Helen Margetts

International AI Safety Report

"My hope would be that policymakers would look at this report and start to think about where they should put resources, commission research, to make good policy and regulation," says Prof. @helenmargetts.bsky.social.

Learn more about the report here: internationalaisafetyreport.org

Regulating Sexual Content Online has Always Been a Challenge. How we got Here It takes something really horrible for policymakers to take swift action.

The notion that child sexual abuse imagery is on a par with “woke” political criticism is patently absurd.

Regulating sexual content online "will be a game of catch-up, like every technology spiral before, but it will have to be played."

By @helenmargetts.bsky.social

Regulating Sexual Content Online has Always Been a Challenge. How we got Here It takes something really horrible for policymakers to take swift action.

The notion that child sexual abuse imagery is on a par with “woke” political criticism is absurd.

Regulating sexual content online "will be a game of catch-up, like every technology spiral before, but it will have to be played."

@helenmargetts.bsky.social

politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/regulat...

Regulating sexual content online has always been a challenge – how we got here | LSE British Politics Finding ways to regulate sexual content online has always been a challenge. But Artificial Intelligence platforms like Grok have supercharged the challenge.

💡New! Regulating sexual content online has always been a challenge – how we got here, by @helenmargetts.bsky.social and Cosmina Dorobantu of @lsedatascience.bsky.social.

blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...

Regulating sexual content online has always been a challenge – how we got here Policymakers have generally been extremely slow to do anything about the problem.

Where Cosmina Dorobantu and I discuss how free speech arguments are so often used as an excuse for not controlling the enduring problem of sexual content takeover of tech innovations @oii.ox.ac.uk @lsedatascience.bsky.social theconversation.com/regulating-s...

How an Attack on Obamacare Saved Abortion in Wyoming In the most conservative state in the U.S., libertarianism can lead in surprising directions.

In 2012, an anti-Obamacare law enshrined that “each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions” in Wyoming. That language just inadvertently saved abortion in the state. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/oO9Vxs

Today - Mustafa Suleyman Guest Edits Today - BBC Sounds AI pioneer Mustafa Suleyman is the fourth Today guest editor this Christmas period.

ICYMI: Catch @helenmargetts.bsky.social @oii.ox.ac.uk's interview with Mustafa Suleyman, guest editor of the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, reflecting on the human dimension of AI and how it affects our everyday lives. Listen now: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/.... (Interview at 2hrs 50mins).

Was the coroner for Shula’s Mark in the car accident?

Jazzer and ketamine - but he seems fine now and ketamine has got fashionable (in those days it was a horse drug that caused potentially longlasting cognitive problems)

So did I, but why wasn’t he at the funeral?

The audience have won #bbcqt

Why AI needs social science | British Politics and Policy at LSE AI is about humans, that's why it needs to be shaped not just by computer science, but by social science.

AI needs social science. Cosmina Dorobantu and I explain why in a new blog post @lsedatascience.bsky.social @oii.ox.ac.uk blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...

"The Risk of Inequity is Always There, Wherever You've Got AI": Interview with Helen Margetts Anya Pearson interviews Helen Margetts on the relationship between digital technology and government, politics and public policy.

"The risk of inequity is always there, wherever you've got AI"

Anya Pearson asks @helenmargetts.bsky.social, Professor of Society and the Internet at the Oxford Internet Institute, about digital government and the opportunities and challenges of AI.

Why AI needs social science | British Politics and Policy at LSE AI is about humans, that's why it needs to be shaped not just by computer science, but by social science.

AI needs social science. Cosmina Dorobantu and I explain why in a new blog post @lsedatascience.bsky.social @oii.ox.ac.uk blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...

'From passports to policymaking: where AI can boost the public sector' - LabourList The public sector in the UK employs almost six million people. The sheer size means that, in theory, the scope for benefits from AI-driven innovation is huge.

What can AI do for policy making and public services? Cosmina Dorobantu and I @oii.ox.ac.uk forward key possibilities in this new blog - great to be at the Labour Party Conference to discuss @lsedatascience.bsky.social @labourlist.bsky.social labourlist.org/2025/08/arti...

Nigel Farage uses private company to pay less tax on GB News earnings Exclusive: Reform leader’s use of personal services firm is a practice criticised across the political spectrum

This is a huge story.

Don't let him get away with it.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Colorado bear uses handle to open door to house 'Bears can open doors' writes the Colorado Parks and Wildlife's Southwest Region, providing footage to prove it and adding, 'it can lead to a lot of conflict'.

We’re bears, Margaret, not drunks

news.sky.com/video/colora...

New paper alert! ‘The levers of political persuasion with conversational AI’, lead author @kobihackenburg.bsky.social co-author @helenmargetts.bsky.social @oii.ox.ac.uk @socsci.ox.ac.uk @ox.ac.uk.

I am so proud of the brilliant @oii.ox.ac.uk DPhil @kobihackenburg.bsky.social and this wonderful “bees-knees” paper on conversational AI and political persuasion @AISecurityInst - it is a “must-read”, comments welcome!

I thought they were skeets?

Yes, but is that the only cancer - 26(ish) years ago? Statistically, in comparison with heart attacks - does it stand up?

AI and democracy Artificial intelligence (AI) is predicted to transform many aspects of our lives in the coming years. One of these is the functioning of the democratic syste...

Earlier today, we hosted Danielle Allen, @helenmargetts.bsky.social and @ciaranm.bsky.social to discuss how AI could affect democracy.

Watch a recording of the event 👇

A Northern Saw-whet Owl, perched on a snow-covered branch in a close-up view. The owl has large, bright yellow eyes and mottled brown and white feathers, blending into the snowy background.

Those big, beautiful eyes! A tiny owl braving the winter snow, perfectly camouflaged in its snowy perch. Nature's little marvel.
📸 mon_regard_sur_la_nature

AI and democracy An expert panel discusses how the rise of artificial intelligence could change democracy in the coming years.

How could AI affect democracy? Are there opportunities as well as dangers? And how should policy-makers respond?

On 15 May, our star-studded panel made up of Danielle Allen, @helenmargetts.bsky.social and @ciaranm.bsky.social will discuss just this.

Sign up for this free, online event 👇

I just want to tip my hat to the crack team of White House economists who were able to discover--in just a few short days--that the U.S. is dependent on China for smartphones, computers and semiconductors.

If you are posting about migrants applying for visas, why would you use a stock photo of people arriving on small boats, clearly without visas? Come on guys. This is beneath you.

I wasn’t late 😃

Just to be right? I had better factor that in 😵‍💫

This morning my phone asked me insistently whether I wanted to send a ‘running late’ message to the person I am meeting at lunch time tomorrow. Is that predictive capability - will I be late? Or is it a sign that the age of useful agentification is not quite here?

A lovely two days @wepsocial.bsky.social Anniversary Workshop, thank you everyone!