July 24 Round up
One month into leaving the OU, and I have been trying to establish some new pattern for the days. It’s been disrupted by parental care (or maybe that is the new pattern), and getting stuff sorted, but it’s beginning to settle down now. The most significant personal event this month has been my daughter’s graduation. She was part of that Covid cohort, who had it rough so it’s been a privilege to witness her growth as a scholar. I just need to persuade her to take up blogging now. As I mentioned last month, I’ve joined the Board of Trustees for the National Extension College, and it was great to attend the first Trustee meeting this month, and to appreciate how much overlap in opportunities and concerns there are with the OU.
Against my better judgement, I’ve read a few AI articles this month. An interesting study from Exeter used AI to ideas on the production of short stories. They report that less creative writers benefited the most from AI, whereas more creative writers (as they had categorised them) did not benefit. And overall, the AI–enabled stories were deemed more similar to each other than stories by humans alone. So, while some people benefit, the overall outcome can be seen as a loss. They don’t put this on the label, do they? Helen Beetham has some excellent discussion on student writing and AI that is worth bearing in mind with all of this. Another study asks whether AI usage is helpful or harmful for students. They report that “when students faced higher academic workload and time pressure, they were more likely to use ChatGPT. In contrast, students who were sensitive to rewards were less likely to use ChatGPT. Not surprisingly, use of ChatGPT was likely to develop tendencies for procrastination and memory loss and dampen the students’ academic performance.” I’m not sure about that “memory loss” part, but look, when we put too much work pressure on students, they use AI. These two studies at least offer some caution to the “let’s build an AI university” zealots. I’m now going to take Brian’s line though and not have anything to say about AI.
Books
I’ve been mixing up my reading this month. I enjoyed the rich mix of ideas in the second book in the Three Body Problem. Liu Cixin is adept at developing complex scientifically valid (to my ears) ideas and running through their long term social implications. However, like a lot of classic age sci-fi writers, he really can’t write women, the dream woman sequences in this book were, as young people used to say, cringe. As the Olympics are being hosted by Paris I decided to brush up on my knowledge of the French Revolution with this readable (if slightly Royalist apologist) account from Christopher Hibbert. It prepared me sufficiently for that opening ceremony. A shame American conservatives don’t read such books (or at all it seems). And if all that “childless cat ladies” nonsense hasn’t made you mad enough about the patriarchy, then read Laura Bates’ searing Fix The System, Not The Women. Although post-modernism has been blamed for an erosion on the concept of truth, what it has also given us is permission to enjoy “low-brow” art and dress it up intellectually. As a horror fan, I am very on board with this, and thus I could pretend my reading of trashy cryptid horror was really musing about the role of educational technology within higher education. Next month, Sharknado as metaphor for Conservative higher education policy 2-12-2024.
Vinyl
I haven’t bought as much vinyl this month as I get accustomed to my new financial situation (although Maren may disagree). But I did get an album which will definitely be in my end of year list, Cassandra Jenkins’ My Light, My Destroyer. Her previous album, An Overview on Phenomenal Nature, is one of my favourite albums of the decade, and a particular source of solace during the pandemic years. Her new work continues the mix of ambient sounds, recorded snippets of dialogue, jazz musing but with added indie rock sensibilities. It feels like a cross country road trip, listening to someone expound on topics that may be trivial or profound, you’re never quite sure, but are nevertheless fascinating. Enjoy the single Only One:
