Do Not Predict the Defendant
Risk scores can organise evidence and support system-level research, but they cannot turn group statistics into an individual fact capable of justifying guilt, sentence or liberty.
Ideas at the Limit: Following a Thought Until It Changes Shape
Alkemata’s new project dossiers take a modest idea, push it to its most consequential form, stress-test its effects, and work backwards towards a practical experiment.
A Social Network Designed to Leave You Alone
What if an online network protected attention instead of consuming it—and measured success by the understanding, trust and work that continued after people logged out?
Test the Policy Before It Tests the Public
Digital rules should face transparent synthetic cases, historical edge cases and community-designed scenarios before they change real entitlements or obligations.
Rules as Code Without Government by Code
Rules as code can make public decisions testable and consistent, but executable rules must remain traceable companions to law—not hidden substitutes for judgement.
A Public Service Should Give You a Receipt
A digital submission is not complete when a button turns green. A useful public-service receipt proves what was received, when it arrived and how the record can be corrected.
Law That Machines Can Read—and People Can Still Understand
Structured legislation helps people and machines find the right law, version and source—without turning technical formats into legal authority or interpretation.
When Human Review Becomes a Rubber Stamp
Human oversight fails when reviewers lack time, evidence or authority. Meaningful review requires independence, manageable workloads and measurable disagreement.
The Queue Is a Policy Decision
Automated triage distributes waiting time, attention and risk. Fair queues require defensible priorities, ageing, human overrides and monitoring beyond average speed.
Give the Caseworker a Map, Not a Score
Decision-support tools should show caseworkers evidence, provenance, gaps, uncertainty and lawful options—not compress a person into a recommendation score.