Hello again

Hello again, it’s been a while.

I had a very busy summer finalising the first draft of my thesis and doing all the admin involved in a move to the States. Then October through mid-February saw me beavering away at Google Research in NYC, hopefully I’ll have good news to share about that come the ACL acceptance day…

It was certainly a very interesting time to be in the US. Being there for election day, the aftermath, inaugeration and the havoc that Musk is wreaking. The sudden loss of funding for scientific research made me realise that even the seemingly more “independent” avenue of academic research is still subject to suppression based on political whims. And the speed with which many big tech companies including the one I was inside rolled over and showed their bellies to Trump, shedding any superficial interest in DEI, confirmed that capitalism and equity are not compatible.

So, I come out the otherside of my internship with more cynicism and a greater awareness of the fragility of academic freedom (the real kind, freedom from government suppression, not the “I want to call people trannies” kind). What a time to be looking for work.