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. […]
Eirik
I got that mail as well, and my immediate reaction was scepticism and disbelief. That’s what years of spam, virii, net hoaxes and suchlike does to us, I guess. 🙁
Jill
Sure, it might be a hoax – but I can too vividly imagine my own daughter losing her favourite toy and the catastrophe that would be for the whole family….
Actually once she did lose it. On holiday in Denmark with her father. She and her dad drove several hours back to pick it up and thank goodness, they found it.
Jorunn
Anyone else reminded of that Swedish television series – “R‰dda Joppe, dˆd eller levande”? 🙂
Ghani
It’s really funny, when I visited that page, I didn’t have to understand a bit of Swedish to figure out that they found her doll. I’m glad!
Jill
Oh look! They found it! Thanks, Ghani!
🙂
Elin
I am not surprised you didn’t have to understand a bit of Swedish to understand that they found the doll , Ghani:-)
E.
Ghani
Uh oh, now i’m paranoid — was that not swedish? Did i just make a fool of myself? 😉
Elin
That was 100% Norwegian, you see.
But that’s ok. Norwegians survive worse insults:-)
Ghani
Oh dear. I apologize! ::slinks into a corner::
Frizzante
Dokke til besvÊr
Det er ikke greit her i verden, og nÂr ens kjÊreste er borte vet en ikke helt hva en