I just signed a petition calling for Norwegian universities to use research expertise on AI when deciding how to implement it, rather than having decisions be made mostly administratively. , If you are a researcher in Norway, please read it and sign it if you agree – and share with anyone else who might be interested. The petition was written by three researchers at UiT: Maria Danielsen (a philosopher who completed her PhD in 2025 on AI and ethics, including discussions of art and working life), Knut Ørke (Norwegian as a second language), and Holger Pötzsch (a professor of media studies with many years of research on digital media, video games, disruption, and working life, among other topics). This is not about preventing researchers from exploring AI methods in their research. It is about not uncritically accepting the hype that everyone must use AI everywhere without critical reflection. It is about not introducing Copilot as the default option in word processors, or training PhD candidates to believe they will fall behind if they do not use AI when writing articles, without proper academic discussion. Changes like these should be knowledge-based and discussed academically, not merely decided administratively, because they alter the epistemological foundations of research. Maria wrote to me a couple of months ago because she had read my opinion piece in Aftenposten in which I called for a strong brake on the use of language models in knowledge work. She was part of a committee tasked with developing UiT’s AI strategy and was concerned because there was so much hype and so few members of the committee with actual expertise in AI. I fully support the petition. There are probably some good uses for AI in research, but the uncritical, hype-driven insistence that we must simply adopt it everywhere is highly risky. There are many researchers in Norway with strong expertise in AI, language, ethics, working life, and culture. We must make use of this expertise. This is also partly about respect for research in the humanities, social sciences, psychology, and law. Introducing AI at universities and university colleges is not merely a technical issue, and perhaps not even primarily a technical one. It concerns much more: philosophy of science, methodological reflection, epistemology, writing, publishing, the working environment, and more. […]
kirsty
many thanks for the info. i’m bouncing up and down like a seven year old myself hoping that i get to see the aurora down here in yorkshire now!
Anonymous
You se the globe from the top and Norway is to the right inside the red band. I guess red is good (lots of power flux)
scott
Yeah she’s probably right. It’s sort of a haunting and mystical and Bjork-tortured song. There just aren’t that many songs titled “Aurora” — I think she might like salt peanuts/chocolate covered nut by liquid soul because it’s got this kind of bouncy sound that the kid in all of us likes but it emphasizes that the singer’s got a few salt peanuts left and he’s not going to share them and he’s relishing the fact that he’s got em — which the kid in all of us can relate to but which is probably a bad lesson for kids — but it’s a fun song anyway.
Jon
This page contains several movies of the sun during this event. Here is my favourite (2 MB).
Lars
You should see what it looks like at 70 degrees north (did you know, by the way, that in Sami mythology, the aurora is considered evil and dangerous? Be careful not to look at it for too long, and never, never, ever wave at the aurora. Consider yourself warned…)
Norman
I wouldn’t swap Australian weather for the aurora; but is it greedy to wish I could have both? As for keeping up your daughter “too late”, there are experiences worth far more than the consequences of being a tad drowsy during one day’s schooling — but you know that already, don’t you.