Mark McCormack

If a manuscript contains "Click or tap here to enter text" (perhaps in another language) does this mean the authors have used a template, or perhaps GenAI or similar?

Padlet - Visual Collaboration for Creative Work and Education Beautiful boards and canvases for visual thinkers and learners. Used by 40 million people worldwide. Get started for free.

Call for Papers: hybrid conference on Archives and Ethics (online and at @astonuniversity.bsky.social ! Experts from all fields welcome! padlet.com/dturner2_23/...
Deadline: 13 April 2026

1908: the Lancet, one of the most respected scientific journals, calls for 18 age limit on reading in bed amidst a moral panic surrounding children becoming "addicted" to novels, which were "designed to keep kids hooked" and destroy their attention/mental health

The easiest analytical assumption to make whenever Trump does something is that he hasn't thought it through at all. And yet everytime commentators contort themselves into believing there's some kind of strategy.

Very much this.

We (@lawrencemckay.bsky.social @williamlallen.bsky.social) have data on this stretching back to 2012 for a forthcoming report on the current academic job market in Politics - and let me just say it's unprecedentedly bad at the moment!

Way too many on the Left laughed off GB News as a joke, a money-loser sure to fail, not worth worrying about. Completely missed the point. It was a foothold for the international far right on the mainstream British media scene. No price is too high for that

🚨 It looks like the UK government is gearing up to upend copyright law in favour of AI companies, legalising the theft of their work.

This is despite creatives' huge protests, and despite previous proposals being roundly rejected by the public.

Please spread the word.

🧵 1/4

The mapping shows that the curiosity-led research ('bucket one') is applicant-led research, QR, and a sprinkling of smaller items from across UKRI. Applicant-led funding and QR are increasing from financial years 2025-26 to 2026-27, but overall curiosity-led research is receiving a smaller share of the increase in 2026-27 than other 'buckets'. . From this mapping, it appears 'curiosity-led' research as UKRI are defining it, is being protected, and is over 50% of the total investment. However, as we said in our question to Sir lan, QR is not all curiosity-led, it is at best 'non-Government directed'. This eliding of definitions is part of the reason that there is confusion around the statement that curiosity research is protected. Further, the statement that curiosity-led research is over 50% of the total budget risks looking dis-ingenious when a big chunk of it is QR funding.

Response from @sciencecampaign.bsky.social says ‘the statement that curiosity-led research is over 50% of the total budget risks looking disingenuous when a big chunk of it is QR funding.’
www.sciencecampaign.org.uk/analysis-and...

This loss of talent will have long term consequences for our national research base. Government and funders should do something about it.

It's partially criminalized through a range of policies - e.g., third party facilitation is criminalized, meaning sex workers can't legally work together or get support in a range of ways. They also report harassment from police in various contexts.

AIs can’t stop recommending nuclear strikes in war game simulations Leading AIs from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google opted to use nuclear weapons in simulated war games in 95 per cent of cases

AIs can’t stop recommending nuclear strikes in war game simulations

Leading AIs from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google opted to use nuclear weapons in simulated war games in 95 per cent of cases

www.newscientist.com/article/2516...

Top earners increase at Russell Group universities despite cuts About 9,400 staff paid at least £100,000 a year across research-intensive institutions, analysis of financial accounts shows

It's not a popular message, but that there are as few as 185 people earning 100k at a big, serious uni like Cardiff is actually a signal of how low UK academic salaries are, and how much professorial salaries, in particular, have eroded comparatively.
www.timeshighereducation.com/news/top-ear...

Reform UK's Danny Kruger On Preparing For Government And Making 'A Mess Of It' Ex-Tory MP Danny Kruger reveals to Sienna Rodgers his plans as Reform UK’s head of preparing for government, from election readiness to pronatalist...

Fascinating interview by @siennamarla with Reform UK's Danny Kruger - who (among other things) tells her political parties have a "limited but important" role in undoing the sexual revolution and UK is suffering from a "totally unregulated sexual economy".

www.politicshome.com/news/article...

All good things come to an end It is with great sadness that we are sharing the news that the UCL Faculties of Social & Historical Sciences and Arts & Humanities have decided to close the IAS on 31 July 2026.

Shocking news. Obviously one doesn't know the ins and outs, but it's hard to comprehend how such a large and weathy university as UCL finds itself unable to support a cutting-edge humanities research institute. Solidarity with everyone affected. www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

In a narrower sense, does AI have a sociological imagination? Obviously not. Does the "author" who lightly edits the manuscript input a sociological imagination in that process? I'd hope not. SocSci is broader, of course, but I think an example of the epistemological question.

I think it's also an epistemological question as well. Is AI produced text work or scholarship in a meaningful sense? It might be, but I think that question needs to be part of the discussion.

I would also be very sceptical of the expertise and diligence of someone who has done that outsourcing to do the required checking, editing and thinking to ensure that the GenAI paper wasn't wrong (on data, theory, method).

I'm not convinced by the case for here - GenAI can't think, and writing is part of the thought process / refinement of ideas. Outsourcing all the "thinking" to GenAI leaves a gap where the core intellectual endeavour must be.

Basically whenever you see a news story based on survey results of 18-24 year olds, especially if it's a subset of a large poll of all age groups, just assume it's nonsense

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Goodness

Also astonishing

Astonishing

That we tend to focus our social concerns onto i) children and ii) technological change should make us very cautious against banning tech among children when many related issues are currently found amongst adults

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

We have to stop calling some jobs ‘low skilled’ Freeing ourselves of these labels might help young people to think more creatively about the future

Given no one really knows what subjects to study to be resilient in the future perhaps this might free young people up to study things they enjoy says @sarahoconnorft.ft.com
www.ft.com/content/0409...

Unpopular opinion - there is no way to use GenAI ethically, and AI literacy should involve helping people to understand why (hint - stolen IP, devastating environmental impacts, exploitation of workers, loss of learning, writing and thinking skills) #AcademicSky #sociology

BBC Radio 3 - The Early Music Show, Carnevale - Venice, Vino... and Vivaldi Hannah French and historian Ron Merlino explore music and wine from 18th-century Venice.

This was a great listen

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

"Moderna's CEO announced the company will no longer invest in new Phase 3 vaccine trials for infectious diseases: 'You cannot make a return on investment if you don't have access to the U.S. market. Vaccines for Epstein-Barr virus, herpes, and shingles have been shelved.” 9:12 AM Feb 12, 2026 604.8K Views

In terms of what cures are being lost:

- Epstein-Barr virus is perhaps the major trigger for multiple sclerosis
- herpes simplex virus causes cold sores, genital herpes, infections in babies, deadly meningitis
- shingles virus causes an intensely painful disease

Imagine discovering that the entire structure of state secondary education was about to collapse, and musing "Ah well, we'll always have Eton, Harrow and Winchester..."

This is basically how the political class thinks about higher education.

‘If I think about what this means, I want to cry’: what happens when a city loses its university? When Essex University’s Southend campus opened, it was a message of hope for a ‘left behind’ UK seaside town. Its closure will be felt far beyond its 800 students, some of whom will not get their degr...

Everything in this report reflects on what we value, for communities, for peripheral places, for young people, for education, for the future - and it looks like we’ve got it all wrong.