By Steven David Pickering, Honorary Professor, International Relations, Brunel University of London
New survey evidence from the UK and Japan shows people are open to MPs using AI as a tool, but deeply resistant to handing over democratic decisions to machines.
Artificial intelligence is creeping into every corner of life and is beginning to become a feature of politics. Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat recently criticised colleagues for using ChatGPT to draft their parliamentary speeches, warning that elected representatives should not outsource their judgment to machines. His comments capture a wider unease. Should AI have a place in democratic decision-making?
Supporters…
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By Diane A. Rodgers, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies and Media & Communication, Sheffield Hallam University
“Three parapsychologists lose their university funding” sounds like the beginning of a terrible joke, rather than a premise for one of the most successful films of the 1980s. Nonetheless, this is how the story of Ghostbusters (1984) begins, with a trio of unlikely professors.
Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) cares more about flirting than research, Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) bounces around like an excitable puppy, while nerdy Egon Spengler’s (Harold Ramis) hobby is to “collect spores, moulds and fungus”. It’s no wonder the credibility of their research is called into question, after they attest…
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By Benjamin Neimark, Senior Lecturer, School of Business Management, Queen Mary University of London
Kate Mackintosh, Executive Director of the UCLA Law Promise Institute Europe, University of California, Los Angeles
International law is starting to reflect a growing global consensus on the need to recognise the climate effects of armed conflicts.
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By Justin Stebbing, Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University
Scientists are urging clearer labelling on processed meats such as ham and bacon, and safer production methods to protect consumers from preventable cancer risks.
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By Hannah Hughes, Senior Lecturer International Politics and Climate Change, Aberystwyth University
Veronica Korber Gonçalves, Associate professor, (PPGEEI), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS); Universidade de Brasília (UnB)
The Brazilian Cop30 presidency has a critical role to play as mediator and bridge builder to increase the collective ambition of governments.
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By Sean Brophy, Senior Lecturer, Manchester Metropolitan Business School, Manchester Metropolitan University
In the upcoming budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to raise the minimum wage to £12.70 an hour: £26,416 annually for a full-time job. This means that the gap between salaries for minimum wage jobs and those for professional jobs that require a degree is shrinking fast.
Some smaller law firms are already paying newly qualified solicitors barely more than minimum wage. “Why would young people take on £45,000 of student debt if they can earn the same stacking shelves?” one executive…
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By Jodie Raybould, Lecturer in Psychology, Coventry University
Daniel Waldeck, Assistant Professor in Psychology, Coventry University
Perhaps you know someone who always deflects blame onto you. Someone who smirks when caught in a lie, who twists your words until you’re apologising for their mistakes. And over time, you may start to wonder, can someone like this ever truly change?
You could be talking about a narcissist.
When people high in narcissism feel slighted or criticised, it threatens their fragile or inflated self-esteem, prompting them to react with aggression to protect their self-image. Naturally, when confronted with…
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By Natasha Lindstaedt, Professor in the Department of Government, University of Essex
The former US vice-president is widely regarded as the driving force behind George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq and the US War on Terror.
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By Amnesty International
Amnesty International urges a prompt, independent, impartial and internationally supervised investigation into the deadliest police operation in the state’s history. Amnesty International strongly condemns the massacre that occurred during “Operation Containment” carried out on 28 October in the Alemão and Penha favelas in Rio de Janeiro – the deadliest in the state’s history – which […] The post Brazil: Police massacre in Rio de Janeiro is evidence yet again of systemic and racist violence appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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By Human Rights Watch
On the afternoon of October 25, Cheick Oumar Diallo chatted with companions on a street in Mali’s capital, Bamako. Suddenly, four gendarmes arrived in a pickup truck and motorbikes, arrested him, and drove off. Click to expand Image Cheick Oumar Diallo, Bamako, Mali, 2025. © Private A week later, Diallo—a 43-year-old former trade union member and prominent critic of Mali’s military junta—has not been seen and his whereabouts remain unknown.Witnesses said that the gendarmes told Diallo they had orders to arrest him. When he asked why he was being detained, they refused to explain.…
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