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. […]
Anonymous
Second week of July?
Liz
Welcome back!
I missed you. 🙂
jon
Welcome back!
I missed your voice.
If you don’t know it, Philippe Delerm’s 1996 novel “Sundborn ou les jours de lumiËre” is a nice French take on Scandinavia just to get the other view.
Christian
Welcome back Jill, are u going to teach at huminf this autum?
Jill
Hey! You’re there! Hi guys, I missed you too 🙂 Thanks for the novel suggestion Jon, I’ll look for it…
And yes, Christian, I’m teaching a combined MA and “mellomfag” course this autumn, Digital media esthetics – the MA version of the course isn’t up yet but I’ve started building the course website in the new Studentportal – it’s HUIN204 and will also be HUIN30something once it’s all sorted out properly.
Will I see you there?
Clancy
Re: the lavender bushes–I used to grow lavender on my balcony and loved it when hummingbirds would come drink out of the flowers! Do you have hummingbirds in Norway? [probably a stupid question]
lisa
Welcome back! I loved your description of Provence.
Jill
I don’t think there are hummingbirds in Norway, more’s the pity. We deal in plainer colours here I’m afraid..
mcb
So glad you’re back!
My mornings haven’t been the same.
the rich jerk
Hi Interesting topic! Thank you for your information. Greetings from the one and only Rich Jerk.
Jeanne McDaniels
I am glad I came across your post. Thanks!