The Uncomfortable Lessons of Wikileaks. A Quick Fix to Kickstart Marriage. #AI Is Not The Messiah. HAPS – Plus More! #214

Grüezi! I’m Adrian Monck – welcome!

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1️⃣ Open Societies and Security

What Julian Assange’s story tells us about secrets and lies.

The world’s most famous leaker walks free.

Julian Assange was freed this week. I first met him back in 2009. The week’s must-read story is from 2021 (which also makes the case for journalistic scrutiny of the security services).

The Assange saga is multi-layered but at its heart is the tension between maintaining open, transparent societies and protecting against hostile state actors.

1. The Double-Edged Sword of Transparency: Assange’s WikiLeaks said it wanted to expose government misconduct, but it also potentially aided hostile state actors (e.g., Russia’s alleged 2016 election interference).

2. Bad behaviour: Playing fast and loose with stories and information that have powerful real world consequences comes with responsibility. Assange was reckless and irresponsible.

3. Limits of Press Freedom: The use of the US Espionage Act against Assange blurs the line between journalism and national security threats. Where do the limits of press freedom lie in matters of national security? 

4. Geopolitics: The involvement of multiple countries (US, UK, Ecuador, Australia, Russia) in the Assange case illustrates how national security, information warfare, judicial systems and diplomacy blur in the digital age. 

5. Whistleblowers: Whistleblowing always comes with consequences. None of them good for the whistleblower. 

Wrongdoing needs to be exposed. Corruption cannot hide behind the veil of national security. But we can’t give foreign powers carte blanche to poison our politics. We should be mindful of the broader geopolitical context in which reporting operates.

Press freedoms and transparency are important but so too are serious discussions about responsible reporting in an age of information warfare. Perhaps we need to start talking about:

• Stronger verification processes for leaked information;

• Collaboration with cybersecurity experts to understand the implications of reporting;

• Engaging more deeply with policymakers on issues of press freedom and national security;

• Educating the public about the complexities of these issues.

Democratic societies can’t choose between a free press and national security, but they have to find ways to strengthen both.

⏭ Much good stuff on Assange the man, but one considered view is here.

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2️⃣ A Must-Read #AI Rant

Rants aren’t usually good reading, but this one is.

AI is not the smartest thing on the planet. That’s still you.

Nikhil Suresh has a great polemic about #AI – it’s funny and sharp:

“You either need to be on the absolute cutting-edge and producing novel research, or you should be doing exactly what you were doing five years ago with minor concessions to incorporating LLMs.”

Much more in the whole piece.

⏭ Is AI making big tech too big?

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3️⃣ A Quick Way To Kickstart Marriage Proposals?

Make homes affordable.

Fix up marriage.

New research is out that sheds some light on why fewer people are getting married. Marriage rates have declined, especially among lower-income Americans. Not because people want less commitment – because they can’t afford it.

How to fix this? Home ownership may be the key. Couples who own homes together are more likely to:

• Invest more in their relationship;

• Stay together long-term.

Why? A shared asset like a home is “relationship insurance” – it gives partners confidence to make long-term investments in each other.

This has big implications for policy:

1. Making home ownership more accessible could strengthen families;

2. Addressing wealth inequality may help reverse declining marriage rates;

3. Supporting asset accumulation for young couples could have generational impacts.

Strong relationships aren’t just about love - they’re built on a foundation of economic security and shared investment.

⏭ The cost to society of marriage decline.

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4️⃣ Austerity’s Hidden Cost in Lives

Economic policies kill noiselessly, unnoticed.

“I,Daniel Blake” – a movie about “Austerity” Britain.

A study from the London School of Economics has revealed the true human toll of austerity measures in the UK.

Here are the key findings:

• Austerity reduced life expectancy by 2.5-5 months between 2010-2019

• This translates to approximately 190,000 excess deaths – 3% of all deaths in that period

• Women were hit nearly twice as much as men

The researchers found clear evidence that areas more exposed to austerity saw slower life expectancy growth after 2010.

• Increase in drug-related deaths

• Decline in ambulance response times

The study calculated that the welfare value of life lost is higher than the saved costs for the government.

Austerity aimed to reduce government debt, but cutting public services and raising taxes had a human cost that far outweighed any financial gains.

This research challenges us to rethink how we measure the success of economic policies. Are we truly accounting for all the costs?

⏭ Why is youth knife crime rising in London? Austerity cut public services.

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5️⃣ Five Of The Coolest New Technologies

The latest acronym heading your way? HAPs.

⏭ More on High Altitude Platform Systems here.

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6️⃣ Tech Feudalism? Surveillance Capitalism?

Binning the buzz words about the future.

Starship Troopers may not be the future.

Evgeny Morozov is one of the most interesting thinkers about tech, society and the future.

Old ideas are falling short. “Surveillance capitalism” and “techno-feudalism” don’t really help us think about the world is changing under #AI.

Tech giants are just... capitalists. They’re not lords or data robbers – they’re just businesses competing hard and sometimes cutting corners. Sound familiar?

Nor are Silicon Valley’s Venture Capitalists – people like Marc Andreessen – the heroes they claim to be. The “progressive” mask slips whenever profits are threatened.

We’re stuck in an inefficient system. Public money funds research, VCs grab the profits. Is this really the best way to innovate?

Morozov says we’re missing out on alternatives. Imagine if we treated data as a public good or developed AI for social benefit, not just profit.

Past thinkers had ideas for more democratic technology development. Harley Kilgore’s original vision for the National Science Foundation in the 1940s. Maybe it’s time to dust those off?

Morozov raises some important questions about who holds onto the financial rewards of scientific innovation. He says we need to rethink how tech, science, and democracy work together.

That’s not a debate many people seem interested in having in the #AI gold rush.

⏭ Most of the discussion about #AI and democracy is about regulating it.

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7️⃣ Mapping Power and Tech since 1500

Spend your weekend diving into this cool interactive graphic.

The evolution of technology and what we do with it.

Just click here.

⏭  Vladan Joler and Kate Crawford are the folks who built it.

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If you enjoy this newsletter – please recommend it!

Best,

Adrian