Lorna Richardson

It truly was a different time. If only

Revealed: UK’s multibillion AI drive is built on ‘phantom investments’ Exclusive: Rented datacentres and unrealised supercomputer site raise questions for Starmer’s push to ‘mainline AI into veins of economy’

Good to see some mainstream journalism questioning the economic hype around AI.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Super-important for all of us, thank you

Really important point, thank you, that’s not something I’d considered but adding to the list!

When you do have students using AI to code, can they work out if the model has made mistakes?

Absolutely. Massive concern everywhere

I’m organising a Faculty panel on AI in Arts & Humanities, hence request for opinions. I’m also aware I’m coming at AI from a critical digital media perspective, which means I may not have an entirely balanced perspective (Neo Luddites unite!)

Monday morning Bluesky people, any more thoughts on AI for arts and humanities in HE?

The choices universities and colleges make about AI are political Ahead of this week's Digifest, Michael Webb and Rebecca Flook confront the complex values systems behind general purpose AI technology

'The systems now being woven into education are shaped by a remarkably small group of people. Not “the internet” as the source of training material. Not “society” influencing the way we use these tools.'

Fascinating that this comes from within Jisc. 1/3

Thank you, super important and much overlooked in the HE discourse

“Leadership” 😳 thank you!

Thank you! Really important issues esp the last point (god help us all whyyyyy)

Thank you - added to my list of points!

An expert, balanced & realistic thread on the Guardian human remains article

Arts & Humanities academic folks: what are your key concerns around genAI in Higher Ed for 1) teaching 2) research 3) anything else you can think of? For me, it’s (broadly) atrophy of critical thinking muscles & huge ethical issues. Interested to hear your thoughts

Alan Warburton Alan Warburton is a critical artist-theorist using and reflecting on computer graphics, machine learning, artificial intelligence , virtual reality, augmented reality, 3D animation, motion graphics an...

If you’re looking for a short film that tackles AI, computer vision, data and power, Alan Warburton’s three-and-a-half minute “Image Empire” is a brilliant scratch for that itch. If you’re teaching critical AI, it’s ideal. Has a very accessible paper attached too. alanwarburton.co.uk/image-empire

Vast scale of overseas human remains held in UK museums decried by MPs and experts Exclusive: Guardian study finds UK museums hold more than 260,000 items of remains, often in sacrilegious ways

How did so many human remains end up at the University of Winchester?

Screenshot of BBC headline "Failed asylum seeker families to be offered up to £40k to leave UK" - 5 March 2026

Screenshot of the Guardian headline "BNP would offer non-white Britons £50,000 to leave UK, says Nick Griffin" - 2010

"Families of failed asylum seekers will be offered up to £40,000 to leave the UK under a trial scheme announced by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood"

Sounds familiar

"BNP would offer non-white Britons £50,000 to leave UK, says Nick Griffin" - 2010

Missed this yesterday, just read the UCU email, congratulations!

A digital illustration of a brain composed of electronic circuits with a central microchip labeled "AI" in vibrant colors. The background is dark, emphasizing the glowing neural network pattern.

David Girling from @developmentuea.bsky.social has co-authored a report that warns the potential reputational damage of charities using AI-generated images in their campaigns is more complex than organisations realise.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4ubWhld

#ResearchMatters

The House of Lords Digital & Communications Committee just published their report on AI, copyright & the creative industries, and their conclusions could not be clearer.

🧵 1/5

In post-colonial Africa, the ethical neutrality of AI is pure fantasy If we treat AI as a purely rational evolution of human intelligence, we risk repeating colonial erasure on a digital scale, says Agnieszka Piotrowska

'conversations about AI sound fundamentally different in Africa....There, debates about technocratic issues such as innovation, productivity, regulation and “safety” – the anxieties of the designer and the proprietor – are inseparable from histories of extraction and epistemic violence.' 1/2

Bury St Edmunds Iron Age coin hoard sells for more than £33,000 Finder Prof Tom Licence plans to use some of his share to fund archaeological work in eastern England.

£33 000 eh? ‘The finder Prof Tom Licence, from the University of East Anglia, said: "With the share which the landowner is generously granting me, I will be supporting archaeological work in Suffolk."’

Incredible piece about digital archiving, in particular what does and does not get that treatment.

Sympathies!

A lot of people say AI isn't very good for the world and its outputs are routinely unreliable, but these haters fail to see how it's revolutionizing how we incinerate schoolchildren.

After today, two more six hour teaching Thursdays until the Spring break. Workload models are pure comedy

This archaeological research really captures the enchantment of trying to understand human life across the barriers of time and evidence. A warm July day, grief and sadness, colour, scent and precious things.

Megalithic Landscapes of Ethiopia from Prehistory to the Modern Era Ethiopia is home to one of the largest concentrations of megalithic architecture globally.

The megalithic culture in Ethiopia encompasses a wide range of forms, including standing stones (stelae), dolmens, and tumuli. These monuments are widely distributed across the landscape, with hundreds of sites across the country.
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/megalithic...

Yep, I’m familiar with RS! Archaeology really started as an extra-academic pursuit so participation has a long complicated history