Alex Hern
@hern.bsky.social
AI correspondent at the Economist. I write about it, that is. I’m still human. One of literally dozens of people online who is not American.
Has anyone who works at a self-driving car company actually called for action to keep pedestrians off the road in the UK?
February 16, 2026 at 5:05 PM
Has anyone who works at a self-driving car company actually called for action to keep pedestrians off the road in the UK?
Interesting that this is close to how UK tabloids used to function.
Their "more efficient" process than having writers write:
• AI identifies possible stories
• Reporters do further reporting and produce notes
• Another person uses AI to generate a story from the notes, then rewrites/"tweaks"
• Another person fact-checks/edits
• Reporter reviews
• AI identifies possible stories
• Reporters do further reporting and produce notes
• Another person uses AI to generate a story from the notes, then rewrites/"tweaks"
• Another person fact-checks/edits
• Reporter reviews
A conscientious journalism grad withdraw from a job when she learned the Cleveland Plain Dealer uses AI to write its stories.
Now the editor is castigating her and journalism professors for not being “prepared for the workforce.”
You can’t make this shit up.
www.cleveland.com/news/2026/02...
Now the editor is castigating her and journalism professors for not being “prepared for the workforce.”
You can’t make this shit up.
www.cleveland.com/news/2026/02...
February 16, 2026 at 4:08 PM
Interesting that this is close to how UK tabloids used to function.
Reposted by Alex Hern
As Ronald Reagan said, "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and have you considered bobsleigh."
really enjoy that the bloke who won two golds on the luge is someone who was a national level taekwondo fighter until he got injured and then a government figure stepped out the shadows and said "let me tell you about project going down a hill really fast"
February 16, 2026 at 1:43 PM
As Ronald Reagan said, "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and have you considered bobsleigh."
really enjoy that the bloke who won two golds on the luge is someone who was a national level taekwondo fighter until he got injured and then a government figure stepped out the shadows and said "let me tell you about project going down a hill really fast"
February 16, 2026 at 1:01 PM
really enjoy that the bloke who won two golds on the luge is someone who was a national level taekwondo fighter until he got injured and then a government figure stepped out the shadows and said "let me tell you about project going down a hill really fast"
I’m pretty confident in calling this fake. The user who posted it seems to be part of a substantial network of accounts with similar usernames all posting and commenting on each other’s content. Ironically it’s a great example of an AI agent making stuff up to tell you what you want to hear
February 15, 2026 at 9:50 AM
I’m pretty confident in calling this fake. The user who posted it seems to be part of a substantial network of accounts with similar usernames all posting and commenting on each other’s content. Ironically it’s a great example of an AI agent making stuff up to tell you what you want to hear
Heart says I’d post less, head says I’d post so much more
Hey artist/creator/writer/etc people: if tomorrow you were guaranteed a very comfortable living the rest of your life, how would that affect your relationship to social media?
February 14, 2026 at 4:45 PM
Heart says I’d post less, head says I’d post so much more
Reposted by Alex Hern
This is genuinely insane, I clicked to see the years expecting the low part to be 70s or maybe 90s but its 2015!!!!! The entire anti trans panic is a decade old
a stat i always cite is the number of anti-trans articles in the press went from 60 in a year, to 7,500
February 12, 2026 at 8:43 PM
This is genuinely insane, I clicked to see the years expecting the low part to be 70s or maybe 90s but its 2015!!!!! The entire anti trans panic is a decade old
'oh you just go through yonkers to pleasantville', real directions in new york, and americans mock _british_ place names
February 12, 2026 at 3:05 PM
'oh you just go through yonkers to pleasantville', real directions in new york, and americans mock _british_ place names
the guy saying that AI destroying software engineering means it will shortly destroy all knowledge work is overextrapolating from his own career and not acknowledging the specific features of coding that made it amenable to this
he's also not really wrong about his own career though
he's also not really wrong about his own career though
February 12, 2026 at 2:55 PM
the guy saying that AI destroying software engineering means it will shortly destroy all knowledge work is overextrapolating from his own career and not acknowledging the specific features of coding that made it amenable to this
he's also not really wrong about his own career though
he's also not really wrong about his own career though
Reposted by Alex Hern
What 1.4m emails reveal about Jeffrey Epstein's network.
@economist.com data-team (et Jmail) effort on America's most notorious sex offender
www.economist.com/interactive/...
@economist.com data-team (et Jmail) effort on America's most notorious sex offender
www.economist.com/interactive/...
February 12, 2026 at 1:48 PM
What 1.4m emails reveal about Jeffrey Epstein's network.
@economist.com data-team (et Jmail) effort on America's most notorious sex offender
www.economist.com/interactive/...
@economist.com data-team (et Jmail) effort on America's most notorious sex offender
www.economist.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Alex Hern
February 12, 2026 at 9:47 AM
Something that feels important about the Ratcliffe comments is they aren’t simply innumeracy. Everyone has problems with this sort of thing at times, because we have no intuitive feel for the difference between very large numbers. But this seems distinct
February 12, 2026 at 9:20 AM
Something that feels important about the Ratcliffe comments is they aren’t simply innumeracy. Everyone has problems with this sort of thing at times, because we have no intuitive feel for the difference between very large numbers. But this seems distinct
Trying
Overseas tycoons such as Elon Musk would be barred from giving substantial donations to UK political parties under new legislation to block companies making gifts if they do not have British owners or make sufficient revenue in the country
www.ft.com/content/f4ed...
www.ft.com/content/f4ed...
UK to ban political party donations from foreign-owned companies
Government says new legislation will curb overseas interference in elections
www.ft.com
February 12, 2026 at 7:39 AM
Trying
Somewhat baffling Supreme Court ruling today, which seems to hold that statute banning computer programs from being patented doesn't apply if the computer programs require hardware to run. Which is… all computer programs? supremecourt.uk/uploads/uksc...
supremecourt.uk
February 11, 2026 at 4:12 PM
Somewhat baffling Supreme Court ruling today, which seems to hold that statute banning computer programs from being patented doesn't apply if the computer programs require hardware to run. Which is… all computer programs? supremecourt.uk/uploads/uksc...
Anthropic: “behold! I have created the philosophical zombie from the seminal question of consciousness ‘how can you tell a philosophical zombie isn’t conscious’”
February 11, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Anthropic: “behold! I have created the philosophical zombie from the seminal question of consciousness ‘how can you tell a philosophical zombie isn’t conscious’”
think i've hit a turning point recently and the worlds where AI gets better and fixes its problems are now more concerning to me than the worlds where it doesn't
February 11, 2026 at 1:38 PM
think i've hit a turning point recently and the worlds where AI gets better and fixes its problems are now more concerning to me than the worlds where it doesn't
TÖDLEIN, THE SILENT ARCHER
Move 6” | Wounds 4 | Save 5+ | Bravery 10
MELEE: Bony Grasp (3”, 2 Atks, 4+/4+, -1 Rend, 1 Dmg)
RANGED: Deathly Arrow (18”, 1 Atk, 3+/3+, -2 Rend, D3 Dmg)
ABILITY: Inevitable Shot - Unmodified 6s to hit auto-wound
Move 6” | Wounds 4 | Save 5+ | Bravery 10
MELEE: Bony Grasp (3”, 2 Atks, 4+/4+, -1 Rend, 1 Dmg)
RANGED: Deathly Arrow (18”, 1 Atk, 3+/3+, -2 Rend, D3 Dmg)
ABILITY: Inevitable Shot - Unmodified 6s to hit auto-wound
‘Tödlein’, Death as an archer.
Made from pear wood.
Dated to before 1519; artist: Hans Leinberger
www.khm.at/kunstwerke/t...
Made from pear wood.
Dated to before 1519; artist: Hans Leinberger
www.khm.at/kunstwerke/t...
February 11, 2026 at 9:15 AM
TÖDLEIN, THE SILENT ARCHER
Move 6” | Wounds 4 | Save 5+ | Bravery 10
MELEE: Bony Grasp (3”, 2 Atks, 4+/4+, -1 Rend, 1 Dmg)
RANGED: Deathly Arrow (18”, 1 Atk, 3+/3+, -2 Rend, D3 Dmg)
ABILITY: Inevitable Shot - Unmodified 6s to hit auto-wound
Move 6” | Wounds 4 | Save 5+ | Bravery 10
MELEE: Bony Grasp (3”, 2 Atks, 4+/4+, -1 Rend, 1 Dmg)
RANGED: Deathly Arrow (18”, 1 Atk, 3+/3+, -2 Rend, D3 Dmg)
ABILITY: Inevitable Shot - Unmodified 6s to hit auto-wound
This is a great example of what I mean when I say America having The Constitution makes them blind to their own constitution
Do people not realize it is illegal for parties to do this in the United States because we decided around the turn of the last century that we didn't want unaccountable party bosses to decide who we could vote for
People pay because they want their ideology to win
February 10, 2026 at 8:46 PM
This is a great example of what I mean when I say America having The Constitution makes them blind to their own constitution
Reposted by Alex Hern
In case you want a prestigious certificate on your wall theagat.co
The AGAT - The Adventure Game Aptitude Test
Can you beat an 80s adventure game without a walkthrough? Prove it by taking the world's first standardized gaming exam.
theagat.co
February 9, 2026 at 8:28 PM
In case you want a prestigious certificate on your wall theagat.co
Gonna have to admit that maybe those of us saying “you’re all addicted to Brexit psychodrama, normal parties don’t just replace their leaders within two years of an election” called it wrong
February 9, 2026 at 4:44 PM
Gonna have to admit that maybe those of us saying “you’re all addicted to Brexit psychodrama, normal parties don’t just replace their leaders within two years of an election” called it wrong
www.ft.com/content/a38d... Absolutely imperative that the UK government builds an immigration programme welcoming to these people
US embassy in London denies visas to executives over minor offences
Immigration lawyers say top-level corporate figures and tech leaders among those barred from visiting America
www.ft.com
February 9, 2026 at 1:12 PM
www.ft.com/content/a38d... Absolutely imperative that the UK government builds an immigration programme welcoming to these people
Amongst the many funny things about this - limiting you to 30 downloads a month? - this entire streaming service will die the second Netflix completes its acquisition
HBO Max is to launch in the UK on Thursday 26th March.
The Pitt S1 will be on there with S2 episodes out weekly.
It will be the home of TNT Sports (£30.99 a month). Four different other packages available from £4.99 a month.
The Pitt S1 will be on there with S2 episodes out weekly.
It will be the home of TNT Sports (£30.99 a month). Four different other packages available from £4.99 a month.
February 9, 2026 at 12:27 PM
Amongst the many funny things about this - limiting you to 30 downloads a month? - this entire streaming service will die the second Netflix completes its acquisition
what's happening in 2033. what do they know
February 9, 2026 at 9:22 AM
what's happening in 2033. what do they know
Rejoinerism would honestly be an extremely good strategy for Labour to pursue at this point
February 8, 2026 at 6:17 PM
Rejoinerism would honestly be an extremely good strategy for Labour to pursue at this point