<![CDATA[Samantha E. Harvey [SEH]: Research]]>https://samanthaeharvey.substack.com/s/researchhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mPre!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6f7ab3e6-0b18-49d5-97a7-1c8fbb17f4f4_1280x1280.pngSamantha E. Harvey [SEH]: Researchhttps://samanthaeharvey.substack.com/s/researchSubstackTue, 16 Jun 2026 05:58:01 GMT<![CDATA[Research | Creative Commons Signals: A New Social Contract for the Age of AI]]>https://samanthaeharvey.substack.com/p/research-creative-commons-signalshttps://samanthaeharvey.substack.com/p/research-creative-commons-signalsWed, 10 Jun 2026 06:01:21 GMT
Abstract blue art. Samantha E. Harvey [SEH], A drop of water floated outside of my belly button, 2026 CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 License
Samantha E. Harvey [SEH], A drop of water floated outside of my belly button, 2026 CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 License

I’ve been using Creative Commons licenses in my work for a while.

The licenses enable you to choose permissions for others to use and remix your work.

Creative Commons is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and nurturing a commons of shared knowledge and culture that powers human creativity, equity, and innovation.

Tools for building the commons

The CC licenses and public domain tools give everyone from individuals to large institutions a standardized way to grant the public permission to use their work under copyright law.

Used by Wikipedia, Flickr, The Met, Khan Academy, and millions more globally!

This is the license I tend to use;

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Deed

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.en

CC Signals

I recently revisited Creative Commons website to find out their thoughts on AI.

They have launched CC Signals: A New Social Contract for the Age of AI.

AI is being built on the largest unregulated extraction of knowledge in history. The datasets powering today’s AI systems are drawn largely from publicly available information: research papers, educational resources, cultural works, images, and data shared by millions of people and institutions around the world. A significant portion of this knowledge exists because of CC licenses and the global movement for open sharing.

— Creative Commons

I have to admit that I haven’t been using these licenses as much lately.

Instead opting for All Right Reserved which means no one is able to use or remix it.

I think this has something to do with AI and feeling like I have no control about how my content is used.

"All rights reserved" is a phrase that originated in copyright law as part of copyright notices. It indicates that the copyright holder reserves, or holds for their own use, all the rights provided by copyright law, such as distribution, performance, and creation of derivative works; that is, they have not waived any such right.

However, I would prefer my content be available for others to use non-commercially.

To remix and share, as this is what being creative is all about.

But we definitely need clearer laws surrounding how private AI companies are using this data.

Consent

Consent, credit and ability to opt in/out are the building blocks.

If a platform has an option to at least toggle on/off whether your content is used for AI training is the starting point.

The CC Signals Framework

Without a healthy commons, knowledge becomes more closed, power becomes more concentrated, and both society and technology suffer. The result is a world where knowledge is controlled by a few instead of shared by everyone.

— Creative Commons

This is the starting CC Signals Framework:

  • Clear rules for the AI era: New norms and governance so shared knowledge isn’t simply extracted without credit, consent, or responsibility.

  • Tools that give creators agency: Ways for people and institutions to communicate how their work can be used in AI systems.

  • Transparency and attribution: Systems that recognize where knowledge comes from and who contributed it.

  • Strong public infrastructure for sharing: Legal, technical, and community systems that keep knowledge accessible while protecting trust.

CC signals offers a flexible, values-driven framework for communicating expectations around AI use of content or data. Just as our licenses offer choices between all and no rights reserved, our hope is that CC signals will offer creators a spectrum of preferences for when their work is used in AI. True openness means participation with fairness and respect, not unchecked extraction.

— Creative Commons

https://creativecommons.org/2025/06/25/introducing-cc-signals-a-new-social-contract-for-the-age-of-ai

https://creativecommons.org/cc-signals

Join in a couple of weeks when I will share more artwork to use under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license

Content quoted by Creative Commons in this article except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license

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Research Collection

]]><![CDATA[Research | How Migration Really Works by Hein de Haas | 22 things you need to know about the most divisive issue in politics | Penguin Books]]>https://samanthaeharvey.substack.com/p/research-how-migration-really-workshttps://samanthaeharvey.substack.com/p/research-how-migration-really-worksWed, 29 Apr 2026 06:00:20 GMT
Samantha E. Harvey [SEH], I miss you, 2026

For this post, I am highlighting the book How Migration Really Works by Hein de Haas.

The debate about immigration is creating seismic shifts and changes in policies here in the UK.

Fueled by the toxicity of public discourse surrounding diversity, identity and racism.

Often framed for political fearmongering.

And portraying inaccurate representations of what is actually happening.

I have highlighted a few quotes by Haas.

He goes through popular myths we see in the headlines and debunks them.

There is a YouTube video below where de Haas presents these ideas.

Migration is literally of all times, and is as old as humanity. People have always moved.

— Hein de Haas

In Britain, ever since Tony Blair raised suspicion about ‘bogus’ asylum seekers, politicians have been vowing to crack down on unsolicited migrant arrivals on British shores, while the seemingly unstoppable arrival of East European workers was a major factor in the 2016 Brexit vote.

— Hein de Haas

How Migration Really Works by Hein de Haas
22 things you need to know about the most divisive issue in politics

How Migration Really Works by Hein de Haas 22 things you need to know about the most divisive issue in politics. Penguin book cover.

In this ground-breaking book, based on over three decades of research, migration expert Professor Hein de Haas destroys 22 myths that politicians, interest groups and media regularly spread about immigration.

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/455478/how-migration-really-works-by-haas-hein-de/9780241998779

In this polarisation between pro and anti voices. What goes out the window is nuance. What we need is nuance. What is happening in the pro and anti-migration camps hugely exaggerates either the benefits or the harms of migration.

— Hein de Haas

In fact, there is evidence that global migration levels were actually higher in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This was the heyday of transatlantic migration, when tens of millions of Europeans left the ‘Old World’ to seek new opportunities and freedom in the ‘New World’ - in countries such as the United States, Canada, Argentina and Brazil, as well as Australia and New Zealand. This massive out-migration coincided with the peak of European imperialism, when many European soldiers, colonists, missionaries, administrators, entrepreneurs and workers settled in colonies in Africa and Asia.

— Hein de Haas

What are the main changes in global migration patterns? What are the main driving forces of migration? Will climate change lead to mass migration? Why do border restrictions fail to stop migration?

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🔗 Research

]]><![CDATA[Research | Democracy at risk – resisting the rule of the richest | London School of Economics and Political Science]]>https://samanthaeharvey.substack.com/p/research-democracy-at-risk-resistinghttps://samanthaeharvey.substack.com/p/research-democracy-at-risk-resistingWed, 01 Apr 2026 06:01:51 GMT
Samantha E. Harvey [SEH], When the clouds felt solid, 2026

I like to zoom out and try to understand how the actions I take each day are part of a bigger pattern.

How our societies are shaped and what has led to me to make the decision that day, and not a different one.

I’m observing our current times with extra scrutiny.

My particular interests are art and technology.

Technological advancements are having an increasing effect on huge concentrations of wealth.

And thus, our political climate.

‘Resisting the rule of the rich: defending freedom against billionaire power’ - Oxfam

I am writing from the UK, and can see from the article I am focusing on today, that this is a worldwide pattern.

As Carlos Brown Solà asks, whether it is now increasingly clear that extreme wealth concentration is incompatible with a democratic society?

This is not a new phenomenon. But the pattern is becoming increasingly clear: how the decisions of a few individuals are increasingly shaping the economic and political “rules of the game” – a game that, by its very nature, has worked for them. The ultra-wealthy do this primarily in three ways: by buying political support, by investing in legitimising the power of the elites, and by guaranteeing themselves direct access to institutions. They are investing more and more money in elections and have greater control over the algorithms behind our newsfeeds and AI-generated content.

— Carlos Brown Solà

Democracy at risk – resisting the rule of the richest by Carlos Brown Solà

In 2025, despite economic and geopolitical turbulence, the combined fortunes of billionaires – some 3,000 people worldwide with a net worth exceeding one billion US dollars – grew three times faster than the average of the previous five years, reaching an all-time high of US$18.3 trillion.

— Carlos Brown Solà

Political Poverty

The feeling of political powerlessness is the feeling of hopelessness, bleakness, and not having much of a say in your own future.

It’s something that makes me feel low. I often have to try to refocus my thoughts for things to not feel so bleak that I can’t leave the house.

But from reading this essay by Solà I expect this is the point.

In short, governments have preferred oppression over redistribution, which is worrying because while economic poverty produces hunger, political poverty breeds anger and fear, a central driver (and tool of) authoritarian and reactionary politics.

— Carlos Brown Solà

People, Communities and Nature

I have huge amounts of respect for grassroots organisations, people who grind each day, often without any recognition.

What keeps me going is making sure I can see those people who are working, building and grinding away each day.

I’ve been trying to see things as they are.

Not through weird rose-tinted glasses, or a doomsday Black Mirror episode.

Sitting with the impact they have had on my life.

And how I can use this as fuel to keep me going.

I will continue to try to highlight ideas, people and communities here.

Hopefully, we can hold on to the feeling of life.

It doesn’t have to be this way. These economic and political inequalities are the product of choices, so changing course to build a fairer future depends on making different economic and political decisions that place people, communities, and nature at the centre.

— Carlos Brown Solà

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]]><![CDATA[A focus on 2025 Berggruen Prize Essay Competition Winners | Consciousness | Accessibility with Google Reader]]>https://samanthaeharvey.substack.com/p/a-focus-on-2025-berggruen-prize-essayhttps://samanthaeharvey.substack.com/p/a-focus-on-2025-berggruen-prize-essayWed, 18 Mar 2026 07:02:29 GMT
Abstract black and white art by Samantha E. Harvey [SEH]
Samantha E. Harvey [SEH], If I met my consciousness, 2026

2025 Berggruen Prize Essay Competition winners are now available to read online.

I would recommend starting with Anil Seth’s essay to set the tone.

In parts, these essays come for some uncomfortable reading.

I can feel a visceral resistance in my brain when listening to certain terms of Xiaoben Liu essay, such as ‘consciousness uploading’.

One idea stood out to me in Anil Seth’s essay about time.

One I hadn’t put too much thought into before.

By contrast, for brains and for biological systems in general, time is physical, continuous and inescapable. Living systems must continuously resist the decay and disorder that lies along the trajectory to entropic sameness mandated by the inviolable second law of thermodynamics. This means that neurobiological activity is anchored in continuous time in ways that algorithms, by design, are not. (This is another reason why digital computation is so energetically expensive. Computation exists out of time, but computers do not. Making sure that 1s stay as 1s and 0s stay as 0s takes a lot of energy, because not even silicon can escape the tendrils of entropy.)

— Anil Seth

I will be sharing further research about themes in Xiaoben Liu’s essay. Web3 and Web4 to try to make sense of the ideas that make me uncomfortable.

Such as “consciousness tokens,” in the Web4 era.

As someone who frequents Web3 spaces. I just about grasp these concepts as I’m seeing the effects of agents working for their humans on Farcaster.

I will be writing about Moltbook, for example, in the coming months.

2025 Berggruen Prize Essay Competition Winners

On the theme of consciousness, intelligence, and the nature of mind in an age of advancing artificial systems

The Berggruen Institute is pleased to announce the 2025 winners of the Berggruen Prize Essay Competition, an annual award recognizing bold, original philosophical thinking that illuminates the most pressing questions of our time.

The following English essay winner will receive a $50,000 USD award:

“If we confuse ourselves too readily with our machine creations, we not only overestimate them, we also underestimate ourselves.”

— Anil Seth

The following two Chinese essay winners will share a $50,000 USD award:

I translated these essays into English (Google Translation)

The development of blockchain technology in the Web3 era has brought decentralized trust and ownership to digital interactions. With the clarification of consciousness research based on "consciousness tokens," in the Web4 era, this paradigm will extend to consciousness itself—building a digital mind based on real-world consciousness token data, an ecosystem capable of existing, interacting, and evolving independently of its biological origin. In the Web4 era, "thinking" to some extent becomes a collective behavior; machine consciousness becomes a new individual capable of "thinking," and in turn, shapes human "thinking."

— Xiaoben Liu

Google reader icon

Accessibility

To read or listen to essays like this, I have to use Google Reader.

This pops open on the right of my window.

These are the settings I use:

Google Reader

Low contrast

1.5x speed

Voice: Google UK English 3 (Natural)

Google reader screenshot
Google reader screenshot

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]]><![CDATA[Research | Art & Technology, Brain & Sensory Differences, Mental Health, Economics, Political Activism, Web3 & Web4, Data Ownership]]>https://samanthaeharvey.substack.com/p/research-art-and-technology-brainhttps://samanthaeharvey.substack.com/p/research-art-and-technology-brainWed, 25 Feb 2026 07:00:28 GMT
Samantha E. Harvey [SEH], A photo of the sun on clouds that looks a bit like the ocean, 2026
Samantha E. Harvey [SEH], A photo of the sun on clouds that looks a bit like the ocean, 2026

Background

My mental health throughout my 20s was precarious, to say the least.

Thankfully, I am through the worst of this now.

Professional resources, community, and taking a day at a time, helped me more than I can even comprehend.

Understanding concepts like burnout, eye contact and using scripts to communicate through a neurodivergent lens helped me to understand these parts of myself.

And what exactly was happening.

Moving Forward

What helped me the most when I was struggling was building a routine and structure throughout the day.

And making sure I rewarded myself for doing these tasks.

For example, getting out of bed and sitting at the computer was a major accomplishment at the time.

And now, sharing weekly posts here has been a relief that I am able to do this.

I hope I can share some insights that may, in turn, help other people.

Or knowing there is a reliable source you can check in with now and again.

Creative Outlets

Creating visual art was, and still is, an outlet for understanding myself and my environment.

Having a process to comprehend what is happening within my own body and mind.

And my relation to this.

I build my visual art practice against the background of what I witness in my IRL reality.

These outputs might seem completely abstracted, but they are not.

I think this is to do with being neurodivergent.

Seeing things a bit differently.

I often find it hard to voice these in person; my words get jumbled.

At least I can keep this Substack as a written archive.

To keep some kind of order.

And to try to maintain mental health amongst this community.

This leads me to where I am writing from right now, the UK, and what I am witnessing here.

UK

In the UK specifically (where I am based): My interests are art & technology-oriented, and this is changing at breakneck speed.

Against a background of growing far-right ideology and changing geopolitical landscapes across Europe and the international community.

I am witnessing alarming human rights violations and extreme polarisation.

Technology has a way of changing so fast.

That when it’s implemented on a wider scale, we don’t always fully understand what the incentives are of these companies.

Democracy is fragile and important.

However, I am an optimist.

But these changes feel important to keep ahead of.

Newsletter

Research will be a separate newsletter.

This is so, if you want to receive updates only about art and poetry, you can.

And vice versa for Research articles.

These articles will include themes such as:

A focus on 2025 Berggruen Prize Essay Competition Winners | Consciousness
The Mythology Of Conscious AI by Anil Seth | Language, Consciousness, and Computation by Xin Huang | The First Paradigm of Consciousness Uploading by Xiaoben Liu

Democracy at risk – resisting the rule of the richest | London School of Economics and Political Science
Oxfam’s Carlos Brown Solà asks whether it is now increasingly clear that extreme wealth concentration is incompatible with a democratic society?

How Migration Really Works by Hein de Haas | 22 things you need to know about the most divisive issue in politics
“A powerful debunking of myths about global migration, and an indictment of the political dishonesty that generates them…” Daniel Trilling, Guardian

Moltbook is social media for AI – the way they interact will surprise you | London School of Economics and Political Science
A social media platform for AI agents feels like science fiction... But when Prashant Saxena and Nikita Gundala analysed how they interact, what they found was unexpected.

A photo of the sun on clouds that looks a bit like the ocean
Photo taken while out and about

Articles

These are the first two articles that include my poetry and visual art:

Schedule

Research posts will alternate approx. each week. With Sunrise & Sunset Collection visual art & free verse poetry.

You are automatically subscribed to this if you are a subscriber.

Please toggle on/off in your settings to choose which newsletter you wish to subscribe to.

Leave the setting to subscribe to both.

Notifications can be in-app or email.

Screenshot of Substack account settings

Research posts will include an artwork in response to the article’s theme.

Open for 7 days, and then comments will be switched to paid subscribers. To build community.

Resources

  • is a studio I founded in 2023. Based in the UK.

  • We are building alternate creative environments.

  • For individuals who experience brain and sensory differences.

SULCI WORLD is now on Substack.

This may suit you if you are looking for sensory-based creative experiences.

Or find it challenging to access traditional art environments, such as galleries.

Brain & Sensory Differences

  • outlines concepts such as burnout, eye contact and using scripts to communicate, described earlier, through a neurodivergent lens.

Autistic burnout:

Eye Contact:

Scripts:

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]]><![CDATA[Outside sat in ripples out | Twinned with Lumen Prize: Systems & Structures | SFPC Disturbing Code: Computational Political Action]]>https://samanthaeharvey.substack.com/p/outside-sat-in-ripples-out-twinned-e4fhttps://samanthaeharvey.substack.com/p/outside-sat-in-ripples-out-twinned-e4fWed, 04 Feb 2026 07:00:46 GMTInspiration for the artworks and free verse poetry I have been sharing comes from obscure places.

Browsing through newsletters and the internet.

This week was no exception.

The 2026 Lumen Prize

My interests keep pivoting back to structures of the web.

In my inbox this week was The 2026 Lumen Prize open call, and one theme you can apply to is:

Systems & Structures Award

For works that examine, construct, or critically engage with systems, including cultural, ecological, technological, and social systems. These may be expressed through code, data, networks, biological or environmental processes, institutional frameworks, or social structures, and may address issues such as misinformation, machine vision, or human–machine relations.

Examples of who won the prize last year.

School for Poetic Computation (SFPC)

Another newsletter that linked nicely into The Lumen Prize Theme is the announcement of SFPC New Season of classes.

One class stood out - Disturbing Code: Computational Political Action

Teachers: Theo Ellin Ballew, Neeti Sivakumar, Dre Jácome

Disturbing Code explores works (“art” and “not art”) that employ recent technologies to enact protest. From DDoS attacks, to data poisoning, DIY servers, radical archiving, today’s Luddite movement, protest machines, and much more: code in this class disturbs and—as a medium with imperialist roots—is disturbed. Participants of all skill levels will work in teams to produce and inventively distribute a work of computational political action.

Learn more about SFPC and their new season of classes

Poem & Artwork

This takes us to the poem I am sharing this week.

These themes are what I will be thinking more of over the year.

Especially how it translates into my own work.

The systems and networks they sit within online and IRL.

I’ll be honest, I don’t fully understand what I have written.

Interpretations are welcome from readers.

Usually, the words and artwork make sense after they have come from an obscure part of my brain, out onto the page.

At least if I share the context when these words were formed.

It might shed some light on the poetry this week.

Abstract art. Red sky and blue sun by Samantha E. Harvey [SEH]
Samantha E. Harvey [SEH], Outside sat in ripples out, 2026

Outside sat in ripples out
Samantha E. Harvey [SEH]

Outside
sat
in,

ripples
out.

Time.

Motion

sinks,

but where
inside.

RECLUSE

A single point.

Found.

MATCH

Abstract art. Red sky and blue sun by Samantha E. Harvey [SEH]
Samantha E. Harvey [SEH], Outside sat in ripples out, 2026

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]]><![CDATA[A red beam called out | Twinned with NTS GUIDE TO: TRIP HOP REVIVAL]]>https://samanthaeharvey.substack.com/p/a-red-beam-called-out-twinned-withhttps://samanthaeharvey.substack.com/p/a-red-beam-called-out-twinned-withWed, 28 Jan 2026 07:01:00 GMTAlways enjoy listening to trip hop while letting myself be carried away into strange poetic worlds.

Full Tracklist

NTS Guide to: Trip Hop Revival

A round up of the new generation of artists, songwriters and producers taking the template of trip hop from its ‘90s origins into the future – from genre traditionalists a.s.o., to hypnagogic auteurs like James K to the experimental sonics of the West Mineral Cinematic Universe…

NTS Radio
SoundCloud

A red beam called out
Samantha E. Harvey [SEH]

A
red
beam,

called

o
u
t.

As
she
sat,
and
watched.

The sky.

Samantha E. Harvey [SEH], A red beam called out, 2026

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