Technology
A meditation on reality: Transcription, by Ben Lerner, reviewed
In a short, glittering novel, Lerner shows how the factual is always infused with the fictional as he explores the tension between the given and the constructed
The new AI system causing panic over cybersecurity
It’s tempting, even fashionable, to pooh-pooh the hyperbole from our tech overlords. The release in 2022 of ChatGPT, the first…
The age of the aircraft carrier is over
Ever since World War Two, America’s aircraft carrier fleets have served as imposing instruments of imperial power, roaming the oceans…
A lament for the landline
Two years ago my quality of life began to go downhill. It happened when BT Openreach gave our old copper…
The speed-camera approach to government
I was recently shown an AI analysis of long-term trends in the public’s attitude to government. The AI had been…
Hegseth’s vision is more Starship Troopers than Starfleet Academy
“Welcome to Starbase, Texas,” Elon Musk said from the stage Monday night, as the crowd whooped. “This is a city. It’s actually…
‘I’ve been allergic to AI for a long time’: an interview with Peter Thiel
Peter Thiel has been described variously as ‘America’s leading public intellectual’, the ‘architect of Silicon Valley’s contemporary ethos’ or as…
Snobbery is the best weapon against screen time
I can’t be the only neurotic mother to have rejoiced when the Princess of Wales revealed recently that she has…
AI will take jobs – the wrong ones
As those of you familiar with this column will know, I am always eager to distinguish between an option and…
Bring back the album
Usually when my tweenage sons ask about relics from my 1990s adolescence – ‘What’s a landline?’ ‘What’s a phone book?’…
Say hello to your AI granny
Doing the rounds on social media is the most disturbing advert I’ve ever seen. And I’m telling you about it…
My portable charger obsession
A femtosecond, derived from the Danish word femte meaning ‘fifteen’, is a unit of time in the International System of…
How the occult captured the modern mind
The British science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, proposed a ‘law of science’ in 1968:…
I’ve been enslaved by my Apple watch
Aside from streaming on an iPad, one of the few entertainments on offer when riding a stationary bike is tracking…
Phone-addicted yummy mummies are neglecting their children
As a foster carer and an adopter, I know what neglect looks like. I’ve looked after children who didn’t know…
Keep algorithms out of care homes
I manage a small, not-for-profit care home in Norfolk. We have tea rounds, hymn singing, hand-holding and staff who know…
Our B&B has found its niche
A rattling noise woke me in the dead of night and I fumbled my way into the dark corridor. It…
My campaign to bring back real life
A new book by an American writer, Christine Rosen, details the way in which we are losing touch with the…
A lament for the lads’ mags
Do you remember the lads’ mags? I do because I worked on them for years. FHM, Maxim, all those gloriously…
OnlyFans is giving HMRC what it wants
Fenix International occupies the ninth floor of an innocuous office block on London’s Cheapside. The street’s name comes from the…
The guest who robbed me of my five-star rating
Bolting down the back hallway, I realised I was running away from the guests. I shut the door marked private…
A challenge for the electric car sceptics
I once heard of a couple who were teachers in their mid-fifties. Having pooled the proceeds from selling both their…
My foolproof plan to avoid speeding fines
The online speed awareness course cost £101, or a few pounds less if you didn’t want to book ‘flexible’ so…
How tech ruined theatre
Poor John Dennis. In 1709, the playwright devised a novel technology to simulate thunder to accompany his drama Appius and…
If the numbers add up, Shell should bid for BP
A hangar full of analysts and investment bankers must have spent the long weekend formulating advice for Shell chief executive…
