From now on, when I appear in your inbox it will be with a fleeting, bland message of the Hey, keep an eye out for this variety. I am taking my writing off-line. If you want to read my writing, it will now only be available in hard copy.

Why?

I have fundamental objections to the direction of AI. That includes the wholesale theft of IP upon which AI is built, including my writing. It includes the environmental harm AI causes due to its massive power and water demands. It includes the impoverishment of thought that AI fosters. It includes the unethical data harvesting, including that of kids in schools, AI relies on and is exploited by its makers for private gain. It includes the threat AI poses to state institutions. It includes the inherent racial profiling baked into AI, and the way that is used. It includes the hallucinations AI presents as truth. It includes the concentration of wealth and power AI is accelerating. I cannot be part of the world that AI is creating. If I continue to publish on this blog I will be.

I reject the assumed right to surveillance, and the resulting profiling and manipulation, that is at the heart of our online existence. This reduces what it means to be human, and thus a citizen, down to terms approved by the neoliberal, and now increasingly fascist, project. It doesn’t have to be that way, and while it is I choose to limit my exposure to it.

I hate Meta, X, LinkedIn and all their associated platforms, and their leaders’ craven support of fascism. I think their power is a direct threat to civil society and democracy. I do not want my writing on any of them.

What does this mean?

It means I will continue to write. I have to. It’s the only way I can make sense of what’s happening to our world. At the moment I am working on an essay about the procurement of the maths textbooks, which draws on OIA documents, responses from the Minister to questions in Parliament and Select Committee, as well as from the Ministry leadership team to questions in Select Committee.

It means what I write will be printed out and mailed to those who want to read it (which means you will have something you can hold in your hands and spend time with, scribble on, pass on to a friend).

It means I have deleted all my accounts on the platforms I mentioned above. That includes Messenger and WhatsApp. I can still be reached via Signal.

It means you will have to pay, mainly to help cover the costs of printing and postage.

The price for this year is $39NZD (you can pay more if you like: it’s a price I’ve plucked out of thin air, settling on it mostly because it’s around what a book usually costs).

If you want to continue reading my writing in 2025, hit this link.

Thank you for being interested in what I have had to say so far.

I leave you with some sage advice from Timothy Snyder, which can be found in his book On Tyranny.

• Do not obey in advance
• Defend institutions
• Beware the one-party state
• Take responsibility for the face of the world
• Be kind to our language
• Believe in truth
• Establish a private life
• Be as courageous as you can.

I wish you well for 2025.

Bevan.