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. […]
An Iranian
BBC has been boycotted by me and many Iranians.
BBC is a british government entity that fully supports the terrorist regime of Iran.
So I say: Screw BBC
Yass
Hi,
I just heard you on the BBC world service (yeah literally just now – on the Radio!). That’s how I found your site, although I had to google for it as the BBC’s description wasn’t very good. Anyway, I thought I’d say hello.
I was quite impressed when I did find your site. I was also pleased you’ve put in links to the other two interviewees on the program as I was interested in their stories too but the BBC didn’t give any info on their sites (at least not on the radio).
The program’s look at blogging has inspired me to publish my own fictional work on the net as a blog.
I’ll let you know when I do publish it (or at least start), in case you’re interested.
thanks
Editor: Myself (English)
BBC’s The Word on Blogging
The edited audio version of The Word’s interview with Stuart Hughes and me is online now for a week. Stuart had previously put the unedited and complete version of it on his own blog. Jill Walker also talks about the fascinating idea of using blogs in …