| Sociology | Education |
| Digital | Education |
| AI | Sceptical |
| Degrowth | Ecojustice |
More than 200 killed in coltan mine collapse in eastern DRC
This tragic incident highlights the completely exploitative underpinnings of our dependency on digital devices, and the limits of any talk in the global north of 'digital ethics', 'ethical tech' etc.
We are running a small survey to better understand why academics are increasingly feeling the need to turn to GenAI to do things that they know/feel they should ideally be doing themselves (e.g. write peer reviews, draft papers, write student feedback etc.)
We've got a very short (3 minute) & totally anonymous drop-box where academics can share their own examples and reasons for turning to GenAI. Find out more and complete the survey at this link:
I blogged about my cute little open source computer, the #mntpocketreform, and how it is connected to the idea of #permacomputing.
I’m typing this blog post on a tiny, cute, but powerful purple ARM computer in the hope that I will never have to buy a whole new machine to replace it. It’s called the MNT Pocket Reform, and it’s a compact 7-inch laptop with open hardware documentation and a modular internal architecture. It includes a clicky mechanical keyboard and a trackball within a portable form factor. My little computer was built by MNT Research GmbH, a Berlin-based hardware manufacturer with very nice people building open-source computing devices in small batches.
'What's At Stake? Young People's Take on AI and Education' .... brilliant looking zine produced by young people in the UK telling education leaders & teachers what they want 'responsible AI' to look like in their classrooms.
https://ai-and-education.shorthandstories.com/zine/index.html
"Ruinous EdTech – higher education and computing's excesses" - Colm O'Neill is giving an online seminar at Edinburgh Uni (Dec 11th) exploring how ed-tech can engage with ideas of digital degrowth, decolonial computing etc.
Book your place now!
https://www.de.ed.ac.uk/event/colm-oneill-ruinous-edtech-higher-education-and-computings-excesses
New doctoral position on the Environmental Impact of AI at KTH (Stockholm)
Deadline Oct. 23.
Caroline Sinders' 'Potato Internet' - a provocation to think otherwise about what scaled-down, environmentally-sensitive networking might look like:
one of the great things about still having a functional public broadcaster here is Australia is their willingness to host a half-hour radio program on topics like of "existential hope" & "digital degrowth" - very happy to have been involved!
Link to listen is here: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/futuretense/existential-hope-fear-s-j-beard-neil-selwyn-consumer-capitalism/105690310
Existential risks to human life abound, from the threat of nuclear Armageddon; to an uninhabitable planet; or an AI-induced apocalypse. Understanding such risks and how we can best respond to them is the preoccupation of S. J. Beard. But the Cambridge University researcher also speaks of "existential hope", a way of addressing our fears without the doom and despair. Also, Monash University's, Neil Selwyn, makes the call for what he terms "digital degrowth" — decoupling our online world from the shackles of consumer capitalism. Guests Dr S. J. Beard — Senior Research Associate, Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, Cambridge University Professor Neil Selwyn — Faculty of Education, Monash University Further information S.J. Beard - Existential Hope Neil Selwyn - Digital Degrowth: Radically Rethinking our Digital Futures
We don't need Big Tech's growth-fuelled vision of tech - other approaches to tech are possible!
"the idea isn’t so outlandish – it only feels impossible because big tech firms want us to think it is. What is most outstanding about frugal innovation is not just that its technologies are impressive, but that it might actually prompt systemic change by showing people that tech can be developed locally, and not just imported from Silicon Valley."
Titans like Musk would love us to believe innovation means top-down solutions that only enrich the wealthy. In fact, we all have the power, says Eleanor Drage, research fellow at Cambridge University
"The current AI hype bubble is being driven by little more than emotions. Instead of being awed by speculative promises around AI futures, we need to engage with current forms of AI in terms of their values and politics. Above all, we need to step up the fight for new democratised forms of AI governance and development"
https://criticaledtech.com/2025/07/12/we-need-to-talk-about-ai-in-terms-of-values-not-vibes/
Jens Ohlig
