The app tax: how digital exclusion creates a poverty premium
One million UK households cancelled broadband they couldn’t afford. Now McDonald’s, supermarkets and essential services charge more to people without apps. This is structural digital exclusion.
The question nobody’s asking: should we be doing this at all?
We keep building AI systems without asking if we should. After 40 years in digital transformation, I’ve seen what happens when moral questions get parked.
The AI excuse: how tech spending became the perfect cover for cutting costs
Tech companies blame AI for layoffs, but the real culprit is reckless overspending on infrastructure. Why this pattern matters for everyone, not just tech workers.
The AI con: how politicians sell Silicon Valley hype whilst public expertise crumbles
Scientists challenge von der Leyen’s AI claims as leaders from Brussels to Westminster bet public services on marketing hype rather than evidence. What’s being lost whilst billions flow to private contractors?
Workplace disengagement and AI: The cruel irony of building systems that diminish everyone
A Perkonomics report reveals that whilst 69% of employers think AI is improving employee experience, only 38% of workers feel more valued by it. With workplace disengagement at high levels, is it any wonder the systems make users feel the same?
Follow the money: Why £3.35bn government AI spending ignores the people who need it most
New data reveals the UK government has spent £3.35bn on AI since 2018, with the Met Office getting £1bn for weather forecasting whilst the departments serving vulnerable people, Treasury and DWP, sit in the bottom three. The spending patterns tell us everything about whose problems we think AI should solve.