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. […]
Elin
You just wait and see… soon you’ll be busy keeping your mailbox clean too!
I’ve been on that list for months, but all the e-mails are so overwhelming that I can’t get started. Lots of cutsie “look I’m flying” testimonals too – or “hubbie did dishes” etc etc – it can get crazy!
I think this list is made for staying home mums (kan du tenke deg noen i Norge som kaller seg hjemskapere!) so it can be really difficult to follow if you have other things pending during your day. But I’m still on the list, still hoping it might just work one day!
diane
Bravo, Jill! I unsubbed right before Jane was born & am working up the nerve to re-sub. I do miss the little notes all day long…
Jill
Ah, you just need routines for the emails! I have all the REMINDERS autodeleted, and the TESTIMONIALS go into a box of maybe I’ll read some one day. I like the missions and the essay or two a day from Flylady herself, so I let them into my inbox. Everything’s clearly labelled so it’s easy to filter stuff out…
And yes, I missed the little notes. I like Flylady… And now my desk’s tidy, too! Yay!
Jorunn
Jill, that is really smart, thanks for the tip! I actually like some of the reminders (but not the ridiculous “where are your shoes?” as if I would actually be wearing shoes around the house, must be a cultural thing), but from now on I will make sure the testimonials and shoe reminders go straight to the trash can. And I love Opera’s e-mail client for autodetecting mailing lists. Makes it oh so easy to delete all the messages I just ignore. Then again, maybe that’s why my desk isn’t really all that tidy yet 😉
Elin
oh no! Jill – you sound like a Fly Baby!
{grin}
I too find the shoes e-mail slightly ridiculous – imagine how much less cleaning you’d do if you didn’t wear your shoes inside…. it is definitely a cultural thing:-)
Jill
OMG, you’re right, Elin, I sound like a FlyBaby with my routines for organising email… Eek! But hey, it works! And the shoes? Well, absolutely. A bloke I met last night was telling me about the conflicts in the flat he shared with an Indian and a Spaniard last year. Apparently India is one of the few countries in the world, apart from Norway, where you take your shoes off when you enter a home. (Japan, Korea and other Scandinavian countries also do the shoes off thing, I don’t know about others?) So the Norwegian and the Indian got on wonderfully, and hated the Spaniard, who constantly dirtied their clean floors!
diane
The shoes come off in Germany too, and in my house when I can enforce the policy, which is not very often. Maybe when JJ starts crawling… Taking them off saves wear and tear on the floor, too, cuz the street grit doesn’t get ground into the finish.
I can’t believe I just wrote that… slowly but surely, I am becoming my mother.
Take care, y’all & have a good time at HT03. Wish I were going but school’s starting soon & I have to save my $$$. 🙁
Jill
Ah, I’m not getting to HT03 either, I used up my conference funding going to DAC, mores the pity. Next year, perhaps…