Political bias and mistrust are corroding our democracy
Illustrations by Hannah Robinson Over time, political interest has grown but our trust in the system has markedly diminished. We’ve lost trust in traditional news channels and increasingly look to social…
Social media activism can be incredibly powerful, but it can also be incredibly dangerous
Illustrations by Hannah Robinson Since the killing of George Floyd, social media activism has proved itself to be an incredibly powerful phenomenon. Millions of people have taken to Instagram and Twitter,…
Are online examinations just another unnecessary burden for students?
Illustrations by Hannah Robinson As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the education sector has metamorphised into a huge digital operation with a sizable challenge on its hand. Considering the rapidly…
Technology can benefit our mental health during COVID-19
Illustrations by Hannah Robinson The infectious pandemic has been a testing time for humanity and has affected individuals in ways scarily imaginable just four months ago. From increased loneliness due to…
Love, virtually: A defence of online dating in time of COVID-19
Illustrations by Hannah Robinson In a culture of prolonged separation, where the prospects of seeing those closest to our hearts remain indefinite, people are showcasing creative ways of coming together –…
The perils of online dating
Dating is hard, in 2020. We live in a hectic world, always busy with updating our status (online and offline), working also when we are resting, monitoring our online reputation…
Fake news hysteria can only lead to fake solutions
Illustration by Hannah Robinson Fake news has become an omnipresent aspect of politics around the globe. It appears that no election, referendum, or debate can happen without this ubiquitous term being…
Hurdle Race: the meeting between Zuckerberg and AOC
Illustration by Hannah Robinson On October 23 2019, the U.S. Congress’s Financial Affairs Committee convened with Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, to discuss the new challenge of the social network, the…
Sex and the Surveillance State
In July, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Karen Bradley announced that the British Board of Film Classification would delay the implementation of section 14(1) of…
Humanity’s interaction with computers should (mostly) remain external
This week, Elon Musk – a giant of the tech industry – unveiled plans for a neurological implant. This implant – when inserted into the brain – will directly link…
Squeezed between GAFAN and BATX, does Europe have an alternative?
The media industry is on the verge of another revolution. The media and tech giants are developing with intense speed and the separating line between the two is becoming almost…
Building the New within the Old: Edinburgh Futures Institute
Lauriston Place had been home to the Royal Infirmary since 1879, before moving in 2003. Right up until its close cutting edge medicine was developed within the ageing walls, including…
Don’t buy into Silicon Valley’s huel-fuelled hell
I almost failed to write this article. I was exiting Huel’s website in exasperation at its fruitlessness (pun intended), when one of their founder’s names caught my eye. The name…
It’s time we started paying for social media
Is it time to end free-to-use social media? Social and political discourse has taken a significant turn over the last 10 years. People are forced into extreme, one-sided positions to…
Censored Chinese search engine is oppressive, Google it
I grew up in a country where using Google was an act of defiance. Just to look something up on my preferred search engine involved downloading several VPNs, switching back…
In the social media age, our likes are our power
We all have an understanding of the power of a like. We understand that when we like a friend’s new Instagram post we are providing them with a sense of…
Facebook’s left-leaning leaders don’t run a free speech platform
What shocked me most about the recent Facebook-analytica scandal, was not that Facebook are using and marketing your data but that people were actually surprised by this. If you think…
Zuckerberg’s interrogation was too bad to be true
I sent an email yesterday to James Patterson (best selling crime and thriller writer) with a great new idea for a novel that I think he could work wonders with….
There’s nowhere to hide from Cambridge Analytica, nowhere at all
It’s been a tough few years for globalists. At an exponential rate, all that they heralded as vessels to bring us closer together – free trade, open borders, the future…
The power of AI could kill capitalism
It’s hard to write about this topic without sounding like the synopsis of a Black Mirror episode. But the truth is, the impact that AI could have on the workplace…
Robot rights before human rights: Why AI is a step too far
In October 2017, Sophia, a young woman took the headlines. Sophia is a creation of Hanson Robotics, and is the first robot to ever have an honorary citizenship in a…