iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Tom Lacy @tomlacy.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

New research out from our centre today on how novelists and industry practitioners are navigating AI, including headlines on just how many authors fear AI will completely replace them. Lots to dig into in this great report, check it out or skip to the chapters that matter to you👇

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Tom Lacy @tomlacy.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

There's still time to sign up to the online launch of our latest report: The High Stakes of Menstrual Tracking. Wed 11th, 4-5pm, Stefanie Felsberger is a great speaker - and there's an expert panel to boot. Don't miss out 👇

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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

🔴 Remember Aria, the “moonshot" research agency dreamed up by Dominic Cummings? It's funded by £800m in public money but exempt from FOI laws We decided to fight for transparency... and we won 🎉 New on Democracy for Sale w/ @lucasamin.bsky.social democracyforsale.substack.com/p/dominic-cu...

democracyforsale.substack.com

Democracy for Sale 1, Dominic Cummings 0

We fought to expose the £800m research agency that Cummings built to escape scrutiny - and we won.

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Someone on Threads noticed you can type any random sentence into Google, then add “meaning” afterwards, and you’ll get an AI explanation of a famous idiom or phrase you just made up. Here is mine

• Al Overview
The idiom "you can't lick a badger twice" means you can't trick or deceive someone a second time after they've been tricked once. It's a warning that if someone has already been deceived, they are unlikely to fall for the same trick again.
Here's a more detailed explanation:
• Licking: "Licking" in this context means to trick or deceive someone.
• Badger: The badger is a wild animal, and the phrase likely originates from the historical sport of badger baiting where dogs were used to harass

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Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy @mctd.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

NEW 🚨 We have signed a joint letter urging PM Keir Starmer not to sacrifice online safety laws in US trade negotiations. If the most powerful tech firms can negotiate away regulator frameworks created by our sovereign parliament, then what is left of our democracy? ➡️ www.mctd.ac.uk/dont-relax-t...

mctd.ac.uk

Don’t relax tech laws to appease Trump, campaigners tell PM – The Times

We have signed a joint letter from civil society and media urging PM Keir Starmer not to water down online safety laws and curbs on Big Tech.

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Tom Lacy @tomlacy.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Our brief on AI, Copyright, and the Creative Industries is out today. Unregulated GenAI will not lead to growth. The UK creative sector is one of our strongest - but proposals to allow AI companies to freely scrape creative work to train models puts it in harms way. www.mctd.ac.uk/policy-brief...

mctd.ac.uk

Policy Brief: AI, Copyright, and Productivity in the Creative Industries

In this report we examine the impacts Generative AI may have on the UK's creative sector’s workforce and productivity and provide policy recommendations for the Government.

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Tom Lacy @tomlacy.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

Vital report from @raeng.org.uk today setting out recs including mandatory sustainability reporting for data centres. The world is on course to miss even our 2 degree climate target - there will be consequences w/out serious action. More of this sort of work is needed.

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Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy @mctd.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

CAN DEMOCRACY SURVIVE AI❓ New @sociologica.bsky.social: @ginasue.bsky.social examines AI and democratic governance. She argues AI’s tendencies toward centralisation, unchecked economic growth, and pursuit of efficiency pose significant challenges to democracy. ➡️ www.mctd.ac.uk/can-democrac...

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Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy @mctd.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

NEW! 📕 Antonio Casilli pulls back the curtain on automation, explaining why big tech's AI systems wouldn’t function without unpaid or underpaid human labour. He warns that the danger is not that robots will take our jobs, but that humans will have to do theirs... ➡️ www.casilli.fr/2025/01/08/m...

casilli.fr

My New Book ‘Waiting for Robots’ Is Out Now from University of Chicago Press: How AI Companies Extract Value From Every Human on Earth | Antonio A. Casilli

I am excited to announce the publication of my new book Waiting for Robots: The Hidden Hands of Automation (University of Chicago Press, 2025) on January 8th. Read more about media coverage and praise...

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Gina Neff @ginasue.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

Who's ready to talk about responsible AI on the Six O'clock News? This Professor

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Tom Lacy @tomlacy.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

I saved my spiel for LinkedIn but very grateful to my managers and colleagues for putting me forward for this award - and thrilled to have made the shortlist 🎆

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Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy @mctd.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

AI Action Summit 2025 🇨🇵 We drew together insights from our research network in response to the summit’s call for ideas – highlighting the risks that emerge from the intersection of AI systems with social, cultural, and organisational structures. Read our submission ⬇️ www.mctd.ac.uk/written-evid...

mctd.ac.uk

Written Evidence: Priorities for the France AI Action Summit 2025

Our submission to the AI Action Summit 2025 call for ideas draws together insights from our research network on questions which intersect with our Centre’s three strategic research areas: Work, Trust,...

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Tom Lacy @tomlacy.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

Workplace protections against AI and technology driven abuse must be more than an afterthought for Gov's employment rights programme. And civil society & unions have already done the legwork. My comments in a new blog here👇 www.mctd.ac.uk/ai-protectio...

mctd.ac.uk

AI protections must be more than a footnote in the UK Government's 'Plan to Make Work Pay'

Our Policy and Impact Manager Tom Lacy on the wide-ranging harms of new tech that should be in scope of the Government’s consultation on workplace protections This October saw the introduction of the ...

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Tom Lacy @tomlacy.bsky.social · 04/11/2024

"Inside the belly of AI is a hidden workforce fuelling the 21st century’s largest case of human exploitation" If you're in/near Cambridge Tuesday next week (12th) drop by our free event for chat and a documentary preview on the invisible workforce behind AI ⬇️⬇️ www.mctd.ac.uk/events/anton...

mctd.ac.uk

In the Belly of AI / Feeding the Machine – Antonio Casilli in conversation with James Muldoon

A conversation with Antonio Casilli and James Muldoon on the hidden workforce that powers Big Tech's AI systems.

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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 19/09/2024

Digital ID in the UK: A rapid response study by me for @carefultrouble.bsky.social, published today, drawing on public polling by @survation.bsky.social and a landscape map of known govt plans. Do govt's plans for digital ID meet the public's needs? www.careful.industries/digital-iden...

Digital ID in the UK - a rapid response study
Rachel Coldicutt OBE
Sept 2024

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Tom Lacy @tomlacy.bsky.social · 17/09/2024

If you'll be at Labour Conference on the Sunday, don't forget to join us and whole bunch of other progressive tech folks at the tech for everyone reception. 6-8pm👇👇 www.mctd.ac.uk/events/labou...

mctd.ac.uk

Labour Party Conference: 'Building Tech for Everyone' Reception

Come join us for networking, drinks and a special speaker outside Labour Party Conference 2024 in Liverpool.

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Tom Lacy @tomlacy.bsky.social · 29/08/2024

MCTD will be hosting a free online reading & in-conversation with author Sasha Abramsky on 25 September, 6pm. We'll be discussing Sasha's upcoming book - Chaos Comes Calling: The Battle Against the Far-Right Takeover of Small-Town America More info here 👇 www.mctd.ac.uk/events/chaos...

mctd.ac.uk

Chaos Comes Calling - Reading and Conversation with Sasha Abramsky

Celebrate the upcoming publication of Sasha Abramsky's new book - Chaos Comes Calling: The Battle Against the Far-right Takeover of Small Town America - out 26 September

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