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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 12h

Alt: in just a couple of weeks OpenAI / SamA went from "our product is causing severe mental health issues and we need to fix it" to "we're confident we've mitigated issues"

Any active regulators might ask what evidence they have on effectiveness & how they're checking issues don't come back...

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 12h

Sam Altman went from “AI will cure cancer" to "ChatGPT porn" in less than a month

ChatGPT boss predicts when AI could cure cancer

We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues. We realize this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems, but given the seriousness of the issue we wanted to get this right.

Now that we have been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues and have new tools, we are going to be able to safely relax the restrictions in most cases.

In a few weeks, we plan to put out a new version of ChatGPT that allows people to have a personality that behaves more like what people liked about 4o (we hope it will be better!). If you want your ChatGPT to respond in a very human-like way, or use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend, ChatGPT should do it (but only if you want it, not because we are usage-maxxing).

In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our “treat adult users like adults” principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults.
12:02 PM · Oct 14, 2025
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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 12h

The High Court has ruled in joint actions against Codeberry Ltd (getAddress.io) and Lee Paul Smith, brought by IDDQD (Ideal Postcodes) and Royal Mail:

Judgment ideal-postcodes.co.uk/pdf/GetAddre...

Messy affair about unlicensed use of PAF address data.

#IPlaw not- #opendata not- #openaddresses

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 13h

It's a long way from next UK general election, businesses that want to engage w/political parties - particularly ones that try to project values like openness & diversity - should probs be listening at places like like Greens, SNP, PC

Anyway, Reform first eh?....

public.digital/pd-insights/...

Reform, renewal and reflection; a month on the Party Conference circuit

A review of Public Digital's time at four of the annual political party conferences in 2025

public.digital

peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 13h

The Jurassic Park scientists could/should meme with the text "Your digital teams were so preoccupied with whether or not they could turn everything into a verifiable credential...They didn't stop to think whether they should"

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 14h

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 14h

*points at Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland on a map of the UK*

András Forgács W @andraswf.bsky.social · 17h

Well this will certainly do it www.gov.uk/government/n...

Migrants will be required to pass A Level standard of English

Migrants will be required to pass tough new English language requirements under a law introduced in Parliament today.

www.gov.uk

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 16h

Hunh, it does definitely exist. And the location meant we could catch our breath from work by wandering around Hackney City Farm to look at goats, piglets, and sheep :)

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Indy @indy.bsky.social · 22h

I don't even know how to shout loud enough about what a bad sign this is.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 1d

‘Frightened to get out of their cars’: Britain’s toxic race debates threaten overseas care workers

Staff are being advised to travel in mixed groups and carry panic alarms as incidents of intimidation spread

www.theguardian.com

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 22h

That would have been no fun!

(Honestly, mostly yes, but the tools kept trying to sync and I needed to check some links)

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 22h

I mean all maps are social constructs, but this is clearly a particularly new one

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 22h

Spending all day in workshops in Haggerston and I lived in London for 15 years and can swear blind that Haggerston did not exist back then

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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 1d

Excellent Guardian piece on Aadhar, India's digital ID system, that captures the dilemma extremely well. Digital-by-default methods create huge convenience for some, double-down on social exclusion for others, and it is easy for their scope to rapidly expand www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

‘Your basis to live is checked at each and every step’: India’s ID system divides opinion

Keir Starmer is considering Aadhaar as model for UK, but detractors warn of ‘digital coercion’ and security breaches

www.theguardian.com

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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 23h

98%! Only 2 in every 100 installations don’t need corrective action. Read it and weep

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 1d

98% of homes with external wall insulation installed under the government’s ECO scheme require work to correct major issues that will cause problems such as damp and mould - our new @nao.org.uk report www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... (full report www.nao.org.uk/reports/ener...)

Thousands of homes with botched eco insulation 'must be fixed'

Insulation programmes costing billions of pounds have led to widespread problems with damp and mould.

www.bbc.co.uk

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 1d

Yup, & one of reasons why the Thames Crossing took so long in planning was because one of the Conservative governments stuck a Freeport near it

That led to all the paperwork being redone/resubmitted, and the people who size planning submissions by "number of pages" double counting yet again

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 1d

I am merging comments in a Word doc that is a snapshot of a google doc from 3 days ago with a collaborative google doc that has moved on since 3 days ago

And I am on a UK train

a man is jumping over a waterfall while holding a frisbee .

Alt: a man on a tightrope walking over a waterfall

media.tenor.com

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 1d

"Yes, human. We solemnly promise not to fight each other or throw any parties while you're away."

The front of a house with two windows. One window has a dog looking at the photographer, the other has a cat looking at the pjotographer

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 1d

Stopped at coffee shop on morning dog walk and a person near me in the crowded shop is providing fertility drug advice services via remote video consultation, without headphones, and I'd strongly doubt the patient is aware

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 1d

I would visit the "the largest repository of open land data in the world" that was created by the Geospatial Commission as they successfully delivered the 2017 Conservative Manifesto commitment

(Oh, hang on, maybe the civil servants did something else instead 🤔)

Digital land
And we will use digital technology to release massive value from our land that currently
is simply not realised, introducing greater specialisation in the property development
industry and far greater transparency for buyers. To make this happen, we will combine
the relevant parts of HM Land Registry, Ordnance Survey, the Valuation Office Agency,
the Hydrographic Office and Geological Survey to create a comprehensive geospatial
data body within government, the largest repository of open land data in the world. This
new body will set the standards to digitise the planning process and help create the most
comprehensive digital map of Britain to date. In doing so, it will support a vibrant and
innovative digital economy, ranging from innovative tools to help people and developers
build to virtual mapping of Britain for use in video games and virtual reality.

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 2d

Only a couple more months for humans to invent the massive kaiju-fighting robots of Pacific Rim, which takes place in 2025. My optimism is waning.

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 2d

For the sake of people who live in/deliver to flats & tower blocks I hope not! W3W isn't granular enough & doesn't do height.

(I think they're just trying to save costs by transferring effort from their sorting machinery to humans who'll have to write/print more easily machine-readable codes)

peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 2d

And did RM just say that controlling the format of the current UK postal address isn't important to their business operations?

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 2d

Did another UK postal address ID just drop?

www.thetimes.com/business-mon...

Why Royal Mail could axe stamps and addresses on letters

Handwritten envelopes may become a thing of the past as the new boss moves to modernise the business

In a world of supercomputers, artificial intelligence and social media, writing a postal address feels something of an anachronism.
Martin Seidenberg says that technology is evolving and that could revolutionise the sending of letters and parcels. Customers are already able to buy postage online, but in future customers may be able to input a recipient’s address and then an alpha-numeric code could be spat out that can be popped on any given letter or parcel.
Will you need to write the address as well? “For now, yes,” responds the boss of Royal Mail’s parent company. He clams up when asked for further details, but it’s too late. Seidenberg has given the game away with the “for now” — but then this is all very early stage thinking.

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 2d

"Most of What We Call a ‘Service’ Isn’t One"

productinservice.substack.com/p/most-of-wh...

Most of What We Call a ‘Service’ Isn’t One

Product in Service October 2025

productinservice.substack.com

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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 2d

Who had “self-swatting” on their dystopia bingo card.

Police are asking kids to stop pulling AI homeless man prank

The AI #homelessmanprank has gone viral, causing headaches for law enforcement.

www.theverge.com

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 2d

“By playing players in their right positions and getting us to attack games, I think we can beat anyone in this league. So far it’s been pathetic to be honest. It hasn’t taken much to beat us.” < truth hurts

www.theguardian.com/football/202...

It can get worse: Blackpool’s latest defeat recalls Mick McCarthy meme

Blackpool had high hopes in August under Steve Bruce but, now managerless, are second bottom of League One after losing at Stockport

www.theguardian.com