Francis Irving

Come to PauseAI's "March Against AI Extinction" in November. luma.com/pauseai-nov2... It's about the risk of humanity losing complete control to AI. It's fine to like/dislike AI for other reasons too - certainly I do! And it will be more fun than angsting about civilisational collapse at home.

A simple blog post with photos of the first half of the West Highland Way from a week or two ago: www.flourish.org/2026/10/west...

🗺️ Thanks @flourish.org for having us at Land Talks last week! Kate Swade took the stage for DCC to talk LandExplorer. Slides are available here: digitalcommons.coop/landexplorer... #LandExplorer #HousingJustice

Next Land Talks is tomorrow! Speakers on the tickets page: luma.com/mka0gu7s Get a ticket, bring a friend, if you think the cost of land, or quality of housing, or the consequences of those, needs radical improvement.

If you're confused / annoyed / want to understand claims that AI could "kill all humans" this ITV report goes into it really clearly without needing the context of working in software: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvMR...

It's great to have such cross party support! Leaving AI unregulated is extremely unpopular, but still the government hasn't acted. If you're in London tomorrow, join this peaceful protest at Downing Street to make your voice heard!

I wrote a post a few months ago about what it felt like to agree with *everyone* on AI, but not sure what matters most because it depends on what happens. I've changed my mind since, both because of what's happened, and what I've learnt about LLM training. www.flourish.org/2026/09/upda...

Think this technology needs a bit of improvement to *actually* help people (understatement)

Starting a new Le Guin novel

I've written a review of three books by Ursula Le Guin to try and explain why I find her the person who most feels what is going on in our times. www.flourish.org/2026/08/ursu...

I vibe coded three personal apps that I'd wanted for a while. They work on mobile and web, sync offline first between them, and are polished. This write up describes why, how, and what I learnt. www.flourish.org/2026/08/pers...

Tempted as kinda half serious / half joking piece of impishness, to tell any recruiter who calls that I want a coding job that *doesn't* use AI at all and can they find me one. And feel the emotion of their reaction.

"Is this an emotionally safe space?" he cried out into the void. 'course it's not what are you even asking, too many people watched watched'. « let's fake it, put an internet-mask on, they won't know ». ‹ yeah, and diss that other place, then they'll like us ›. "I honour that, but not here/now".

Going to stop procrastinating about where to post short things, and do it here. It's relatively peaceful, and has the indie video games kids on it. Most importantly it has custom feed algorithms - and I'm really liking the look of projects like @greenearth-social.bsky.social which must be here.

Realised that even years ago I got emotional warmth from luxury crafters like Eleanor Pritchard who still hand-weave because they show that people will still hand-X centuries after being automated, it reminds me of the Luddites www.eleanorpritchard.com

We’ve got a vacancy in a unique and hugely valuable role, managing the day-to-day running of our digital services, focusing in particular on WhatDoTheyKnow, which helps millions of people each year find out something useful. Please do share with your networks to help us find the right person!

This quote is from a London Politico post www.politico.eu/newsletter/l... It's quite sweet - I spent about 8 years travelling almost weekly to London as part of running a digital startup in Liverpool. Excellent that some people who've been in London for life will finally experience this.

Finally wrote a blog post - about the emotional frustration of agreeing with everyone about AI, when what matters most depends on exactly how the technology plays out. www.flourish.org/2026/06/agre...

I'm very pleased to be on the bill for the next Land Talks Come hear me talk about Croydon and rules based planning and 5 other excellent speakers in a pub 6pm, 11th May luma.com/hkyckwm8

Had lots of fun at @modjam.bsky.social an alternative controllers games mod jam at Newspeak House. I modded Doom to have voice control. Video and details here: frabcus.itch.io/voice-doom It was especially satisfying being able to lengthen out notes and stop precisely at an exact time.

Land Talks #5 is soon! I'm running another evening of lightning talks about land policy. This one's got quirky stuff about the impact of driverless cars on land, and crunchy stuff about how liberalising planning can reduce trust and cause more problems. luma.com/avdjw348 Come along!

Speaking at Land Talks next week - come along! luma.com/ba8uvclo

Excited to announce we're running a second season of Land Talks! Evenings of lightning talks in London about radical land policy. Come along to the first one two week's tomorrow (Monday): luma.com/ba8uvclo Or follow us on Luma for updates as we announce speakers for all of them!

I've had fun running Land Talks this last year, and we're ending it with a pub quiz. If you're in London two week's on Tuesday, and fancy a more relaxing and social evening, with people who want to improve Britain's land system, see you there! luma.com/c5944qgc

Really happy to interview @michaelashcroft.com on my podcast "Imagine an apple" about the inner experience of Alexander Technique. What is it like to experience “open awareness”? What’s the difference between doing and non-doing? Really enjoyed this one! zencastr.com/z/ST9vDWiJ

Times of day when I wake up from a dream and react well enough to record a description of it.

Screenshot is a quote from Hurlburt's writeup of someone who most of the time has no particularized inner experience. hurlburt.faculty.unlv.edu/ieo/mel/mel%...

My review of Silksong and the difficulty discourse around it... It doesn't need an easy mode, it needs a *hard* mode. People with naturally good reactions and observation skills are finding it too easy. They need a hard mode to make it as hard as it is for me!

If you're in London - my third evening of lightning talks about Radical Land Policy is next Tuesday - have a look at the Luma page to see the speakers! luma.com/v8knl21z

If you're in London, and think land policy needs to be more radical, come to Land Talks #2, a second evening of lightning talks I'm co-organising. First three speakers - on the Postcode Address File, Freehold and Yellowstone (TV show) - are up: lu.ma/cthbcn45

If you're in London, and think land policy needs to be more radical, come to Land Talks #2, a second evening of lightning talks I'm co-organising. First three speakers - on the Postcode Address File, Freehold and Yellowstone (TV show) - are up: lu.ma/cthbcn45

TheyWorkForYou is now on Bluesky! Here's a few things coming up, and ways you can help us over the next few weeks www.mysociety.org/2025/05/14/t...

Great to be at the inaugural Land Talks Lightning talks on land in art, Scotland's 'log cabin conundrum', building on MoD land and more with @flourish.org