top of page
The politics edit
DRINK
“I cried at my desk a lot those days. I remember going from over 200 people in the company to 30. It was brutal.”
So often, when we talk about AI, we hear from the people standing outside of it.
The family living beside a new data centre. The graduate struggling to find work. The CEO who has frozen hiring. The economist predicting what automation will do to the labour market. The environmentalist warning about energy consumption. The artist and writer wondering what happens when a machine can produce their work in seconds.
It is undeniable that AI has irreversibly affected every single one of our lives. And it is important we speak up.
But what about the people inside?
THE POLITICS OF
Intelligence
AI ethics, advocacy and the politics of AI. From the latest news to original investigations, we examine how AI is reshaping our world, who benefits from it, who loses out and, importantly, what we can do about it.
All articles
Social Rules and Sexual Misconduct – What Cornell Carries into the World:
I was working at the Excel in London when I took out my phone, checking my manager group chat. Eyes glued to my screen, I went deaf, ignoring my colleague asking if everything was alright. Forcing detachment, I gazed at the buzzy event before me. Men wandering around laughing, looking, learning, but all I could perceive was claustrophobia and testosterone. The sea of working men around me inspired my angle. I kept thinking about how Cornell University, prestigious and hierarc
Mirror, Status Signal, Manoeuvre - Will EVs Forever Pander To The Rich?
Source: Geograph Britain and Ireland Once the road was ruled by 4x4s and combine harvesters. Nowadays it’s ruled by the rich. Or, at least, that may be the way we see it. Electric cars are proven to produce lower emissions, cheaper refuelling costs and a smoother driving experience, but aside from techno-pessimism and the off-putting links between the tech and one of its founding fathers, Elon Musk, the biggest barrier when it comes to purchasing one of these vehicles is, und
Algospeak: You Can’t Unalive Meaning
Unalive. Seggs. Leg booty. Terms like these pop up all over social media. To the uninitiated, they may seem fairly strange. Which, as it often goes with new slang, is kind of the point. These words are part of the phenomenon known as algospeak, a strategy used to circumvent social media content moderation algorithms relying on keywords. According to Merriam-Webster, the term algospeak is a blend of the algo- from algorithm and -speak, a suffix indicating a type of jargon. The
Why Is the Government Teaching Asylum Seekers About Consent?
In August 2026, the Home Office published new guidance for asylum seekers explaining UK law and expectations around gender equality, domestic abuse and consent. UK Home Office, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons Some of it is strikingly explicit. Women do not need permission from a husband, father, brother or any other man to work, study, travel, marry or make decisions about their lives. Consent is required every time someone has s
Are We Being Sold Hope?
When Keir Starmer stood outside Downing Street for the first time as Prime Minister in July 2024, he talked about hope. Andy Burnham, then Mayor of Greater Manchester, at St Andrew’s House in Edinburgh on 13 August 2024. Image: Scottish Government via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. Cropped from the original. He said it had been ‘draining away’ from Britain. Public service was a ‘pre-condition for hope’. Homes, schools and security were its ‘ingredients’. His government would w
Why Can’t Prevent Stop Rebels Without A Cause?
Children’s Commissioner Rachel De Souza’s initiative to help Prevent improve its response to young, violence-obsessed individuals shines a light on an ultimate vulnerability. The threat of radicalisation in young people has been a major blight in Britain for decades, as children gain internet access at a younger and younger age with less and less safeguarding. Prevent, formed to intervene in the radicalisation of young people and help those who already are radicalised, is in
When Did ADHD Become a Personality Trait? The Blurred Line Between Neurodivergence and Disability
"https://www.magnific.com/free-photo Image by wayhomestudio on Magnific I have romanticised ADHD. I've talked about ‘superpowers’. Creativity. Hyperfocus. The ability to think differently. This isn't because I know nothing about neurodivergence. I spent 13 years working with children, many with ADHD or autism. I know that what looks like distraction, refusal or disorganisation from the outside can conceal an exhausting amount of work underneath. And still, I'm one of the roma
Five Years Since The Taliban Takeover and the Plight of Afghan Women Today
A young Afghan girl goes to school in Kabul in November 2021. Photo by Wanman uthmaniyyah, licensed under Upsplash It has been five years since the lives of the Afghan people irrevocably changed. Today, a half-decade of Taliban rule and the desecration of all things equality, human rights, and hope. What had been fought against for twenty years had returned to power, victimising in full force the women and the children and the men who needed a lifeline. The Taliban, an unreco
Cofnas Confronted: Professor Jason Arday and the Journalist Who Broke the Story
Nathan Cofnas has finally been asked the question that has followed him since Professor Arday’s death: does he believe he bears any responsibility for what happened? In his first interview since the former Cambridge professor died, Cofnas was confronted by Al Jazeera over the plagiarism allegations he brought into the public arena and the events that followed. He acknowledged that his intervention set off a chain of events which led to what he described as a tragic outcome, w
Bernie Sanders Sounds the Alarm in Letter to AI Bosses: Yes, We Should Be Scared, But We Need to Also Act
There are times when warnings about artificial intelligence can feel so extreme that for some, they become difficult to take seriously. The language of extinction, machines escaping human control and technological catastrophe can sound like science fiction, particularly when the companies building these systems continue to present each new model as another step towards a more productive and prosperous future. But what happens when the warnings are coming from people inside th
Imran Khan in prison: His sons’ warnings raise fresh questions over human rights in Pakistan
For three years, Imran Khan has remained behind bars while Pakistan continues to argue over whether his imprisonment represents the lawful prosecution of a former prime minister or the political persecution of an opposition leader. Now, renewed warnings from his two sons have brought the conditions of his detention back into international focus. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons Speaking to Al Jazeera this
Inside Silicon Valley: The People Building AI Are Worried Too
“I cried at my desk a lot those days. I remember going from over 200 people in the company to 30. It was brutal.” So often, when we talk about AI, we hear from the people standing outside of it. The family living beside a new data centre. The graduate struggling to find work. The CEO who has frozen hiring. The economist predicting what automation will do to the labour market. The environmentalist warning about energy consumption. The artist and writer wondering what happens w
“Everyone in by Christmas”: Inside Burnham’s Effort to End Rough Sleeping
A belief I strongly hold is that rough sleeping in the UK is a political choice. There is absolutely no reason why anyone should be sleeping on the streets in a country as wealthy and resourced as Britain. Official portrait of Andy Burnham via Parliament Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Homelessness in Britain is pervasive. But homelessness and rough sleeping are not interchangeable terms. Someone can be homeless while living in temporary accommodation, staying with friends o
Ask, and You Shall Receive: Mamdani’s a People Pleaser
Photo: TonyNorthrup, “Zohran Mamdani at 2026 Chinese New Year Celebrations in Manhattan, New York City,” via .Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 Got a pothole on your road? Mamdani will fix it. Lack of drinking fountains? Mamdani’s on it. Think he should wear a bicycle helmet? Just tag him. Need anything done in New York? Ask Mamdani. In an age when trust and faith in political officials and governmental bodies are hitting an intense low, Zohran Mamdani has figure
Black and British: Professor Jason Arday and the Crime That Didn’t Match the Punishment
Professor Jason Arday faced extraordinary scrutiny after allegations of plagiarism emerged. But when his treatment is compared with that of white academics accused of serious misconduct, an uncomfortable question emerges: was the response really about academic integrity, or was race being used to turn one man’s alleged failings into evidence of a much larger political grievance? Floral tributes to Jason Arday at Jesus College, Cambridge, on 17 August 2026,” via Wikimedia Comm
The AI Drought
Planet or profit? The devastating consequences of the AI boom. It has become painfully apparent, AI has destroyed the world as we knew it. Now, as the dust settles we are watching the new world emerge; record job losses, climate damage, emerging studies showing the already detrimental effects on our brains- and even AI marriages (yes, people are really marrying AI bots). But there's one issue being lost and obscured amongst the ruble: the AI drought. Whenever you prompt AI, w
The Grassroots Algorithm
Open TikTok and you will see it: a girl in London filming her skincare routine, scroll once and you are in Gaza under bombardment, scroll again and you land at the No King’s Day protests in the United States, where hundreds of thousands boo Donald Trump on his birthday. The absurd proximity of worlds is not an accident of code. Activists have worked out how to bend the most surveilled communication system in human history to their own ends. And yes, I know, this is the moment
Political Cannibals: How the Left Ate Itself.
Jeremy Corbyn, Emily Thornberry, and local councillors attend a petition presentation to Yvette Cooper by Islington residents calling for more affordable housing, London, 19 October 2006. Image by Labourfriend / Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain). Across the West, the left is devouring itself. We are witnessing a very strange feast, not one that takes place around tables but within political parties. The image is almost biblical: progressives and centrists locked in a ritual o
Could Zack Polanski Save Britain?
Zack Polanski. Photo by Rob Browne (Public Domain / CC0), via Wikimedia Commons. Are we too far gone? Is this the end of life as we know it? Will Britain even survive much longer? It has become painfully apparent- Britain is on its knees. As a young person living in London in my short few years of adulthood I have witnessed life become increasingly unlivable- and not just for people my age. The cost of groceries, the rental shortages as if extortionate rents weren't bad enoug
Peacekeeper or Bystander?
Since the UN’s founding in 1945, over 250 major conflicts have occurred worldwide. This raises the question: In a world with the highest levels of disputes, since 1946, has the UN really fulfilled its role of peacekeeper, or is it purely a powerless bystander? Let’s begin with some context. The UN emerged at the end of WWII as a way to bring states together and prevent further conflicts from occurring. How could it achieve this? The UN provides a forum for countries to come
bottom of page