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Feature Article
AI and the News
Stephen Downes, 2025/09/04

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It is astonishing that inveterate AI-critics are at the same time so willing to jump on some magazine or news article as though it were gospel. Human-generated media has a long history of getting it wrong, for a wide variety of reasons.

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Access to universities and the distributive ethics of academia
Richard Pettigrew, 2025/09/04

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I'm not sure the 'modules' proposal would be suitable for the task of ethically distributing access to university, but I certainly agree that "there is nothing inevitable about the structure of our current higher education system; that its bizarre, historically contingent features play a significant role in excluding large numbers of people from that system; and that it is ill-suited to its role." In these times of rapid change and constricting resources, more thinking along these lines is certainly called for.

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The substrate of safety
Dave Snowden, The Cynefin Co, 2025/09/04

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It is almost unthinkable in a large organization or institution to say this, but: "Our current paradigm, with its manuals, compliance checklists, and 'best practices,' is engineered for the Gaussian centre. It is predictably - and tragically - useless in the Pareto tails where the real problems live. This is why we must stop trying to write better rules and start building better processes for rapid decision-making in each unique context" (my emphasis). It is a form of management by observing and nudging, not grand visions, principles, and rules. I think there's a lot more to be said on this. Via Chris Corrigan.

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Modality in 20th-Century Philosophy
Kris McDaniel, 2025/09/04

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I'm not sure how long this book chapter (31 page PDF) will be available online, but if you're interested in modality (this study of necessity, actuality and possibility) then you'll definitely enjoy this review that begins with Kant and runs through to Quine, Barcan Marcus, Kripke and Lewis. Ah, happy memories. Seriously, if you're interested in logic, language and meaning, this chapter outlines in a lucid and accesible way some of the core ideas in the field. Via Philosophical Progress.

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China is embracing AI in education. How are principals coping?
GEM Report, World Education Blog, 2025/09/04

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This article is based on two reports, the UNESCO Global Education Monitoring East Asia Report, which has a short section on China, and a much more detailed China case study. For all that, there aren't really any surprises. "Lessons for other countries highlight the critical role of digital leadership in formulating a cohesive national vision, mobilizing societal resources, adapting to diverse local needs, and prioritizing student learning and teacher development." And while I've recently seen headlines about China requiring that all students learn AI, the scale is still small - "In 2024, the Ministry of Education announced a list of 184 primary and secondary schools selected as AI education bases," which of course is a tiny fraction of the total number of schools. 

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AI-Aware Roles for PBL Collaborative Work
David Ross, Getting Smart, 2025/09/04

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This short article offers a "typology for AI-aware roles in groupwork" and its application to "the California Missions Project, a rite of passage for all fourth-graders in my state." Without getting into the specifics of the descriptions of each role, I think it's a good idea, as to my mind it supports the idea of 'AI-agnostic' learning, that is, learning that works whether ir not it is supported by AI by students or teachers.

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AI Literacy Framework
University of Saskatchewan, 2025/09/04

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Alan Levine writes, "This is part of the larger resource site Artificial Intelligence at USask and its just a search away from finding a long list of other similar frameworks." Nothing much to add except to congratulate Levine on his brand new Canadian citizenship.

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Why critical thinking is key to using AI wisely
Stephanie Simoes, Alt Ed Austin, 2025/09/04

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À propos of the article I wrote yesterday, this article underlines the importance of critical thinking in AI use. "One of the proposed priorities is teaching students to spot AI‑generated misinformation. That one isn't especially contentious; spotting misinformation, including AI-generated misinformation, is a core part of modern media literacy."

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Set a two TikTok toilet limit to reduce haemorrhoid risk, doctors advise
Ian Sample, The Guardian, 2025/09/04

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All I have to say is that I don't think these doctors know how short TikTok videos actually are.

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Everything everywhere all at once: Decision-making signals engage entire brain
Claudia López Lloreda, The Transmitter, 2025/09/04

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The story is in the first paragraph: "The process of making a decision engages neurons across the entire brain, according to a new mouse dataset created by an international collaboration." This is important because it corrects previous theories localizing decision-making and other functions to specific areas of the brain, which argues against theories that say things like there's a 'language centre' in the brain. Here's the original article in Nature.

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We publish six to eight or so short posts every weekday linking to the best, most interesting and most important pieces of content in the field. Read more about what we cover. We also list papers and articles by Stephen Downes and his presentations from around the world.

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