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. […]
Rex
plus also you get that kewl lightsaber.
Susan
this may not be the proper place to do this but ’tis all I have…
I do hope all of you ‘over there’ in the East are doing alright with this darn blackout that hit. Being from Midwest Canada, we were not affected here at all. The temps have been very high here though. Way above normals like everywhere else. Going up to 35C(95F) today but with the humidity it will ‘feel’ like over 40C(104F). And yes.. we do, at times, get humidity here on the bald, dry prairies!
But we DO have power.(no a/c in my tiny place though.. just fans, ice and a bzillion grasshoppers outside)
Sending cooler air over to all you “Easterners”, whether Canadians or Americans….(loaded with grasshoppers of course.. hee hee.. all them tiny wings beating create mega fans… ROFLMAO)
I have been following your blog for a while now, Jill. It is very refreshing! 😀
Take care everyone!
And look to the skies.. the grasshoppers are winging their way to ya all!
😀
Susan
Jill
Oh, I’d forgotten about the lightsaber that comes with the fiction game! Yay!
Molly
You mean to suggest you’re not already fictitious?
;o)
I’ll see it when I believe it…
Jill
Well, of course, I could be double-bluffing… Or have I got to triple-bluffing by now?
weezBlog
Continuing fictionalization
This morning was devoted to backstory. Jill proposes fictionalizing herself, an interesting notion. So long as the “character” is consistent, who know the difference? Relationships, interconnections, events need not be real, but merely supported by cir…