Per Axbom - axbom.com

How to stop AI harm. Pause development of GPT-5 for six months. Boom. You're welcome!

Why that open letter urging an AI development pause is problematic

Applied ethics isn't a checklist. It's about putting in the time and effort to understand risks to wellbeing with the express intent of avoiding, mitigating and monitoring harm. It makes sense then to assume that the open call to pause AI development is a good thing. Well, yes – but no.

Man on a rocket flying away from a burning earth.

digital exploitation

Ignoring harm to others when you yourself benefit

How harmful does something need to be for people to stop using it? How much do you yourself need to benefit to choose to ignore the harm done to others? When I left Facebook some years ago I emphasised how it was the (very late) acknowledgement of harm done to

Tired computer worker, energy running low. Computer says: This is not a paywall. Worker says: yes it is.

digital guidance

It's still a paywall without money

"You need to register to keep reading. It’s still free to read – this is not a paywall" I'm growing tired of this wording. Yes, it is a paywall - the only difference is the type of currency you are paying with. If it wasn't a paywall there would be

A picture of my socks. They are colorful, striped and do not match.

World Down Syndrome Day 2023

World Down Syndrome Day is celebrated on March 21 in recognition of the uniqueness of the triplication of the 21st chromosome.

Industry pollution illustration. Two pipes (GPT and LaMDA) spilling liquid into a sea filled with books.

Chatbot pollution

Humanity will never again get back the time spent on reading posts entirely made up by language models, much of it with fabulated content that is just not based in any fact or reason. Time spent consuming concocted content will amount to hundreds of thousands of centuries of human time

A sausage with a cape like a superhero hovers in the foreground. Behind it is the moon, half covered by the sausage.

digital ethics

AI responsibility in a hyped-up world

It's never more easy to get scammed than during an ongoing hype. It's March 2023 and we're in the middle of one. Rarely have I seen so many people embrace a brand new experimental solution with so little questioning. Right now, it's important to shake off any mass hypnosis and

digital lifestyle

Overpowering TikTok filters

In a race towards the post-reality era, TikTok are leading the way. Image filters are now at a stage where they trigger visceral emotions and have a very real impact on psychological wellbeing. They have effects on self-esteem, self-image and confidence. More than that, they provide a glimpse of a

Astronaut riding on a large pencil. The pencil has drawn a book using a continuous line. The pencil is labelled with "AI".

Goodbye Dickinson, hello AI-generated literature

The same celebrated AI tools that save time for one group of people will make things harder and prompt plenty of headaches for others. Among other things, the tools will force us to rethink how literary works are published. We are facing an avalanche of books written by machines, and

podcast

New podcast: Carefully with Per Axbom

I started my first podcast in the spring of 2007, not long before the first iPhone was released to the world. Back then the origin of the word podcast was more obvious, as dedicated producers and consumers of course listened on Apple's groundbreaking mp3 player, the iPod. After spending a

Illustration of two astronauts engaged in conversation.

The ability that makes me who I am

"But what is it you really work with, Per?" I get this question from time to time in the workplace. Over the years it has, contrary to my expectations, become harder to answer. Not because I do not know, but because it is not readily summarised in an easily digestible

digital guidance

Pictosmart: Powerful impact with diagrams and animations

There are parts of my design work I want to work even more with. The parts that appear small but make a huge difference. The parts that contribute to new knowledge, inspire change, and allow people and organisations to move forward with more confidence. I can help you visualise, teach

fediverse

PSA: Choose your Mastodon instance

While I've written several guides and posts on Mastodon and the fediverse, the first step of joining is always the biggest obstacle: Choosing an instance to join. Seeing a demand for it, I put together this brief overview of 10 instances. You will often hear that there are "thousands of

newsletter

25 years of online resilience

Twenty-five years ago today I registered axbom.com as my domain name for sharing updates and stories. I had started blogging (or web logging) prior to then, on a Swedish platform known as Passagen, but owning my own name as a dot com was exhilirating. I first coded my pages

fediverse

The many branches of the Fediverse

As more and more people are asking me about Mastodon I felt a need for a picture to point at, showcasing how the software known as Mastodon fits into the much larger concept of the Fediverse. I made this infographic to help myself and others explain the many different use-cases

fediverse

10 quick Mastodon tips

There has recently been a huge rush of people trying out Mastodon. This is also noticeable in the number of people reading my earlier Mastodon Guide. I wanted to take this opportunity to provide a brief list of usage tips that I wish I had at hand when first setting

Per Axbom standing at the back of a room, holding a beer, getting ready to speak to audience members in a lounge setting.

digital guidance

Why I left algorithm-based social media and what happened next

This is a blog adaptation of a recent 15-minute talk I was asked to do at an Ambition Empower event. Having noticed that I am no longer on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn people are naturally curious as to my reasoning and how this works for a small business owner.

digital ethics

Three lessons from a man who averted nuclear war by not trusting a computer

On September 26, 1983, Stanislav Petrov made the correct decision to not trust a computer. The early warning system at command center Serpukhov-15, loudly alerting of a nuclear attack from the United States, was of course modern and up-to-date. Stanislav Petrov was in charge, working his second shift in place

digital ethics

Flashing content that can trigger seizures

World Ethical Data Forum autoplays a video at the top of their page that can trigger photosensitive epileptic seizures

digital guidance

DickPicLocator is offline

I took the website offline on September 22, 2022. By then 77,988 pics had been uploaded since August 8, 2017. This was always an experiment and an effort to create awareness about ubiquitous surveillance using our own personal photos. For more information on what DickPicLocator was for me, and

The creepy sound of online trackers

I can't get the noise out of my head. People who watch the video express awe and disgust. And that is why Dutch software developer Bert Hubert's experiment is so powerful. It doesn't really uncover something that we shouldn't already know. Something we often choose to ignore. The brilliance is

newsletter

Mindless data collection

Avoiding data collection on the internet is a challenge. In a recent experiment with online anonymity, I withdrew cash to pay for a coupon that would allow me to sign up for Mullvad VPN. I even wore a baseball hat to more easily obscure my face. One of the few

democracy

A guide to voting in the Swedish election

Since the election of 2014 I've maintained a website about voting in Sweden's general election. I made it to provide an easily accessible English-language overview, hoping to encourage more people to vote. Many people may hesitate to vote if they feel uncertain about the process or are afraid of making

Per Axbom speaking on stage at Front Conference

digital ethics

How to build the good and responsible thing @ #frontzurich

Per Axbom's keynote at Front Conference in Zürich, Switzerland. Presented on August 26, 2022.

newsletter

Algo-free behavior

This is the first newsletter sent from my self-hosted Ghost installation with absolutely no tracking of clicks and opens. It’s embarassing to admit how long it often takes me to put my money where my mouth is, to actually work in alignment with the responsible innovation I teach. Sure

Illustration of 3 astronauts asking How should I act, How should I be and What is my responsibility.

digital ethics

Digital Ethics and Moral Theory Explained

A brief guide to moral philosophy and how digital ethics fits within the branch of applied ethics.