Kate Pullinger

Recommended re AI safety or lack thereof:

I Hired a Book Publicity Firm for £1,800. Here’s What Went Wrong. | Jane Friedman One author reflects on how her desire to not just outsource marketing, but to outsource even thinking about it, led to regrettable results.

This case study in hiring a book publicity firm is both laugh-out-loud funny and highly informative. Few people share these poor experiences due to shame and embarrassment.

If you're thinking of hiring *anyone* to help you with book publicity, this is a must-read.

Love that cover!

Yes please.

LOOK! Very good. @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social @naomialderman.bsky.social

Yiyun Li | To Remember in America When I was at nursery school in Beijing in the 1970s, there was a teacher who seemed to find tireless pleasure in...

‘A friend in London talks about the mystifying phrase she keeps hearing these days: “This is not America, this is not who we are.” But this is America, this is life, and this is how human beings behave. American exceptionalism will not save us.’

Yiyun Li on the blog.

www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/fe...

This is the stranger’s case,
And this your mountainish inhumanity

This is the biggest targeted training programme since Harold Wilson started the Open University (note).

Open to all UK adults online, taking as little as under 20 minutes, the courses will give

founding partners - Accenture, Amazon, Barclays, BT, Google, IBM, Intuit, Microsoft, Sage, SAS and Salesforce to take the Al Skills Boost programme to the next level and upskill 10 million workers with Al skills by 2030.

The government’s suggestion that rolling out 20 minute courses on writing “AI“ prompts, sponsored by Google, Microsoft and Amazon, is somehow comparable to the founding of the Open University (the Wilson government‘s, & Jennie Lee’s, proudest achievement), is an insult to our human intelligence.

Inappropriate AI Colin Milburn and Rita Raley (AI Paradigm 5/5) explore AI's appropriative processes.

Brilliant piece just out on “Inappropriate AI” by Colin Milburn & @ritaraley.bsky.social. A critique of higher ed’s legitimation quest for policies of “appropriate” AI use despite fact that LLMs are by nature inappropriate. They "appropriate" all edu and other materials. uchri.org/foundry/inap...

We've spent ten years being proved right about all the things the loudest, biggest voices in the UK media insisted, often obnoxiously, we were wrong about. The real kicker is that there's no consolation whatsoever in being correct. Brexit, Putin, Johnson, Truss, Trump, Twitter, Netanyahu etc etc...

Adelaide and the crisis of free speech iandunt.substack.com/p/adelaide-a...

what is a "classic"? A classic is any work where the free sample of the ebook is taken up entirely by an introduction and you don't get to read any of the actual book before deciding if you want to buy it

Me in 2025: Don't use AI note takers in meetings because they can lead to unchecked errors and unfair and discriminatory outcomes
Me in 2026: Don't use Grok in military planning unless you want to accidentally start a war

Not a fan of this rate of change

The first half of this film is as close to perfection as you’ll ever find (and the second half is a lot of fun too.) It also contains one of the sexiest scenes ever filmed. It involves a shoe. If you haven’t seen it, do not miss.

FINALLY

This is an excellent if daunting overview:

Extract from Rob Reiner's Wikipedia Filmography 1986 - Stand By zme 1987 - The Princess Bride 1989 - When Harry Met Sally 1990 - Misery 1992 - A Few Good Men

Rob Reiner: I'm going to make a coming of age drama, a fantasy adventure story, a romantic comedy, a psychological horror and then a courtroom drama.

Us: Across your entire career?

Reiner: In a 6 year period.

Us: That sounds-

Reiner: -Each one will be arguably the best movie in that genre.

He’s been with me since my childhood when All in the Family was regular uncomfortable hilarious weekly viewing.

Can’t believe this news. Porter, you will be missed by so many people.

I’m a novelist who’s just bought a video games company. Here’s why you should care about games writing | The Observer

Very proud of my friend @naomialderman.bsky.social who has followed the release of a brilliant and timely book with this brilliant and culturally very significant move observer.co.uk/the-critics/...

Such a great Start the Week! Do have a listen via the link below:

Hopeful Tech: Community Event - Open House 3 · Luma Our first open house to help shape the UK's Society for Hopeful Technologists. Come along and discuss the draft charter, develop the theory of change and help…

Anyway, one alternative is to build better ways of doing things, and to really empower folks working in tech to feel confident about making alternatives. I hope the Society for Hopeful Technologists can be a part of that. Still a handful of places last at our 3rd open house event luma.com/isqs8n9x

if Elon's proved anything it's that a critical mass of journalists, podcasters, and Republican officials and staffers will not ever, ever quit that fucking app no matter what he does to it. it could electrocute you and send your banking info directly to the dark web and they'd still be scrolling

I don't think enough people talk about how great BBC Bitesize is. Secondary school textbooks are now vanishingly rare and Bitesize content is (a) not in a terrible app, (b) engaging and interesting and easy to understand, and importantly (c) FREE. A properly great digital public good.

European human rights chief warns against trans exclusion in the UK Human rights commissioner calls on parliament to make sure guidance following the Supreme Court’s decision in April promotes inclusion.

“The UK stands at a crossroads. Are we going to be a nation that respects its human rights obligations, or are we going to abandon them whenever the rightwing press demands it? First immigrants, then trans people – who next, Sir Keir?” – Jo Maugham (@goodlawproject.org)
https://goodlaw.social/icp3

Call for Submissions The Electronic Literature Organization (ELO) seeks submissions for Volume 5 of the Electronic Literature Collection.

I am thrilled to announce the opening of the Call for Submissions for Electronic Literature Volume 5.

eliterature.github.io/elc5-info/

I am serving along with @zachwhalen.bsky.social, @elikaortega.bsky.social, and Dani Spinosa.

This call launches with translations in 12+ languages!

So weird.

I seem to be receiving AI generated fan mail. This is very disconcerting and will of course result in me never trusting anyone who says anything nice about my work ever again.

In other news Charlie Redmayne, the long serving CEO of HC in the UK, resigned yesterday.

Ooooh!