AI guides, and student involvement

June 13, 2025

I keep seeing blog articles and guides about using AI in education, and they mostly seem to be a form of painting by numbers.

Quick looks: VIBE Coding by Example

June 1, 2025

For the time being, this book is free in Kindle format.

Illustration of algorithmic objectivity, generated in ImageFX

Computing discussion topic

May 23, 2025

A topic to discuss with your students perhaps: the hidden bias in algorithms.

Review: The Language of Deception: Weaponizing Next Generation AI, by Justin Hutchens

May 17, 2024

AI might not be ‘intelligent’ in the strictest sense – but it can certainly appear to be, which is almost as worrying.

Articles about AI in the media

December 17, 2019

Journalism in the field of AI: is it biased?

AI-generated content: does it matter how articles are written?

December 16, 2019

Does it matter if articles are written by an algorithm?

Robot made of Lego, at John Lewis, Photo by Terry Freedman

AI: It was a very active and engaging and free way of learning, in some ways

September 16, 2019

I’ve been experimenting with AI-generated articles. I’m using an application called Story AI. You enter the first 40 words, and the AI does the rest. Here’s the result of the experiment.

Books in brief: Technically Wrong

August 17, 2018

This is one of a current spate of books about the in-built bias found in many automated processes.

The cover of the latest issue of Digital Education

Digital Education AI edition

August 8, 2018

The latest issue of the free newsletter Digital Education is about to be published. It has a special focus on artificial intelligence, and there’s a chance to win a book in a prize draw. Read on for more details.

Machine Learning and Human Intelligence, by Rosemary Luckin

July 10, 2018

Some notes about this new book, plus information about a special discount to subscribers of the Digital Education newsletter, and a great prize draw coming up.

Digital Education: new issue almost out

June 22, 2018

Another information-packed issue of my newsletter, Digital Education, is on its way. There’s a qualifications freebie, news of some brilliant events, and a prize draw, amongst other things.

What I've been reading: Weapons of Math Destruction

September 5, 2017

What's worse than being governed by algorithms? Not even knowing what the algorithm is doing. This very timely and readable book lifts the lid of what goes on in many walks of life.

What I've been reading: Thinking Machines

October 14, 2016

A really engaging exploration into the development of AI and the problems it has had to grapple with.

Recent book reviews

Need a break? This book of short stories could be just the ticket!

The 39 stories in this collection span a hundred years, during which Polish society underwent seismic political change several times over.

Review: Digital Culture Shock: Who Creates Technology and Why This Matters

An interesting look at how differently societies across the globe view and use technlogogy.

Review: The Idea Machine: How Books Built Our World and Shape Our Future

The written word has endured for millennia, and herein you'll discover why.

Review: Craftland: A Journey Through Britain's Lost Arts and Vanishing Trades

A book that offers a glimpse into the way traditional crafts were practised before the Industrial Revolution.

Quick look: Digital Culture Shock: Who Creates Technology and Why This Matters

Chapters look at how technology is used around the world, online communities, and building a culturally just infrastucture, amongst other topics.

Artificially Gifted Notes from a Post-Genius World.jpg

Quick look: Artificially Gifted: Notes from a Post-Genius World

The author, Mechelle Gilford, explores how AI may render our usual way of interpreting the concept of “gifted” obsolete.

Quick look: Dr. Bot: Why Doctors Can Fail Us―and How AI Could Save Lives

Dr Bot discusses something I hadn’t really considered…

Review: Seven Brief Lessons on Physics: Anniversary Edition

Rovelli draws readers into his world by describing the development of theories that scientists have posited to try and explain our world and the universe beyond.

Review: Dear Data

The authors spent a year sending each other postcards on a different theme each week, with pictorial representations of the data they had collected.

Review: Blueprints: How mathematics shapes creativity

What place might Blueprints merit on a teacher’s bookshelves?