OLDaily

Welcome to Online Learning Daily, your best source for news and commentary about learning technology, new media, and related topics.

What Is Agentic AI?
Erik Pounds, NVIDIA Blog, 2024/10/22

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In a nutshell, "agentic AI... uses sophisticated reasoning and iterative planning to autonomously solve complex, multi-step problems. And it's set to enhance productivity and operations across industries." Potential applications include customer service, content creation, software engineering and healthcare.

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An Objection to Chalmers's Fading Qualia Argument
Eric Schwitzgebel, The Splintered Mind, 2024/10/22

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As reported here, David Chalmers argues that "consciousness arises in virtue of the functional organization of the brain rather than in virtue of the brain's material substrate." I agree with that, but not because of the 'fading qualia' and 'dancing qualia' arguments discussed in this post. The two arguments amount to the assertion that we would not be able to tell, introspectively, if our carbon-matter neurons were replaced with silicon. I think it would be neat if we could switch silicon neurons off and on, but I wouldn't speculate as to what it would feel like, if anything. See also the Gradient.

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"Cracks in the system": Ontario universities project $1bn in losses
Polly Nash, The PIE News, 2024/10/22

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Ontario’s universities have forecasted nearly $1 bil in financial losses over the next two years as international student caps take hold.

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Get started shopping for services on LinkedIn
LinkedIn, 2024/10/22

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I just saw for the first time a 'Request Services' link on the profile of a LinkedIn commenter. I followed the links to this page, which describes the LinkedIn service. Basically, you can either search for services, or, if you see the 'Request Services' button, be taken to a page where you can request services from the specific person. This probably won't help LinkedIn's culture of rampant self-promotion, but does point to a strong linkage between offering a social media presence and being linked from that directly to employment opportunities.

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The death of the book, again
Crooked Timber, 2024/10/22

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"We're in another round of concern about the 'death of the book'," writes an unnamed author, "and, in particular, the claimed inability or unwillingness of young people to read full-length books." I think the two halves of this statement are separate questions. The first refers to the physical product printed on paper. The second refers to longtext. As the author points out, it's hard to find stores that sell the first product any longer (except, of course, on university campuses). Most people don't want them any more. And it's hard to find the second anywhere at all, other than behind an arbitrarily expensive paywall.

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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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