OpenTech(AUC)Sep 19, 2025

The so-called "Learning Management System" (LMS) that we use at the #UniversityofAmsterdam and #AmsterdamUniversityCollege is called "Canvas".

#Canvas is owned by Instructure, which in turn was bought in 2024 - for 4.8 billion USD - by #KKR, a US investment firm that has close ties with the arms industry and - as such - to the #IDF.

In July #Instructure signed a deal with #OpenAI to work towards the total integration of OpenAI's AI technologies into Canvas: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rayravaglia/2025/07/23/instructure-and-openai-harness-the-power-of-ai-to-transform-learning/

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Instructure And OpenAI Harness The Power Of AI To Transform Learning

Instructure and OpenAI partner to embed powerful AI tools within Canvas LMS, transforming learning by enabling dynamic assignments, rich feedback, and deeper insights.

Forbes
Show threadOpenTech(AUC)Sep 19, 2025

Our somewhat rhetorical question for @SURF and the academic community at large is:

... given the ongoing frontal attack on democracy and human rights in the United States

...given the narrow connections between OpenAI and the Trump regime

...given that guarantees by Microsoft regarding European data sovereignty have recently proven worthless,

... are we not being extremely naive and irresponsible by asking students and staff to connect with each other on their servers?

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Show threadOpenTech(AUC)

@SURF Can anyone for example guarantee that the essays we write (as students), and the feedback we give (as lecturers) are not stolen to train the models that - in some time - will be pushed down our throats as replacement for authentic critical thinking?

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Sep 19, 2025 at 11:39amWeb
Show threadValentijn SessinkSep 19, 2025

@OpenTech_AUC @SURF to improve Microsoft products and services, you grant Microsoft a worldwide and royalty free intellectual property licence to use Your Content
https://www.microsoft.com/en-ie/servicesagreement/ (en-ie is Ireland, which is EU, in other EU languages it's the same).

As soon as you start writing, your content can be used for copilot training. (Students using TeX are exempt 😉)

Microsoft Services Agreement

Show threadOpenTech(AUC)Sep 19, 2025

@valentyn @SURF Yes, which is why we run our own Nextcloud server https://opentech-auc.org/posts/2025-04-15-official-launch-of-nextcloud/

But Canvas is harder to avoid...

OpenTech(AUC) formally launches Google Drive alternative

Link to Nextcloud server: https://nextcloud.opentech-auc.org/. On 22 December 2019, the presidents of the boards of directors of Dutch universities raised the alarm: “The universities have little or no influence on the way data is collected and personalized. Most providers are not located in the Netherlands and are less familiar with the public values ​​on which our education is based. Furthermore, freedom of choice is limited: the market is dominated by a few large companies.