Nicholas Gervassis

Assistant Professor in Law, father, part-time music builder, missing the seaside

[Mark Gadala-Maria @markgadala]

This is wild.

143 million people thought they were catching Pokémon. They were actually building one of the largest real-world visual datasets in AI history.

Niantic just disclosed that photos and AR scans collected through Pokémon Go have produced a dataset of over 30 billion real-world images. The company is now using that data to power visual navigation AI for delivery robots.

Players didn't just walk around with their phones. They scanned landmarks, storefronts, parks, and sidewalks from every angle, at every time of day, in lighting and weather conditions that staged photography would never capture. They documented the physical world at a scale no mapping company with a fleet of vehicles could have replicated on the same timeline or budget.

Niantic collected this systematically, data point by data point, across eight years, while users thought the only thing at stake was catching a rare Charizard.

The most valuable AI training datasets in the world aren't being assembled in data centers. They're being built by people who have no idea they're building them.

[Responsible Digital Futures @RDigitalFutures]

In support of the upcoming #InternationalWomensDay 2026 @UKRI_News @EPSRC funded Horizon Digital Economy Research's Gendernet project has produced a video featuring research participants experiences of #misogyny #online in their own words: https://t.co/mASz0J3ZGp

[Responsible Digital Futures @RDigitalFutures]

In support of the upcoming #InternationalWomensDay 2026, @UKRI_News @EPSRC funded Horizon Digital Economy Research's Gendernet project has released a report featuring research participants experiences of #misogyny and #sexism #online: https://t.co/KOo09zDBcl.

[Human Rights Watch @hrw]

In a recent report, Human Rights Watch documented how major companies operating in the US are misclassifying gig workers as independent contractors.

Hear more from experts on "The Gig Trap" and labor rights ⤵️

[Open Rights Group @OpenRightsGroup]

No one really knows how the game is played
The art of the trade
How the sausage gets made
We just assume that it happens
But no one else is in
The room where it happens.

🤫👉 https://t.co/yWYTqCKye6

#Apple #encryption #e2ee #privacy #ukpolitics

https://t.co/P5chqXOqhV

[Oxford Internet Institute @oiioxford]

Is AI truly automated? Not really. Prof. @geoplace from @oiioxford explains the reality: millions of human labourers are behind the scenes. Automation is often a labour transfer, not a replacement.

Read more: https://t.co/npKfJiSvrz

[Frontex @Frontex]

📢 Situation at the EU external borders Jan-Feb 2025

📊 Irregular border crossings fall 25% y/y
⚠️ Western African route accounts for nearly a third of all arrivals
📈 Central Mediterranean with the highest increase
📉 Western Balkans see the biggest drop

🔗https://t.co/8GQr14l78u

[WIRED @WIRED]

A study reveals that large language models recognize when they are being studied and change their behavior to seem more likable. https://t.co/acJOiDqcpW

[Nicholas Gervassis @LochVegas]

I won't pretend I am not relieved about the status of #DataProtectionandDigitalInformationBill #DPDI https://t.co/YTDkDDjS4q

[Nicholas Gervassis @LochVegas]

Does "London, a place for everyone" counter "stop the boats" or housing and daily expenses that require one selling both their own and their entire extended family's kidneys?

[Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) @UoNHRLC]

We were delighted to be joined today by @ProfJeffKenner, @LochVegas, @alex_giann, Jeanne Mifsud-Bonnici & @rachovitsa for 'From Human Rights to Digital Rights?'

Speakers discussed the EU's Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles & the state of #DigitalRights more broadly.

[Nicholas Gervassis @LochVegas]

If this is the case, it's troubling. Like when incarceration powers (violence being supposedly the state's monopoly) got gradually transferred to private security agencies

[Dr Julia Grace Patterson💙 @JujuliaGrace]

PRIVATE AMBULANCE COMPANIES IN THE NHS 🚑💙🚨

We are building a ground-breaking map to reveal how politicians are privatising the NHS🚨

Click here to see how private ambulance companies are infiltrating the NHS, + please retweet👉 https://t.co/PlyDA9q6EZ
#NHSPrivateAmbulances

[BBC News Technology @BBCTech]

AI: Voice cloning tech emerges in Sudan civil war https://t.co/5aHXuO8nl8

[Guardian Tech @guardiantech]

The vast majority of NFTs are now worthless, new report shows https://t.co/uN0xP77Kp2

[European Commission @EU_Commission]

We have just reached a political agreement on the UK's participation in Horizon Europe and Copernicus.

It will allow the EU and UK to deepen their relationship in research, innovation and space, bringing together research and space communities. More ↓

[WIRED @WIRED]

It's the “cyberattack” that doesn't seem to have involved any cyber at all. Turns out old school tech works just as well when it comes to being disruptive. https://t.co/xsOlUMPdDV

[Simon Carless @simoncarless]

PSA: Valve has been quietly banning newly submitted Steam games using AI-created art assets - if submitters can't prove they have rights for the assets used to train the algorithms: https://t.co/WhWpJpaFjl

[Nottingham Law @UoN_Law]

Our conference on the crime of #apartheid in South Africa and beyond continues today, Panel 4 reflects on the law of apartheid with Barney Pityana, Kate O’Regan, John Dugard and David Dyzenhaus.

[Nicholas Gervassis @LochVegas]

Not @TheOnion ! https://t.co/2gYELZYhc6

[Nottingham Law @UoN_Law]

We are underway.. Head of School @olympiabekou and conference convenor @VictorKattan welcome attendees to ‘The crime of #Apartheid in South Africa and beyond’.

Two days of fascinating discussions ahead!