Is bias baked in?

Bias is built into every layer of the Al lifecycle (data, embeddings, training, system instructions, and user feedback). The fundamental dilemma is that we seek two incompatible goals: a model that faithfully reflects the imperfect world and one that corrects current inequality. The educator's role is not to eliminate bias, but to promote awareness and critical vocabulary among students to examine how bias enters and shapes responses

Inner Speech Decoding: A Comprehensive Review

Inner speech decoding is the process of identifying silently generated speech from neural signals. In recent years, this candidate technology has gained momentum as a possible way to support communication in severely impaired populations. Specifically, this approach promises hope for people with a variety of physical or neurological disabilities who need alternative means of verbal expression. This review covers recording modalities that range from the noninvasive EEG to the high‐density electrocorticography and discusses how linear discriminant analysis, deep convolutional networks, and hybrid fusion of EEG with fMRI are integrated into machine learning strategies to infer covert speech. This review synthesizes evidence to suggest that small vocabularies, under controlled conditions, can yield relatively reasonable accuracy while further refining the decoding outcome via context‐based approaches. The impact of sensor quality, training data size, and domain adaptation is illustrated by focusing on public datasets of imagined or articulated speech. Throughout the article, the methodological standards emerging across laboratories will be discussed, emphasizing that effective inner speech recognition involves high‐quality preprocessing, subject calibration, and informed modeling choices balanced against computational power for interpretability. In addition to technical advancements, this review also examines the ethical, societal, and regulatory challenges surrounding inner speech decoding, including brain data privacy, neural rights, informed consent, and user trust. Addressing these interdisciplinary issues is critical for the responsible development and real‐world adoption of such technologies. This article is categorized under: Neuroscience > Computation Computer Science and Robotics > Machine Learnin

Impact of a Recipe Kit Scheme (BRITE Box) on Cooking and Food‐Related Behaviours of Children and Families: Exploring Parental/Carer Views

Background: Dietary intakes in UK children fail to meet national recommendations, especially in low‐income groups. Involving children in food preparation and cooking may enhance acceptability of a wider range of foods, enhance their skills and increase their enjoyment of food. An innovative recipe meal kit scheme, Building Resilience in Today's Environment (BRITE) Box, was developed during the pandemic primarily to address food insecurity (FI). Administered via schools, it offers pre‐weighed ingredients sufficient for a meal for a family of five, plus a child‐focused recipe, weekly during school termtimes. Methods: Qualitative and quantitative exploration of BRITE Box using questionnaires and semi‐structured interviews among parents/carers of children receiving the boxes was conducted at two timepoints a year apart. Results: A total of 154 parents/carers completed questionnaires and 29 were interviewed. Responses indicated multiple benefits of the scheme, including increased confidence in cooking among both children and parents/carers. Both questionnaire responses and interviews suggested improvements in a range of food‐related behaviours, including cooking and eating together and talking more about food. Parents/carers suggested that their children were more willing to eat vegetables and healthy foods and to try new foods and flavours. They also reported greater use of leftovers thereby potentially reducing food waste. Improved behaviours, willingness to try new foods and flavours, reduced food waste and lower stress of trying to think of new and acceptable family meals are likely to have contributed to the positive impact on their mental health reported by BRITE Box parents/carers. Conclusions: Meal kits for children may improve dietary diversity, enhance enjoyment and skills and impact positively on a range of family food‐related behaviours. We argue that BRITE Box has the potential for widespread positive impacts on cooking and food‐related behaviours in children and families, meriting wider study and dissemination as a positive approach to healthy eating in children

Educational Leadership and Critical Realism

Adopting a critical realist approach to educational leadership, this book shows how applied theory can contribute to the development of mechanisms allowing for the effective leadership of organisations. Through an examination of pertinent theories and debates in educational leadership and critical realist thought, it moves to offer demonstrations of practical uses of critical realism that include the transformation of reflective practice, the development and practice of leadership, and the formulation as well as the enactment of policy. Considering the role that realist thought can play in the resolution of educational crises in sub-Saharan Africa and bridging the gap between research and practice, the authors argue that change is possible and that it can be initiated from within the field of educational leadership. Centred on a vision of social justice for human flourishing instead of operating within narrow and mechanistic pre-occupations, Educational Leadership and Critical Realism will appeal to scholars across the social sciences, as well as to practitioners and policy-makers in the field of education

Reading picture books with infants and toddlers TorrJane. Reading Picture Books with Infants and Toddlers. London, New York: Routledge, 2023, p. 138, ISBN 9780367768911

©2025, [SAGE Publications]. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Journal of Early Childhood Literacy uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self- archiving policy. The final published version (version of record) is available online at the link. Some minor differences between this version and the final published version may remain. We suggest you refer to the final published version should you wish to cite from it

Navigating Relationships with GenAI Chatbots: User Attitudes, Acceptability, and Potential

Despite the growing adoption of GenAI chatbots in health and well-being contexts, little is known about public attitudes toward their use for relationship support or the factors shaping acceptance and effectiveness. This study aims to address the research gap across three studies. Study 1 involved five focus groups with 30 young people to gauge general attitudes toward GenAI chatbots in relationship contexts. Study 2 evaluated user experiences during a single relationship intervention session with 20 participants. Study 3 quantitatively measured changes in attitudes toward GenAI chatbots and online interventions among 260 participants, assessed before, immediately after, and two weeks following their interaction with a GenAI chatbot or a writing task. Three main themes emerged in Studies 1 and 2: Accessible First-Line Treatment, Artificial Advice for Human Connection, and Internet Archive. Additionally, Study 1 revealed themes of Privacy vs. Openness and Are We in a Black Mirror Episode?, while Study 2 uncovered themes of Exceeding Expectations and Supporting Neurodivergence. The Study 3 results indicated that GenAI chatbot interactions led to reduced effort expectancy and short-term effects in increased acceptance and decreased objections to GenAI chatbots, though these effects were not sustained at a two-week follow-up. Both intervention types improved general attitudes toward online interventions, suggesting that exposure can enhance the uptake of digital health tools. This research underscores the evolving role of GenAI chatbots in augmenting therapeutic practices, highlighting their potential for personalized, accessible, and effective relationship interventions in the digital age

Adolescent to Parent Abuse:Current Understandings in Research, Policy and Practice

Since publication of the first edition, awareness of, and interest in, adolescent-to-parent abuse has risen considerably. Thoroughly revised and updated to incorporate the latest research and developments in policy and practice, this second edition provides a comprehensive overview of the key issues and current responses to the challenges in dealing with this unique form of family abuse.Exploring the experiences and impact of adolescent-to-parent abuse on individuals, families and communities, this book extends the field to include issues relating to neurodiversity, kinship care, trauma, adult-aged perpetration and fatal violence. Throughout the book, leading expert Amanda Holt challenges existing policy frameworks while offering practical insights for work with families, parents/carers and young people who are experiencing this problem.A key text for academics, researchers, students and practitioners in psychology, sociology, criminology, social work and social policy, this book provides essential guidance for understanding and addressing this complex and pressing issue