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
Jeg tror pinse p engelsk er “Whit”, alts “Whit Saturday”, “Whit Sunday” og “Whit Monday”. Hvilken etymologi ordet “whit” har, vet jeg derimot ikke.
Jonathan Smith
The first two sentences would make the nice start to a chapter in a novel.
torill
I think it’s pentacost?
i1277
That is one good sentence that first one yes, and novelish.
I stole it and used it in a chatroom conversation, but the immediate reply (“what lyrics is that? cause it really sounds like a song to me at this hour”) suggested it was transparent that those weren’t really my words…
And summer did come sudden this year.
Eirik
The etymology of the word “whitsunday” (from Dictionary.com):
[Middle English whitsonday, from Old English hwta sunnandÊg, White Sunday (from the white ceremonial robes worn on this day) : hwt, white; see white + sunnandÊg, Sunday; see Sunday.]
whitsunday
\Whit”sun*day\, n. [White + Sunday.] 1. (Eccl.) The seventh Sunday, and the fiftieth day, after Easter; a festival of the church in commemoration of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost; Pentecost; — so called, it is said, because, in the primitive church, those who had been newly baptized appeared at church between Easter and Pentecost in white garments.
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The term “whitsun” is also commonly used. 🙂
Eirik
Oh, BTW: have a nice whitsun weekend, Jill!
Jill
Thanks, all 🙂