Dear Citizens,
However bad it’s going for you at work, it could always be worse: Your employer could be tracking every mouse movement and keystroke you make so that they can eventually replace you with AI. Just another day at Meta. There’s no replacing you here though: The Citizens community is growing every day.
Here’s what else to know, watch and do this week.
💻 ONE WATCH: Pressing On 💻
What does it mean to pursue fearless journalism no matter what? For World Press Freedom Day last week, our founder Carole Cadwalladr says look no further than Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief, Wael al-Dahdouh. Here he talks about his determination to continue reporting after losing his wife, children, and relatives in Israeli air strikes.
👉 Watch here:
👀 Bonus watch: We see consciousness in AI the same way we see faces in clouds, says neuroscientist Anil Seth. A fascinating TED Talk on the all-too-human tendency to project inner life onto machines that are really just very convincing mimics.
💃 ONE READ: The AI 180 💃
Since the start of Trump 2.0, the story has been oligarchs buying access and the U.S resisting all regulation and oversight of AI. Suddenly, though, US AI policy looks as confusing as an open/closed sign in the Strait of Hormuz. From Ars Technica:
But after Anthropic announced that it would be too risky to release its latest Claude Mythos model —fearing that bad actors might exploit its advanced cybersecurity capabilities—Trump’s suddenly concerned about AI safety. According to White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, Trump may soon issue an executive order mandating government testing of advanced AI systems prior to release.
It could be posturing. It could be confusion. No one even knows what “safe” means!
Read more here about what the US might be planning… and all the ways it could go sideways.
👉 Bonus read: Funny how the money always circles back to the same places. Reform UK’s treasurer and three other major donors who handed Nigel Farage’s party £1.55m are linked to One Hyde Park, the Knightsbridge address synonymous with offshore wealth and oligarch cash. Iain Overton has the details.
📚 ICYMI: Friend of The Citizens and contributor Daisy Steinhardt has a Substack! It’s great. Read her inaugural post: I Watched Piers Morgan’s Russell Brand Interview So You Don’t Have To.
For years, a handful of Big Tech companies have wired themselves into the UK’s public services and there are no signs of slowing down. Get 20% off this May and help us push back.
🎉 ONE ACTION: Data Dump 🎉
As AI data centers are being planned all over America, a wave of local data center resistance is rising to protect their communities - 360,000 resisters to be exact. Want to join them?
👉 Learn more here, and sign up for a local group.
✊ Bonus action: Big Tech may have us in its grip, but protest singer-songwriter Kimwei McCarthy and digital marketing expert Matt Tutt say it isn’t too late: we can switch to ethical, open-source alternatives.
Join them next Wednesday 13th May 18:00 - 19:00 (BST) for an online talk, and learn how to treat digital sovereignty as Non-Violent Direct Action. RSVP here.
That’s all for this week,
Team Citizens
*PS - Join our Signal Chat if you haven’t already! 350+ people share practical advice on protecting your data, organising against Big Tech and staying ahead of what you need to know.
The human spirit is unconquerable.