here, but I was on a train, and the colour theme was pleasing (last pic).

Light blue nails with black nail art in dots and lines reassembling jewelry. Right hand. White background.

Light blue nails with black nail art in dots and lines reassembling jewelry. Thumbs. White background.

Light blue nails with black nail art in dots and lines reassembling jewelry. Fingers from both hands. White background.

Light blue nails with black nail art in dots and lines reassembling jewelry. Left hand. Background is three shades of blue in colour blocks from the back of a train seat.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

I'm not a scientist, but consider me alarmed. Also nice use of em dash in the title — I see what you did there. ‘Humanizer’ tool can erase signs of AI-written text — alarming scientists www.nature.com/articles/d41...

nature.com

‘Humanizer’ tool can erase signs of AI-written text — alarming scientists

Tool directs text-generation systems to remove constructions associated with artificial intelligence in research papers and grant proposals.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Finally realised the second reason every city I visit feels like a ring-roady nightmare (the first being the obvious): Accommodation is cheaper outside the ring road and everything I want to do is inside, so I spend the whole time crossing it. Even that couldn't ruin Leicester this weekend though.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Trophy hunting has gone mad round these parts; it's a disgrace.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

When you tell them you're vegan and they panic and give you batshit crazy salad. (No hate; this was actually very nice).

Burger and chips with salad consisting of lettuce, tomato, red onion, blueberries, and grapes

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

On holiday hiking Hadrian's Wall. At a massive 73 miles long, it's so big you can see Space from here.

Hadrian's Wall stretching across the landscape with a cloudy blue sky above.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Somewhere a sustainability steering committee is busy forming a panel to decide the membership of the working group that sets the parameters for proposing a motion to move a recycling bin 3cm to the left. Meanwhile, we are literally on fire*...

Smart watch showing warning triangle for Greater London, current temperature 34°C, feels like 39°C, max 34°C, min 20°C, UV 6

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Nailing that cocktail of FOMO and existential dread with a chaser of nihilism. Too bleak not to share is clearly the marketing strategy du jour. And it works, so that's where we're at.

Poster on a London Tube platform advertising Polaroid. Caption reads "go jump I'm some water before the data centres drink it all up" with a Polaroid image of two people jumping into water.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

"I would rather spend an evening listening to a gentleman explain railroads" is generally true tbh. That's a fair portion of my youtube subs.

The art of saying "no" like a Victorian. I would sooner attempt correspondence with a turnip. Respectfully, I would rather throw myself into the sea. The answer remains no, despite your enthusiasm. I think now, dear fellow. I would prefer to be chased by an angry goose. Absolutely not; I have standards and a fainting couch. I shall decline wit the utmost elegance. Not even if Queen Victoria herself requested it. I regret to inform you that my answer is no and shall remain so until the sun burns out. Good heavens, no. I would rather spend an evening listening to a gentleman explain railroads. The very suggestion has given me vapors. No, and I must insist you stop asking before I fetch my smelling salts. Kindly place that idea back where you found it.

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Ruth Hibbert @ruth-hi.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Treating factory farming like the absolute scandal it is youtu.be/iRfQPY7S3uc?...

youtu.be

Does The King Know About This?

YouTube video by Project Slingshot

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