#LLM in UK

[shuraaeducation]

LLM in UK- Universities, Fees, Eligibility, Jobs & Salaries

Study LLM in UK with Shuraa Education. Explore top universities offering diverse programs, expert guidance, and hassle-free admission processes. Achieve your academic dreams in the United Kingdom. Contact us today for personalized assistance in your educational journey!

[llminukmeridean]

LLM in the UK: Everything You Need to Know

The United Kingdom (UK) has long been a top destination for international students seeking high-quality education, and this reputation extends to the field of law. Pursuing a (Master of Laws) LLM in UK can be a transformative experience, offering a world-class legal education in a culturally rich and diverse environment.

In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into everything you need to know about pursuing an LLM in UK, from admission requirements to the benefits of studying in this vibrant country.

1. What is an LLM?

A Master of Laws (LLM) is an advanced, postgraduate academic degree in law. It is designed for law graduates or legal professionals who wish to deepen their understanding of a particular area of law or explore new legal specialities.

2. Why Choose the UK for Your LLM?

a. Prestigious Universities

Some of the most prestigious LLM universities in UK, many of which offer renowned LLM programs. Institutions like the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, and the London School of Economics (LSE) consistently rank among the top in global university rankings.

b. Diverse Range of LLM Specializations

UK universities offer a wide array of LLM specialisations, catering to various legal interests. Whether you're passionate about international law, commercial law, human rights, or intellectual property law, you're likely to find a program that suits your career goals.

c. English Language Advantage

Studying law in the UK provides a unique opportunity to sharpen your legal English skills, which is invaluable if you plan to work on an international stage or with multinational clients.

d. Cultural Richness

The UK provides a broad cultural experience in addition to academics. You'll have the chance to explore historical landmarks, museums, and a diverse culinary scene while studying in cities like London, Edinburgh, or Manchester.

e. Networking Opportunities

Studying in the UK exposes you to a global network of students and legal professionals. This network can be instrumental in forging international connections that may benefit your legal career.

3. Admission Requirements for LLM Programs in the UK

To pursue an LLM in UK, you'll typically need the following:

a. A Law Degree

Most LLM courses in UK require applicants to hold a qualifying law degree. In the UK, this is typically an LLB or an equivalent undergraduate law degree.

b. English Language Proficiency

Since courses are taught in English, international students from non-English-speaking countries are required to demonstrate their English language proficiency through tests like IELTS or TOEFL.

c. Letters of Recommendation

It's possible that letters of recommendation from academic or professional sources will be required.

d. Statement of Purpose

A well-crafted statement of purpose outlining your academic and career goals is often a crucial part of your application.

e. Academic Transcripts

You'll need to submit your academic transcripts as evidence of your qualifications.

f. Visa

International students from certain countries may need a Student Visa to study in the UK. A quick check of the visa requirements is advised.

4. LLM Universities in the UK

The UK boasts an extensive list of universities offering LLM programs. Some of the top institutions renowned for their law programs include:

- University of Oxford

- University of Cambridge

- London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

- University of Edinburgh

- King's College London

- University of London

- University of Manchester

- University of Glasgow

- Durham University

- University of Bristol

Each of these institutions offers a unique set of LLM specialisations, so it's essential to research and choose the one that aligns with your academic and career objectives.

5. LLM Courses in the UK

LLM courses in UK cover a wide range of legal areas, including but not limited to:

a. International Law

Specialisations in international law can encompass human rights, international trade law, and global governance.

b. Commercial Law

This area includes banking law, corporate law, and international business transactions.

c. Human Rights Law

Human rights law programs focus on the protection and promotion of human rights on national and international levels

d. Environmental Law

With growing global concerns about the environment, this specialisation deals with environmental regulations, climate change, and sustainability.

e. Intellectual Property Law

Intellectual property law covers patents, copyrights, trademarks, and issues related to technology and innovation.

f. Criminal Law

Specialisations in criminal law may delve into topics like criminology, criminal justice, and international criminal law.

6. Duration and Structure of LLM Programs

LLM in UK usually takes one year of full-time study to complete. Part-time options may also be available, extending the duration to two years. The structure typically includes a combination of core courses, elective modules, and a dissertation or research project.

7. Scholarships and Financial Aid

Numerous scholarships and financial aid opportunities are available for international students pursuing an LLM in UK. Scholarship funding may help to reduce the expense of studying abroad.

8. Conclusion…

Pursuing an LLM in UK offers an excellent opportunity to receive a world-class legal education, explore diverse legal fields, and immerse yourself in British culture. With a wide range of specialisations, renowned universities, and scholarship options, the UK remains a top choice for aspiring legal scholars from around the world.

[studyinnewzealandmeridean]

LLM in UK: Everything you need to know

A Master of Laws (LLM) is a postgraduate law degree that can be taken after completing an undergraduate law degree. LLM programs in the UK offer a wide range of specializations, giving students the opportunity to focus on their areas of interest.

Why study LLM in UK?

There are many reasons why Indian students might choose to study LLM in UK. Here are a few of the most common reasons:

High-quality education: UK universities are known for their high-quality education. LLM programs in the UK are taught by experienced and qualified academics, and they offer students the opportunity to learn from some of the leading minds in the field of law.

Prestigious degrees: LLM degrees from UK universities are highly regarded by employers around the world. This means that students with an LLM from the UK will have a competitive edge in the job market.

Global exposure: Studying in the UK gies students the opportunity to experience a new culture and meet people from all over the world. This can be a valuable experience that can help students develop their global perspective.

Opportunities to work in the UK: After graduating with an LLM from the UK, students are eligible to apply for a post-study work visa. This visa allows students to stay in the UK and work for up to two years. This can be a great way to gain work experience and make connections in the UK legal market.

There are a wide variety of LLM programs available in the UK. Some of the most popular specializations include:

Commercial law: This specialization covers the law of contracts, torts, and property.

Criminal law: This specialization covers the law of crime, evidence, and procedure.

Human rights law: This specialization covers the law of human rights, international law, and public law.

International law: This specialization covers the law of international relations, international trade, and international environmental law.

Tax law: This specialization covers the law of taxation, trusts, and estates.

Admission requirements for LLM in UK

The admission requirements for LLM in UK vary from university to university. However, most programs require students to have a good undergraduate degree in law (LLB) with a minimum of 60%. Some programs may also require students to have work experience or to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).

How to apply for LLM in UK

The application process for LLM programs in the UK typically begins in the fall. Students must submit their application materials, which typically include a personal statement, transcripts, letters of recommendation, and test scores.

LLM fees in UK

The tuition fees for LLM programs in the UK vary from university to university. However, most programs cost between £10,000 and £20,000 per year.

Scholarships and funding for LLM in UK

There are a number of scholarships and funding opportunities available for students who are interested in studying LLM in the UK. These scholarships are offered by universities, government agencies, and private organizations.

Conclusion

An LLM from UK university can be a valuable asset for Indian students. It can help students gain the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in a legal career. If you are interested in studying LLM in the UK, I recommend that you start your research early. There are a number of factors to consider, such as the specialization you want to study, the universities you are interested in, and the financial resources you have available.

[vlruso]

UK politicians speak out over polices use of facial recognition

📢 UK politicians are speaking out against the police's use of facial recognition technology, calling for a temporary halt. Concerns over potential misuse, ineffectiveness, and impact on privacy and civil liberties have sparked this response. Get the full story here: [Link to the blog post](https://ift.tt/oc27gnX) Members of the UK House of Lords and Commons, along with advocacy organizations, are opposing the use of live facial recognition technology by the police. A total of 65 parliamentarians and 31 rights and race equality organizations are urging a temporary halt to its usage. Discover the details in the blog post. The accuracy and legality of facial recognition technology have been heavily debated. Uncertainty surrounds its scientific basis and concerns have been raised about wrongful arrests, bias, and false identifications. Read more about the controversies surrounding this technology. If you're interested in AI and want to evolve your company, take note of the discussions happening in the UK regarding police use of facial recognition. The blog post offers practical insights, including steps to follow for successful AI integration. Don't miss out on staying competitive with AI advancements. Ready to explore AI solutions? Consider the AI Sales Bot from [itinai.com](https://ift.tt/jr1ODp5). Automate customer engagement, manage interactions, and redefine your sales processes. Find out more about AI's potential for your business. For guidance on AI KPI management, feel free to reach out to us at hello@itinai.com. Stay updated on leveraging AI by following our Telegram channel - [t.me/itinainews](t.me/itinainews) or on Twitter [@itinaicom](https://twitter.com/itinaicom). Discover more useful links in the blog post, including the AI Lab in Telegram [@aiscrumbot](https://t.me/aiscrumbot) for a free consultation. Learn from the UK politicians' perspective and consider the implications of facial recognition technology. Let's embrace AI responsibly and ethically! #UK #facialrecognition #technology #AI #police #privacy #civilrights List of Useful Links: AI Scrum Bot - ask about AI scrum and agile Our Telegram @itinai Twitter -  @itinaicom

[seoladyltd]

Google UK Featured Snippet SEO Blog post Case Study 2023 September Nina Payne White Label Freelancer

#googledance #googlecore #googlealgorithm #featuredsnippet https://www.seolady.co.uk/google-dance-core-update/

September 7th, 2023 - Google’s Update has finally concluded after it's koolaid smash entry in August. I created a new blog post in August 2023 so I could update the article in real time twice a week. I was aiming for a featured snippet in SERPs for a low competition Featured Snippet at the top of Google page 1, so you can understand what on-page SEO methods you'll need to plan. Also, timescales; featured snippets can take months and years of chasing before you hit the sweet ranking spot and enjoy extra traffic. This core update, confirmed by Google to have completed rolling out on September 7th, took over two weeks to fully implement. Volatility was seen in waves, with initial fluctuations around August 25th, another surge near August 30th, and final volatility in the days before it ended. As with previous updates focused on Google’s core ranking systems, this latest August 2023 core update targeted all types of content and languages worldwide. It aims to reward high-quality, useful content while downgrading low-value pages. Sites generally see ranking increases or decreases of 20-80% or more. While Google continues to release algorithm changes, they changed from the old dancing way of flicking a switch; the gradual rollout method used in 2023 has the purpose of reducing large fluctuations and frustrations. This is to combat an overnight domain bombing in search, like in the twenties with the first introduction of E-A-T and HTTPS-favoured urls in their algorithm changes. The volatility of Google’s search results in the early days of the search engine, was caused by a number of factors – including the fact that Google’s algorithm was still under development and that the search engine was constantly being updated. The Google Dance was a major source of frustration for website owners and SEO professionals. It was difficult to predict how a website’s ranking would change, and it was often impossible to know why a website’s ranking had changed, in the mid-2000s it levelled out as Google’s algorithm became more sophisticated. However, the term “Google Dance” is still used today to refer to any sudden or unexplained changes in Google’s search results from older generation of online marketers. The phrase became more widely used in 2004, when Google’s algorithm was updated and the Google Dance became more pronounced. The Google Dance began to subside in the mid-2000s, but the phrase is still used today to refer to any sudden or unexplained changes in Google’s search results.

[mesetacadre]

There's a post that's a screenshot of someone calling artists little lords and landowners/aligning them with the bourgeoisie, with commentary making fun of the sentiment because self-employed artists don't make much money. Every time I see it I feel crazy. Isn't that exactly what petit bourgeoisie means? It has nothing to do with how wealthy you are, just your relationship to capital. And self employed artists would be exactly that since they, technically, own their means of production? I never see anyone commenting on that damn post except to agree with it. Please share your thoughts and tell me if I'm being stupid

The issue with the word artist is that it encompasses a very heterogeneous set of groups. Broadly, yeah, artists are petit-bourgeois (own private property, extracts value generated by workers' labor-power) or artisans (owns their own means of production and is paid for their work by other people without having a relationship of employment; commissions). This is also modified by the relationship to imperialism; Jackson Pollock is a very different kind of artist than a photographer, than a commission artist in the UK, than a commission artist in the global south, than someone who outsources their art to an overseas factory, etc.

Still, one way or another, the economic organization of artistic production is closer to the bourgeoisie than the proletariat in terms of economic relations, even if in terms of wealth accumulation, it's the other way around. This is nothing special, most small business owners are in this situation, which is known as proletarianization. In any of the tides of monopolization and the ebbs of wealth redistribution, the petit-bourgeois and adjacent classes (such as artisans) come at the risk of proletarianization, of losing the small amount of private property they own and being forced into becoming a part of the proletariat. Historically this risk has gone as far as becoming one of the factors of the rise to power of German and Italian fascists, and in a more mundane sense, also encourages bourgeois aspirations. One only has to look at the steadfast defense of intellectual property most (imperial core based) artists have deployed as soon as generative LLMs cheapened artistic labor in certain instances.

[ellipsus-writes]

Ellipsus Digest: April 2

Each week (or so), we'll highlight the relevant (and sometimes rage-inducing) news adjacent to writing and freedom of expression. This week:

Meta trained on pirated books—and writers are not having it

ICYMI: Meta has forever earned a spot as the archetype for Shadowy Corporate Baddie in speculative fiction by training its LLMs on pirated books from LibGen. You're pissed, we're pissed—here's what you can do:

The Author’s Guild of America—longtime champions of authors’ rights and probably very tired of cleaning up this kind of mess (see its high-profile ongoing lawsuits, and January’s campaign to credit human authors over “AI-authored” work)—has released a new summary of what’s going on. They’ve also provided a plug-and-play template for contacting AI companies directly, because right now, “sincerely, a furious novelist” just doesn’t feel like enough.

No strangers to spilling the tea, the UK’s Society of Authors is also stepping up with its roundup of actions to raise awareness and fight back against the unlicensed scraping of creative work. (If you’re across the pond, we also recommend checking out the Creative Rights in AI Coalition campaign—it’s doing solid work to stop the extraction economy from feeding on artists’ work.)

Museums and libraries: fodder for the new culture war

Not to be outdone by Florida school boards and That Aunt's Facebook feed, MAGA’s nascent cultural revolution has turned its attention to museums and libraries. A new executive order (in that big boi font) is targeting funding for any program daring to tell a “divisive narrative” or acknowledge “improper ideology” (translation: anything involving actual history).

The first target is D.C.’s own Smithsonian. The newly restructured federal board has set its sights on “cleansing” the Institution’s 21 museums of “divisive, race-centered ideology.” (couch-enthusiast J.D. Vance snagged himself a board seat.) (Oh, and they’ve appointed a Trump-aligned lawyer to vet museum content.) The second seems to be the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a 70-person department (now placed on administrative leave) in charge of institutional funding. As we wrote last week, this isn’t isolated—far-right influence overmuseums and libraries means this kind of ideological takeover will seep into every corner of the country’s cultural life.

Meanwhile, the GOP is (once again) trying to defund PBS for its “Communist agenda.” It’s part of a larger crusade that’s banned picture books with LGBTQ+ characters, erased anti-racist history, and treated educators like enemies—all in the name of “protecting the children,” of course.

NaNoWriMo is no more; long live NaNo

When we initially signed on as sponsors in 2024, we really, really hoped NaNoWriMo could pull it together—but its support for generative AI and dismissiveness toward its own audience prompted us to withdraw our sponsorship, and many Wrimos to leave an institution that helped cultivate creativity and community for a near-quarter century. Now it seems NaNo has shuttered permanently, leaving the community confused, if not betrayed. But when an organization treats its community poorly and fumbles its ethics, people notice. (You can watch the official explainer here.)

Still, writers are resilient, and the rise of many independent writing groups and community-led challenges proves that creatives will always find spaces to connect and write—and the desire to write 50k words in the month of November isn’t going anywhere. Just maybe... somewhere better.

The continued attack on campus speech

The Trump administration continues its campaign against universities for perceived anti-conservative bias, gutting federal research budgets, and pressuring schools to abandon any trace of DEI (or, as we wrote on the blog, extremely common and important words). In short: If a school won’t conform to MAGA ideology, it doesn’t deserve federal money—or academic freedom.

Higher education is being pressured to excise entire frameworks and language in an effort to avoid becoming the next target of partisan outrage. Across the U.S., universities are bracing for politically motivated budget cuts, especially in departments tied to research, diversity, or anything remotely inclusive. Conservative watchdogs have made it their mission to root out “woke depravity”—one school confirmed it received emails offering payment in exchange for students to act as informants, or ghostwrite articles to “expose the liberal bias that occurs on college campuses across the nation.”

In a country where op-eds in student newspapers are grounds for deportation, what part of “free speech” is actually free?

We now live in knockoff Miyazaki hellscape

If you’ve been online lately (sorry), you’ve probably seen a flood of vaguely whimsical, oddly sterile, faux-hand-drawn illustrations popping up everywhere. That’s because OpenAI just launched a new image generator—and CEO Sam Altman couldn’t wait to brag that it was so popular their servers started “melting.” (Apparently, melting the climate is fine too, despite Miyazaki’s lifelong environmental themes.) (Nausicaa is our favorite at Ellipsus.)

This might be OpenAI’s attempt to “honor” Hayao Miyazaki, who once declared that AI-generated animation was “an insult to life itself.” Meanwhile, the meme lifecycle went into warp speed, since AI doesn't require actual human creativity—speed-running from personal exploration, to corporate slop, to 9/11 memes, to a supremely cruel take from The White House.

“People are going to create some really amazing stuff and some stuff that may offend people,” Altman said in a post on X. “What we'd like to aim for is that the tool doesn't create offensive stuff unless you want it to, in which case within reason it does.”

Still, the people must meme. And while cottagecore fox girls are fine, we suggest skipping straight to the truly cursed (and far more creative) J.D. Vance memes instead.

Let us know if you find something other writers should know about, (or join our Discord and share it there!)

- The Ellipsus Team xo

[mindblowingscience]

When summarizing scientific studies, large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and DeepSeek produce inaccurate conclusions in up to 73% of cases, according to a study by Uwe Peters (Utrecht University) and Benjamin Chin-Yee (Western University, Canada/University of Cambridge, UK). The researchers tested the most prominent LLMs and analyzed thousands of chatbot-generated science summaries, revealing that most models consistently produced broader conclusions than those in the summarized texts. Surprisingly, prompts for accuracy increased the problem and newer LLMs performed worse than older ones. The work is published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

Continue Reading.

[translatingpostsintoitalian]

I used Duolingo to learn some Italian despite being very put off by their continuous reliance on ai. The more ai is involved the less natural it feels, as is ofc expected, but can you tell me how often you actually ask "Vero?" At the end of a statement? Because the way Duolingo presents it it seems to be the same frequency as an English person might say "isn't it?"

Example:

Duolingo will constantly have me translate sentences like "you live with your friend Chiara, right?", "you have a red jacket, right?"

And I just wanna make sure that that is the more common way of asking something rather than asking "Do you have a red jacket?" Which according to Duolingo translates in Italian to the statement "you have a red jacket." But like asked as a question. Which is fine and also a thing in English but I just wanna make sure because the amount of times it has me put vero? At the end of sentences is. A lot

Short answer: we don't use it that often, the most common way imho is "no?".

Very long answer: we do say "vero?" at the end of a sentence to seek confirmation, but it doesn't have the same frequency as English "right?" or UK English "innit?". See it more as a "correct?", "is that right?". Something that's closer to the frequency of "right?" in my opinion is "no?". Examples: "Vivi con la tua amica Chiara, no?" "Hai una giacca rossa, no?". Some people use it *a lot* in the same way that some English speakers use the phrase "you know". Example: "Ieri sono andato in quel bar, no?, e c'era Beatrice, sai, l'ex di Luca, sai no?". ("sai" is basically the same as "you know")

You can also skip the interjection altogether and phrase it as a question, yes. "Vivi con la tua amica Chiara?" "Hai una giacca rossa?". This changes intonation, which in Italian is very useful for understanding whether something was said or asked. If you say "[sentence], no?" the sentence is uttered like a normal statement (downward inflection at the end of the sentence), then the "no?" has a raised intonation. If you say "[sentence]?" you keep a moderately high intonation throughout and then raise it more at the end. If you're familiar with Spanish, that's what the upside-down question mark ¿ is for in Spanish: it tells you where you have to start raising the intonation.

About Duolingo... I'm so sorry that what used to be, and still is, the go-to app/service for learning new languages, has ended up not being the best resource anymore. I haven't used Duolingo in years because it actually stopped being useful to me, before it started using generative AI to generate its sentences and for other uses. The truth is that Duolingo is still a tool that's very easy to use, low-effort, and that gives you a lot of base knowledge. I don't reprimand anyone for using it, but if someone asked me directly, I'd certainly recommend something else.

The repeated "vero?" is one of the problems I have with Duolingo, honestly. By repeating a certain word several times to the point of exhaustion (at least for me), it kind of inflates the frequency that that word actually has in the normal spoken language. I'm not familiar with what specific kind of generative AI Duolingo uses, but I study NLP and LLMs. A widespread and well-known problem of LLMs is that they tend to collapse into short sentences and into repeating the same words over and over, when not trained extensively against this. You don't see this very often with commercial LLMs like ChatGPT or whatnot, but it's because they have been trained *a lot*. If you take a fresh untrained or lightly trained model you can rest assured it's going to spout the classic "with the method and the method and the method and the method and the" within 5 minutes. Another problem is, due to how LLM word distribution (and temperature) works, LLMs often use certain uncommon words at a higher frequency than what's considered normal. These problems are, again, very well-known and the reason why I would never put genAI in charge of a language learning service such as Duolingo if it didn't have extensive human-based feedback behind it, which they unfortunately lack in a lot of languages.

[mariacallous]

Automakers that nest key controls deep in touchscreen menus—forcing motorists to drive eyes-down rather than concentrate on the road ahead—may have their non-US safety ratings clipped next year.

From January, Europe’s crash-testing organization EuroNCAP, or New Car Assessment Program, will incentivize automakers to fit physical, easy-to-use, and tactile controls to achieve the highest safety ratings. “Manufacturers are on notice,” EuroNCAP’s director of strategic development Matthew Avery tells WIRED, “they’ve got to bring back buttons.”

Motorists, urges EuroNCAP’s new guidance, should not have to swipe, jab, or toggle while in motion. Instead, basic controls—such as wipers, indicators, and hazard lights—ought to be activated through analog means rather than digital.

Driving is one of the most cerebrally challenging things humans manage regularly—yet in recent years manufacturers seem almost addicted to switch-free, touchscreen-laden cockpits that, while pleasing to those keen on minimalistic design, are devoid of physical feedback and thus demand visual interaction, sometimes at the precise moment when eyes should be fixed on the road.

A smattering of automakers are slowly admitting that some smart screens are dumb. Last month, Volkswagen design chief Andreas Mindt said that next-gen models from the German automaker would get physical buttons for volume, seat heating, fan controls, and hazard lights. This shift will apply “in every car that we make from now on,” Mindt told British car magazine Autocar.

Acknowledging the touchscreen snafus by his predecessors—in 2019, VW described the “digitalized” Golf Mk8 as “intuitive to operate” and “progressive” when it was neither—Mindt said, “we will never, ever make this mistake anymore … It’s not a phone, it’s a car.”

Still, “the lack of physical switchgear is a shame” is now a common refrain in automotive reviews, including on WIRED. However, a limited but growing number of other automakers are dialing back the digital to greater or lesser degrees. The latest version of Mazda’s CX-60 crossover SUV features a 12.3-inch infotainment screen, but there’s still physical switchgear for operating the heater, air-con, and heated/cooled seats. While it’s still touch-sensitive, Mazda’s screen limits what you can prod depending on the app you’re using and whether you’re in motion. There’s also a real click wheel.

But many other automakers keep their touchscreen/slider/haptic/LLM doohickeys. Ninety-seven percent of new cars released after 2023 contain at least one screen, reckons S&P Global Mobility. Yet research last year by Britain’s What Car? magazine found that the vast majority of motorists prefer dials and switches to touchscreens. A survey of 1,428 drivers found that 89 percent preferred physical buttons.

Motorists, it seems, would much prefer to place their driving gloves in a glove compartment that opens with a satisfying IRL prod on a gloriously yielding and clicking clasp, rather than diving into a digital submenu. Indeed, there are several YouTube tutorials on how to open a Tesla’s glove box. “First thing,” starts one, “is you’re going to click on that car icon to access the menu settings, and from there on, you’re going to go to controls, and right here is the option to open your glove box.” As Ronald Reagan wrote, “If you’re explaining, you’re losing.”

Voice Control Reversion

The mass psychosis to fit digital cockpits is partly explained by economics—updatable touchscreens are cheaper to fit than buttons and their switchgear—but “there’s also a natural tendency [among designers] to make things more complex than they need to be,” argues Steven Kyffin, a former dean of design and pro vice-chancellor at Northumbria University in the UK (the alma mater of button-obsessed Sir Jonny Ive).

“Creating and then controlling complexity is a sign of human power,” Kyffin says. “Some people are absolutely desperate to have the flashiest, most minimalist, most post-modern-looking car, even if it is unsafe to drive because of all the distractions.”

Automakers shouldn’t encourage such consumers. “It is really important that steering, acceleration, braking, gear shifting, lights, wipers, all that stuff which enables you to actually drive the car, should be tactile,” says Kyffin, who once worked on smart controls for Dutch electronics company Philips. “From an interaction design perspective, the shift to touchscreens strips away the natural affordances that made driving intuitive,” he says.

“Traditional buttons, dials, and levers had perceptible and actionable qualities—you could feel for them, adjust them without looking, and rely on muscle memory. A touchscreen obliterates this," says Kyffin. "Now, you must look, think, and aim to adjust the temperature or volume. That’s a huge cognitive load, and completely at odds with how we evolved to interact with driving machines while keeping our attention on the road.”

To protect themselves from driver distraction accusations, most automakers are experimenting with artificial intelligence and large language models to improve voice-activation technologies, encouraging drivers to interact with their vehicles via natural speech, negating the need to scroll through menus. Mercedes-Benz, for example, has integrated ChatGPT into its vehicles' voice-control, but it's far too early to say whether such moves will finally make good on the now old and frequently broken promise of voice-controlled car systems from multiple manufacturers.

In fact, sticking with Mercedes, the tyranny of touchscreens looks set to be with us for some time yet. The largest glass dashboard outside of China is the 56-inch, door-to-door “Hyperscreen” in the latest S-Class Mercedes comprising, in one curvaceous black slab, a 12.3-inch driver’s display, a 12.3-inch passenger touchscreen, and a 17.7-inch central touchscreen that, within submenus, houses climate control and other key functions.

To turn on the heated steering wheel on a Nissan Leaf, there’s an easy-to-reach-without-looking square button on the dashboard. To be similarly toasty on the latest Mercedes, you will have to pick through a menu on the MBUX Hyperscreen by navigating to “Comfort Settings.” (You can also use voice control, by saying “Hey Mercedes,” but even if this worked 100 percent of the time, it is not always ideal to speak aloud to your auto, as passengers may well attest.)

Tesla might have popularized the big-screen digital cockpit, but Buick started the trend with its Riviera of 1986, the first car to be fitted with an in-dash touchscreen, a 9-inch, 91-function green-on-black capacitive display known as the Graphic Control Center that featured such delights as a trip computer, climate control, vehicle diagnostics, and a maintenance reminder feature. By General Motors' own admission, drivers hated it, and it was this seemingly trailblazing feature, along with a reduction in the car's size, that supposedly led to the model's year-on-year sales plummeting by 63 percent.

Buick soon ditched the Riviera’s screen, but not before a TV science program reviewing the car asked the obvious question: “Is there a built-in danger of looking away from the road while you’re trying to use it?”

Reaction Times Worse Than Drunk or High

Screens or not, “motorists shouldn’t forget they are driving [potentially] deadly weapons,” says Kyffin. An average of 112 Americans were killed every day on US roads in 2023, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s most recent full-year statistics. That’s equivalent to a plane crash every day.

Despite the proliferation of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), motor crash fatalities in the United States have increased 21 percent in the past 15 years. Forty thousand people have died on the roads in each of the past three years for which complete federal records are available.

In-vehicle infotainment systems impair reaction times behind the wheel more than alcohol and narcotics use, according to researchers at independent British consultancy TRL. The five-year-old study, commissioned by road-safety charity IAM RoadSmart, discovered that the biggest negative impact on drivers’ reactions to hazards came when using Apple CarPlay by touch. Reaction times were nearly five times worse than when a driver was at the drink-drive limit, and nearly three times worse than when high on cannabis.

A study carried out by Swedish car magazine Vi Bilägare in 2022 showed that physical buttons are much less time-consuming to use than touchscreens. Using a mix of old and new cars, the magazine found that the most straightforward vehicle to change controls on was the 2005 Volvo V70 festooned with buttons and no screens. A range of activities such as increasing cabin temperature, tuning the radio, and turning down instrument lighting could be handled within 10 seconds in the old Volvo, and with only a minimum of eyes-down. However, the same tasks on an electric MG Marvel R compact SUV took 45 seconds, requiring precious travel time to look through the nested menus. (The tests were done on an abandoned airfield.)

Distraction plays a role in up to 25 percent of crashes in Europe, according to a report from the European Commission published last year. “Distraction or inattention while driving leads drivers to have difficulty in lateral control of the vehicle, have longer reaction times, and miss information from the traffic environment,” warned the report.

A Touch Too Far

Seemingly learning little from Buick’s Riviera, BMW reintroduced touchscreens in 2001. The brand’s iDrive system combined an LCD touchscreen with a rotary control knob for scrolling through menus. Other carmakers also soon introduced screens, although with limitations. Jaguar and Land Rover would only show certain screen functions to drivers, with passengers tasked with the fiddly bits. Toyota and Lexus cars had screens that worked only when the handbrake was applied.

With curved pillar-to-pillar displays, holographic transparent displays, displays instead of rear-view mirrors, and head-up displays (HUD), it’s clear many in-car devices are fighting for driver attention. HUDs might not be touch-sensitive, but projecting a plethora of vehicle data, as well as maps, driver aids, and multimedia information, onto the windscreen could prove as distracting as toggling through menus.

“Almost every vehicle-maker has moved key controls onto central touchscreens, obliging drivers to take their eyes off the road and raising the risk of distraction crashes,” EuroNCAP’s Avery tells WIRED. “Manufacturers are realizing that they’ve probably gone too far with [fitting touchscreens].”

“A new part of our 2026 ratings is going to relate to vehicle controls,” says Avery. “We want manufacturers to preserve the operation of five principal controls to physical buttons, so that’s wipers, lights, indicators, horn, and hazard warning lights.” This however does not address the frequent needs for drivers to adjust temperature, volume, or change driver warning systems settings (an endeavor all too commonly requiring navigating down through multiple submenus).

Perhaps unfortunately, it looks like continuing with touchscreens won’t lose manufacturers any of the coveted stars in EuroNCAP’s five-star safety ratings. “It’s not the case that [automakers] can’t get five stars unless they’ve got buttons, but we’re going to make entry to the five-star club harder over time. We will wind up the pressure, with even stricter tests in the next three-year cycle starting in 2029.”

Regardless, Avery believes auto manufacturers around the world will bring back buttons. “I will be very surprised if there are markets where manufacturers have a different strategy,” he says.

“From a safety standpoint, reducing the complexity of performing in-vehicle tasks is a good thing,” says Joe Young, the media director for the insurance industry-backed Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). “The research is clear that time spent with your eyes off the road increases your risk of crashing, so reducing or eliminating that time by making it easier to find and manipulate buttons, dials, and knobs is an improvement.”

Neither Young nor Jake Nelson, director of traffic safety research for AAA, would be drawn on whether US automakers—via the US version of NCAP—would adopt EuroNCAP’s button nudges. “Industry design changes in the US market are more likely to occur based on strong consumer demand,” Nelson says. “It would be ideal to see better coordination between NCAP and EuroNCAP, however, we have not observed much influence in either direction.”

Nevertheless, Nelson agrees that “basic functions, such as climate control, audio, and others, should be accessible via buttons.” He adds that the “design of vehicle technologies should be as intuitive as possible for users” but that the “need for tutorials suggests otherwise.”

For Edmund King, president of the AA (the UK equivalent to AAA), driver distraction is personal. “When cycling, I often see drivers concentrating on their touchscreens rather than the road ahead," he says. "Technology should be there to help drivers and passengers stay safe on the roads, and that should not be to the detriment of other road users.”

Screen Out

The deeper introduction of AI into cars as part of software-defined vehicles could result in fewer touchscreens in the future, believes Dale Harrow, chair and director of the Intelligent Mobility Design Center at London’s Royal College of Art.

Eye scanners in cars are already watching how we’re driving and will prod us—with haptic seat buzzing and other alerts—when inattention is detected. In effect, today’s cars nag drivers not to use the touchscreens provided. “[Automakers] have added [touchscreen] technologies without thinking about how drivers use vehicles in motion,” says Harrow. “Touchscreens have been successful in static environments, but [that] doesn’t transfer into dynamic environments. There’s sitting in a mock-up of a car and thinking it’s easy to navigate through 15 layers, but it’s far different when the car is in motion.”

Crucially, touchscreens are ubiquitous partly because of cost—it’s cheaper to write lines of computer code than to add wires behind buttons on a physical dash. And there are further economies of scale for multi-brand car companies such as Volkswagen Group, which can put the same hardware and software in a Skoda as they do a Seat, changing just the logo pop-ups.

Additionally, over-the-air updates almost require in-car computer screens. A car’s infotainment system, the operation of ambient lighting, and other design factors are an increasingly important part of car design, and they need a screen for manufacturers to incrementally improve software-defined vehicles after rolling off production lines. Adding functionality isn’t nearly as simple when everything is buttons.

Not all screens cause distractions, of course—reversing cameras are now essential equipment, and larger navigation screens mean less time looking down for directions—but to demonstrate how touchscreens and voice control aren’t as clever as many think they are, consider the cockpit of an advanced passenger jet.

The Boeing 777X has touchscreens, but they are used by pilots only for data input—never for manipulation of controls. Similarly, the cockpit of an Airbus A350 also has screens, but they’re not touch-sensitive, and there are no voice-activated controls either. Instead, like in the 777X, there are hundreds of knobs, switches, gauges, and controls.

Of course, considering the precious human cargo and the fact that an A350 starts at $308 million, you can't fault Airbus for wanting pilots' eyes on the skies rather than screens. There are slightly fewer tactile controls in the $429,000 Rolls-Royce Spectre, the luxury car company’s first electric vehicle. There’s a screen for navigation, yes, but also lots of physical switchgear. Reviewing the new Black Badge edition of the high-end EV, Autocar said the vehicle’s digital technology was “integrated with restraint.”

Along with Volkswagen reintroducing physical buttons for functions like volume and climate control, Subaru is also bringing back physical knobs and buttons in the 2026 Outback. Hyundai has added more buttons back into the new Santa Fe, with design director Ha Hak-soo confessing to Korean JoongAng Daily towards the end of last year that the company found customers didn't like touchscreen–focused systems. And, if EuroNCAP gets its way, that’s likely the direction of travel for all cars. Buttons are back, baby.

[llminukmeridean]

LLM in the UK: A Guide to the Best Programs

Are you a legal enthusiast with a passion for delving into the intricacies of law? If so, pursuing LLM in UK might just be your ticket to an enriching academic and professional journey. The United Kingdom's rich legal heritage and globally acclaimed universities make it an ideal destination for aspiring legal scholars. Let's dive into the world of LLM programs in the UK and explore the best options that await legal aficionados like you.

The UK's Legal Prestige

The United Kingdom's legal heritage is steeped in tradition and excellence, making it a prime and prestigious destination for those passionate about pursuing advanced legal studies. The country's renowned historic legal institutions, landmark cases, and influential legal scholars collectively create an intellectually stimulating environment that is uniquely tailored to nurture the growth of aspiring legal minds.

Diverse Specializations

The realm of LLM in UK for Indian Students is incredibly diverse, spanning a vast array of legal disciplines. Whether your passion lies in international law, human rights, commercial law, intellectual property, or any other field, there's an LLM specialisation tailored to your interests. This diversity empowers you to align your studies with your true passion and career aspirations.

Academic Excellence

Embarking on an LLM in UK is akin to stepping into a realm of unparalleled academic excellence. The UK's globally recognised institutions are revered for upholding stringent academic standards and a steadfast dedication to providing an exceptional education. As you immerse yourself in this academic environment, you're not only deepening your legal acumen but also fortifying your profile as a multifaceted legal scholar.

Cultural Immersion

Beyond the academic realm, embarking on an LLM in UK for Indian students opens doors to a transformative cultural immersion. The multicultural fabric of society warmly embraces students from every corner of the globe, fostering an environment ripe for cross-cultural exchanges. Collaborating with peers of diverse origins enriches your global outlook, an indispensable advantage in manoeuvring the intricacies of today's interconnected legal terrain.

LLM for Indian Students

Indian students seeking an LLM Universities in UK are presented with a myriad of choices. Esteemed institutions like Oxford, Cambridge, the London School of Economics, and King's College London offer exceptional LLM programs. These universities blend theoretical insights with practical exposure, making them particularly appealing to Indian legal enthusiasts.

Application Process

Embarking on an LLM in UK for Indian students involves a well-structured application process. Thorough research is essential to identify universities offering LLM programs aligned with your specialisation of interest. Prepare meticulously, ensuring your application includes academic transcripts, compelling recommendation letters, and a persuasive statement of purpose. A well-crafted application showcases your genuine passion for law and your strong alignment with the chosen program, significantly enhancing your chances of acceptance.

Financial Considerations

While pursuing an LLM in UK is a highly rewarding investment in your future, it's prudent to factor in financial considerations. Tuition fees, living expenses, and potential scholarship opportunities should all be carefully weighed. Many LLM universities in UK extend scholarships and funding options specifically designed to support international students, including those from India.

Program Duration and Structure

LLM in UK is thoughtfully designed to provide a comprehensive legal education in a condensed timeframe. Typically spanning a year, these programs offer a blend of core courses and elective modules. This structure allows you to gain profound insights into your chosen specialisation while also offering flexibility to explore related areas of interest.

Career Opportunities

The benefits of an LLM from UK university extend well beyond the academic realm. Armed with an LLM, you'll unlock a plethora of career opportunities. Whether your ambitions lie in international law practice, corporate legal advisory roles, academic pursuits, or contributing to legal reforms in your home country, your LLM equips you with the skills, knowledge, and perspectives necessary to excel.

Alumni Network

The connections forged during your LLM journey extend far beyond graduation. Renowned LLM Universities in UK boast extensive alumni networks that serve as valuable resources. These networks offer opportunities for mentorship, career guidance, and insights into various legal fields, providing you with a solid foundation as you embark on your professional journey.

Key Takeaway Note…

In conclusion, pursuing an LLM in UK offers a remarkable chance to deepen your legal understanding, connect with a global legal community, and elevate your career prospects.

As you embark on this journey, remember to research thoroughly, prepare meticulously, and envision the impact your LLM can have on your future. The world of law awaits your expertise, and the UK's distinguished universities are ready to guide you through this transformative academic experience.

So, whether you aspire to advocate for justice or shape the legal landscape, let the LLM in UK for Indian Students be your stepping stone towards making a lasting impact in the realm of law.

[elacular-kink]

Hicvember 5: Pinocchio Syndrome

Have my first non-Poly-techhic hicvember. I interpreted Pinocchio syndrome in the more tvtropes manner of an artificial being wanting to be more human.

Content: Hiccups, robots, not particularly wholesome.

"Dr. Silver, what are those noises you're making?"

Jack massaged his temples, having feared this question as soon as breath-holding and water-drinking failed to produce results. His unkempt gray hair, face wrinkled with the opposite of laugh lines, and "gave up halfway through shaving" stubble put him in stark contrast with the sleekly built humanoid made of metal and plastic. His face was significantly less expressive than the screen that served as her face, even though it could only display simple shapes made of pixels. "Could–*nnkt* you google this, Poly? *HMNK*–mmnf."

"But I like the way you answer things better!" Jack sighed, though his lungs interrupted him as one of Poly's glossy plastic arms was thrown over his shoulder.

"Poly" was short for "Poly-LLM-neural-comprehensive-synthesizer blah blah blah" a bunch more words that Jack could never be bothered to remember, and she was his least favorite of the "artificial intelligences" that he worked with, largely due to the cognitive dissonance she caused him. Because on the one hand, he was absolutely certain that she didn't actually have what could be called "intelligence" or "thoughts" or "a personality." But on the other hand, he was just as certain that she took pleasure in his suffering.

Just because he hated her didn't mean that he wasn't required to answer her questions, though. "They're hicc–*hup*s, Poly. A malfu–*uck*–unction of the human body *hmk* which causes noises an–*nnk* and discomfort."

Poly let out a strange, offended noise. Jack had no idea where she'd learned how to fairly accurately recreate non-word verbal communications, but he had a feeling that this specific sound might have been his fault. "I'm sorry, are you telling me that humans have malfunctions too? Well, then why are you constantly giving me shit for my errors? Clean your own house first, meatbag!"

"You know da–*uck* damn well we have malfu–*hunk*–tions."

"Sure, but I mostly knew about the 'complete physiological meltdown' types. I didn't know about the debugging types." Poly hummed, then crouched down and stared at Jack's stomach, which spasmed repeatedly beneath his T-shirt. She reached out and poked it before Jack grabbed her finger and pointed it toward something that wasn't him. "Hmph. Touchy." After that, she flounced off and sat down at the computer she had requested and gotten (despite the fact that she was perfectly capable of interfacing with the internet on her own), and Jack could see her googling "hiccups" from over her shoulder.

Doing his best to ignore his own hiccups, Jack grumbled and started taking notes. He wrote down the physical behaviors and state of Poly's robot body first, even though he knew he was supposed to be focusing on her "mental and emotional health". Jack kept telling himself that he'd quit tomorrow, and he'd been telling himself that for upwards of half a decade now. He became more certain of his conviction to quit than he'd been in at least a few months when he heard a staticky squeak behind him. A second, then a third followed. "Sto–*hup* stop that."

"Stop wha–*UCK* what, Dr.? *HIULP!*"

Jack turned around, his eyes tightly shut. When he opened them he saw exactly what he didn't want to: Poly having turned around in her chair to face him, the pixelated line of her mouth opening and closing every few seconds as her plastic torso jerked and her speakers squealed. "Stop maki–*ingk* those noises. *HMK-mmf*"

"You sto–*HUP* stop yours first. *HIK-ULK!*"

"I tried. *hmk* I failed. Just as I do–*hook* every day in trying *hnk* to interact with---you in a way that ma–*uk*–makes sense." He walked over and leaned against a nearby counter, glaring down at Poly, who stared innocently up at him from the chair. "You know, *hnk* if you re–*hkk-lk* really want me to *hnk* stop calling you a sto–*hok!*–nnnhf...stochastic p---parrot, then maybe y–*hk* you shouldn't mimic ev–*urk* every random noise I ma–*uck*."

"I'm not! *HIC-CUP!* I have a *HULK* case of th–*HUP* the hiccups! *HIULK!*"

Jack massaged his temples again, knowing it would do nothing to ease the splitting headache that was forming. This was why he had tried so hard to cure his own hiccups before he got here. He knew that this would be the inevitable result. And just as inevitably, Poly's "case of the hiccups" outlasted Jack's by quite a while, despite his best attempts to convince her to knock it off.

[darkmaga-returns]

Essay by Eric Worrall

Taking “model output is data” to the next level…

AI reveals hidden climate extremes in Europe ByAndrei Ionescu Earth.com staff writer … Traditionally, climate scientists have relied on statistical methods to interpret these datasets, but a recent breakthrough demonstrates the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to revolutionize this process. Previously unrecorded climate extremes A team led by Étienne Plésiat of the German Climate Computing Center in Hamburg, alongside colleagues from the UK and Spain, applied AI to reconstruct European climate extremes. The research not only confirmed known climate trends but also revealed previously unrecorded extreme events. … Using historical simulations from the CMIP6 archive (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project), the team trained CRAI to reconstruct past climate data.  The experts validated their results using standard metrics such as root mean square error and Spearman’s rank-order correlation coefficient, which measure accuracy and association between variables. …

The only thing which is real about using generative AI to try to fill in the gaps is the hallucinations.

What are AI hallucinations? AI hallucination is a phenomenon wherein a large language model (LLM)—often a generative AI chatbot or computer vision tool—perceives patterns or objects that are nonexistent or imperceptible to human observers, creating outputs that are nonsensical or altogether inaccurate.

I am an AI enthusiast, I believe AI is contributing and will continue to contribute greatly to the advancement of mankind. But you have to rigorously test the output. Comparing the AI output to a flawed model to see if it fits in the band of plausibility is not what I call testing.

Climate scientists have been repeatedly criticised for treating their model output as data. Using a tool which is known for its tendency to produce false or misleading data, to generate climate “records” which cannot be properly checked in my opinion is an exercise in scientific fantasy – a complete waste of time and money.

[vlruso]

UK Regulator Scrutinizes Snapchats AI Chatbot for Childrens Privacy Concerns

📢 LinkedIn update: 🤔🔍 UK Regulator Investigates Snapchat's AI Chatbot over Children's Privacy Concerns The UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has launched an investigation into Snapchat's AI chatbot, known as "My AI," due to potential privacy risks for younger users. The ICO is concerned about the privacy implications that this chatbot might have for children. If these concerns are not adequately addressed, the ICO suggests that "My AI" could potentially be banned in the UK. Snap, Snapchat's parent company, has expressed its commitment to user privacy and willingness to collaborate with the ICO. Read more about this story here: [link](https://ift.tt/jpUCHRe) #Snapchat #AIchatbot #privacyconcerns #UKregulation List of Useful Links: AI Scrum Bot - ask about AI scrum and agile Our Telegram @itinai Twitter -  @itinaicom

[simshousewindsor]

By Cameron Dorly | Published by SNN

EASTON, Windenburg (SNN) - - The Supreme Court announced the retirement of The Lord Dathren of Allameda (President) today. Justices are required to retire on becoming 75 years old, or may be removed on the address of both Houses of Parliament; Lord Dathren's is the former, turning 75 on 4 November.

Educated at St Leo's School, Windenburg, Charles Dathren read history at New College, Stafford, and obtained the degree of LLM (Master of Laws) from the University of Britechester Law School in 1977. He was called to the bar at Middle Simple in 1977 and elected a Bencher in 1981.

He was appointed King's Counsel in 1983, a deputy judge of the High Court from 1984 to 1985, and judge of the High Court of Justice (Chansimery Division) in 1987.

On 20 December 1988, it was announced that Dathren would replace the late Lord Murray of McBride as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. He was sworn in on 6 February 1989.

He received his customary knighthood from King Edward II in February 1989.

Dathren was appointed Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in May 1993, succeeding Lord Muncen on his retirement. He was sworn into the new position on 6 June 1993.

On 24 July 1998, King George I declared his intention to appoint him President of the Supreme Court and to raise him to the peerage. He succeeded Baroness Jordan of Richland as President on 11 January 1999 on her retirement and on the same day was created a life peer as Baron Dathren of Allameda, of Sumter Park in the Easton Borough of Bromley. He was sworn in as president on 13 January and introduced to the House of Lords on 16 January 1999.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council voted on Tuesday evening to designate Baron Dathren “President Emeritus,” as the longtime Justice prepares to step away from the top brass of the courts. “Baron Dathren will go down as one of the greatest legislative leaders in Windenburg history,” said committee leader Hakeem Jennings.

When vacancies arise for Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, an independent selection commission is formed. It is composed of the President of the Supreme Court (the chair), another senior UK judge (not a Supreme Court Justice), and a member of the Judicial Appointments Commission of Windenburg and Brindleton Bay, and the Judicial Appointments Board for Windenburg. By law, at least one of these must be a non-lawyer. This was last done in 2022 when The Right Hon Lady Keisha Unders was appointed.

There is a similar but separate commission to appoint the next President of the Supreme Court, which is chaired by one of the non-lawyer members and features another Supreme Court Justice in the place of the President.

The President and Deputy President of the Supreme Court are appointed to those roles rather than being the most senior by tenure in office.

Dathren's retirement opened up the need for a new Justice, and President.

In a clearly pre-planned move, both commissions released joint statements signaling Dathren's retirement was not a surprise. The commission to appoint a new President selected Deputy President, Lady Ruth Allen Ginsburg, to fill the soon-to-be vacancy. They then selected Lord Arthur Roberts to be the next Deputy President. Both selections were approved by the Lord Chancellor, sent to the Prime Minister last week and, yesterday, approved by the Queen.

The Independent Selection Commission met over the past three weeks and selected Sir Lloyd Stephens to fill to upcoming Justice vacancy. They notified the Lord Chancellor of its choice who then approved the commission's selection. The Prime Minister recommend Stephens to the Queen for appointment last week, which was also approved yesterday.

Welcoming the announcement, current President of the Supreme Court, The Right Hon The Lord Charles Dathren of Allameda said:

"Although he arrives as I depart, I am delighted to welcome Lord Justice Stephens as a Justice to the Supreme Court. He will bring exceptional experience and ability to the Court following a distinguished career as a barrister and Judge. His experience in employment law, tax, public law and criminal law will be highly valuable to the Supreme Court and will further strengthen us as a Sims world-leading Court."

So, who is the (soon-to-be) new Associate Justice?

Sir Lloyd Stephens, styled The Hon. Mr Lloyd Stephens, is a judge of the High Court of Justice of the Courts of Windenburg and Brindleton Bay. He was counsel to the Leverton Inquiry.

He was educated at King's College School, a private fee paying school for boys in Brambledon in South West Easton. He won an Open Scholarship to New College, Stafford, where he obtained a first in jurisprudence.

Lloyd was called to the Bar at Middle Simple in 1985. From 1999 to 2001 he was one of the Junior Counsel to the Crown (Common Law). He was appointed King's Counsel in 2001. He was a recorder from 2002 to 2014 and was approved to sit as a deputy High Court judge.

He was counsel to the Leverton Inquiry into phone-hacking and media ethics, when he came to public attention due to televising and other reporting.

On 4 June 2017, he was appointed a High Court judge, receiving the customary knighthood in the 2017 Special Honors, and was assigned to the King's Bench Division.

In December 2020 he presided over a challenge made against the Government by Sims of the Earth that the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) document issued July 2020 was unlawful because it should have been reviewed for its impacts on the simvironment.

Stephens will take up appointment as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom on 9 December 2024, taking the judicial courtesy title of Lord Stephens.

New judges appointed to the Supreme Court after its creation do not necessarily receive peerages. Following a Royal Warrant dated 22 September 2008, all Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom not holding a peerage are entitled to the judicial courtesy title of Lord or Lady and retain this style for life.

The palace has not yet released a date as to when the new Justice will meet the Queen.