Alex Hern
@hern.bsky.social
AI correspondent at the Economist. I write about it, that is. I’m still human. One of literally dozens of people online who is not American.
once more with feeling!
September 16, 2026 at 10:44 AM
once more with feeling!
I've been asked, in various ways, "should we be scared about AI" for some years now, and no-one ever seems particularly happy when I don't answer the question with a reassuring laugh. shows.acast.com/theintellige...
The end of the world is AI? An existential threat | The Intelligence from The Economist
shows.acast.com
September 16, 2026 at 10:16 AM
I've been asked, in various ways, "should we be scared about AI" for some years now, and no-one ever seems particularly happy when I don't answer the question with a reassuring laugh. shows.acast.com/theintellige...
Reposted by Alex Hern
Our new report does the numbers on fiscal devolution. By letting the metro mayors keep around 7% of their local income tax (2% in London) and 2% of their local corporation tax (1% in London), we can replace grants in a growth-positive, cost-neutral way for HMT and the mayors:
September 16, 2026 at 7:39 AM
Our new report does the numbers on fiscal devolution. By letting the metro mayors keep around 7% of their local income tax (2% in London) and 2% of their local corporation tax (1% in London), we can replace grants in a growth-positive, cost-neutral way for HMT and the mayors:
suricrasia.online/unfiction/sp... extremely good short story. Make sure to click on the September update at the bottom of the page.
[DELISTED] I Found Evidence Of My House Spinning | U&U Forums (LibreCrawl archive 2026-09-03)
A Technology Anomaly Tragicomedy
suricrasia.online
September 15, 2026 at 10:07 PM
suricrasia.online/unfiction/sp... extremely good short story. Make sure to click on the September update at the bottom of the page.
was really struck by a Stratechery point, that the single best thing America could do to improve its chances against China is legalise distillation on-shore. Currently only Chinese labs get to distill, which means America has the juddering behemoths but none of the startup dynamism
September 15, 2026 at 3:48 PM
was really struck by a Stratechery point, that the single best thing America could do to improve its chances against China is legalise distillation on-shore. Currently only Chinese labs get to distill, which means America has the juddering behemoths but none of the startup dynamism
AI score funny here. don't know what to read in to it.
September 15, 2026 at 2:24 PM
AI score funny here. don't know what to read in to it.
it remains fascinating that google, regularly purveyor of the world's best AI, insists on putting its worst model in front of exactly the people who are hardest to convince AI can help them
I've been checking the source of quotes for my forthcoming book, and the performance of Gemini is extraordinary. I paste the quote into Google, and Gemini will barge in with the wrong answer over and over again. It's not an occasional thing - it's reliably wrong. Very odd.
Twice in the last week I've pasted a quotation into Google to check the source, and Gemini has barged in with the wrong answer. CS Lewis quote from The Seeing Eye (1967) was placed in The Screwtape Letters (1942). Alfred Loftus quote (1857) attributed to Austen Layard (1849). Gemini 0/2.
September 15, 2026 at 8:16 AM
it remains fascinating that google, regularly purveyor of the world's best AI, insists on putting its worst model in front of exactly the people who are hardest to convince AI can help them
Reposted by Alex Hern
i don't think it's a weird coincidence that the vibes here are getting worse as the vibes for the anti-maga coalition in the actual world are getting better.
September 14, 2026 at 12:40 PM
i don't think it's a weird coincidence that the vibes here are getting worse as the vibes for the anti-maga coalition in the actual world are getting better.
continually maddening that people blame "the water companies" for hosepipe bans when "the water companies" have been begging to build new reservoirs but a few retired QCs in Oxfordshire have used the entire weight of the british planning system to prevent it www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Thames Water redraws mega-reservoir plan amid local opposition
A new public consultation has opened on the 150bn-litre above-ground White Horse project in Abingdon, Oxfordshire
www.theguardian.com
September 14, 2026 at 9:03 AM
continually maddening that people blame "the water companies" for hosepipe bans when "the water companies" have been begging to build new reservoirs but a few retired QCs in Oxfordshire have used the entire weight of the british planning system to prevent it www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Quite funny to look at this and realise this is a lament for a student graduating into the best job market for graduates in the past 21 years
September 13, 2026 at 9:28 PM
Quite funny to look at this and realise this is a lament for a student graduating into the best job market for graduates in the past 21 years
I’ve flipped on this in recent years. Inheritance tax is so unpopular that almost anything you could replace it with would be seen as a vote-winner, so it’s a perfect opportunity to load £9bn of taxation on a bad thing you want to limit. Personally I’d do an annual property tax
Inheritance tax is paid by less than 5% of estates and couples can already transfer up to £1m in property tax-free.
Abolishing it would be regressive, unmeritocratic and a bad use of £9bn.
Abolishing it would be regressive, unmeritocratic and a bad use of £9bn.
September 13, 2026 at 8:51 PM
I’ve flipped on this in recent years. Inheritance tax is so unpopular that almost anything you could replace it with would be seen as a vote-winner, so it’s a perfect opportunity to load £9bn of taxation on a bad thing you want to limit. Personally I’d do an annual property tax
So many people with aviation psychosis claiming that the Wrights’ invention is going to reshape global geography when it can’t even go more than 25 yards
September 13, 2026 at 4:25 PM
So many people with aviation psychosis claiming that the Wrights’ invention is going to reshape global geography when it can’t even go more than 25 yards
The semantic drift of “AI psychosis” from “break with reality exacerbated or caused by sycophantic chatbots” to “person with strong feelings about AI which are not the same as the strong feelings of AI held by the speaker” is bad
September 13, 2026 at 7:50 AM
The semantic drift of “AI psychosis” from “break with reality exacerbated or caused by sycophantic chatbots” to “person with strong feelings about AI which are not the same as the strong feelings of AI held by the speaker” is bad
Don’t say “an OpenAI agent swarm autonomously hacked HuggingFace”. Once you say “OpenAI built a ‘hack any company’ machine and accidentally pointed it at HuggingFace, where it performed exactly as designed”, you’ll see that there’s nothing to be alarmed about
September 12, 2026 at 4:09 PM
Don’t say “an OpenAI agent swarm autonomously hacked HuggingFace”. Once you say “OpenAI built a ‘hack any company’ machine and accidentally pointed it at HuggingFace, where it performed exactly as designed”, you’ll see that there’s nothing to be alarmed about
well that's a bleak linkedin subject
September 11, 2026 at 3:31 PM
well that's a bleak linkedin subject
my daughter's year one curriculum has just been emailed to me, and one of the goals for this year is to "explore how to use a computer safely". finally i understand the calls for abstinence-only education
September 11, 2026 at 3:27 PM
my daughter's year one curriculum has just been emailed to me, and one of the goals for this year is to "explore how to use a computer safely". finally i understand the calls for abstinence-only education
MEANWHILE ON 6 DIMENSIONAL HYPERBLUESKY:
“Hey zorpulon, look, I’ve networked the emulated human connectomes together and taught them to pretend they’re in early 21st century earth”
“Hey zorpulon, look, I’ve networked the emulated human connectomes together and taught them to pretend they’re in early 21st century earth”
Google mapped the entire connectome of a fly brain and made it available for download research.google/blog/a-conne...
A connectomics milestone: Mapping the complete male fruit fly brain
research.google
September 11, 2026 at 10:40 AM
MEANWHILE ON 6 DIMENSIONAL HYPERBLUESKY:
“Hey zorpulon, look, I’ve networked the emulated human connectomes together and taught them to pretend they’re in early 21st century earth”
“Hey zorpulon, look, I’ve networked the emulated human connectomes together and taught them to pretend they’re in early 21st century earth”
Fun paper which argues with numbers that a) cars suck so bad and b) most of the sucking is due to drivers rather than cars, so autonomous vehicles vastly reduce the sucking but c) includes an assumption that they reduce total miles driven which feels bold www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The global cost of automobility
This study quantifies the private and social costs of global automobility and evaluates the potential economic benefits of a transition to shared elec…
www.sciencedirect.com
September 11, 2026 at 10:38 AM
Fun paper which argues with numbers that a) cars suck so bad and b) most of the sucking is due to drivers rather than cars, so autonomous vehicles vastly reduce the sucking but c) includes an assumption that they reduce total miles driven which feels bold www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Alex Hern
I was sort of halfass-adjacent to Media Twitter as it happened and I remember a lot of attention on what twitter was doing to journalism (many early assessments were wrong) and I think we're getting a sense of what twitter did to journalists as people, which was complicated and often quite bad.
September 10, 2026 at 7:20 PM
I was sort of halfass-adjacent to Media Twitter as it happened and I remember a lot of attention on what twitter was doing to journalism (many early assessments were wrong) and I think we're getting a sense of what twitter did to journalists as people, which was complicated and often quite bad.
Reposted by Alex Hern
Demand DCs use renewable energy. Demand access to open weight models. Learn how to use AI effectively to do things you couldn't otherwise. Dont fire strays at friends
September 10, 2026 at 4:41 PM
Demand DCs use renewable energy. Demand access to open weight models. Learn how to use AI effectively to do things you couldn't otherwise. Dont fire strays at friends
Reposted by Alex Hern
The icon does unfortunately fuck
My mind will just be stuck thinking about this icon for the rest of the day 🧘♂️
September 10, 2026 at 4:04 PM
The icon does unfortunately fuck
actually think i'm on the side of the minister here, rather than the person patiently explaining that in a national crisis serious enough to prevent me seeing my own daughter the day after her birth the fact that civil servants aren't CRB checked is relevant
On the importance of ministers understanding delivery. Guess the politician she's talking about...
September 10, 2026 at 1:41 PM
actually think i'm on the side of the minister here, rather than the person patiently explaining that in a national crisis serious enough to prevent me seeing my own daughter the day after her birth the fact that civil servants aren't CRB checked is relevant
Reposted by Alex Hern
I am going to get into so much trouble for this.
But it is true. Free public transport is bad economics. My latest for The Economist.
www.economist.com/finance-and-...
But it is true. Free public transport is bad economics. My latest for The Economist.
www.economist.com/finance-and-...
The economic folly of free buses
There are better ways to fight climate change, immobility and inequality
www.economist.com
September 10, 2026 at 10:54 AM
I am going to get into so much trouble for this.
But it is true. Free public transport is bad economics. My latest for The Economist.
www.economist.com/finance-and-...
But it is true. Free public transport is bad economics. My latest for The Economist.
www.economist.com/finance-and-...
Google mapped the entire connectome of a fly brain and made it available for download research.google/blog/a-conne...
A connectomics milestone: Mapping the complete male fruit fly brain
research.google
September 10, 2026 at 8:38 AM
Google mapped the entire connectome of a fly brain and made it available for download research.google/blog/a-conne...
Reposted by Alex Hern
Hi, I didn't wanna make this video but I need to come clean about something. This whole time I've been a p-zombie with no phenomenal experience or interiority. I've been getting messages asking whether there's anything it's like to be me, and the answer is no. I'd say I'm sorry, but, well, you know.
September 9, 2026 at 6:57 PM
Hi, I didn't wanna make this video but I need to come clean about something. This whole time I've been a p-zombie with no phenomenal experience or interiority. I've been getting messages asking whether there's anything it's like to be me, and the answer is no. I'd say I'm sorry, but, well, you know.