There is no space for nuanced opinion these days, no space for total human empathy regardless of "side". No space to be genuine in favour of a 2 state solution. A liberal Jewish person can't criticise Hamas or even demonstrate a hint of empathy for Israel or Jewish life. It's madness.

A very liberal (and vocally pro-Palestinian btw) Jewish American actress made a post on social media to mourn the loss of 1,200 Israelis on the 2nd anniversary of the 7thOct attack, and the amount of hate she got from "pro-Palestinian" activists was surreal. The extreme polarisation is real.

What do UK citizens really think about AI-powered data processing for national security?

Join CETaS' UK Public Attitudes to National Security Data Processing webinar to explore insights from their novel research.

📅 2 Oct, 15:00–16:00 📍Online
➡️ bit.ly/3VtmJXr

What do people in the UK *really* think about how their #data is processed for #NationalSecurity purposes? If this question intrigues you at all, then this free webinar on 2nd October is for you. Check it out:
cetas.turing.ac.uk/events/cetas...

There's a horrible trend (found in a popular social media platform) of young men being funnelled from "looksmaxxing" content to videos that glorify misogyny and violence. New analysis from my team dissects this radicalisation pathway and points a way forward: cetas.turing.ac.uk/publications...

A welcome development. And very much linked to existing research my team at @theturing.bsky.social's CETaS is undertaking. If you're interested in crisis communication and national security incidents, worth checking out this recent article from colleagues: cetas.turing.ac.uk/publications...

4️⃣ Resilience to US export controls 📈

Despite US efforts to restrict China’s AI development, China’s strong government backing for domestic tech firms is helping to mitigate the impact of these export controls.

3️⃣ Strengthening domestic capabilities 🇨🇳

China has strategically clustered its AI talent, institutions, and resources, with notable gains in domestic AI education and growing success in retaining top-tier researchers.

2️⃣ Decentralised but with central government oversight 🏢

While top-level AI policy remains under central gov control, the model is not entirely centralised. China’s regulatory model is evolving towards more coherent legislation, with influential roles for senior scientists and regional ecosystems.

1️⃣ AI is seen as a strategic priority 🌏

China’s leadership sees AI as central to its ambitions for global strategic dominance, integrating political and social priorities into a uniquely Chinese concept of “controllable AI”.

This is a must read for anyone working on or interested in #China's approach to #AI development and AI security, as well as technological competition and geostrategic analysis.
Key takeaways below:

cetas.turing.ac.uk/publications...

Am I..... agreeing with Trump?

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

Great to see my CETaS colleague Sam quoted here. "AI can help factcheckers process volumes of claims flowing daily, but much will depend on the quality of safeguards X puts in place against the risk that these AI ‘note writers’ could amplify misinformation."
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Would broadly agree with this ranking having seen most of Wes Anderson's films. I worry though that his style has peaked already and he's boxed himself into a brand he can't get out of. His latest (The Phoenician Scheme) was good but far from amazing.
www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/wes-an...

It's in the news today that a US official is accusing DeepSeek of aiding China's military and dodging chip export rules. If true, this is not very surprising. For those interested in this topic, worth checking out this February article from my Turing colleagues:

cetas.turing.ac.uk/publications...

It's clear that there is so much more that needs to be done to protect kids online, but it seems the jury is still out on whether the tech itself - here phones and social media - is the main culprit. (5/5)

But listening to the @therestpolitics.bsky.social 'Leading' interview with J. Haidt, he had some compelling responses; saying there is lots of evidence of the causal links, including from platforms (i.e. whistleblowers) themselves. (4/5)

The critique of book struck me as insightful, particularly around the lack of research consensus on the topic, something I wasn't aware of. (I would have taken at face value the claim that social media is bad for teens' mental health). (3/5)

I haven't read the book, but am interested in the topic of technology and mental health, so found both podcasts fascinating. I listened to the @ifbookspod.bsky.social podcast episode a while back (the @therestpolitics.bsky.social 'Leading' interview with J. Haidt only came out recently). (2/5)

Two podcasts that I love (@ifbookspod.bsky.social & @therestpolitics.bsky.social) have now both explored J. Haidt's book "The Anxious Generation". The former was a critique, and the latter an interview with the author in their 'Leading' podcast. (1/5)

Please to see that prior Turing/CETaS work on this topic (cetas.turing.ac.uk/publications...) helped to inform this recent @adalovelaceinst.bsky.social report on governing #biometric technology. We need a balanced and evidence-based discussion on the kind of regulation we need.