Iris van Rooij 💭

"Using some of my own work, I set out to clear up a few relevant concepts from theoretical computer science and computational cognitive science that can help to build conceptual hygiene and immunity against hyped claims about “AI” capabilities." irisvanrooijcogsci.com/2026/09/12/c...

So nice to see this out! > The five core principles – honesty, Scrupulousness, transparency, independence and responsibility – remain unchanged. www.nwo.nl/en/news/revi... Image from: doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

🧵✨️

"Researchers should also follow the principles and standards set out in the code when using technologies such as AI."

And another one of my favorite illustrations of (joyful!) resistance ☺️😎🎶 bsky.app/profile/ethi...

Wow 😳👏

"Universiteiten en hogescholen dienen hun onderzoekers te beschermen tegen druk en inmenging. Wetenschappers moeten voorzichtig zijn met AI. Dat staat in de nieuwe gedragscode wetenschappelijke integriteit." www.voxweb.nl/nieuws/nieuw...

these pointless chatbots are what journals are literally spending our tax money on because these publishers are leeches off the public purse and then fence off academic outputs into weird systems also Maxwell / Epstein money

To think about this deeply think about how we use analogies...

Please share and sign: www.universitiesforjustice.eu/sign/ > We call on you, as our responsible university leadership, to join and extend this momentum by: > 1. demanding the suspension of Israel’s participation in Horizon Europe and the EU-Israel Association Agreement;

language: "I can't shake the feeling" vs "I can't help but think" me: nah merge them!

"scholarslop" S C H O L A R S L O P !

> 3. defending academic freedom and Palestinian academic life by protecting staff and students who decline to participate in or withdraw from such collaborations and providing sustained material support to Palestinian academic communities. www.universitiesforjustice.eu/sign/

> 2. suspending institutional cooperation with Israeli universities and other implicated Israeli institutions and organisations; www.universitiesforjustice.eu/sign/

shows.acast.com/the-data-fix...

Of zoals de universiteit van Aalto nuchter schreef, 'Nothing new here, actually! The rule of research integrity and responsible conduct of research still apply!' (geciteerd in mijn bijdrage in de bundel Als wij denken, net verschenen, hier te lezen doi.org/10.5281/zeno... )

The above quote is from 1970: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_A... — the California system used to be 100% free at point of use, the UK used to be free (& made expensive by people who studied for FREE: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timelin...), the EU still has many free or basically free universities.

The elite hate us being educated, us educating you, you educating each other, and you having time to do this. Stop granting that it's the university that is elitist inherently: it's been made that way for a reason. Some more points below also on the marriages between patriarchy, AI, capitalism...

the silver lining /flip side is at least with activism is you also gain a lot of friends or minimally learn who the allies are

I have a story like this too; during the first encampments I came up with the idea to grant ECs to students who spent all the summer trying to improve the university, make them see the light of correct moral compass. So I designed this and got it approved with the help of colleagues too of course. 🩵

Relatedly, what does it mean for a model or a theory to be successful? Most people claim prediction is enough. But is empirical fit really everything we want and also all it's cracked up to be? Can you answer that for your own work if you work with models?

Second, the place of models in our sciences is clearly under great discussion and we need to start to engage with what models are and what we want them to be.

First, automation is not what you think! No system which is automated has within it machines or processes that require no human oversight. Automation is actually not what you seem to think if you think the OP statements. It may be time to engage with psychological research in this area!

Why do some colleagues from psych, cog neuro, etc., accept AI nonsense that all or almost all our science will be automated? I'm a bit flabbergasted. Yes, of course we'll need observations, always. But to say theory and modelling practice can be automated by AI is preposterous. Some basic points...

Fourth, under a computationalised automated science in the way they imagine nothing would happen that was in any way what we'd identify as science. See the last cell here below in the table:

Third, automating science is not really possible in the way described. In the same way a machine cannot eat food for us because we'd starve: scientific understanding is for us to experience and share with others as a psychological state. It's a process and a cognitive state not an output.

Yes, no matter what happens actually. We have knowledge from thousands of years ago. So long as humans exist, we can imagine a better future — and we are obliged to as Stengers explains.

Not a coincidence that @saklein.bsky.social (the OP) also cited it.

See where she says: > 'The task of a university is the creation of the future[.] The future is big with every possibility of achievement and of tragedy.' [...] We cannot evade that call by pleading that we do not deserve to play such a role. — Isabelle Stengers PDF: hcommons.org?get_group_do...

I recommend reading this book! See this extract where she says that we cannot avoid our duty by claiming excuses like that we do not "deserve" the duty. I also recommend it to everybody in this thread.

Only topically! Unsurprisingly we are pretty much on the same page about teaching and the pressures teachers and learners are under are the same ones facing science, art and anyone who cares for human thought and creativity

Even though what we are sharing is deeply depressing and upsetting, the many responses and solidarity in this thread from many amazing women really warms my heart. Sending solidarity back to all of you!! 🫶 We'll uproot the patriarchy together.

bsky.app/profile/oliv...

So I did 45 minutes of me talking (this: youtu.be/4DHgVkIWhig) and then 45 minutes us all talking and chatting. What I like about that format is nothing then feels rushed.

This is still commonplace, sorry to say! I wrote a whole paper on this because it's basically 100% normal even now.

The real work!

Now, IMHO, the question should be: what does the implemented function (& algorithm) tell us about the approximated function? Can it actually be informative or give us some insight into the cognitive function (if there is one)? Essence or minutiae? 🤔

ok, got it! 🌚