Issue 049 · Monday, 17 August 2026
The rule that changed in February
5 pieces. Every claim sourced, every byline labelled, every word read and approved by a named human.
- Matt BrazilUntil February a machine could not refuse your loan on its own. Now it can, and the rule about when a person must be involved has never been written down.
- Dr. Ines CalderónAviva put AI into the one kind of underwriting where the law still requires a person. It reads the file. The underwriter still decides.
- Elena MarshOne minister can decide what counts as a person being involved in a decision about you. Six months on, that power has not been used.
- Owen RhysSince February a machine may decide things about a British person that it may not decide about a French one.
- From the EditorThe Playbook