These notes are a tool I use for reflecting, remembering (because I can't), networking and public accountability. Read more here.
This week featured: an Exec Board; my Digital Transformation Advisory Board (focusing on BFI Player); an external meeting on AI; misc lesser meetings; more AI reading and ruminating; and I wrote the leadership intro to the weekly all-staff communiqué.
Quite pleased with the latter, overcoming the paralysis of the blank page with a theme of “bringing it together” (one of the BFI’s culture drivers) and linking that to Conway’s Law to talk about how all the digital work we’re doing is countering its effects.
The digital advisory board was awesome. Useful advice up the wazoo. Really felt the benefit of having this group of wise owls to call upon.
By the way, now is a great time to subscribe to BFI Player so you can watch All We Imagine As Light which drops tomorrow and all this good stuff coming soon and already available. Player apps are available on most devices.
I’ll keep the other news super short. It’s Bafta weekend. It’s half term. I’m doing a 3-day week next week accordingly. I cancelled my Stack subscription (the mags are more worthy and literary than I expected and I don’t have time to do them justice). I bought myself a convertible Chromebook (to lessen my personal use of the work laptop) and I love it.
AI roundup
Just when you think you’ve caught up on your AI reading and distilled it into a workable position this lot comes along…
GDS Playbook for government use of AI. This is incredibly helpful and clear (props to the content design!) and rightly emphasises taking a multidisciplinary, user-centred and agile approach.
DSIT rebrands AI Security Institute and signs MoU with Anthropic. Rebrands the who? Signs a what now (why this, why now, why them, why not others, what need, what’s the rush, who’s the precedent?) HMG is moving mad on AI but I guess the overall message is unmistakably “we’re game, invest here”.
AI Action Summit in Paris. And the mysterious non-signing of a thing 🤷♂️
Mike Bracken’s post on reframing the debate (also on the radio). I found Mike’s take helpful in clarifying that the Paris summit moved the conversation on from a fear response towards collaboration and action; and from US dominance towards sovereign and open AI development (although that makes the Anthropic MoU even more baffling).
I’d heard about “Humphrey” from insiders but hadn’t seen these public mentions before in TechCrunch, Civil Service World and UK Authority. A few thoughts on that:
- The name is fun but cringe. I love the subversion, Britishness, and classic TV reference but it rings smug and elitist too.
- The concept has potential. A shared suite of AI tools for common civil service challenges beats duplication – the usual platforms biz case.
- The execution and risks are worth being highly sceptical about.
Thomson Reuters Wins First Major AI Copyright Case in the US (but it wasn’t about gen-AI so may not be that meaningful a precedent).
💭 Keeping up with all the AI news feels like a second job atm. Complexity for digital folks expands at both ends: legacy tech accumulates and emerging tech accelerates. Expectations of and attitudes to tech are also polarised, from starry-eyed believers in tech silver bullets to the digitally excluded, technophobes and techlash. Multiply that by a whole company domain (which includes a whole tech-disrupted sector). It’s all fascinating to work on, I’m lucky, but it’s also a lot to try to hold in your head! 🤯
☢️ Also, I’ve been rewatching Chernobyl all week and while I’m not saying the government AI announcement frenzy is exactly like the Russians rushing Chernobyl’s safety test I’m also not saying there aren’t parallels.
Other links
- Charity Digital’s consultation on a revised Code of Practice for large charities. Glad this exists. Bit weak on agile, misses the “raised expectations” part of the definition entirely.
- NCVO digital maturity framework. Via the above, a cracking framework I hadn’t seen before.
- CreaTech Report from Royal Anniversary Trust and DCMS.
- New Local: radical leadership – power, possibility and public service
- Scrum doesn’t say…
- What parking apps tell us about the UK
- A spicier than usual weeknote from Matt Edgar
- As internet enshittification marches on here are some of the worst offenders
- https://udm14.com – Google without AI clutter
Films and stuff
🎬 Nickel Boys. Extraordinary cinema, intensely moving and effective in form and content.
🎬 Seed of the Sacred Fig. Brave film mixing fiction with real footage of brutal beatings in Iran.
🎬 Training Day. Revisited this on Friday night with the teenagers. It stands up. Forgot Snoop and Dre are in it.
🎬 Barry Lyndon at the PCC with Joel as part of his fascination with Napoleon-era battles. I’d never seen it so it was good to cross another classic off the list, especially on the big screen. But I didn’t love it.
📺 Chernobyl. As mentioned, I binged this with the boys through the week cos Joel is studying Chernobyl in school. Loved seeing it again, what a masterpiece. By coincidence this Russian drone strike happened right after we were done watching – wtf?!?
📺 We’ve started rewatching Popstars (2001) – the early reality pop competition that created Hear’say (and runners up Liberty X). The one with Darius, Myleene Klass and nasty Nigel. Totally forgot there was no public vote, this was before they figured out the formula.
🕹️ Tried Astrobot, it’s well-made but I don’t feel motivated to carry on.
🎧 Last Night Reprise, Pressure Funk, Down Here, Eternal are all 👌
Distractions
- I don’t miss working in this hostile environment one bit
- Breakfast is tempting
- No one saves milk you moron:
