Cennydd Bowles
@cennydd.com
Philosopher · Thinking and writing about ethics, technology, design, the future, sport · See also @cennyddchess.bsky.social.
Reposted by Cennydd Bowles
Not "by design" in the abstract sense of 'deliberately', but "by design" in the very concrete sense of "by the designs designers designed" – designers who are and should feel complicit.
Courts are finally starting to treat feeds and chatbots as products and to address harmful design, writes Courtney Radsch, director of the Center for Media & Digital Governance at Open Markets Institute—a turn with consequences for Meta, TikTok, and the AI companies now facing wrongful-death suits.
Courts Find Platforms Addictive and Dangerous by Design
What comes next has to be structural, not just reactive, writes Courtney C. Radsch.
www.techpolicy.press
August 14, 2026 at 3:57 AM
Not "by design" in the abstract sense of 'deliberately', but "by design" in the very concrete sense of "by the designs designers designed" – designers who are and should feel complicit.
One of the worst games of football I’ve ever seen, and I was at France 0–0 Denmark in 2018, where the fans booed both teams off.
July 19, 2026 at 9:19 PM
One of the worst games of football I’ve ever seen, and I was at France 0–0 Denmark in 2018, where the fans booed both teams off.
Reposted by Cennydd Bowles
Yes, Argentina the first ever World Cup finalist to not have a shot in the 90 minutes.
July 19, 2026 at 9:15 PM
Yes, Argentina the first ever World Cup finalist to not have a shot in the 90 minutes.
Reposted by Cennydd Bowles
"i just do math" is something a cs phd student studying AI at stanford said to me once. i think about him a lot.
January 27, 2026 at 4:09 AM
"i just do math" is something a cs phd student studying AI at stanford said to me once. i think about him a lot.
Reposted by Cennydd Bowles
new scam going around where they hire you for a job but pay you less than the value your labor produced
September 25, 2025 at 4:25 AM
new scam going around where they hire you for a job but pay you less than the value your labor produced
Reposted by Cennydd Bowles
Guy In Philosophy Class Needs To Shut The Fuck Up https://theonion.com/guy-in-philosophy-class-needs-to-shut-the-fuck-up-1819568055/
August 25, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Guy In Philosophy Class Needs To Shut The Fuck Up https://theonion.com/guy-in-philosophy-class-needs-to-shut-the-fuck-up-1819568055/
Reposted by Cennydd Bowles
Very sad to learn of the death on 18th July of Margaret (Maggie) Boden, a titan of cognitive science and AI. I met her many times, and respected her greatly.
www.theargus.co.uk/memorials/de...
www.theargus.co.uk/memorials/de...
July 25, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Very sad to learn of the death on 18th July of Margaret (Maggie) Boden, a titan of cognitive science and AI. I met her many times, and respected her greatly.
www.theargus.co.uk/memorials/de...
www.theargus.co.uk/memorials/de...
Our sweet, silly cat Beemo died yesterday. One of those slowly-then-quickly illnesses turned out to be an irreversible kidney problem. She was loving, easygoing and vocal, and a dear companion to us both. We’re in bits – but this is the price of love. Hug your nonhuman friends, all.
July 20, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Our sweet, silly cat Beemo died yesterday. One of those slowly-then-quickly illnesses turned out to be an irreversible kidney problem. She was loving, easygoing and vocal, and a dear companion to us both. We’re in bits – but this is the price of love. Hug your nonhuman friends, all.
Reposted by Cennydd Bowles
I am begging for a Hollywood movie or TV writer to make something that features realistic 'artificial intelligence'
May 24, 2025 at 7:35 PM
I am begging for a Hollywood movie or TV writer to make something that features realistic 'artificial intelligence'
Only now noticed that Aftersun is on iPlayer for the rest of the year. It broke my heart at a parentally significant time of my life. Deeply recommended. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Two - Aftersun
Sophie is beginning to remember a formative holiday she took as a child.
www.bbc.co.uk
May 23, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Only now noticed that Aftersun is on iPlayer for the rest of the year. It broke my heart at a parentally significant time of my life. Deeply recommended. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Reposted by Cennydd Bowles
Anywhere you can get to on a Transport for Wales train is a part of Greater Wales
May 10, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Anywhere you can get to on a Transport for Wales train is a part of Greater Wales
Reposted by Cennydd Bowles
This Boer/Grok fiasco is funny, but it previews how AI chatbots will be used more subtly to manipulate public opinion.
They present decontextualized authority: unsourced, unauthored, always confident.
And we are being trained to trust them as objective or as the Wisdom of Crowds.
They present decontextualized authority: unsourced, unauthored, always confident.
And we are being trained to trust them as objective or as the Wisdom of Crowds.
May 15, 2025 at 3:11 PM
This Boer/Grok fiasco is funny, but it previews how AI chatbots will be used more subtly to manipulate public opinion.
They present decontextualized authority: unsourced, unauthored, always confident.
And we are being trained to trust them as objective or as the Wisdom of Crowds.
They present decontextualized authority: unsourced, unauthored, always confident.
And we are being trained to trust them as objective or as the Wisdom of Crowds.
Reposted by Cennydd Bowles
During a recent interview with Theo Von, Zuckerberg admitted a startling revelation. While talking to his daughter about the news, he realized understanding politics and law is important to fully understanding technology. What a discovery!
www.disconnect.blog/p/mark-zucke...
www.disconnect.blog/p/mark-zucke...
May 9, 2025 at 2:43 PM
During a recent interview with Theo Von, Zuckerberg admitted a startling revelation. While talking to his daughter about the news, he realized understanding politics and law is important to fully understanding technology. What a discovery!
www.disconnect.blog/p/mark-zucke...
www.disconnect.blog/p/mark-zucke...
Reposted by Cennydd Bowles
any excuse to repost the greatest Tetris story ever, when a reporter went to cover early e-gaming championships and discovered that his wife was unknowingly *the world's greatest Tetris player* by a huge margin
archive.boston.com/news/globe/m...
archive.boston.com/news/globe/m...
May 4, 2025 at 4:35 AM
any excuse to repost the greatest Tetris story ever, when a reporter went to cover early e-gaming championships and discovered that his wife was unknowingly *the world's greatest Tetris player* by a huge margin
archive.boston.com/news/globe/m...
archive.boston.com/news/globe/m...
Reposted by Cennydd Bowles
Every now again it’s useful to repeat advice about accessing papers that are behind a paywall that excludes you. Email the author. My estimate is that 90% of academics are so thrilled that a living, breathing, possibly even reading, person shows interest that they will swiftly send you a copy.
May 3, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Every now again it’s useful to repeat advice about accessing papers that are behind a paywall that excludes you. Email the author. My estimate is that 90% of academics are so thrilled that a living, breathing, possibly even reading, person shows interest that they will swiftly send you a copy.
Reposted by Cennydd Bowles
I posted this on twitter ~3y ago and it struck a chord.
Still relevant?
Still relevant?
May 2, 2025 at 7:16 PM
I posted this on twitter ~3y ago and it struck a chord.
Still relevant?
Still relevant?
Reposted by Cennydd Bowles
Babe are you ok? You've hardly touched your actions willed in such a way that they could become a universal law
April 28, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Babe are you ok? You've hardly touched your actions willed in such a way that they could become a universal law
‘How much Weltschmerz is too much? We ask five people who’ve scrolled so much that they’ve cast aside any prospect of personal happiness and instead wallow in the pits of other-directed despair.’
April 28, 2025 at 1:54 PM
‘How much Weltschmerz is too much? We ask five people who’ve scrolled so much that they’ve cast aside any prospect of personal happiness and instead wallow in the pits of other-directed despair.’
I gave some thoughts on skeuomorphism for Digital Frontier, a new magazine on humanity & technology. Kudos to the writer and mag for engaging with the term’s actual meaning (a once-functional feature retained ornamentally), not just parroting the false equivalence with physical metaphor.
April 28, 2025 at 9:33 AM
I gave some thoughts on skeuomorphism for Digital Frontier, a new magazine on humanity & technology. Kudos to the writer and mag for engaging with the term’s actual meaning (a once-functional feature retained ornamentally), not just parroting the false equivalence with physical metaphor.
Reposted by Cennydd Bowles
Reposted by Cennydd Bowles
It might seem madly decadent just now, but planting seedlings, reading, walking, birdwatching, getting into some kind of exercise or craft, making models from a kit, perfecting the world's best tomato sauce, making music, sketching are all actually extremely important, joyful things to do
April 17, 2025 at 6:26 AM
It might seem madly decadent just now, but planting seedlings, reading, walking, birdwatching, getting into some kind of exercise or craft, making models from a kit, perfecting the world's best tomato sauce, making music, sketching are all actually extremely important, joyful things to do
Reposted by Cennydd Bowles
One reason to write: it forces even the most terminally hypertextual thinker to form linear, coherent opinions. Sometimes that’s enough to justify the effort.
April 16, 2025 at 7:38 PM
One reason to write: it forces even the most terminally hypertextual thinker to form linear, coherent opinions. Sometimes that’s enough to justify the effort.
Someone please pay me $1/word to write a weird and earnest piece on Rory McIlroy as moral archetype, proof of the banishment of evil etc
April 14, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Someone please pay me $1/word to write a weird and earnest piece on Rory McIlroy as moral archetype, proof of the banishment of evil etc
Opening day of the cricket season. Usually I’m quad-layered, shivering, clutching an outsized hot chocolate. Today, 21 °C, sunburn. Hasn’t rained in a month. Early April. Probably fine.
April 4, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Opening day of the cricket season. Usually I’m quad-layered, shivering, clutching an outsized hot chocolate. Today, 21 °C, sunburn. Hasn’t rained in a month. Early April. Probably fine.