Eerke Boiten
@eerkeboiten.bsky.social
Prof Cyber Security and Head of School Computer Science and Informatics at De Montfort University. Own views. He/him.
Formal methods (last ever books on Z or refinement). Cyber security. Privacy. Data politics. Not all hypes. DM:[email protected].
Formal methods (last ever books on Z or refinement). Cyber security. Privacy. Data politics. Not all hypes. DM:[email protected].
Pinned
Eerke Boiten
@eerkeboiten.bsky.social
· Nov 6
Does current AI represent a dead end?
Eerke Boiten, Professor of Cyber Security at De Montfort University Leicester, explains his belief that current AI should not be used for serious applications.
www.bcs.org
Most important thing I have written in ages.
Because none of the tools we have in software engineering to manage complexity are applicable, current AI is at a dead end, and it is irresponsible to use it for significant applications.
BCS website (next IT Now magazine): www.bcs.org/articles-opi...
Because none of the tools we have in software engineering to manage complexity are applicable, current AI is at a dead end, and it is irresponsible to use it for significant applications.
BCS website (next IT Now magazine): www.bcs.org/articles-opi...
The US has the power to turn off the digital tap on anyone, and it's using it.
A French ICC judge sanctioned by the US over the Netanyau arrest warrant says all his accounts with US companies have been closed, making it “like being sent back to the 1990s.”
“Without sovereignty – military, health, financial and digital – we can no longer guarantee the rule of law,” he says.
“Without sovereignty – military, health, financial and digital – we can no longer guarantee the rule of law,” he says.
November 22, 2025 at 1:13 PM
The US has the power to turn off the digital tap on anyone, and it's using it.
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
Racism is not justified by immigration levels or rising poverty, unemployment or crime.
It is not justified, period.
I see the rising wave of voices & arguments justifying the rising levels of racism as the most sinister political development in 2025 on the British landscape.
It is not justified, period.
I see the rising wave of voices & arguments justifying the rising levels of racism as the most sinister political development in 2025 on the British landscape.
The Home Secretary explaining that the rise in racist violence is, actually, the natural response to higher levels of immigration is a state of affairs that can't exist without the government having largely decided that racist violence is, if not legitimate, at least understandable.
November 22, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Racism is not justified by immigration levels or rising poverty, unemployment or crime.
It is not justified, period.
I see the rising wave of voices & arguments justifying the rising levels of racism as the most sinister political development in 2025 on the British landscape.
It is not justified, period.
I see the rising wave of voices & arguments justifying the rising levels of racism as the most sinister political development in 2025 on the British landscape.
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
You ever just sit down and realize that the rise of 21st century fascism is capital's answer to climate change?
November 21, 2025 at 9:25 AM
You ever just sit down and realize that the rise of 21st century fascism is capital's answer to climate change?
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
Shabana Mahmood's Indefinite Leave To Remain Culture War
3 years - if you're earning £125k+
15 years - if you're e.g. a nurse, or a teacher
Labour's two tier system which rewards high earners and insults those who work just as hard but don't earn as much - really sad to see Labour fall
3 years - if you're earning £125k+
15 years - if you're e.g. a nurse, or a teacher
Labour's two tier system which rewards high earners and insults those who work just as hard but don't earn as much - really sad to see Labour fall
November 20, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Shabana Mahmood's Indefinite Leave To Remain Culture War
3 years - if you're earning £125k+
15 years - if you're e.g. a nurse, or a teacher
Labour's two tier system which rewards high earners and insults those who work just as hard but don't earn as much - really sad to see Labour fall
3 years - if you're earning £125k+
15 years - if you're e.g. a nurse, or a teacher
Labour's two tier system which rewards high earners and insults those who work just as hard but don't earn as much - really sad to see Labour fall
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
More than half of ethnic minority Brits say the England flag has now become a racist symbol, with Brits of all colours now tending to say the raising of the flag is mostly about expressing anti-migrant, or anti ethnic-minority sentiment
November 21, 2025 at 9:54 AM
More than half of ethnic minority Brits say the England flag has now become a racist symbol, with Brits of all colours now tending to say the raising of the flag is mostly about expressing anti-migrant, or anti ethnic-minority sentiment
This is brilliant and succinct, policy leads on AI and digital transformation a very useful read.
I've written up the findings from our work with people and organisations who have used AI notetakers in meetings, identified 9 risks and a bunch of mitigation strategies. www.careful.industries/blog/2025-11...
Nine risks caused by AI notetakers — Careful Industries
AI transcription tools are not currently mature or reliable enough to be regarded as an always on, single-source of truth for meeting notes. Nine common risks, and six possible mitigations.
www.careful.industries
November 21, 2025 at 10:01 AM
This is brilliant and succinct, policy leads on AI and digital transformation a very useful read.
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
A few months ago @thelocal.to got a promising pitch from a writer with bylines in whole bunch of reputable publications—The Cut, The Guardian, Dwell, Architectural Digest, etc. Then I started investigating. Here's a story about fabulists in journalism's AI slop era. thelocal.to/investigatin...
Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era | The Local
A suspicious pitch from a freelancer led editor Nicholas Hune-Brown to dig into their past work. By the end, four publications, including The Guardian and Dwell, had removed articles from their sites.
thelocal.to
November 19, 2025 at 2:10 PM
A few months ago @thelocal.to got a promising pitch from a writer with bylines in whole bunch of reputable publications—The Cut, The Guardian, Dwell, Architectural Digest, etc. Then I started investigating. Here's a story about fabulists in journalism's AI slop era. thelocal.to/investigatin...
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
"Students at the University of Staffordshire have said they feel “robbed of knowledge and enjoyment” after a course they hoped would launch their digital careers turned out to be taught in large part by AI"
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
‘We could have asked ChatGPT’: students fight back over course taught by AI
Staffordshire students say signs material was AI-generated included suspicious file names and rogue voiceover accent
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:32 AM
"Students at the University of Staffordshire have said they feel “robbed of knowledge and enjoyment” after a course they hoped would launch their digital careers turned out to be taught in large part by AI"
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
A message from parents who love trans people
Today, we remember the trans people whose lives were taken far too soon. For those of us who are parents of trans children of all ages, this day carries a particular kind of weight...
Today, we remember the trans people whose lives were taken far too soon. For those of us who are parents of trans children of all ages, this day carries a particular kind of weight...
November 20, 2025 at 9:01 AM
A message from parents who love trans people
Today, we remember the trans people whose lives were taken far too soon. For those of us who are parents of trans children of all ages, this day carries a particular kind of weight...
Today, we remember the trans people whose lives were taken far too soon. For those of us who are parents of trans children of all ages, this day carries a particular kind of weight...
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
Universities too.
"MPs on the select committee said the UK needed to develop greater “sovereign” technology capacity, award more contracts to smaller, local providers, and be less reliant on deals that resulted in government departments becoming locked into services with US firms." www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Microsoft has ‘ripped off the NHS’, says MP amid call for contracts with British firms
Samantha Niblett highlighted government’s multi-billion-pound deals with Microsoft and ‘getting locked in’
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Universities too.
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
Today is Trans Day Of Remembrance
#TransLivesMatter #TDoR #TDoR2025 #TransDayOfRemembrance #TransAwarenessWeek #SayTheirNames
*** Trigger warning for the following thread: Violence against trans people (especially TWOC) * * *
#TransLivesMatter #TDoR #TDoR2025 #TransDayOfRemembrance #TransAwarenessWeek #SayTheirNames
*** Trigger warning for the following thread: Violence against trans people (especially TWOC) * * *
November 20, 2025 at 6:58 AM
Today is Trans Day Of Remembrance
#TransLivesMatter #TDoR #TDoR2025 #TransDayOfRemembrance #TransAwarenessWeek #SayTheirNames
*** Trigger warning for the following thread: Violence against trans people (especially TWOC) * * *
#TransLivesMatter #TDoR #TDoR2025 #TransDayOfRemembrance #TransAwarenessWeek #SayTheirNames
*** Trigger warning for the following thread: Violence against trans people (especially TWOC) * * *
Done similar, clearly should have published. Aunt who visits jumble sales, boot fairs etc, asked her to collect teaspoons; when she'd gathered 200 I put them in the kitchen drawer at work, they were gone in a few months.
70 teaspoons placed in tearooms around the institute & observed weekly over 5 months. 80% of spoons disappeared; spoon halflife~81 days. Communal room halflife lower than in specific labs. 250 spoons annually required to maintain 70 spoon population.
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
The case of the disappearing teaspoons: longitudinal cohort study of the displacement of teaspoons in an Australian research institute
Objectives To determine the overall rate of loss of workplace teaspoons and whether attrition and displacement are correlated with the relative value of the teaspoons or type of tearoom. Design Longitudinal cohort study. Setting Research institute ...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
November 20, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Done similar, clearly should have published. Aunt who visits jumble sales, boot fairs etc, asked her to collect teaspoons; when she'd gathered 200 I put them in the kitchen drawer at work, they were gone in a few months.
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
This, re: the Times piece. You need to understand this before you understand the obsession with confinement of trans lives.
We're an undeniable border violation. We exist and we show that the border between male and female is both permeable and not simply a hierarchy. So we have to be dealt with the way border problems are - extreme violence or a complex series of exceptions.
I think you cannot understand anything until you realise the scale of cis society's obsession with transfeminity and the lengths it goes to not only to quarantine and punish it, but construct social rituals to navigate its presence in everyday cis life.
November 20, 2025 at 12:30 AM
This, re: the Times piece. You need to understand this before you understand the obsession with confinement of trans lives.
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
Physician who was no longer at the hospital but was on the email list had Otter ai installed and his bot “attended” the meeting, generated a transcript, and sent it to all 65 people on the email list, 12 of whom also no longer worked at the hospital.
AI bot recorded doctors’ meeting, sent patient info to current and former hospital staff, watchdog says
The transcription tool recorded the meeting on behalf of a physician who no longer worked at the hospital
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Physician who was no longer at the hospital but was on the email list had Otter ai installed and his bot “attended” the meeting, generated a transcript, and sent it to all 65 people on the email list, 12 of whom also no longer worked at the hospital.
I started out my mission (as Head of School Comp Sci & Informatics) within the university as being "evangelical" about AI: every use of AI within the university should both be technologically sensible and socially responsible - no excuses as my School can provide expertise in both. 1/n
November 19, 2025 at 1:17 PM
I started out my mission (as Head of School Comp Sci & Informatics) within the university as being "evangelical" about AI: every use of AI within the university should both be technologically sensible and socially responsible - no excuses as my School can provide expertise in both. 1/n
Lots of useful thoughts and analysis of different universities' policies in the field, and sketching the dilemmas in a world where we don't have much control on where AI gets inserted.
My assistive tools are now AI tools. To "conscientiously object" is to burn the scaffold I need to work.
I am not an adopter. I am a Reluctant Cyborg.
Read why here: www.mariannhardey.com/technologica...
#AIinHE #Neurodiversity #HigherEd #AcademicChatter #EdTech
I am not an adopter. I am a Reluctant Cyborg.
Read why here: www.mariannhardey.com/technologica...
#AIinHE #Neurodiversity #HigherEd #AcademicChatter #EdTech
The Conscientious Objector and the Reluctant Cyborg: Why I Cannot Leave the Cage
RESEARCH | ABOUT | CONTACT
www.mariannhardey.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Lots of useful thoughts and analysis of different universities' policies in the field, and sketching the dilemmas in a world where we don't have much control on where AI gets inserted.
"Keir Starmer – her boss, for now – pledged to back free movement when he campaigned to become leader, denounced the “hostile environment” for migrants, and reprimanded his party for being “a bit scared of making the positive case for immigration for quite a number of years.”"
In which @owenjones.bsky.social carefully and irresistibly unpicks the sadistic, intellectually dishonest and politically self-defeating policies of Shabana Mahmood. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
A question to the few remaining Labour supporters: is this refugee-bashing what you voted for? | Owen Jones
The government’s callousness has won it respect – from Tommy Robinson and the hard right, says Guardian columnist Owen Jones
www.theguardian.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:39 PM
"Keir Starmer – her boss, for now – pledged to back free movement when he campaigned to become leader, denounced the “hostile environment” for migrants, and reprimanded his party for being “a bit scared of making the positive case for immigration for quite a number of years.”"
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
Ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad has £55m in a London bank account. Syrians asylum seekers arriving in Britain with a few gold bangles could soon have them confiscated.
November 17, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad has £55m in a London bank account. Syrians asylum seekers arriving in Britain with a few gold bangles could soon have them confiscated.
I think the three way Venn diagram is "authoritarian leader", "clinical execution", and "crybaby".
Three terrible men.
From @theathleticfc.bsky.social: Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to attend a meeting at the White House on Tuesday, on a day when President Trump is set to host the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in the Oval Office.
November 18, 2025 at 3:33 PM
I think the three way Venn diagram is "authoritarian leader", "clinical execution", and "crybaby".
This is still the same person who mocked a disabled person, talked about "grabbing women by the pussy", etc, but now he has the power to bully all of the US it seems. Basic standards of humanity way out of the window.
"When an off-camera female reporter... began to ask if there was anything 'incriminating' in the Epstein emails, Trump pointed a finger in her face. 'Quiet. Quiet, Piggy,' he said menacingly."
Tell me again how it's women who are ruining the workplace?
people.com/donald-trump...
Tell me again how it's women who are ruining the workplace?
people.com/donald-trump...
Donald Trump Snaps at Female Reporter Who Asks About Epstein Files: 'Quiet Piggy'
Donald Trump Says 'Quiet Piggy' to Female Reporter Asking About Epstein Files
people.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:52 PM
This is still the same person who mocked a disabled person, talked about "grabbing women by the pussy", etc, but now he has the power to bully all of the US it seems. Basic standards of humanity way out of the window.
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
Leaked docs indicate the European Commission will publish a plan tomorrow to gut the GDPR and amend the AI Act. This will hurt European competitiveness and further advantage US and Chinese tech firms that dominate Europe’s digital market by breaking our law.
November 18, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Leaked docs indicate the European Commission will publish a plan tomorrow to gut the GDPR and amend the AI Act. This will hurt European competitiveness and further advantage US and Chinese tech firms that dominate Europe’s digital market by breaking our law.
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
The only way you could believe implementing cruel racist policies will "unite the country" is if a) you don't count non-white people as part of the country and b) you think every white person in the country is cruel and racist
Is that what counts as patriotism these days?
Is that what counts as patriotism these days?
November 18, 2025 at 1:22 PM
The only way you could believe implementing cruel racist policies will "unite the country" is if a) you don't count non-white people as part of the country and b) you think every white person in the country is cruel and racist
Is that what counts as patriotism these days?
Is that what counts as patriotism these days?
This is gutsy from the company that replaced its search which usually delivered good results by AI which is spouting nonsense much of the time. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Don't blindly trust what AI tells you, Google boss tells BBC
Sundar Pichai candidly acknowledged concerns about inaccurate answers generated by Google's models.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 18, 2025 at 1:23 PM
This is gutsy from the company that replaced its search which usually delivered good results by AI which is spouting nonsense much of the time. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
"‘In fact, what’s really surprising is that higher AI literacy brings more overconfidence...We would expect people who are AI literate to not only be a bit better at interacting with AI systems, but also at judging their performance with those systems – but this was not the case.’"
AI use makes us overestimate our cognitive performance
A study led by Aalto University reveals that when it comes to AI, specifically, LLMs, the Dunning-Kruger Effect doesn’t hold. All users show a significant inability to assess their performance a...
www.eurekalert.org
November 18, 2025 at 12:44 PM
"‘In fact, what’s really surprising is that higher AI literacy brings more overconfidence...We would expect people who are AI literate to not only be a bit better at interacting with AI systems, but also at judging their performance with those systems – but this was not the case.’"
Reposted by Eerke Boiten
This from @stephenkb.bsky.social cuts to the heart of the matter. Does the government not understand how toxic this argument is? Do they think they can somehow weaponise it? The last governments at least had the merit not of making this kind of foul claim.
November 18, 2025 at 10:04 AM
This from @stephenkb.bsky.social cuts to the heart of the matter. Does the government not understand how toxic this argument is? Do they think they can somehow weaponise it? The last governments at least had the merit not of making this kind of foul claim.