Jamie Bartlett

United Kingdom

Writer and Presenter at Freelance

Podcasts: Missing Cryptoqueen, Believe in Magic, Very British Cult Books: People V Tech, Dark Net, Missing Cryptoqueen https://t.co/mB1qVsCvlt

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Articles

Can the centre ever win a very online culture war?

3 weeks ago | jamiejbartlett.substack.com | Jamie Bartlett

September 26, 1960, changed politics forever. That evening, in the hotly anticipated presidential debate, the relatively unknown Senator John Kennedy squared off against Vice President Richard Nixon. Those listening on the radio thought that Nixon had won. But this was the first time a presidential debate was televised – and by 1960, 88 per cent of Americans had a TV, compared to just 10 per cent a decade before.
AI is now better at phishing emails than humans

4 weeks ago | jamiejbartlett.substack.com | Jamie Bartlett

As usual with AI, things happen slowly and then very quickly. It has been obvious for a while that AI would one day be used in phishing emails. But it was always just over the horizon - it’s coming next year, the experts would always say. Well people: that year has finally come. And I’m not sure we’re ready for it. Cybersecurity people are worried because we’re still absolutely useless at dealing with old fashioned, poorly written, impersonal phishing messages.
ChatGPT is a sycophant

1 month ago | jamiejbartlett.substack.com | Jamie Bartlett

Last month OpenAI was in the middle of an unexpected controversy. It wasn’t because its ChatGPT-4o model was stealing copyrighted works, or spewing hatred. No – something far more dangerous for the human psyche than that. It had turned into a complete sycophant. In April, OpenAI released an update to GPT-4o aimed at ‘enhancing’ its default personality to be more ‘intuitive’ and ‘effective’ across various tasks.
This is not just a hack

1 month ago | jamiejbartlett.substack.com | Jamie Bartlett

Sorry I just couldn’t resist the title. If you are a criminal hacker, there are lots of reasons why large retail stores like M&S are good targets. They have rich customer data – payment info, loyalty programme details, personal information. That can all be sold on via a dark net marketplace and re-purposed for other criminal uses. (A good example of how this works in practical terms is Shiseido’s 2022 data-breach.
RIP 4chan

2 months ago | jamiejbartlett.substack.com | Jamie Bartlett

Quite possibly the most important website of the past 20 years has finally disappeared. Fitting, in a way, that 4chan was hacked, its users doxed. The notorious image sharing board is now offline. All gone, except its source code, admins’ email addresses and user details – which has been stolen and published for all to see. It’s fitting, because this is what 4chan users routinely did to others. Some version of the site might reappear (4chan.org homepage now just reads ‘see you soon’).
Did an AI really write Trump's Tariffs?

2 months ago | jamiejbartlett.substack.com | Jamie Bartlett

Could it really be possible? That the most consequential trade policy of the last 100 years was in fact concocted by a large language model? It seems impossible – absurd!Or maybe not. As a quick reminder, last week Donald Trump announced swingeing import tariffs on almost everyone. The aim, he said, was to redress trade imbalances – and they were ‘reciprocal tariffs’. (Although with a Trump discount of 50 per cent, because Trump’s a good guy). You will remember his chart.
How teachers are trying to outsmart AI

2 months ago | jamiejbartlett.substack.com | Jamie Bartlett

The most fascinating new cat-and-mouse game in our AI drenched society is not between cyber-criminals and the police; it’s between students and teachers. The former are using ChatGPT to co-author their essays, of course. And the latter are trying to figure out how to spot them doing it. It’s not just the students. A recent survey found around half of job applicants are using AI to craft their CVs. The predictable consequence?
On being 'hard'

Mar 30, 2025 | jamiejbartlett.substack.com | Jamie Bartlett

I don’t have the best memory in the world. But I can still name (in order) the ‘hardest’ boys in my year at comprehensive secondary school in the 1990s. Not that you would care:1. Dave W. =2. Lennie W=2. Ronnie O4. Nicky M. And so on. Sad, isn’t it? Sad that I can remember. Doubly sad, that how ‘hard’ you were at school was such an important marker of social status. If you went to a normal comprehensive school, from a normal UK anywhere town, I reckon there’s a decent chance you could do the same.
Why won't the government back a school phone ban?

Mar 22, 2025 | jamiejbartlett.substack.com | Jamie Bartlett

I am extremely confused. Baffled, even! The Labour government – no stranger to the occasional gaffe – has scored another completely unnecessary own goal. And not just a normal own goal, like an unfortunate deflection. Kier Starmer dribbled past his own Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson in goal, before slotting home. 0-1. I’m referring to the decision by Number 10 to decide not to support a mobile phone ban in schools as part of its Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
How to give and take feedback

Mar 14, 2025 | jamiejbartlett.substack.com | Jamie Bartlett

I hope you don’t mind. I’m going to divert from technology for a moment. Because every now and again I have a thought that I’m compelled to share, since I think it might be useful to some of you. I used to post these brainwaves on Twitter, but…Anyway, the subject is feedback. Every writer knows this is one of the most important – and helpful – phases of writing anything. From a 500 word blog to a 100,000 word book, nothing isn’t improved by sharing and asking for advice.

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