Stephen Downes

The argument here is that "the hectobillionaires have begun their final assault on the last, best parts of what's still open, and likely won't rest until they've either brought all of the independent and noncommercial parts of the Internet under their control, or destroyed them." It is supported with a series of examples documenting that assault, from the abuse of open APIs to hammering by ill-behaved AI bots to closed platforms for things like podcasts. We've seen evidence of all the things Anil Dash lists here, but I think there's a lack of specificity about both the attackers and those they attack. Many of the abusive AI crawlers, for example, come not from the billionaires but from much smaller players. And while it's harder for independent creators to make a living and "go without winning awards or the other trappings of big media," that's always been the case. I'm not saying that Dash doesn't have a point - he does - but that it's more nuanced than presented here. 

This article has a lot of generic content about how AI is being used more and more, and how people (including especially instructors) will have to be responsible for AI-generated content created on their behalf. The more interesting remark, though, concerns the possibility of students using AI-enabled browsers to complete teacher evaluation forms. Not much is added to this, but it shows that we won't be able to just block AI-based submissions. It will be indistinguishable from human-typed content. So I agree with the assessment that "we're going to need to design procedures that mimic banking-style transactions that show chain-of-custody actions that services in the financial industry use to validate your credit or debit card." 

I've seen this referenced in a few placed. Tyler Gaw argues, "Those things we're missing aren't gone. They're still right here. They never went anywhere, they just got layered over by time... I don't consider myself an outlier here. I would wager (without any data) that most people who had a personal site and/or blog 20 years ago, still have one today. And there's a high likelihood they've maintained it throughout those years... But Good Internet is still here. We're still making stuff we care about and sharing that stuff on our websites. We're making it for ourselves first, but we're also making it for you." Yup. That would be me. :)

I used to hate groupwork, but that was usually because one of the five problems with collaborative work described by John Spencer in this reasonably detailed article. The problems are: one student does all the work (usually me, heh); one student takes creative control (also me); groupthink (except for me); conflict (usually with me); and project management (not needed, because of me). OK, I jest a bit, but Spencer identifies some good approaches to address these issues (without once mentioning the jigsaw method, though properly speaking that's a cooperative work approach).

I always ask "whose values" when I see stuff titled like this. But anyhow: "The case studies and scenarios in the toolkit are intended as a starting point rather than a prescription. Every teaching context is different, and the activities can be adapted for a wide range of disciplines and levels. By grounding AI integration in design values and pedagogic reflection, we hope the toolkit empowers educators to build confidence, spark debate, and support students in navigating an evolving creative landscape."

"The initiative brings together a consortium of 24 partners from 16 European countries, including 14 beneficiary partners and 10 associated partners...  to reinforce community-led publishing models and improve coordination across disciplines, institutions, and national contexts." Obviously this is a welcome development, especially right after reading about the Canadian initiative. Maybe we're finally releasing the stranglehold of commercial publishers over academic discourse. In case you're curious, the orginaztion is called Activate European Guidance and Incentives for Sustainable Open Access publishing (AEGIS-OA).