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. […]
dave
haha..for a moment there, i thought it was true..:P
bush actually blogging???yeah right..
Joanna
Hi Jill,
This is Joanna from Hong Kong and I read your blog accidentally from Blogsisters and I am interested in what you do in the University and the topics that you have chosen to write.
Nice photography as well.
Joanna
Jill
Thanks Joanna – and wow, I just spent half an hour reading at your website. It’s so beautifully put together, and very moving, too. Best wishes to you.
Joanna
Haha thanks for your compliments, Jill!
I’ll keep you posted if I have something update for the site.
Cheers
Joanna
Joanna
by the way, is this true that Bush has a weblog? couldn’t find it on the internet…
fivecats
Looks like someone took up the challenge:
http://prezgeorgew.typepad.com/
…
Jill
Ah, of course. Very similar tone to John Howard’s blog. Kind of funny as a concept but my god do they go on and on…
(and no, believe nothing you read in The Onion…)
Joanna
Oh yes, I had thought of if the news was fake – as I got different versions of George Bush’s weblog from the search engines. But it would be interesting if he had one that exposed most of his personal life/true self.