Archive - Techtris

What if "big data" just…isn't worth very much?

I'm not saying the emperor has no clothes. I am saying his clothes are cheap, tacky, don't work and are seriously overrated.

Aug 20 •

So, you've decided to complain about a paywall…

You don't like encountering paywalls. Writers don't like getting social media complaints about paywalls. Let's talk about that.

Aug 4 •

July 2025

Okay, so age verification is pretty painless. It's still not a good thing. At all.

It doesn't work. It's intrusive. It creates new vulnerabilities. It's bad for free speech. But…at least it's not difficult for users?

Jul 28 •

I Built The Torment Nexus (Political Podcast Edition)

Six years ago cartoonist Zach Weinersmith made a joke about a 24/7 AI podcast endlessly talking about polling numbers. I've made it a reality.

Jul 3 •

January 2025

Copyright (probably) won't save anyone from AI

There is lots of justified outrage at the way AI companies have "stolen" millions of creative works to train their models. But there's every chance it's…

Jan 13 •

December 2024

Why AI Evolution Looks More Like QAnon Than Blade Runner

Samuel Butler warned us about machine evolution in 1872’s Erewhon. But the real threat today isn’t sentient robots – it’s digital ecosystems wreaking…

Dec 16, 2024 •

November 2024

Musk's sadism economy

It's not really about "better moderation", it's not even monetisation – there's a reason X is so different to anything else.

Nov 24, 2024 •

November 2023

OpenAI set out to show a different kind of tech giant was possible. It might prove the opposite.

What has happened looks incomprehensible unless you know the strange history of OpenAI, its philosophy, and how that is now clashing with reality. Let’s…

Nov 19, 2023 •

Techtris – we didn’t start the fire (that was Sam Bankman-Fried)

Yes, we're back, sorry to have been away so long…

Nov 3, 2023 •

August 2023

A reset, not a pivot

An apology, plus: does effective altruism have a future now that its poster boy is behind bars?

Aug 16, 2023 •

June 2023

Techtris – Edward Snowden ten-year anniversary edition

Two failures and one success. Does it come out in the wash?

Jun 7, 2023 •

May 2023

Can big tech just…not?

How has Meta ended up with sensitive NHS records, why do tech bros keep reaching beyond their grasp, and what on earth is Jack Dorsey up to?

May 28, 2023 •

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