Friday 10 July, 2026

PHEW! WHAT A SCORCHER! Screenshot As the front page of British tabloids used to put it. Quote of the Day ”When people are least sure, they are often most dogmatic.” John Kenneth Galbraith Musical alternative to the morning’s radio news Cavatina (from The Deer Hunter) Link Long Read of the Day We’re using the wrong pronouns for AI Interesting essay by Matt Ridley Most people who talk about artificial intelligence reach, sooner or later, for the singular. There is the AI, the machine, the mind we are about to build, and the only argument left is whether it saves us or finishes us off. Matt Ridley thinks that whole habit of speech is a category error, and at ARC in London this week, the annual gathering of the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, the science writer offered something cheerier and more curious instead: stop saying it, and start saying them. His line was almost a grammar lesson. “We’re using the wrong pronoun,” he told the room, before landing it plainly: “It’s not it.…