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Image credit: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07566-y

In recent discussions about language model construction, particularly with the rise of large language models (LLMs), there has been growing concern over the phenomenon of model collapse—where LLMs trained on synthetic data begin to diverge from real-world language. A recent article in Communications of the ACM, titled “The Collapse of GPT” (Savage, 2025), explores this issue and highlights its relevance to the future of AI systems. This article brought to mind work I co-authored with my colleague Peter Wyard in the late 1990s, titled “An Internet Agent for Language Model Construction.” Peter was a member of the BT Labs NLP research group, and I was working there on a Research Fellowship. At the time, we were grappling with similar challenges—how to build domain-specific language models for speech recognition systems when collecting enough in-domain data was both costly and time-consuming.

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I recently had the opportunity to speak at ATLAS 2025Language Technologies Applied to Society at the Universidad de La Rioja. It was a pleasure to return to this thoughtful and collaborative research community, having attended last year as well.

In my talk, “Reflections on Building and Deploying LLMs in Production”, I explored the complexities and challenges involved in moving large language models (LLMs) from the research phase into real-world production. From deployment strategies to ethical considerations and scalability, the journey is far from straightforward.

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I was delighted to give the keynote on Day 2 of the inaugural Working Conference on Academic Research and Professional Practice in Interaction Design (ARPPID 2025), held 10–11 July at the University of West London.

ARPPID is a new forum dedicated to exploring and strengthening the relationship between academic research and industry practice in interaction design. With its hybrid format and a programme that brought together leading voices from both sides of the divide, it offered a rare opportunity to interrogate how these worlds overlap—and where they still talk past one another.

In my talk—titled Mind the Gap: Bridging the Research–Practice Divide—I shared some of the tensions, trade-offs, and translational opportunities that arise when navigating between UX practice and HCI research. Drawing on personal experience across both industry and academia, I argued that we need better infrastructure, incentives, and recognition for those working in the liminal space between these domains.

Some key themes included:

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Delighted to share that our article, “Deceptive Design: How websites are manipulating users’ behaviour,” is the cover feature in the June 2025 issue of The Ergonomist.

Co-authored with Marzieh Jamalifard and Harry Brignull, we explore how dark patterns like Hidden Subscriptions and Hard to Cancel interfaces affect users both emotionally and cognitively, drawing on findings from eye tracking, EEG, and sentiment analysis.

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🚀 Exciting News! We’re delighted to announce the latest update to 2Dsearch, bringing even more power and versatility to your literature searching:

🌟 What’s New?

  1. 8 New Literature Sources Added
    We’ve expanded our reach by integrating CORE, Europe PMC, JSTOR, Open Access Theses and Dissertations, OpenAlex, Public Library of Science (PLOS), Semantic Scholar, and Virtual Health Library.
    • This brings the total number of natively searchable databases to 22, plus an additional 8 databases supported via automated syntax translations.
    • To help you get started, we’ve also created example searches for each new source.
  2. AI Functionality Improvements
    • We’ve further refined our AI capabilities, making it smarter and more responsive to your needs.
    • Expect better accuracy in query reformulation and enhanced suggestions to streamline your research process.
  3. UI Enhancements & Bug Fixes
    • A smoother and more intuitive interface to improve your overall experience.
    • Resolved several bugs to ensure better stability and reliability.

🚀 Why This Matters

These updates make it easier than ever to search across a broader range of academic and scholarly resources, ensuring you have access to the most comprehensive set of tools for your research.

We can’t wait for you to explore these new features! As always, your feedback is invaluable—let us know how these changes support your research journey.

Check out the new 2Dsearch: 2Dsearch

🚀 Exciting News! We’re thrilled to announce the latest release of 2Dsearch, featuring a significant overhaul of the AI interface and enhancements to NLP analysis.

🌟 What’s New?

  • AI Functionality Overhaul: More powerful LLMs generate search strategies tailored to your specific research question.
  • Enhanced Facet Analysis: Improved algorithms provide deeper insights and more nuanced search results.
  • Context-Sensitive Keyword Generation: The keyword generation process has been refined to consider the context of the research question, resulting in more relevant choices.
  • Revamped User Interface: The AI has been redesigned to give users fine control over how their research questions are analyzed, allowing for easy adjustments of facets and customization of search strategies.

🎓 Who Benefits?

Whether you’re a student struggling with literature reviews, a researcher crafting intricate search strategies, or an information professional looking for efficiency, this update is designed with you in mind. The new interface supports all users in getting the most out of 2Dsearch with minimal effort.

🔍 Why You’ll Appreciate It:

  • Intuitive Experience: Each enhancement is crafted with the user in mind, making 2Dsearch not only powerful but also intuitive and enjoyable to navigate.
  • Ongoing Improvements: We’ve addressed various bugs and implemented numerous enhancements to ensure optimal performance and reliability.
  • Accessible to All: 2Dsearch continues to be free for everyone-be it students, researchers, information professionals, or recruiters.

🎯 What’s Next?

We’re just getting started! Our dedicated team is already working on the next exciting update, which will likely bring support for yet more literature sources. We invite you to share your thoughts on how we can further enhance your experience with 2Dsearch. Your feedback is crucial in shaping its future!

Check out the new 2Dsearch2Dsearch

In case you missed it, here is the official line up for Search Solutions 2024, held at BCS London on 26-27 November. We’re a great line up this year: lots of topical talks, expert panels and of course, the evening drinks reception. Hope to see you there?

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🚀 Exciting News! We’re thrilled to announce the latest release of 2Dsearch, featuring a complete UI overhaul that’s set to transform your search experience. This update is the result of extensive UX research and usability testing, all aimed at making 2Dsearch more intuitive, efficient, and enjoyable to use.

🌟 What’s New?

  • Revamped Interface: Enjoy navigating our newly redesigned UI, offering a cleaner, more streamlined look that makes creating and managing your search strategies even easier.
  • Optimized Workflows: We’ve refined workflows based on user feedback, making the process of building and refining search strategies smoother and more efficient.
  • Enhanced Functionality: Alongside the UI updates, expect improved interactions and quicker access to features, all aimed at boosting your productivity.

🎓 Who Benefits? Whether you’re a student tackling literature reviews, a researcher crafting detailed search strategies, or an information professional looking for efficiency, this update is designed with your needs in mind.

🔍 Why You’ll Appreciate It:

  • User-Focused Design: Every change is made to ensure that 2Dsearch is not just powerful, but also straightforward and pleasant to use.
  • Continued Improvements: We’ve also fixed bugs and made several behind-the-scenes enhancements to keep things running smoothly.

And as always, 2Dsearch remains free for everyone -whether you’re a student, researcher, information professional, or recruiter.

🎯 Looking Ahead: We’re already working on the next release and would love to hear your feedback. Your insights help us make 2Dsearch better with every update.

Check out the new release: 2Dsearch

The Information Retrieval Specialist Group (IRSG) of the BCS invites proposals for the organisation of one day events supported by BCS. Proposals will be evaluated based on the organisational and financial plans and benefits to the Information Retrieval community.

Important Dates

  • Submission deadline for this round: 02-Aug-2024
  • Notification: 16-Aug-2024

Submission Guidelines

Proposals should be in PDF and include the following:

  • Title of the event
  • Chairs and organisers
  • Contact information
  • A description of the event topic and its goals
  • A statement on how the event complements or relates to other IR events
  • Proposed venue
  • Desired format, including preferred dates and duration, onsite or hybrid 
  • Outline of the program (including talks, breaks, and any social events)
  • Potential (or accepted) speakers
  • Publicity plans
  • Funding plans and preliminary budget

Organisers of accepted events are expected to announce the event and call for speakers, solicit speakers, compose the program, and organise the event. Evaluation criteria include topic significance and timeliness, scientific quality, proposed organisation, level of interest, and synergy with other events. 

Accepted events will be supported up to £1,000 and are expected to have a credible financial plan and budget. We anticipate holding further funding rounds in due course.  Topics should be related to the theory and practice of information retrieval and interaction, such as:

  • Topical issues in IR practice, e.g. trust, bias, and fairness
  • Interdisciplinary topics, e.g IR and information science, data science, or user experience
  • The use (and abuse) of large language models and other AI techniques
  • Domain-specific or professional issues, e.g. in eCommerce, media, recruitment, library and information science, healthcare information, etc.
  • Innovative approaches used in operational IR systems and products

Proposals and enquiries should be submitted via email to the IRSG Events Organiser and Chair (tgr2uk@gmail.com and Udo.Kruschwitz@ur.de) with “BCS One Day Event Proposal” in the email subject.

About the IRSG

The IRSG is a Specialist Group of BCS. Its mission is to provide a focus for the European IR community, facilitate communication between researchers and practitioners and promote the adoption of IR research within industry. We host a major European conference (ECIR) and provide an associated programme of workshops, seminars and events. The IRSG provides access to further IR articles, events and resources. For how to join the IRSG please see http://irsg.bcs.org, or contact the membership secretary at h.liu@soton.ac.uk.

BCS is the industry body for IT professionals. With members in over 100 countries around the world, BCS is the leading professional and learned society in the field of computers and information systems.

Calling all search experts! Search Solutions is back in London this November and we have a few spaces left for presenters, so I’m delighted to share details of the call below. If you’re thinking of presenting and would like feedback on a potential presentation idea, please feel free to reach out to any of us on the committee. Hope to see you there!

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