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Dr Dave Hitchcock

@davehitchcock.bsky.social

Historian at CCCU: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8378-4968 Councillor of the Royal Historical Society; SHS executive; EHS. Views own. Currently: "Dying Homeless, 1600-2013", Soon: 'The Wheel of Poverty'. He/him.

5618 Posts6467 Follower1638 Folgt
Carl Zimmer@carlzimmer.com · yesterday

Four days ago, a scientist was surprised by the news that Anthropic discovered new virus genes for making DNA. He says he’s been studying them for years—and feeding his data to Anthropic’s AI as part of his own research. Coincidence? Here’s my story. nyti.ms/3VSWayc

Did Anthropic’s A.I. Really Make a Scientific Discovery on Its Own? (Gift Article)

An expert at the University of Copenhagen said his team had been sharing its research with the company’s A.I. model, Claude, and that its new finding matched their work.

nyti.ms

Carl T. Bergstrom@carlbergstrom.com · 3d ago

Does my Speak-n-Spell feel pain when I type O-U-C-H? The jury is out. Philosophers and neuroscientists say that's fucking stupid, but I called a guy from the Center for Pretending that Household Electronics Are Sentient and he said there's no way to know for sure.

Dr Dave Hitchcock@davehitchcock.bsky.social · 3d ago

A thing I think about is that the guys absolutely in the tank for AI cannot in any universe "out sci-fi" me, a Humanities guy. I've read all of it. I've been reading it since I was like six. I get every single reference they think they own. I am not on their side because of that reading.

Josh Shepperd@joshshepperd.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I feel like digital humanities was this great 15 year moment of techno-optimism that created solid resources and showed how old media connected to new media. Whereas AI is going to introduce a period of techno-cannibalism designed to devour digital humanities labor and anyone else in its proximity.

Dr Dave Hitchcock@davehitchcock.bsky.social · 4d ago

Damn I just got done supporting an entirely normal and real human with one of these MSCAs and now I learn that application is going to get swamped in a sea of autocomplete horseshit.

Hannes Cools@hannescools.bsky.social · 2w ago

The academic grant system is extremely broken. 21.627 submissions... That is how many proposals the Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships received this month. Two years ago it was 10,360. The budget did not move. The success rate went from around 16% to something close to 7%.

Paris Marx@parismarx.com · 5d ago

Just when I think I can’t hate OpenAI and Sam Altman any more, new details come out about how ChatGPT helped a shooter plan one of the worst mass shootings in Canadian history in Tumbler Ridge, BC. OpenAI made an explicit decision not to report the user to authorities.

ChatGPT helped the Tumbler Ridge school shooter focus on guns, tactics, and terror, our investigation reveals

OpenAI’s chatbot fed the shooter’s violent fantasies and planning up to the massacre.

motherjones.com

BeijingPalmer@beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 6d ago

bit weird given the play is written in early modern English but I'd pay to hear Ēalā Rōmēo, Rōmēo, for hwȳ eart þū Rōmēo? Wiðsace þīnum fæder and forsac þīnne naman; oþþe, gif þū nelt, swere mē þæt þū mīn lēofa sīe, and ne bēo iċ nā lenġ Capulēting.

DiscussingFilm@discussingfilm.net · 6d ago

Robert Eggers is set to direct a new film adaptation of ‘ROMEO AND JULIET’. The film will feature the actors speaking in Olde English. (Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...)

Joseph Rezek@rezekjoe.bsky.social · 7d ago

I am thrilled to announce that the American Studies Program at Boston University will be accepting new PhD Students for the 27/28 academic year. These are fully funded, unionized, 5-year positions, with 4 semesters of guaranteed dissertation fellowship in years 4 & 5.

Application Deadline: December 15, 2026 The American Studies Program at Boston University is a nationally recognized leader in the interdisciplinary field of American Studies. Our students and faculty study the disparate yet interconnected cultures of colonial North America and the United States as seen in the ideas and actions of its people, and as expressed in a range of forms, especially culture, the arts, media, literature, and institutions - often seen through a global or transnational lens. Formerly known as the American & New England Studies Program, we maintain active collaborations with many cultural institutions in the region, especially in the Boston Area. Our large PhD program has produced tenure-track protessors, public historians, museum curators, and directors at major universities, museums, and other cultural and historical institutions. Funding Opportunities PhD students receive full funding for up to five years (12 months a year) under a collective bargaining agreement. During this time, they take courses, teach in their fields and disciplines of interest, and develop and write dissertations. The fellowship package guarantees four semesters of dissertation fellowship in years 4 and 5, with no service obligations Additional funding is available from Boston University for travel to conferences, for archival research, and for internships. Current students have recently received outside fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation, the American Antiquarian Society, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Huntington Library, the Smithsonian Institution, the Beinecke Library, the Corning Museum of Glass, the New Bedford Whaling Museum, and the American Historical Association. Graduate Student Association The Program's own independent Graduate Student Association (GSA) is comprised of elected PhD students who sponsor events and programs for developing professional skills, while representing our students' interests to the governing faculty. A list of affiliate faculty, available also on the program’s webpage
David Ho@davidho.bsky.social · 2w ago

NSF has reduced the research budget for all atmospheric, ocean, and earth sciences by ~80%. 80%! A lot of us will not be conducting new research or training new students for the foreseeable future.

Daniel C. Blight@danielcblight.bsky.social · 2w ago

To enable such an unprecedented attack on our rights, management have also today announced the de-recognition of the UCU and Unison. The scale of this assault is so extraordinary that the General Secretary of UCU has called a demo on campus tomorrow.

Dr Dave Hitchcock@davehitchcock.bsky.social · 2w ago

While we are on the subject, mathematicians have also had to get a lot of practice now refuting plagiarisms of their work. All these news stories about this or that "AI" smashing millenium problems turn out to be prrrrreeetty shady.

OpenAI's biggest math breakthrough is getting ugly...

YouTube video by Fireship

youtube.com

Joseph Rezek@rezekjoe.bsky.social · 2w ago

Mathematicians out here saying it is not the proof that matters, but the human understanding of the proof. We are all humanists now.

Craig Lambert@medievalmariner.bsky.social · 3w ago

I’m recruiting a Research Fellow in Early Modern Spanish Maritime History to join our ERC-funded Uncharted Maritime Worlds project at the University of Southampton. Please share with anyone who might be interested! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DSW249/r...

Research Fellow (Early Modern Spanish Maritime History) 3497426AR at University of Southampton

An opportunity for an academic position as a Research Fellow (Early Modern Spanish Maritime History) 3497426AR is available, as advertised on jobs.ac.uk. Apply now and explore other academic job openi...

jobs.ac.uk

Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 2w ago

Minded to agree on distraction, but there is a wrinkle in the UK results that calls into q the roles of both systems & distraction. Scotland and NI both have reading scores higher than Northern England's. NI also slightly outperforms N England in Maths. Scotland only just lags N England...

John Burn-Murdoch@jburnmurdoch.ft.com · 3w ago

Two extraordinary charts from today’s PISA test results: 1) School test scores continue to collapse internationally, underscoring how this is no longer a Covid effect but sustained decline. Those falls in reading and maths are equivalent to about two years of lost schooling.

Dr Dave Hitchcock@davehitchcock.bsky.social · 3w ago

I argue the minister's remarks are consistent with his belief, which is held much more widely in UK society, that a. "Arts and Humanities" are ornamental, nice to have, cute, and therefore extraneous while b. "Sciences and Maths" are instrumental, necessary, to be supported no matter the cost

Annalisa Nicholson@apuddleofmuddle.bsky.social · 3w ago

It's just weird isn't it when the British Museum is running a sold-out exhibition, when The Odyssey reports $1billion at the box office, when the V&A has just opened the most innovative and accessible museum model in Europe....and this is what our minister for research comes out with.