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. […]
Jean
Maybe the consumer pressure has worked – Apple has now introduced a $99 battery replacement service
http://www.info.apple.com/support/applecare_products/service/ipod_service.html
Jill
Oh good – thanks for the link.
Mike
Does it really qualify as “media jamming”? Here’s how I was reading it: the Neistat brothers, with a contact address in what looks like a Tribeca zip code, took the time to make a self-celebratory movie on a $1000+ computer about a very fancy $300+ MP3 player of theirs that broke, when it was no longer covered by warranty. There’s nothing there about whether this is a common problem (perhaps the stencil should have read “my ipod’s unreplaceable battery only lasted 18 months”?), and indeed no link as pointed out above. They then paid to host 362,944 viewings (when I looked) of this 6.5MB movie: that’s some bandwidth.
I mean, I love what adbusters does to combat the corporate consumerist mindset. But it strikes me that the Neistat brothers are reinforcing that mindset, demanding their “rights” (ugh) as consumers. Or, to put it another way, acting like overprivileged kids with a broken toy. I mean, couldn’t they find something better to get all fight-the-power (check out the movie’s white-kid-appropriating-NWA soundtrack) worked up about?
There’s a long and interesting (and sometimes acrimonious and not so interesting) discussion of the movie at Metafilter.
Jill
This FAQ not only explains how you can now get a battery replacement for $99, it says this was implemented before the video was released. Etc.
Alecia
Man have times changed. the battery in my ipod went out recently so i did a whole bunch of research and found a new ipod battery kit from this company that sells the battery and tools and instructions to pull out the old one wwithou breakin the damn thing. Well i took the plunge and was surprised at how easy it was. Apple doesn’t charge 99 bux anymore – closer to 60 now but with ipod Juice i completed the project for a third of that cost (patting myself on the back now!).
I never understood that neistats bros video either – it just seemed like whining – go out and fix the problem yourself like i did and move on!
-A