This should really go without saying, but the government should not allow, much less endorse, companies experimenting on their citizens. I’m pretty sure the government should protect people from corporations, not feed people to them.

the hospital will test AI tools for check-ins, triage and outpatient care and AI will be tested in schools and at Barnsley College, all in an effort to improve pupils’ results and teachers’ workloads

AI has no place in these settings, certainly not yet. Why do you even need AI for checking in? This is extremely sad to see, and I highly recommend reading the whole article. There’s a nursing and teacher shortage in the UK. Why not bolster those programs instead? I understand wanting to give your community options, but I certainly don’t want to hire someone who thinks asking AI to do their work for them is a life skill. I do see people hiring for positions that use AI, but you have to know how to do their job first. Why not focus on that?

Fuck that, we trying to bring back mining-era company towns that will inevitably fail now?

I hope people like having a ‘New Appalachia,’ because the situation in Appalachia is exactly what happens when company towns go under.