What: Run an LLM Locally with Ollama If you’re curious about running a Large Language Model (LLM) on your own laptop — no cloud, no internet connection required — Ollama makes it surprisingly easy. It’s a simple way to use powerful open-source AI models directly on your machine. Ollama is a developer-friendly tool that makes it simple to run Large Language Models (LLMs) like Llama, Gemma, or Mistral locally on your laptop with just a single terminal command. Ollama supports a wide range of open-source models and is used by developers, researchers, and privacy-conscious professionals who want fast, offline access to AI without sending data to the cloud. ...

How Retrieval-Augmented Generation helps organisations protect sensitive information while harnessing AI’s full potential. When you ask ChatGPT or another AI tool a question, it answers based on what it knows from its training data — typically a massive blend of public information from the internet and available literature up to a certain point in time. While this is powerful, it misses something vital: your own institutional knowledge. Your company’s proprietary policies, control frameworks, audit reports and lessons learned — they aren’t part of the public training set (and you don’t want them to be). But imagine if you could blend the vast “hive mind” of general AI with the unique knowledge sitting inside your own documents - all the while keeping it private, local and secure. That’s exactly what RAG — Retrieval-Augmented Generation — allows you to do. ...

Before an AI system can answer a query, write a paragraph of text, recommend a movie, or drive a car, it must first learn - and that process is called AI training. AI training involves teaching an artificial intelligence model to make accurate predictions or decisions. It learns by analysing large volumes of training data, identifying patterns, and adjusting its internal settings like numerical weights to improve its predictions. Throughout training the AI compares its predictions to known correct answers, refining itself over millions of cycles to reduce errors. However it’s important to remember: AI doesn’t understand its tasks the way a human would. It is simply refining its pattern recognition. ...

Authors: Daniel Kokotajlo, Scott Alexander, Thomas Larsen, Eli Lifland, Romeo Dean Published 3 April 2025 AI 2027 report We predict that the impact of superhuman AI over the next decade will be enormous, exceeding that of the Industrial Revolution. https://ai-2027.com/ Topics covered AI Agents (Unimpressive and error-prone at first, but starting to replace some employee tasks and companies inserting into workflows regardless. And getting better) Autonomous Coding AI Research (AIs creating better AIs) After being trained to predict internet text, the model is trained to produce text in response to instructions. This bakes in a basic personality and “drives.” For example, an agent that understands a task clearly is more likely to complete it successfully; over the course of training the model “learns” a “drive” to get a clear understanding of its tasks. Other drives in this category might be effectiveness, knowledge, and self-presentation (i.e. the tendency to frame its results in the best possible light). ...

Prompt engineering is a term coined in the 2020s to describe the practice of creating and crafting effective prompts to guide the behaviour and output of large language models (LLMs). Most people ask simple questions and can get simple answers. Somewhat like in the real world, the art of asking questions will bring the best results. Effective prompt engineering involves understanding the model’s capabilities - as well as its limitations - to achieve the most optimal results. ...

(4 hour) March 2025 interview with William MacAskill, author of What We Owe the Future. Introducing his new paper - Preparing for the Intelligence Explosion - 11 March 2025 Summary takeaway - if we’re about to have 100 years of progress happening in the space of 10 years, how do we prepare? Topics Software intelligence explosion (43m) Hardware intelligence explosion (45m), e.g. AI robots doing everything Space governance (1h21m50s) Very optimised education and training (2h7m45s) Training for politicians AI as a coach, career, productivity, life, health coach (2h11m53s) Dealmaking AI (2h12m48s) Further reading Moorhouse, F., MacAskill, W. (2025). Preparing for the Intelligence Explosion. Available at: Forethought.org Related pages Book summary - What We Owe The Future, by Will MacAskill Discuss on X Interview with Will MacAskill (March 2025) on AGI preparedness https://t.co/hiGmQ9hp4S #agipreparedness ...

Tyler Cowen is one of those great minds that whenever an interview is released, I’ll take a listen. An Economics professor at George Mason University, Tyler could be better described as a polymath, and he is most prolific as a writer on his blog Marginal Revolution. The world I’ve lived in has not changed that much since I was born but that’s about to change. You could say its changed already but it’s not fully instantiated in most of the things we do ...

With AI advancements, many wonder what will set workers apart in the future, particularly those involved in knowledge work and the professions. When AI has all the knowledge and all the intelligence, what value does the human worker bring? The answer is agency - high agency. High-agency individuals - those who take ownership of their actions, shape circumstances rather than react to them, and turn obstacles into opportunities - are the ones that will thrive. ...

Passkeys are a modern authentication method designed to replace traditional passwords. Passkeys use cryptographic key pairs — public and private keys — to provide a more secure way to log in to websites and applications. The private key is securely stored on the user’s device, typically within a hardware security module (HSM), trusted platform module (TSM), or a secure enclave, while the corresponding public key is stored on the service’s server. By eliminating the need for passwords, passkeys help reduce the risk of phishing attacks, credential theft, and exposure of user credentials through password dumps. Passkeys often rely on the FIDO2 authentication standards, which provide a secure, passwordless login experience. ...

A One-to-One meeting, or 1:1 meeting, is a management and career development technique designed to foster open communication, strengthen relationships, and support professional growth in a team environment. At their core, 1:1 meetings (1:1s) are regular, private discussions between a manager and a team member designed to build trust, provide feedback, and encourage development. 1:1s create a dedicated space for meaningful dialogue, allowing team members to share concerns, discuss challenges, and celebrate accomplishments. They help managers stay informed about individual progress, offer timely guidance, and proactively address potential roadblocks before they become larger issues. ...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) rose to public prominence in recent years, and organisations are exploring how AI will disrupt their markets, operations, workforce and risk landscapes. This highlights the need for all three lines of defence to work together to manage AI risks and opportunities.

Cybersecurity risk has surged as organisations move online and embrace digital processes, transforming what was once a niche topic into a central focus for senior leadership and boards in ensuring their organisations maintain operational resilience. This highlights the essential role of the three lines of defence in managing and assuring digital risk.

Governance is how an organisation is directed, controlled, and held accountable to achieve its objectives - all while balancing competing stakeholder interests. Organisations implement governance through a combination of frameworks, processes, and practices - which are crucial for risk professionals to understand to manage and mitigate risk.

Critical thinking is an essential skill to develop in a digital risk career. Without critical thinking, you risk poor decisions that will expose your organisation to unnecessary risk. It is common to avoid critical thinking in every day life - it would be exhausting to think critically 24/7, instead we use techniques such as heuristics, as well as developing trust, to essentially save your brain’s bandwidth and processing needs. But in important situations which require well thought through decisions, heuristics and its more dangerous friend the cognitive bias, may lead to poor reasoning and weak analytical rigour. ...