I went to a day conference on Saturday, called “Resisting Big Tech Empires” run by Global Justice Now at the London South Bank University. I came away remembering that there are an awful lot of people who want to tell other people what to think, what to do and what they’re allowed to say. That was the exhausting bit. It was also lovely to just hang out in a thinky space and see some friends from the distant and not so distant past. There was a time when I’d have been interviewing people and taking a lot more photographs, possibly also live-blogging. Phew!

I felt that much of the discussion ended up centring around whether AI is evil or not and what we should do about it, whereas I’m also interested in all the other evil that tech bros are bringing us these days. I found myself feeling much as I do around people who don’t eat meat or use any animal products. I know that they’re right, I know that I should at least eat less, both for my own health and for y’know, the planet. But it’s more than I’ve been able to do so far. I also felt a bit like I was at a CND meeting in 1981 – the rhetoric, campaigning style and general view of activism just felt a bit old-fashioned.

Still, it was stimulating and fun to have a day out.