Writing
Essays written between 2014 and today — mostly about artificial intelligence, public institutions and the way technology reshapes work, with occasional detours into faith, film and family.
- 24 November 2024
What does it mean to be human in a world of AI?
Speech – House of Lords, 19 November 2024 Three men walked into a bar and discussed what it means to be human. "To be is to do" – said John Paul Sartre: our humanity is self-defined by our actions. Who we are and why we are here is for us to determine. "No no no," Plato replied...
Essays · 11 min read
- 1 April 2022
Defeating the Great Stagnation
For Technology to raise productivity, we need to do more than just plug it in. Given the challenges of the moment, the Chancellor’s Spring Statement last week was somewhat inevitably focussed on short-term cost-of-living mitigations, with much less discussion of the most important structural challenge facing the UK today: the Great Stagnation. UK businesses produce …
Work · 4 min read
- 31 December 2021
Film: Don’t look up – review
Netflix’s latest comedy (released 24 Dec 2021) is a laugh-but-cringe satire on the inability of our modern institutions and social systems to respond to existential threats. As the US President (Meryl Streep) says early on “You cannot go around saying to people that there’s 100% chance that they’re going to die.” Specifically the film dissects …
Film · 2 min read
- 1 July 2019
AI: the future of work (hallelujah)!
A lightly edited version of a talk given at St. James Clerkenwell, June 26th 2019 Tonight I’d like to ask two questions: Is a Robot going to take your job? And what has faith got to do with the future of work? First of all, what is AI? AI is computer software that is designed …
Faith · Work · 11 min read
- 24 June 2019
AI Safety: correcting 200,000 years of human error
Text of a speech given at the Slaughter & May Data Privacy Forum Amid the dizzying possibilities within the future of technology, AI, and data, in recent years somehow we have often wound up worrying about how AI is going to go wrong. Sometimes apocalyptically wrong – some of our greatest scientists and engineers like …
Work · 8 min read
- 18 April 2019
University Digital Services: is an avalanche coming?
Boards (exec and non exec) should consider technology integrated with university services, not a separate concern the ‘IT department’. This is not yet the default behaviour within the HE sector. Specific opportunities include: faster assessment & feedback, personalised tuition, and paperless administration processes. These reforms will increase University efficiency and effectiveness. Digital is not the …
Essays · 8 min read
- 3 December 2018
Have the machines taken over?
A video of my conversation with Stuart Russell in Westminster Abbey on 20th November 2018:
Work · 1 min read
- 30 November 2018
Trust is Britain’s secret weapon in the global AI race
From self-driving cars to new drug discoveries and devices which know what you want before you do, AI has the potential to transform our lives as fundamentally as the printing press and electricity. It is estimated AI could add $15.7 trillion to global GDP by 2030. No surprise then that the UK government’s industrial strategy …
Work · 2 min read
- 20 June 2018
AI Ethics: send money, guns & lawyers
Photo: Iulian Ursu (cc) My speech notes, for a talk given to the Westminster Abbey Institute on 31 May 2018 This evening I’d like to present a problem within what I believe to be the most transformative technology of our lives: artificial intelligence. I’ll suggest why I think that problem will involve some colossal rows involving …
Essays · Work · 13 min read
- 28 January 2018
Freedom to flounder
“To food, friends, and freedom.” My traditional toast at dinner is usually readily echoed, whoever happens to be at our table. Yet if I were to substitute Freedom for a more specific word that historically has had much of the same meaning – salvation – then many of our guests might choke on their brussel …
Faith · 1 min read
- 15 September 2015
Refugees Welcome
I’m going to a London hack-weekend on the 2nd October with a proposition. I’d like to create an easier way for people to offer to host refugees in their homes for a period of time. This recent newspaper article gave advice for people looking to offer a room, but the process is far from straightforward. …
1 min read
- 21 January 2015
The Glory of the Church
A ComRes poll published yesterday showed just 22% of 18-24 year olds believe Christianity is a force for good in the world. Yet I’m struck by the range of ways in which it feels to me that it is making life better for millions of people. Sometimes it is hard to see the glory of …
Faith · 3 min read
- 2 October 2014
Policymaker’s guide to Digital
Quite a few colleagues in the Civil Service have asked me recently about how policy professionals can learn more about ‘digital’. This collection of web resources obviously isn’t definitive or authoritative, and I don’t necessarily agree with everything that the authors say, but everything here has helped me personally. If you have other suggestions, please …
Work · 1 min read
- 11 September 2014
Digital Government in the next Parliament
Yesterday I gave a speech to the High Potential Development Scheme cohort of Civil Service Directors and Directors General. I’ve blogged it here in case it is of wider interest. What does digital mean for you? Getting a decent laptop for work? Maybe getting Google alerts of all the relevant news on your brief, straight …
Work · 11 min read
- 14 April 2014
Children: the missing manual
Anna and I recently went on a parenting course. This wasn’t under duress from social services or out of sheer despair, but because we thought it might be good. And it was. Excellent in fact. We did it at St. Marks Battersea Rise, but it isn’t a ‘religious’ course – there were plenty of folks …
Family · 3 min read
- 9 April 2014
Digital delivery
I’ve recently published two posts about the work we’re doing in the Government Digital Service to track our progress, and to measure the performance of public services: Digital marches on: rising take-up, falling costs The Performance Platform: open for business We have also recently launched the Digital Service Standard, finalised guidance for Agile business cases …
Work · 1 min read
- 1 February 2014
New Year’s Resolutions
Last week at work, we finished our planning for the coming year. There’s plenty to do!
Work · 1 min read
- 22 January 2014
Freetown Dispatches
What follows is a series of letters to friends and family sent while my wife and I were working with the Sierra Leone government in Freetown between April and December 2009. 27 April 2009 We’ve just finished our first full week in Freetown, and thought it was time we let you know that we’re still …
Essays · 28 min read
- 12 January 2014
I made a thing
Every workplace has different values: different cultures and stories that shape and reflect staff habits. When I was at the Treasury, credibility came from getting a ‘measure’ into the budget, with cheers as the Chancellor duly read it out at the dispatch box. At Google, it came from having been there a long time – …
1 min read
- 4 January 2014
Farewell Grandad Peter
It is unusual to start a blog with a farewell, but I thought I would post the eulogy that my sister and I gave for our Grandfather, who died just before Christmas. We stand here today as the eldest of Grandad’s five grandchildren and we would like to spend a few minutes sharing Peter’s early …
Essays · 10 min read