Random thoughts
Is it the elite’s prerogative to tell stories? The Orélien affair.
The Thélyson Orélien affair raises an important question: who is allowed to tell stories? Is it only those with enough socio-cultural capital to write books (or to have them written for them in an acceptable way)? What of people with compelling stories who are less able to master grammar or to pay ghost-writers? Is the…
Thélyson Orélien : What is the Problem?
Over the last few weeks the French publishing world has been in turmoil. Accusations of AI-use have been levelled at M.Orélien, the author of C’était ça ou mourir, which has won the FNAC literary prize and was shortlisted for more. The whiff of prejudice First, a whiff of prejudice surrounds the singling out of this…
Lire Proust : acte de résistance?
Démarrer Proust Après plusieurs années – peut-être une dizaine – je vais finalement entamer le dernier volume de ‘A la Recherche du Temps Perdu’. Cela n’a pas été facile à démarrer. J’ai commencé ‘Du côté de chez Swann’ au moins deux fois (vers 30, puis vers 40, ans) avant d’en dépasser les premières 50 pages…
La tarification du stationnement sur rue : une idée qui ne disparaît pas
Le débat sur la tarification du stationnement des voitures dans l’espace public a été relancé – en cette période estivale – par un reportage de Radio-Canada qui résume certaines des conclusions du Professeur Donald Shoup. En résumé, il révèle la part de l’espace urbain consacrée au stationnement, le coût d’entretien de cet espace pour les…
Charging for on-street parking : a regressive idea that won’t go away
The debate about whether there should be a fee to park one’s car in public space has been reignited – in these dog days of summer – by a Radio-Canada piece that summarises some of Professor Donald Shoup’s findings. In a nutshell, these findings reveal how much urban space is devoted to parking, how much…
AI and planning : a few pointers for students
I was lucky enough to attend a fascinating session at the July 2026 CIP conference1 where the use of AI by cities (and, specifically, by planners) was discussed by people working in the field. Below, I set out some key take-aways. My overall take-away is that AI is overhyped : there is strong pressure from…
Gravity’s Rainbow: an oasis of sense in a non-sensical world
Over the last few days, instead of doom-scrolling the news each morning, I have been reading Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow. The book has a reputation for being grotesque, absurd and nonsensical, a reputation partly deserved; but that’s the point, its reputation underscores its sheer exuberance, black humour and mind-bending narration, narration which jumps, with dizzying…
AI and Universities: students and AI
Readers of my recent blogs will have worked out (!) that I am concerned about how reliance on AI prevents students learning basic skills, depletes the number of people capable of supervising AI , and robs students of voice and authorship. Of course, I acknowledge that students reading these posts may roll their eyes! Yet…
AI and universities: teaching how to fake voice and inner-life
Voice and authorship are important A few years ago I took the night train from Amsterdam to Prague, and then on to Budapest. I was reading Imre Kertesz’ book, Fatelessness. The train ride was eerie, as I was riding South on some of the same tracks that Kertesz’ character had been taken North on, in…
AI and universities: Who will oversee AI?
AI in universities: short-term gains AI is inevitable in the sense that it has been forced upon us by tech oligarchs, and that it provides practical tools for short-circuiting lengthy processes such as writing, synthesis, programming, cleaning data, and so on. In the short-term, and from a purely pragmatic perspective, there are many reasons to…
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