John Healy's Tech Blog

Category: Research

Looking at technology

  • AI warlords – We don’t need no stinkin’ redlines!

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    Epigraph “I just think that most of us are simply sick of the parts of digital life that once seemed miraculous but now feel exploitative.” – Backchannel, Steven Levy (2-13-2026) Boom and kaboom There’s a new factor about the AI boom – an arms race. From the pen to the sword, our Promethean moment carries

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  • AI is really annoying – there, there?

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    My homage to two famous cartoons: As I’ve noted elsewhere, verbal (or literary) agility need not be a sign of intelligence. And such fluency can be glib, even annoying. Especially when, as with some people, responses are repetitive, follow predictable patterns – in autopilot mode. So, AI puts us in a similar place. Driven by

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  • Architects of AI – Time Magazine’s ‘Person’ of the Year 2025

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    Two years after Time’s “TIME 100 AI” cover for 2023 – the most influential people in AI … movers & shakers, shaping the good, bad, & ugly, we have a shorter list for the 2025 cover. I’ve read & written a lot about AI the last two years. Time’s article covers all the bases. Even

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  • ‘Rage bait’ – word of the year 2025

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    It’s been a year of “deliberate agitation.” Witness Oxford University Press’ announcement that rage bait was Word of the Year. Compare with last year’s word brain rot: “outrage sparks engagement, algorithms amplify it, and constant exposure leaves us mentally exhausted.” Eliciting anger grabs attention, offers personal gain, promotes political sway – all in a marketplace

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  • The modern influencer dream – meritocracy’s ‘noble lie’ of mobility?

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    Billy, Sally, “What do you want to be when you get older?” We live in a hyper-connected world, a social media landscape of scaleable, accessible influence. Monetizing yourself – you are the product – is no longer just for traditional celebrities. As I’ve discussed elsewhere, a cardinal characteristic of the American psyche is a singular

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