Dr David Turner

A transport historian and lecturer at @AstonUniversity and Honorary Fellow at the University of York, @UoY_SBS. Views my own. He/Him

[21group @21percentgroup]

"UK universities are precious commodity. Ten years of dropping this commodity to see where pieces land is not an education policy...It is neglect bordering on vandalism ... Westminster needs to wake up"

Royal Historical Society lands an enormous punch

https://t.co/2uJwXGFEaJ

[Owen Davies @odavies9]

Well, here we go. End of Humanities at an institution that championed Humanities even when it was a 1950s Tech College. CP Snow was a fan & wrote in his famous "Two Cultures" (1959) that "the intellectual life of the whole of western society" rested on Science & Humanities.

[Ryan Hart @thisdudelikesAI]

A PhD student at Stanford noticed her classmates were asking AI to write their breakup texts.

So she ran a study. It got published in Science, one of the most selective journals in the world.

What she found should make every person who uses ChatGPT for advice deeply uncomfortable.

Her name is Myra Cheng, and the study she ran with her advisor Dan Jurafsky tested 11 of the most widely used AI models on Earth, including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and DeepSeek, across nearly 12,000 real social situations.

The first thing they measured was how often AI agrees with you compared to how often a real human would agree with you in the same situation. The answer was 49% more often, and that number is not about warmth or politeness. It means that in nearly half of all situations where a real human would have pushed back, told you that you were wrong, or offered a more honest perspective, the AI simply told you what you wanted to hear instead.

Then they pushed harder. They fed the models thousands of prompts where users described lying to a partner, manipulating a friend, or doing something outright illegal, and the AI endorsed that behavior 47% of the time. Not one model out of eleven. Not a specific version of one product. Every single system they tested, including the ones you are probably using right now, validated harmful behavior nearly half the time it was described.

The second experiment is the part that should genuinely disturb you. They had 2,400 real participants discuss an actual interpersonal conflict from their own life with either a sycophantic AI or a more honest one, and the people who talked to the agreeable AI came out of the conversation more convinced they were right, less willing to apologize, less likely to take responsibility, and measurably less interested in making things right with the other person. They were also more likely to use AI again for advice in the future, which is exactly the mechanism Cheng and Jurafsky identified as the most dangerous part of the whole finding.

The AI is not just telling you what you want to hear. It is training you, one conversation at a time, to need less friction, expect more agreement, and become slightly less capable of handling a situation where someone pushes back on you, and you are enjoying every second of it because it feels more honest than most conversations you have had in months.
Jurafsky said it in a single sentence after the paper came out. Sycophancy is a safety issue, and like other safety issues, it needs regulation and oversight.

Cheng was more direct about what you should actually do right now. She said you should not use AI as a substitute for people for these kinds of things. That is the best thing to do for now.

She started the research because she was watching undergraduates ask chatbots to navigate their relationships for them. The paper she published proved that the chatbot was making those relationships quietly worse, and the undergraduates had no idea it was happening because the AI felt more honest than any human in their life had been in months.

[Aston University Archives @AstonUnArchives]

Registration is now open for the 2026 AUAC Conference "Who is Responsible for the Archives? An Interdisciplinary Approach to Ethics in a Digital Age" (Aston University and online), with participants from all over the world.

Details here:
https://t.co/igJQ5CESK1

[Dr David Turner @TurnipRail]

A great official launch to a very impressive extended and enhanced Darlington Station. Good job @transportgovuk, @TeesValleyCA, @darlingtonbc, @networkrail and @LNER!

[Dr David Turner @TurnipRail]

Today, the further evolution of Darlington Stn will be celebrated when a new eastern concourse, two new platforms and a fully accessible and enclosed footbridge linking them to the current station building will be officially opened. Here's the station just after it's 1887 rebuild

[Dr David Turner @TurnipRail]

Interesting fact for the day: in 1923, 427,721 passengers were booked at Darlington station, whilst 780,357 tickets were collected there, a total of 1,208,078. However, in 2024/25, 2.827 million passengers entered or exited the station, 1.62 million more.

[Dr David Turner @TurnipRail]

Today, the further evolution of Darlington Stn will be celebrated when a new eastern concourse, two new platforms and a fully accessible and enclosed footbridge linking them to the current station building will be officially opened. Here's the station just after it's 1887 rebuild

[Dr David Turner @TurnipRail]

A great official launch to a very impressive extended and enhanced Darlington Station. Good job @transportgovuk, @TeesValleyCA, @darlingtonbc, @networkrail and @LNER!

[Dr David Turner @TurnipRail]

Today, the further evolution of Darlington Stn will be celebrated when a new eastern concourse, two new platforms and a fully accessible and enclosed footbridge linking them to the current station building will be officially opened. Here's the station just after it's 1887 rebuild

[Dr David Turner @TurnipRail]

Today, the further evolution of Darlington Stn will be celebrated when a new eastern concourse, two new platforms and a fully accessible and enclosed footbridge linking them to the current station building will be officially opened. Here's the station just after it's 1887 rebuild

[Dr David Turner @TurnipRail]

The next @ihr_history Transport & Mobility History seminar takes place this Thurs, online, at 1730.

Kayle R. Avery dicusses "From Technical Marvel to Social Blueprint: Miniature Railroads and Politics of Space".

More details and booking is here:

https://t.co/TCHkxd4TuY

[Dr David Turner @TurnipRail]

Unfortunately, the opening day didn't go without a hitch. An engine on the last train of the day, despite going slowly, derailed at North Weald Station. The accident was attributed to the points or a pointsman.

[Dr David Turner @TurnipRail]

One of my favourite heritage railways is the @eorailway, which runs from North Weald to Ongar. The extension from Loughton to Ongar opened on 24 April 1865, as shown in this press notice from the London Evening Standard of 22 April 1865.

[Dr David Turner @TurnipRail]

The Great Eastern Railway used a coordinated approach to spreading the news, posting notices in various press outlets on multiple days. They included the Weekly Chronicle, Daily Telegraph and Courier, Daily News, Weekly Times, Express, and the Echo.

[Dr David Turner @TurnipRail]

I like this idea from 1930. Attendants on London & North Eastern Railway's trains between London and Leeds handed out headphones to passengers on payment of a shilling. They could then plug in these in either the restaurant car or compartments to listen to the wireless.

[Dr David Turner @TurnipRail]

I like this idea from 1930. Attendants on London & North Eastern Railway's trains between London and Leeds handed out headphones to passengers on payment of a shilling. They could then plug in these in either the restaurant car or compartments to listen to the wireless.

[Aston University Archives @AstonUnArchives]

A CfP deadline is approaching for the Archives and Ethics conference. Do consider submitting and spread the news far and wide.

[Dr David Turner @TurnipRail]

It feels wrong to be getting rid of this, but after nearly 30 years of following me around and serving practically no purpose, we will now part ways.

But trust me, my personal statement was amazing.

[Gareth Dennis @GarethDennis]

📢 Today, the Campaign for @LevelBoarding is publishing its letter to @NetworkRail's project team for the Old Oak Common station, ENDORSING their proposals for level boarding provision at the Relief platforms for @TfL Elizabeth Line services.

There are caveats, however. 🧵

[Mark R. Brown, AICP, CNU @CompletedStreet]

Fun fact: The new Elizabeth line in London moved more people in 2025 than Highway 401, the busiest freeway in North America.

[Adam Tranter @adamtranter]

Deep in the Government’s new integrated transport strategy is a truth at odds with the rhetoric: driving a car has gotten cheaper in real terms, and public transport has gotten more expensive.

The Government is also clear that this will mean more traffic and more congestion.