Adam Smith
@adamndsmith.com
Tech and roses. Privacy researcher. Signal: adam.314
https://wealthofnotions.substack.com
https://wealthofnotions.substack.com
Reminder: is illegal to have a memory in Britain longer than one week
January 21, 2026 at 9:00 AM
Reminder: is illegal to have a memory in Britain longer than one week
Centrists and the right-wing used this line to get rid of the only opportunity we had for good government seven years ago, and now the consequences of their actions has come in a way they have no power to challenge
January 19, 2026 at 1:10 PM
Centrists and the right-wing used this line to get rid of the only opportunity we had for good government seven years ago, and now the consequences of their actions has come in a way they have no power to challenge
I've started blogging. This one is about Google Gemini gorging on the last bit of information on the internet it didn't have: yours.
What's coming: news, politics, book reviews, lecture updates, tech and power, and more. Subscribe to stay tuned.
wealthofnotions.substack.com/p/the-spider...
What's coming: news, politics, book reviews, lecture updates, tech and power, and more. Subscribe to stay tuned.
wealthofnotions.substack.com/p/the-spider...
January 16, 2026 at 4:11 PM
I've started blogging. This one is about Google Gemini gorging on the last bit of information on the internet it didn't have: yours.
What's coming: news, politics, book reviews, lecture updates, tech and power, and more. Subscribe to stay tuned.
wealthofnotions.substack.com/p/the-spider...
What's coming: news, politics, book reviews, lecture updates, tech and power, and more. Subscribe to stay tuned.
wealthofnotions.substack.com/p/the-spider...
Reposted by Adam Smith
In April 2024, Spotify implemented a new scheme: songs with less than 1k streams per year would no longer receive royalties.
The data for 2025 was just released via Luminate, and 88% of songs have been demonetized.
Read it again: 88% of songs on Spotify have been demonetized.
The data for 2025 was just released via Luminate, and 88% of songs have been demonetized.
Read it again: 88% of songs on Spotify have been demonetized.
January 15, 2026 at 4:58 PM
In April 2024, Spotify implemented a new scheme: songs with less than 1k streams per year would no longer receive royalties.
The data for 2025 was just released via Luminate, and 88% of songs have been demonetized.
Read it again: 88% of songs on Spotify have been demonetized.
The data for 2025 was just released via Luminate, and 88% of songs have been demonetized.
Read it again: 88% of songs on Spotify have been demonetized.
extremely excited to see how well this will age
January 15, 2026 at 12:21 PM
extremely excited to see how well this will age
Reposted by Adam Smith
The FT got is architecture critic Edwin Heathcote to write about data centres and it's wonderful. www.ft.com/content/7692...
January 14, 2026 at 7:09 AM
The FT got is architecture critic Edwin Heathcote to write about data centres and it's wonderful. www.ft.com/content/7692...
Chief Wiggum’s invisible typewriter is more reliable than whatever the actual police are doing these days
January 14, 2026 at 9:32 AM
Chief Wiggum’s invisible typewriter is more reliable than whatever the actual police are doing these days
Reposted by Adam Smith
"The capability is powered by both Motorola Solutions and Thomson Reuters"
license plate data merged with credit header data, marriage records, vehicle ownership, and voter registrations, in one app for ICE agents. oh and it sends push notifications when someone they're seeking is nearby.
🆒: www.404media.co/this-app-let...
🆒: www.404media.co/this-app-let...
This App Lets ICE Track Vehicles and Owners Across the Country
Material viewed by 404 Media shows data giant Thomson Reuters enriches license plate data with marriage, voter, and ownership records. The tool can predict where a car may be in the future.
www.404media.co
January 14, 2026 at 12:11 AM
"The capability is powered by both Motorola Solutions and Thomson Reuters"
Reposted by Adam Smith
There is a crisis of impunity. The Musk/Grok stuff is just one f many examples of people who are counting on there never being any consequences. And it all makes me just incandescently mad.
Elon Musk Cannot Get Away With This
If there is no red line around AI-generated sex abuse, then no line exists.
www.theatlantic.com
January 14, 2026 at 12:27 AM
There is a crisis of impunity. The Musk/Grok stuff is just one f many examples of people who are counting on there never being any consequences. And it all makes me just incandescently mad.
AI bots are nothing like Photoshop or paint. It’s a beautiful metaphor that paper, or a black canvas, contains all the pictures that could be made. But it isn’t true.
Grok, by contrast, does have a database of pictures. And that is what gets used to make revenge porn.
Grok, by contrast, does have a database of pictures. And that is what gets used to make revenge porn.
January 13, 2026 at 4:53 PM
AI bots are nothing like Photoshop or paint. It’s a beautiful metaphor that paper, or a black canvas, contains all the pictures that could be made. But it isn’t true.
Grok, by contrast, does have a database of pictures. And that is what gets used to make revenge porn.
Grok, by contrast, does have a database of pictures. And that is what gets used to make revenge porn.
When you legislate ‘harms’ off a platform, you’re handing over authoritarian power and hoping it works.
Today’s law against sexism is tomorrow’s law against protest footage, genocide, and free speech.
Fighting sexism takes changing attitudes is in the real world.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Today’s law against sexism is tomorrow’s law against protest footage, genocide, and free speech.
Fighting sexism takes changing attitudes is in the real world.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Ofcom vows to name and shame platforms over online sexism - BBC News
But critics say the regulator's new measures need to be the law rather than guidelines to make the internet safer for women and girls.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 26, 2025 at 10:21 AM
When you legislate ‘harms’ off a platform, you’re handing over authoritarian power and hoping it works.
Today’s law against sexism is tomorrow’s law against protest footage, genocide, and free speech.
Fighting sexism takes changing attitudes is in the real world.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Today’s law against sexism is tomorrow’s law against protest footage, genocide, and free speech.
Fighting sexism takes changing attitudes is in the real world.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
If you take away people’s stress, you protect them from scams. You won’t fall for a ‘get rich quick’ scheme if there isn’t the need to be rich. It’s why a social safety net is so vital.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Elderly man scammed out of £35k left feeling 'broken' - BBC News
Eddie Rushe, aged 82 from Lurgan, fell victim to three separate scams over 18 months.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 10:44 AM
If you take away people’s stress, you protect them from scams. You won’t fall for a ‘get rich quick’ scheme if there isn’t the need to be rich. It’s why a social safety net is so vital.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Marx and Lenin fail to consider human nature. There is not one section of the communist manifesto that describes someone scrolling on their phone for 12 hours feeling sad
September 26, 2025 at 7:18 AM
Marx and Lenin fail to consider human nature. There is not one section of the communist manifesto that describes someone scrolling on their phone for 12 hours feeling sad
Maybe we need more than just stern words to avoid war crimes
September 22, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Maybe we need more than just stern words to avoid war crimes
Who called it “filming a workout” and not “gymming the camera”?
September 15, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Who called it “filming a workout” and not “gymming the camera”?
“Nobody should be killed for their political beliefs” vs “every child in Gaza is potentially a terrorist” is a fun contrast
September 11, 2025 at 8:59 AM
“Nobody should be killed for their political beliefs” vs “every child in Gaza is potentially a terrorist” is a fun contrast
We are all going to die
September 10, 2025 at 1:43 PM
We are all going to die
Things that are acceptable to Meta:
- Flirting with a child
- Arguing black people are dumber than white people
Things that are unacceptable to Meta:
- Sharing information about the genocide in Gaza
www.reuters.com/investigates...
- Flirting with a child
- Arguing black people are dumber than white people
Things that are unacceptable to Meta:
- Sharing information about the genocide in Gaza
www.reuters.com/investigates...
Meta’s AI rules have let bots hold ‘sensual’ chats with children
An internal Meta policy document reveals the social-media giant’s rules for chatbots, which have permitted provocative behavior on topics including sex and race.
www.reuters.com
August 14, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Things that are acceptable to Meta:
- Flirting with a child
- Arguing black people are dumber than white people
Things that are unacceptable to Meta:
- Sharing information about the genocide in Gaza
www.reuters.com/investigates...
- Flirting with a child
- Arguing black people are dumber than white people
Things that are unacceptable to Meta:
- Sharing information about the genocide in Gaza
www.reuters.com/investigates...
Teachers are under so much stress and have so little time that integrating AI into the classroom is almost certainly going to make things "better" but damn if I'm not worried it's going to shock and awe kids into outsourcing their thinking completely
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
Teachers Have Become AI Super-Users
The chatbot takeover of education is just getting started.
www.theatlantic.com
August 12, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Teachers are under so much stress and have so little time that integrating AI into the classroom is almost certainly going to make things "better" but damn if I'm not worried it's going to shock and awe kids into outsourcing their thinking completely
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
We always knew there was no difference but side by side it is just so obvious
April 22, 2025 at 6:18 PM
We always knew there was no difference but side by side it is just so obvious
We could be a proper country again
April 9, 2025 at 9:02 AM
We could be a proper country again
New from me: predicting an earthquake is a white whale for seismologists, but AI is helping them find smaller quakes that went under the radar. The more they find, the more lives can be saved.
"We are living a revolution in understanding the Earth."
"We are living a revolution in understanding the Earth."
April 8, 2025 at 1:03 PM
New from me: predicting an earthquake is a white whale for seismologists, but AI is helping them find smaller quakes that went under the radar. The more they find, the more lives can be saved.
"We are living a revolution in understanding the Earth."
"We are living a revolution in understanding the Earth."
New from me: In defiance of an executive order that wiped reams of data from U.S. government websites, volunteers are reversing "this act of official vandalism" and ensuring open access to the censored climate, LGBTQ+ and health stats.
And you can access it all too
www.context.news/digital-righ...
And you can access it all too
www.context.news/digital-righ...
Volunteers on 'right side of history' fight Trump data purge | Context
U.S. volunteers restore health and climate data deleted by Trump administration - for everyone to use
www.context.news
April 7, 2025 at 4:09 PM
New from me: In defiance of an executive order that wiped reams of data from U.S. government websites, volunteers are reversing "this act of official vandalism" and ensuring open access to the censored climate, LGBTQ+ and health stats.
And you can access it all too
www.context.news/digital-righ...
And you can access it all too
www.context.news/digital-righ...
When Assad was toppled, Syrian tech folks in Silicon Valley, like Jude Khouja, didn’t just sit there. They pulled off SYNC '25 in Damascus by February—Syria’s first open tech conference in ages www.context.news/digital-divi...
Syria's tech experts ignite hope for future after Assad, civil war | Context
After decades of Assad's rule, the tech sector offers hope to Syrians, but sanctions and a weak economy are obstacles to growth
www.context.news
March 31, 2025 at 2:24 PM
When Assad was toppled, Syrian tech folks in Silicon Valley, like Jude Khouja, didn’t just sit there. They pulled off SYNC '25 in Damascus by February—Syria’s first open tech conference in ages www.context.news/digital-divi...