information labs

3 THINGS: AI Hype Cycle Edition #2 Welcome back to 3 Things, your recurring reminder that the gap between what AI companies say and what actually happens is large enough to park a data center in. This…

AI Hype Cycle Edition (2)
An AI company banned over safety rules, the same model already in military operations, and 90% of companies using AI feeling… nothing. What’s actually happening in AI?
👉 informationlabs.org/3-things-ai-...
#artificialintelligence #AIpolicy

Still in the Wrong Lake: European Copyright Society Warns How Confused Vocabulary Could Make Bad Copyright Case Law The dolphins are back. Or rather, they never left. In December, we tracked how Like Company v. Google Ireland Limited (Case C-250/25) had turned a pop star's eccentric plan to…

The EU's first AI copyright case goes to the Grand Chamber on March 10 — and the referring court can't tell a chatbot from a search engine. The ECS says: this reference may not even be admissible. Bad facts make bad law.
Still in the wrong lake. 🐬
informationlabs.org/still-in-the...

Caroline De Cock, Head of Research at Information Labs, recently joined the She Shapes AI podcast to talk about the ideas behind her book AI Tools, Not Gods. AI isn’t magic. It isn’t a god. It’s a tool — and how we frame it shapes how we use it.
🎥 youtube.com/playlist?lis...
#aitoolsnotgods #AI

Deepfakes Are Not a Copyright Problem. Stop Pretending They Are. There is a thought experiment in legal philosophy about the drunk man and the lamp post. A man loses his keys in a dark alley but searches for them under…

Deepfakes Are Not a Copyright Problem
Synthetic likeness laws won’t stop harm — they create a market for it. We already have privacy, data protection and criminal law. The gap isn’t doctrine. It’s enforcement.
informationlabs.org/deepfakes-ar...
#deepfakes #copyright

Feb 2026 information labs recap
🔗 www.linkedin.com/pulse/februa...
⇒ New #HumansOfAI Perspectives report from the AI lab
⇒ Reflections on #SocialMediaBans, #copyright, #WebArchives & EU #AI policy
⇒ #DigitalNetworksAct feedback open
⇒ New 3 THINGS series

🔥 370+ researchers from 30 countries sound the alarm on #AgeVerification
The signatories are not asking for a delay for delay's sake. They are asking for scientific consensus before we reshape the digital public sphere for everyone, not just minors.
🔗 csa-scientist-open-letter.org/ageverif-Feb...

From blog posts to beats
Over the past months, we explored 12 ideas at information labs. Alongside each article, we released a song inspired by it. Now they’re together in one place.

🎧 suno.com/playlist/870...

Designed for Atoms, Broken for Bits: How Copyright Law is Locking Europe Out of Its Own Knowledge Imagine inheriting a magnificent library. Shelves floor to ceiling. Rare manuscripts, out-of-print novels, decades of scientific journals. You are entrusted with it not as an owner, but as a custodian...

Designed for Atoms Broken for Bits
Europe built its knowledge system for books, but in the digital world libraries no longer own what they collect. As AI depends on digital memory, the question is who controls access to knowledge and innovation.
informationlabs.org/designed-for...

Putting Culture at the Heart of AI: our new report explores AI across Europe’s cultural heritage sector — from libraries & museums to archives & digital platforms.
📥Report: informationlabs.org/wp-content/u...
🎬Videos: youtube.com/playlist?lis...
#culturalheritage #GLAM #artificialintelligence

Of Potatoes and Walls: A Generation Muted by Good Intentions Last week, I found myself sitting around a table at the Lisbon Council, surrounded by policymakers, platform executives, children’s rights advocates and researchers, all wrestling with one question th...

Of Potatoes and Walls
Europe is racing toward social media bans for children despite contested evidence — digital tech explains ~0.4% of wellbeing variation, the “potato effect.” Bans build walls, not better platforms.
informationlabs.org/of-potatoes-...

🔥 Time to share your views on the DNA: The EC has opened the feedback period on its proposed #DigitalNetworksAct!
The current deadline is 14 April 2026, but being extended until the DNA proposal is available in all EU languages.
🔗 Give your feedback: ec.europa.eu/info/law/bet...

🔥 Courts work. Who knew?
A German ruling in the Meta–DT case is presented as proof that “big tech must pay for IP traffic.” Using this case as evidence that new regulatory procedures are necessary is policy spin, not legal reality. #DigitalNetworksAct
🔗 www.reuters.com/business/med...

The Quiet Burning of Our Digital Library <p>The story of the Library of Alexandria is often told as a catastrophe: flames, conquest, a single dramatic moment in which centuries of human knowledge…</p>

The Quiet Burning of Our Digital Library
The Library of Alexandria wasn’t destroyed in a single fire—it faded through neglect. Restricting web archives to fight AI risks repeating the mistake: weaken memory, and truth becomes harder to prove than the lie.
informationlabs.org/the-quiet-bu...

3 THINGS: AI Hype Cycle Edition #1 Welcome to the first edition of 3 Things – your bi-weekly reality check on what’s actually happening in AI, served with a side of skepticism...

AI Hype Cycle Edition (1)
Bots on Facebook, Claude’s manufactured existential angst, and Europe’s AI participation trophy.
What’s actually happening in AI?
👉 informationlabs.org/3-things-ai-...

European Policymakers and AI: Je T’aime… EUx Non Plus <p>Brussels has a peculiar brand of rhythm, one that sounds suspiciously like Serge Gainsbourg’s Je t’aime… moi non plus. On one hand, the European Union…</p>

Europe’s AI Policy: "Je T’aime… EUx Non Plus
Brussels says it wants a homegrown AI rival, yet backs a litigation trap that could turn €20bn AI Gigafactories into cathedrals in the desert. You don’t win a race with your hands tied.
👉 informationlabs.org/european-pol...
#AI #EUPolicy #innovation

What if AI could help us explore the web’s past, not just store it?
Kai Jauslin joins Humans of AI to discuss how AI-powered, #opensource tools are transforming web archives into public, interactive experiences.
🎧 share.transistor.fm/s/8c3fbd54
📺 youtu.be/CDRvArkmVNE
#culturalheritage

Jan 2026 information labs recap
🔗 www.linkedin.com/pulse/januar...
⇒ Get a free digital copy of “AI Tools, Not Gods” & join the 10 Feb online book talk
⇒ internet lab reflections on #DigitalNetworksAct & #SocialMediaBans
⇒ new #HumansofAI episodes
⇒ AI lab reflection on #PublicDomain

The Leather-Wrapped Village: Why Social Media Bans Miss the Point <p>The leather-wrapped village is expanding. Australia just tried to wrap the world in leather, and now France has taken its first major step to join…</p>

Why Social Media Bans Are Leather-Wrapping the World
Banning social media won’t protect kids. Teach digital literacy & emotional skills instead—give them the shoes, not a leather-wrapped world.
👉 informationlabs.org/the-dnas-vol...

What if AI could help humanity make better climate decisions?
@derasmus.bsky.social, founder of Climate GPT, discusses open, science-grounded AI for climate policy, risk awareness, and a faster path to a carbon-neutral future.
🎧 share.transistor.fm/s/cb960d76
📺 youtu.be/kcKB1WPD3L4

🔥 Move over Brangelina, we have entered the #Melzoni Era
The new love language between Berlin and Rome appears to be "Legislative and regulatory self-restraint"
Is this the dawn of a streamlined, deregulation dream team, or just the honeymoon phase?
🔗 www.governo.it/sites/govern...

The DNA’s “Voluntary” Counseling: How to Ruin a Happy Marriage…and the Internet <p>Picture a happy marriage. It might not be flawless, but it is functional. You have found your rhythm where chores are divided, bills are paid,…</p>

Europe is installing a state-mandated marriage counselor in the internet’s kitchen.
Nothing is broken — but disputes are now encouraged.The DNA’s “voluntary conciliation” is policy gaslighting.
👉 informationlabs.org/the-dnas-vol...
#netneutrality #openinternet #EUpolicy

🔥The #DigitalNetworksAct is here. Is #NetNeutrality safe, or is the "Fair Share" debate back?
The fine print suggests the network fee battle is far from over.
🔗 www.linkedin.com/posts/inform...
#FairShare #NetworkFees

How can Europe build ethical AI rooted in culture, not code?
In this Humans of AI episode, Harry Verwayen of @europeana.bsky.social calls for public AI infrastructure built on Europe’s cultural heritage.
🎧 share.transistor.fm/s/e38a583f
📺 youtu.be/wHnuBH_2lek

🔥 EC’s #DigitalNetworksAct (DNA) leaked!
Despite ample evidence that interconnection works well, the Commission still seems to feel a need to facilitate “voluntary” conciliation within the internet ecosystem. A hook for more damaging proposals! Official text to land on 20 Jan.

Beyond the Ick: Public Domain Day 2026 and the Psychology of Closing the Commons <p>Tomorrow, January 15th, the Royal Library of Belgium will host the annual European Public Domain Day celebrations. Archivists, librarians, legal scholars, and open culture advocates…</p>

Public Domain Day — or Closing the Commons?
Works from 1954 join the commons, but the conversation is shifting from access to restriction. “Public” only means something if it applies to everyone.
👉 informationlabs.org/beyond-the-i...
#publicdomainday #openaccess #digitalcommons #AI

Can AI show us how people really experience art?
@thebowesmuseum.bsky.social “goggles” project tracks visitors’ gaze with AI-powered glasses, revealing how paintings and labels shape engagement & enjoyment.
🎧 Listen: share.transistor.fm/s/3e201a99
📺 Watch: youtu.be/wYIX3kq3zm8

Dec 2025 information labs recap
🔗 www.linkedin.com/pulse/decemb...
⇒ 15 Jan #AI book launch
⇒ #5thFreedom perspectives report
⇒ Australia's #SocialMediaBan: internet lab Hot Item with Amanda Third
⇒ Labelling: AI lab TL;DR with @joanbarata.bsky.social
⇒ 2 new #HumansofAI episodes
⇒ Reflections

India’s AI & Copyright Consultation: Why the Proposed Model Misses the Mark <p>Technology policy often struggles because of how problems are framed. Small definitional choices—about what a technology does, what a legal right protects, or where harm…</p>

Regulating AI — or regulating learning?
A blanket licence for AI training sounds simple.
In practice, it taxes analysis, not expression.
The result?
More friction, fewer local AI builders.
👉 informationlabs.org/indias-ai-co...
#AI #Copyright #TechPolicy #Innovation

Information Labs — 2025 Wrapped

What a year… Grateful for our guests, collaborators, and community — thank you for thinking, listening, and building with us.

On to more meaningful conversations and responsible innovation in 2026.

#wrapped2025

Building or Buying AI? What the TDM Debate Means for Europe <p>As Europe approaches the 2026 review of the Copyright Directive, we are making a choice that goes far beyond copyright. We are deciding whether Europe…</p>

Building AI — or Renting It?
This Is Industrial Policy, Not Copyright Hygiene
TDM opt-out is the floor for building AI in Europe.
Reverse it, and SMEs drown in compliance while Big Tech adapts. The outcome is predictable.
👉 informationlabs.org/building-or-...
#AI #copyright #TDM #EUpolicy