Marianne O'Doherty
@marianneodoherty.bsky.social
Medievalist. Likes maps, birds, nature, cycling, cider and primates. She/her.
I just don't think we are taking the interaction of this tech with our cognitive processes and known psychological weaknesses as a species anything like seriously enough. The tech companies want us to think this kind of thing is an aberration and a distraction. I'm no psychologist, but you...
I am by no means a prominent public intellectual, but my inbox is increasingly filled with messages from people who have been convinced by sycophantic chatbots that they have discovered revolutionary theories that entirely upend our scientific understanding of the universe.
November 21, 2025 at 8:45 AM
I just don't think we are taking the interaction of this tech with our cognitive processes and known psychological weaknesses as a species anything like seriously enough. The tech companies want us to think this kind of thing is an aberration and a distraction. I'm no psychologist, but you...
Ooh a challenge for the Old English bods! Scip Scipsunu?
November 21, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Ooh a challenge for the Old English bods! Scip Scipsunu?
Reposted by Marianne O'Doherty
"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 Marianne O'Doherty
Bellingcat’s contact email has always been a magnet for people with fairly unusual views; paranoid delusions, sprawling conspiracies, the works. But recently, the pattern has shifted, we’re seeing more and more emails clearly written with ChatGPT.
November 19, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Bellingcat’s contact email has always been a magnet for people with fairly unusual views; paranoid delusions, sprawling conspiracies, the works. But recently, the pattern has shifted, we’re seeing more and more emails clearly written with ChatGPT.
We also have employers saying it is making it easier for weak candidates to write good job applications, making shortlisting tougher and more random. And when you see it used to write appeals or complaints... Oh boy. 10 page rants in which half the grounds or more are made up, but you don't know...
My timeline is demonstrating that the main use-case for GenAI is temporarily elevating crackpots, weirdos, and dumbasses to levels approaching normalcy long enough to waste other people's time.
November 19, 2025 at 5:02 PM
We also have employers saying it is making it easier for weak candidates to write good job applications, making shortlisting tougher and more random. And when you see it used to write appeals or complaints... Oh boy. 10 page rants in which half the grounds or more are made up, but you don't know...
Reposted by Marianne O'Doherty
This mural has gone up in Kingston, ostensibly for Christmas but AI has ensured it's actually to celebrate the return of our dark lord Cthulhu
November 18, 2025 at 9:44 AM
This mural has gone up in Kingston, ostensibly for Christmas but AI has ensured it's actually to celebrate the return of our dark lord Cthulhu
It's snowing outside.
November 19, 2025 at 8:00 AM
It's snowing outside.
Reposted by Marianne O'Doherty
'Nottingham will be the only Russell Group university not to teach modern foreign languages degrees if it approves plans to close a swath of courses including Spanish and French as well as music and dozens of others.' 1/3
University of Nottingham considers axing language and music degrees
Total of 48 degrees could disappear from Russell Group institution, with falling revenues and rising costs blamed
www.theguardian.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:01 PM
'Nottingham will be the only Russell Group university not to teach modern foreign languages degrees if it approves plans to close a swath of courses including Spanish and French as well as music and dozens of others.' 1/3
I found this interview with Pichai extraordinarily soft and naive. These tech companies are now political actors and should be challenged robustly like politicians. The obvious question: what is the point of a unreliable technology?, was not asked. We wouldn't let Nike off for producing...
"...the current state-of-the-art AI technology is prone to some errors."
And the award for Epic Understatement Of The Day goes to....
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
And the award for Epic Understatement Of The Day goes to....
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 8:13 AM
I found this interview with Pichai extraordinarily soft and naive. These tech companies are now political actors and should be challenged robustly like politicians. The obvious question: what is the point of a unreliable technology?, was not asked. We wouldn't let Nike off for producing...
A country where this is possible is not a serious country. No legal aid for people illegally persecuted like this = justice denied.
“It broke my heart, that was my savings towards a new car,” one woman who paid Milne tens of thousands of pounds told us. “He has just wiped me out.”
Who is Andrew Milne - the solicitor sending "very aggressive" letters to Sheffield homeowners?
www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/a-london-law...
Who is Andrew Milne - the solicitor sending "very aggressive" letters to Sheffield homeowners?
www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/a-london-law...
A London lawyer bought hundreds of Sheffield freeholds. Then the ‘very aggressive’ letters arrived
Exclusive: The Tribune can reveal that Andrew Milne has threatened leaseholders with high court action. It ‘broke my heart’ one woman says
www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk
November 18, 2025 at 7:59 AM
A country where this is possible is not a serious country. No legal aid for people illegally persecuted like this = justice denied.
Reposted by Marianne O'Doherty
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
www.cityam.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:27 AM
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
Well done to Labour for making it entirely unnecessary for far right parties to even have to win an election. Anything is now sayable. You've just prompted the nutters to become even more extreme.
Not everyone is unhappy about the Government's descent into anti-refugee politics
November 16, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Well done to Labour for making it entirely unnecessary for far right parties to even have to win an election. Anything is now sayable. You've just prompted the nutters to become even more extreme.
💪
In response to our industrial action, the university proposed a resolution that removed the threat of compulsory redundancies for the next year and introduced a negotiation process over course closures. And at our branch meeting, we accepted this offer.
November 16, 2025 at 9:58 AM
💪
Reposted by Marianne O'Doherty
Someone should ask Starmer and Mahmood whether they think the Kindertransport, for example, should have been a return ticket. Whether Alf Dubs, rather than becoming a Labour MP and now Lord, ought to have been sent back with his family to Czechoslovakia once it was liberated from German rule.
This contribution to the volume of human misery is yet another policy from Labour based on a false premise, in this case that refugees are overly attracted to Britain. It will increase bureaucratic limbo, thus making worse the problem of "cohesion" it purports to solve.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK set to limit refugees to temporary stays
Shabana Mahmood is expected to say the era of permanent protection for refugees is over, in major changes to the UK's asylum and immigration system.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 15, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Someone should ask Starmer and Mahmood whether they think the Kindertransport, for example, should have been a return ticket. Whether Alf Dubs, rather than becoming a Labour MP and now Lord, ought to have been sent back with his family to Czechoslovakia once it was liberated from German rule.
I can't express how sad and alienated this makes me feel. This cannot be what the majority of British people want. It just can't be. Even if they do, it's still wrong.
"The era of permanent protection is over"
Is this Labour government really saying it was wrong in principle to let these refugees of the last 75 years to stay, settle and become British - and they believe that should NEVER happen again in principle or practice?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiuR...
Is this Labour government really saying it was wrong in principle to let these refugees of the last 75 years to stay, settle and become British - and they believe that should NEVER happen again in principle or practice?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiuR...
Refugees from 7 decades gather to commemorate 70 years of refugee in protection in the UK
YouTube video by Refugee Council
www.youtube.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:58 AM
I can't express how sad and alienated this makes me feel. This cannot be what the majority of British people want. It just can't be. Even if they do, it's still wrong.
Reposted by Marianne O'Doherty
So, @bylinetimes.bsky.social have done great work investigating Prescott's background & history (he wrote that memo that caused so much trouble for the BBC).
Here's an analysis of the memo itself, in terms of just how valid the "research" was that went into it.
theconversation.com/bbc-bias-the...
Here's an analysis of the memo itself, in terms of just how valid the "research" was that went into it.
theconversation.com/bbc-bias-the...
BBC bias? The Prescott memo falls well short of the standards of impartiality it demands
The Prescott memo contained no research questions or objectives, method, sample, time frame or, crucially, analytical framework for examining output.
theconversation.com
November 15, 2025 at 9:55 AM
So, @bylinetimes.bsky.social have done great work investigating Prescott's background & history (he wrote that memo that caused so much trouble for the BBC).
Here's an analysis of the memo itself, in terms of just how valid the "research" was that went into it.
theconversation.com/bbc-bias-the...
Here's an analysis of the memo itself, in terms of just how valid the "research" was that went into it.
theconversation.com/bbc-bias-the...
Gibb was probably delighted with himself. Now he looks like he could be the guy who ended Call the Midwife, The Archers, Strictly, Children in Need, Traitors, local TV news. Nevermind a sacking, he'll need to emigrate. Mar a Lago, perhaps.
Given that no complaints were received at time of broadcast, Gibb is at least as responsible for the current mess, with the BBC threatened with legal action by a foreign head of government, as those who made the programme. How on earth can he stay in post?
November 15, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Gibb was probably delighted with himself. Now he looks like he could be the guy who ended Call the Midwife, The Archers, Strictly, Children in Need, Traitors, local TV news. Nevermind a sacking, he'll need to emigrate. Mar a Lago, perhaps.
Reposted by Marianne O'Doherty
A levy on foreign students is one of the closest things you're going to see to tariffs on services - except the UK will be putting it on its own exports...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Levy on international students’ tuition fees not in best interest of UK, says leader of top university
Duncan Ivison, president of Manchester University, says government’s 6% surcharge plan will ‘hurt the sector’
www.theguardian.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:20 AM
A levy on foreign students is one of the closest things you're going to see to tariffs on services - except the UK will be putting it on its own exports...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Reposted by Marianne O'Doherty
Is AI making job recruitment less meritocratic? We're getting some v interesting research studies on this question now, and the news is... not good. @jburnmurdoch.ft.com & I dive in, in the latest edition of our newsletter The AI Shift www.ft.com/content/e5b7...
November 14, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Is AI making job recruitment less meritocratic? We're getting some v interesting research studies on this question now, and the news is... not good. @jburnmurdoch.ft.com & I dive in, in the latest edition of our newsletter The AI Shift www.ft.com/content/e5b7...
The capacity of this government to bollox things up is genuinely staggering. I am getting really strong 'made it up in desperation in the back of a taxi' vibes off this (hat tip to @aiannucci.bsky.social).
This truly is madder than Mad Jack McMad ...
November 13, 2025 at 6:19 PM
The capacity of this government to bollox things up is genuinely staggering. I am getting really strong 'made it up in desperation in the back of a taxi' vibes off this (hat tip to @aiannucci.bsky.social).
This is so completely awful. We're at risk of disappearing into our own insularity.
In the same week, both the University of Nottingham and the University of Leicester announced closing their Modern Languages departments. Disastrous for the sector as a whole and for the ML landscape in the Midlands: c.org/4X7VMy9MPD
Sign the Petition
Save Modern Languages courses at the University of Leicester
c.org
November 13, 2025 at 2:01 PM
This is so completely awful. We're at risk of disappearing into our own insularity.
Reposted by Marianne O'Doherty
If you think that “the slow vanishing of employee benefits” is a better trade politically than “the other lot saying you broke your promise on income tax”, you are out of your tree: www.ft.com/content/1160...
November 11, 2025 at 12:16 AM
If you think that “the slow vanishing of employee benefits” is a better trade politically than “the other lot saying you broke your promise on income tax”, you are out of your tree: www.ft.com/content/1160...
Oh good. A sensible intervention onto the madness with graphs in. I love a good graph.
Quick thread on the BBC and the political and societal significance of recent developments:
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
November 10, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Oh good. A sensible intervention onto the madness with graphs in. I love a good graph.
Reposted by Marianne O'Doherty
Crisis at the Critic Sketchcasting Corporation!
Crisis at the CSC | Robert Hutton | The Critic Magazine
From the desk of Lord Kronsteen, founder and proprietor of the Critic Sketchcasting Corporation. To all staff, It is with a heavy heart that I take pen in hand to inform you of the resignation of both…
thecritic.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Crisis at the Critic Sketchcasting Corporation!
Reposted by Marianne O'Doherty
Incredible that Robbie Gibb - most influential person on BBC board by many accounts and from journalists I speak in BBC - was involved in setting up GB News.
GB News of course has breached Ofcom rules on *multiple* occasions - no sign of resignations though
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
GB News of course has breached Ofcom rules on *multiple* occasions - no sign of resignations though
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘Enforced veganism’: Ofcom lets GB News flout accuracy rules, say climate campaigners
Exclusive: Regulator has received 1,221 complaints about UK broadcasters since 2020 but found no breaches of its code
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Incredible that Robbie Gibb - most influential person on BBC board by many accounts and from journalists I speak in BBC - was involved in setting up GB News.
GB News of course has breached Ofcom rules on *multiple* occasions - no sign of resignations though
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
GB News of course has breached Ofcom rules on *multiple* occasions - no sign of resignations though
www.theguardian.com/environment/...