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. […]
zephoria
::wimper::
zgs
just play along. http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/election-test-fl,0,1851284.flash?coll=la-home-multimedia. who gives an f about the polls? it don’t look like bush is going to pull it off. yeah, anti-american isn’t a tough attitude. try living in d hellhole. that’s where the change will come from. energy plan for the western man (beuys). a lot of europeans are more american than us. it makes me laugh. democracy still can’t ketchup/
zgs
it’s the la times 2004 electoral vote tracker. i can’t link, really. check out d.c.
Norman
Two months before the Australian Election, a log time Labor Party and Union official contemptuously rejected my suggestion that we would lose. He assured me that I was completely out of touch, and “everyone” knew Latham would thrash Howard. Last night when Ithe topic was raised, he pontificated that “everyone” with contacts such as himself, knew we were in serious trouble.
I don’t believe it was simply that he was lying. Those bitten by a political/moral bug tend to move in tjght circles, oblivious to how everyone else feels. And when unpleasant reality intrudes, then cognitive dissonance comes to their aid, and conflicting evidence is lost in the recesses of our brain.
But it does help reduce acrimony at dinner parties, doesn’t it?
Jill
You have a point, Norman. It’s very easy to just see people who think the same way as us. Makes life easier – until the polls.