Posts

On September 27, 2026, Simon Willison published 2026 in LLMs (so far) — an annotated slide deck and essay originating from his closing keynote at the WeAreDevelopers World Congress (WWC26) North America in San Jose. Known across the developer ecosystem for his hands-on, pragmatic evaluations of generative AI, Willison compiles nine months of breakneck progress into a cohesive timeline of model breakthroughs, security inflection points, and shifts in day-to-day software development. ...

As AI systems increasingly claim to “know” their users, the risks around trust, manipulation, and decision-making are growing just as fast. In this post, I explore whether AI truly understands individuals—or whether we are mistaking prediction for insight. For anyone working in governance, risk, or cybersecurity, the distinction isn’t just academic; it’s a critical emerging threat. Link to Substack post Can AI really get to know you? How well could an AI ever really know you? This week, I’ve been experimenting with using AI as a kind of coach — a patient, curious thought partner — and exploring what it seems to understand about me ...

What the playbook covers The UK Government published their Artificial Intelligence (AI) Playbook on 10 February 2025, setting out 10 Principles for using AI in government organisations. The playbook updates previous UK government publications, providing an expanded guide designed to help public sector organisations harness AI technologies safely, effectively, and responsibly. It is a must-read for risk managers, cyber-security professionals, and compliance experts working with or within the UK public sector. The playbook provides guidance and principles to navigate the unique challenges and opportunities presented by AI. ...

Online financial fraud has evolved into a sophisticated industry, and one of the most alarming new threats is known as pig butchering. This is not a niche cybercrime — it is a global, highly organised yet decentralised, and rapidly growing scam that preys on victims through social engineering and deception, and takes place entirely online. The scam will successfully target and exploit victims, often the elderly or emotionally vulnerable, and friends and family members will be entirely unaware until after the scammer has finished their work. ...

Logical fallacies are errors in reasoning that undermine the validity of an argument. Recognising logical fallacies is essential for developing critical thinking, empowering you to objectively evaluate arguments and avoid being misled. A July 2024 article in the BBC’s Future series sets out 7 logical fallacies you can train yourself to spot whenever you hear an argument being made. When people are trying to persuade you, they sometimes reach for underhand tricks like the ‘appeal to ignorance’ or ‘whataboutism’ to seem more convincing. BBC Future ...