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. […]
francis s.
I hate that it seems to be true. I feel kicked in the stomach.
lisa
We are so disappointed in the outcome.
Anthony
Can Norway handle some tired, poor, huddled masses from the United States of BushCo? Plenty of folks here disappointed with the results this morning.
Jill
I’ve heard quite a few people say they want to emigrate. But will you REALLY? I mean, easy to say it, but…?
Of course, while Norway may be saner, we’re pretty seriously affected by whatever goes down in the US too.
Elin
I think now is the time for Americans to stay and fight, not flee. This wasn’t an easy win, yet at no time have we seen Bush spend any reasonable time “reflecting” on why the margins he stole were so small. Don’t make this easy for Bush – the US is split about who should lead this country. Make sure that Bush feels this for the next 4 years.
Anyway, I am more disappointed in Kerry. How can a real leader possibly concede, sending the message that your vote doesn’t matter – it doesn’t need to be counted. It is not about wishful thinking: this is about making SURE that those who voted was heard, no matter the result. When it counted, Kerry didn’t stay and fight. Does this means that the Americans are better off with Bush? You have to wonder.
Anthony
We get only one life. Creative flexibility in assessing quality of life and the factors that influence it is a good thing! 🙂
EDR
Thanks for the link to Francis’ website. I, too, have been struggling with Swedish, though I admit that I don’t have and haven’t devoted the time needed to become fluent in it. Were we living in Gavle more, rather than Chicago, perhaps I’d be further along in my studies. In any case, Ira and I have always said we’re keeping our options open when it comes to teaching jobs. With 4 more years of Bush & Co. in store, I gotta say that Sweden is looking better and better.
Jill
Oh, Eric, I should have forwarded you the link to Francis’s blog ages ago – it’s one of my favourites and perfect for you…
Of course, I think all my friends should move to Scandinavia. Except – hang on – then I wouldn’t have as many excuses to travel!
well for what it was worth
I took my last remaining annual leave and manned a hotline for voting problems for 16 hours yesterday (6 am to 9 pm). We logged a lot of calls, including:
An election machine that spit out the wrong name on the summary page–which according to the State Election Commission “just couldn’t happen, so the guy must have been lying”
4 reports of “John from the Union calling to remind you to vote for Kerry tomorrow”
Reports of flyers with Vote for Kerry–and the wrong precinct to go to in poor black communities
And, my favorite, a voting judge who wouldn’t allow provisional ballots because “I believe that the machines couldn’t lie, and people shouldn’t vote with paper.”
See https://voteprotect.org/?jsc=1 for details of these and other atrocities across the U.S. Please spread the word.
Norman
I’ve just spent 30 minutes listening to the [Australian] A.B.C., with the chattering classes in full flight. Not one person who was put to air expressed anything other than horror over the foolishness of voters who were not “intelligent” enough to agree with their hatreds of Howard and Bush. Most showed they had virtually no rael understanding of the U.S. scene or its voting systems; but that didn’t matter — they “knew” they were fighting for Light and Good against The Forces of Darkness, so who needed to know anything more than they were right, the majority wrong?
From a parochial Australian perspective, I suspect Kerry would have been more likely than Bush to ask for more of our troops to help him ramp up hostilities in Iraq. It’s amazing how many actually believe Kerry was the man for conciliation in Iraq.
On another international issue, Palestine, I believe Kerry would have distanced the U.S.A. from Bush’s [admittedly timid] moves towards trying to face up to the realities of that Arab/Israeli dispute — a dispute which underlies to a very significant degree most of the problems facing the world in the Middle East.
But what does any of this matter. It’s our emotional sensitivities which count most with political questions?
Jill
I certainly didn’t agree with everything Kerry stands for. But Bush is so much worse. Listening to radio talk show’s can be pretty aggrevating, though.
As for the possibilities of voting fraud – it does seem ludicrous to use electronic, non-recountable voting machines, but even if there were issues of fraud – the popular vote gave Bush 3 million more votes than Kerry. Surely that’s too much for plain fraud?
achilleas
Also dissapointed. It is bloody scary to realise that there are so many people in the U.S. that vote (and think) beyond reason. The intelligent in the states should now find ways to constantly and publically illustrate the obvious.
Eirik
As for the fraud thing – let’s just see how it goes the coming months. There are all kinds of weir reports coming in, and we know how long it took for some of the reports from Florida in ’00 to receive widespread attention. Me, I’m not in the least surprised by the result after having seen “Outfoxed”.