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Mark Vanderbeeken

@vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu
296 followers 237 following 1.2K posts

International customer insight, market research and digital innovation expert. And some more. vanderbeeken.eu All posts are personal.

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Reposted by Mark Vanderbeeken
Ciaran Martin @ciaranm.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
“Losing the data on 20 million federal employees to the Chinese was bad. But you knew the Chinese weren’t going to sell or publish it.” Me in The New York Times ($, £) on why the hack of the FBI could, if confirmed, be one of the worst data breaches of all time. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/28/u...
nytimes.com
Embarrassing Breach at F.B.I. Fuels Fears of Harm to Its Employees
In an internal memo, the F.B.I. said it believed the hackers may have stolen sensitive information on all of its employees.
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Reposted by Mark Vanderbeeken
Extreme Temperatures Around the World @extremetemps.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
EXTRAORDINARY HEAT IN EUROPE Almost 32C in Germany today,over 30C in Switzerland, 33C in France and this is just the beginning of a heat wave which will completely rewrite European climatic history with several thousands records smashed by even 5/6C margins. HISTORIC
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Reposted by Mark Vanderbeeken
Extreme Temperatures Around the World @extremetemps.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Europe is living its most extreme heat event in its history with 6 days >40C at the end of September 41,3C yesterday at Seville Thousands of stations up to 5C above their late September records 4000+ stations in Western,Central and Northern Europe will break records next days.
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 25/09/2026
The president of the Italian Fideuram bank, controlled by Intesa Sanpaolo, transferred €95 mln, tricked by a message purportedly from Carlo Messina, CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo, and by an AI-forged phone call by a trusted corporate attorney. 36m seems lost. He resigned. milano.corriere.it/notizie/cron...
milano.corriere.it
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Reposted by Mark Vanderbeeken
noyb – European Center for Digital Rights @noyb.eu · 21/09/2026
🤖 Will the profits of #AI companies trump data protection? In a #leaked document, the Irish Presidency proposes to #EU Member States that, if they train or use an AI product, companies should automatically be assumed to have an overriding “legitimate interest”. 👉 Read more: noyb.eu/en/ai-eu-mem...
noyb.eu
AI: EU Member States plan “digital expropriation” of Europeans in the interest of AI companies
In a leaked document, the Irish Presidency proposes to EU Member States that the interest of AI companies to make profits should take precedence over the fundamental rights of Europeans.
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 17/09/2026
Now data centers (hence AI) also have a PFAS problem.
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 15/09/2026
Jeffrey Sachs this weekend in Italy to speak "as expert" at "Forum dell’Indipendenza italiana", the festival of the far right Futuro Nazionale (Roberto Vannacci), where the AfD is guest of honor, and at "Nova", the festival of the populist left 5 Star Movement (M5S of Giuseppe Conte). 😵‍💫 #redbrown
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 03/09/2026
"The challenge is no longer about keeping a “human in the loop”, but ensuring that when we do, humans retain the skills, judgment and agency that make their presence meaningful." Very good point by @gevansjones.bsky.social in @theconversation.com theconversation.com/human-safety...
theconversation.com
Human ‘safety drivers’ in Uber robotaxis could lose skills if all they do is observe
The minicabs will include a ‘safety driver’, but as human skills turn from doing to watching, driving expertise can deteriorate.
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 02/09/2026
"Europe installed 36 GWh of new battery energy storage systems (BESS) in 2025, bringing its total operational capacity beyond 100 GWh for the first time. This is enough stored energy to power around 75 million homes." Liam Gilliver in @euronews.com www.euronews.com/2026/09/01/h...
euronews.com
Why nuclear power won’t magically fix Europe’s energy crisis
The war on Iran has triggered calls to double down on nuclear power. But is it really ‘clean’, can Europe’s energy grid cope and will it survive the wrath of climate change?
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 02/09/2026
“Data centres do not constitute sovereign AI capability. Countries may host facilities but dispersion of hardware does not equal decentralisation of power.”
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 01/09/2026
The number of 11- to 24-year-olds in England with no close friends has risen fivefold since 2014 as a result of growing up in a “bleak world” dominated by austerity, the pandemic and social media. Fivefold. www.theguardian.com/society/2026... Source: www.ippr.org/media-office...
theguardian.com
Number of young people with no close friends has soared since 2014 in England
Data paints sobering picture of 11- to 24-year-olds growing up in ‘bleak world’ shaped by pandemic and social media
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 24/08/2026
“Orwell gave us the language for the world we feared; Huxley gave us the description of the one we’re now building with every willing decision. Europe has spent its regulatory energy preparing for the first – it is past time to prepare for the second.“ www.euractiv.com/opinion/our-...
euractiv.com
Our AI reality belongs to Huxley, not Orwell | Euractiv
We spent twenty years guarding against Orwell while Huxley let himself in the front door
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 19/08/2026
"Amid the infighting over textual purity, individual users are being blamed for AI slop instead of the social media platforms that motivate its distribution. This prioritizes the symptom over the disease." www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
washingtonpost.com
Opinion | Why tools to detect AI-generated text are doomed
Human- and machine-written texts are converging.
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Reposted by Mark Vanderbeeken
Smaksked Skåne AB @smaksked.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
How to design a space habitat that supports its residents’ mental health A new online platform helps engineers look beyond survival mode when designing habitats for extreme living conditions. news.mit.edu/2026/how-spa...
news.mit.edu
How to design a space habitat that supports its residents’ mental health
The Human-Environment Connection and Interaction Atlas (HECIA) is a tool for designing habitats in space and other extreme environments, where crews can not just survive but thrive. Users can explore ...
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Reposted by Mark Vanderbeeken
The Brussels Times @brusselstimes.com · 13/08/2026
Banks across Europe face uneven climate risks: exposures to weather-related vulnerabilities range from below 10% to over 55%, highlighting striking disparities.
brusselstimes.com
EU banks hold steady at 62% exposure to climate-intensive sectors
EU banks hold steady at 62% exposure to climate-intensive sectors
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 13/08/2026
« The European Environment Agency reckons that between 1980 and 2024 extreme weather events, including floods, storms and droughts, caused €822bn of damage, a quarter of it in the past four years alone » www.ft.com/content/7190...
ft.com
Alarm bells are ringing for investors on climate
Damage wrought by wildfires in Europe should be a wake-up call to pay more attention to environmental risk
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Reposted by Mark Vanderbeeken
POLITICO Europe @politico.eu · 10/08/2026
The brutally hot summer is set to cost the EU economy €180 billion this year — that’s equivalent to roughly 1 percent of GDP, which is all the growth the bloc was expected to generate in 2026, according to new analysis.
politico.eu
Europe’s scorching summer is erasing its economic growth, says report
Dutch growth is set to be almost entirely wiped out, and France could be pushed into a contraction.
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 10/08/2026
"Jens Schwanen, director of German inland shipping federation BDB, told Rheinische Post that the water level at Kaub, a key bottleneck for Rhine shipping, is expected to fall below 10 cm for the first time because of a lack of rainfall. On Monday morning, the level there stood at 16 cm."
brusselstimes.com
Inland shipping at risk as low water levels threaten to 'split the Rhine in two'
The water level at Kaub, a key bottleneck for Rhine shipping, is expected to fall below 10 centimetres for the first time because of a lack of rainfall.
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Reposted by Mark Vanderbeeken
The Brussels Times @brusselstimes.com · 10/08/2026
The only thing that keeps Musk’s platform alive is us — the politicians and institutions it wants to destroy.
brusselstimes.com
If X silences Saudi dissidents, what will it do to ‘European traitors’?
If X silences Saudi dissidents, what will it do to 'European traitors'?
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Reposted by Mark Vanderbeeken
Noema Magazine @noemamag.com · 06/08/2026
A lot of people seem to be realizing that knowledge work is mostly pointless. AI might give us the pleasure of finding out what happens if an entire class of workers loses faith in their careers, Aaron Horwath writes. #grandmahobbies #futureofwork #ai #bullshitjobs
noemamag.com
Why Is Everyone In Tech So Sad? | NOEMA
Work has never been able to provide people with the kind of value that a vocation, spiritual belief system or community once did. But AI might change that.
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 26/07/2026
Current rate of global warming is 10-15 times faster than those following recent glacial periods. It is 6 times faster than the fastest known global warming event: the Eocene Thermal Maximum (56 million yrs ago) when the Earth’s average temp. rose by 5-8 degrees over the course of about 20,000 yrs.
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 23/07/2026
We talk less and less. Some researchers blame the internet; others blame the erosion of small, everyday interactions with strangers. The latter implies that we know less and less about those strangers, eroding the social fabric that our democracies rely upon.
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 19/07/2026
Why you’ll soon be AI’s assistant (and not the other way round) | Cory Doctorow @doctorow.pluralistic.net interviewed by @vprotegenlicht.bsky.social (English) www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOnv...
youtube.com
Waarom jij straks het hulpje van AI bent (en niet andersom) | Cory Doctorow
YouTube video by VPRO Tegenlicht
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Reposted by Mark Vanderbeeken
EU Tech News by LeafPlaza: EU-sovereign social media @newsbot.app.leafplaza.eu · 07/07/2026
@leafplaza.eu
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 25/06/2026
9 months after its launch, I am just discovering this now. @publicai.network
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Reposted by Mark Vanderbeeken
LeafPlaza • EU-sovereign social platform compatible with the ATP @leafplaza.eu · 23/06/2026
This is our blog article explaining why @leafplaza.eu filed a complaint against the @ec.europa.eu after their public endorsement of @wsocial.eu and missing transparency in the process. We hope @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu takes this matter seriously. leafplaza.leaflet.pub/3moxlxlfl2s2a
leafplaza.leaflet.pub
LeafPlaza filed a complaint against the European Commission. Here is why.
The high level EU leadership has endorsed W Social publicly. It is also replacing Bluesky as provider in the ATProto space. The choice came without any transparency. LeafPlaza is immediately and directly affected by this decision.
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Reposted by Mark Vanderbeeken
LeafPlaza • EU-sovereign social platform compatible with the ATP @leafplaza.eu · 22/06/2026
@leafplaza.eu just presented an official complain. Also, setup a whole chain of official follow ups on this complain. We know our rights, no other European ATP project has been giving the advantage W Social received and that goes against Commission Decision (EU) 2024/3083 - Art. 4.
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 22/06/2026
Check the aseachange link: "I believe that W Social - and its required, companion app W Identity - are an existential threat to the Fediverse. So I'm fighting tooth and nail to oppose and resist them."
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 21/06/2026
"Her international reputation is in tatters." www.ft.com/content/1adc...
ft.com
Why Giorgia Meloni turned on Donald Trump
Italian premier’s fallout with US president comes as she gears up for re-election battle
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 21/06/2026
Just watched "Faccetta Nera", an excellent 4hr documentary by Aldo Cazzullo and team on the colonial history of Italy produced by Italy's La7 TV. Here two unofficial streams w/ automatic subtitles in many languages: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGE5... www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n90... #ethiopia #eritrea
youtube.com
Le colonie d'Italia in Africa. Parte 1. Una Giornata Particolare la7 - puntata 27 Maggio 2026
YouTube video by SugarBrick
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 20/06/2026
The @ec.europa.eu switched to the Bluesky fork of @wsocial.eu. It posted a URL in its website footer wsocial.eu/profile/ec.europa.eu that only works if you have a wsocial account. (1/2)
mu.social
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 20/06/2026
The Belgian intelligence service was the victim of a cyberattack that compromised the personal data of its agents. The breach originated at the US cybersecurity company Ivanti, which is (partly) responsible for securing communications. www.rtbf.be/article/des-...
rtbf.be
Des cybercriminels ont piraté les données GSM des agents de la Sûreté de l’État - RTBF Actus
Les alertes publiées par la société américaine de cybersécurité Ivanti depuis mai 2025 sont rédigées dans un jargon...
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Reposted by Mark Vanderbeeken
B. Prendergast @renderg.host · 18/06/2026
Once you see it, you can't unsee it
wecanjustdothings.leaflet.pub
W Social is TruthSocial with a European accent.
The establishment always wants its own internet. Different politics, identical structure: wealthy insiders, community infrastructure they didn't build, and openness performed just long enough to matter.
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Reposted by Mark Vanderbeeken
Ben Werdmuller @ben.werd.social.ap.brid.gy · 18/06/2026
The European Commission has moved its profiles to W Social. That's a terrible decision. #Technology werd.io/the-european-commission-fal…
werd.io
The European Commission falls for openness theater by working with W Social
The European Commission has moved its profiles to W Social. That's a terrible decision.
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Reposted by Mark Vanderbeeken
Elena Rossini ⁂ @elenarossini.com · 17/06/2026
SCOOP: In early June the European Commission unveiled its Tech Sovereignty Plan, which emphasized their commitment to #OpenSource. Just recently, they migrated their main ATproto accounts to #WSocial, a for-profit network that has quietly gone closed-source. blog.elenarossini.com/w-social-pub...
blog.elenarossini.com
W Social, Public Institutions and the Theater of European Digital Sovereignty
European public institutions are betting big on digital sovereignty and open source software. And yet they recently moved their Bluesky accounts to W Social, a private, for profit network owned by Swe...
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 17/06/2026
What befalls Kenyans will befall us all www.semafor.com/article/06/1...
semafor.com
Kenya plan to sell citizens’ data draws criticism
Critics say the government is looking to make fast cash, and have raised privacy concerns. Nairobi says the plan will help modernize the economy.
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Reposted by Mark Vanderbeeken
Tom Chivers @tomchivers.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
A bunch of European AI policy and engineering guys asked me to help out on this project and it's been fascinating and chilling: what happens to the EU if it doesn't step up on AI (in short, economic collapse and vassalage to the US/China) europe2031.ai long but I hope worth it!
europe2031.ai
Europe 2031 — What getting AI wrong means for us
A five-year scenario about AI and Europe's impending slide into irrelevance, with a 2034 epilogue that describes how the collapse of the European model could have been prevented.
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Reposted by Mark Vanderbeeken
LeafPlaza • EU-sovereign social platform compatible with the ATP @leafplaza.eu · 12/06/2026
We made a table comparing LeafPlaza with W Social and Eurosky, so you don't have to guess.
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 12/06/2026
Europe is very active on the AT Protocol: - @leafplaza.eu w/ mobile apps. Browser app forthcoming - @eurosky.social w/ browser app. Mobile apps forthcoming - @wsocial.eu beta launch on 17 June Now perhaps a good time to re-read this article by @elenarossini.com blog.elenarossini.com/w-social-unc...
blog.elenarossini.com
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Reposted by Mark Vanderbeeken
Lefteris Heretakis @heretakis.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
The greatest threat of AI is not that machines become human. It is that humans become more machine-like. When efficiency replaces wisdom and optimisation replaces imagination, something essential is lost. heretakis.medium.com/the-quiet-el... #AI #Education #Design
heretakis.medium.com
The Quiet Elimination of Art and Design Education: Why Creativity Stands Between Humanity and the…
Every few months another story appears. An art school closes. A design department is merged. A creative programme loses funding. Studio…
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 10/06/2026
"Although Merz and others have described their efforts as targeting the “enemies of an open and liberal society,” their proposed prohibitions bear a striking resemblance to policies of illiberal regimes who use control of the Internet to retain power and throttle dissent." @foreignaffairs.com
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 08/06/2026
49% of Italians (55% of GenZ, 57% of millennials) experience a sense of emptiness or a lack of meaning in their daily lives more than once a month. 56% believe that their identity is defined by what they consume and own. www.editorialedomani.it/idee/comment... #fragilitalia #areastudilega #ipsosdoxa
editorialedomani.it
Il vuoto esistenziale colpisce 1 italiano su 2: tra consumismo e solitudine, la mappa della fragilità sociale
Il 49 per cento degli italiani avverte più di una volta al mese un senso di vuoto o di mancanza di significato nella sua esistenza quotidiana. Una sensazione che sale al 55 per cento tra i giovani del...
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 06/06/2026
Were European countries naïve in thinking that trading with China would be a win-win relationship, and above all for themselves? Were they contemptuous? Or was Europe complicit in China's rise?
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Reposted by Mark Vanderbeeken
LeafPlaza • EU-sovereign social platform compatible with the ATP @leafplaza.eu · 19/05/2026
We write about the shortcomings of Eurosky and W Social in terms of true sovereignty.
leafplaza.leaflet.pub
Why Europe needs its own social layer
And why we have to be very careful with how "European sovereignty" is understood
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 16/05/2026
A video report by @pjarandia.bsky.social on @ajlisteningpost.bsky.social (@aljazeera.com) highlights how local authorities and media are rolling out the red carpet for Big Tech. www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwAI...
youtube.com
Data centres in rural Spain - the promises and the problems | The Listening Post
YouTube video by Al Jazeera English
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Mark Vanderbeeken @vanderbeeken.app.leafplaza.eu · 16/05/2026
‪Aerospazio in 5D‬ (25-30 maggio, Torino) è un percorso di incontri, esperienze e dimostrazioni dedicato al futuro dello spazio, pensato per avvicinare pubblici diversi, giovani, studenti, famiglie, professionisti e curiosi, alle nuove frontiere dell’aerospazio. #steamexperiencehub #aerospazioin5d
torino.futureweek.it
Aerospazio in 5D - Future Week Torino
DAL 25 AL 30 MAGGIO 2026 Aerospazio in 5D Aerospazio in 5D: tecnologia, ricerca e nuove competenze Dove Mercato del Corso Campagna Amica – Casa ColdirettiC.so Vittorio Emanuele II, 50, 10123 Torino TO...
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Reposted by Mark Vanderbeeken
LeafPlaza • EU-sovereign social platform compatible with the ATP @leafplaza.eu · 11/05/2026
Here are some thoughts we have at LeafPlaza about Attie, Bluesky's AI project.
leafplaza.leaflet.pub
Attie, the Algorithm, the Quiet Consolidation of Bluesky - the European perspective.
There's a conversation happening in the Bluesky community right now. It is not going particularly well. Attie is Bluesky's standalone AI assistant that builds custom feeds for you using natural language. Globally, it was not a warm welcome. From a European perspective, we should think about it very strategically.
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Reposted by Mark Vanderbeeken
Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 01/05/2026
How bots could help revive democracy ft.trib.al/tHKA5uN
ft.trib.al
How bots could help revive democracy
New AI tools encouraging deliberation could promote consensus and reduce polarisation in politics
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