Off the Beaten Path, painting by Padraig McCaul, Irish artist.
Dónal Mulligan
@donalmulligan.com
Lecturer in Media, Design, Data Comms, etc., at DCU in #Dublin. Interested in digital research & ethics, educational tech & #GenAI, politics, and formerly #Eurovision Podcast: http://EnoughAboutAI.com More: https://www.donalmulligan.com
(All other many issues aside). Eh, yes, you are defintely deciding because only STEM researchers included; humanities and social science researchers omitted from scheme --->"Our strategy is not to decide which scientific problems deserve attention..." www.axios.com/2026/07/29/o...
OpenAI launches free AI access program for academic researchers
The program will provide selected researchers access to advanced models through 2027.
axios.com
Saw The Odyssey and it’s enjoyable and definitely merits a cinema where the intense soundtrack bass can fully shudder your bones. (Though Nolan having Odysseus solemnly say “Our Age of Bronze is collapsing” also does that at one point!) Overall certainly worth seeing - and on a very big screen.
📢 #CallForPapers: Are you a PhD researcher with ideas on Media, Democracy, and Society? If so, you have until ⏳ 2 August 2026 ⏳ to submit your abstract for the 3rd FuJo PhD Conference 2026! 👉 Link for submission: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Call for Papers: Media, Democracy, and Society: 3rd FuJo PhD Conference 2026
Call for Papers: Media, Democracy, and Society The 3rd FuJo PhD Conference welcomes submissions from PhD researchers working across the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities and related discipline...
docs.google.com
"We are told that AI is inevitable, that we must adapt or be left behind. But universities are not tech companies. Our role is to foster critical thinking, not to follow industry trends uncritically." www.ru.nl/en/research/...
‘Opposing the inevitability of AI at universities is possible and necessary’ | Radboud University
Since the widespread release of ChatGPT in December of 2022, AI has taken over much of the world by storm – including academia. Most of this happened with very little pushback, despite a myriad of iss...
ru.nl
Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia: doi.org/10.5281/zeno... We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity. 1/n
Vogelkop Super Paradise, found in the rainforests of Papua, is only found in Indonesia's Papua province. Its clove-black feathers absorb 99.5% of light, which makes its blue eyes and chest appear like a digital illusion. www.allaboutbirds.org/news/new-vog... #globalmuseum #birds
How 'Freed from Desire' became soccer's favourite anthem. @donalmulligan.com @dublincityuni.bsky.social tells the story of how a 1990s' Eurodance hit inspired by Buddhism became the soundtrack to happy stadiums and terraces years later www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...
How 'Freed from Desire' became soccer's favourite anthem
The story of how a 1990s' Eurodance hit inspired by Buddhism became the soundtrack to happy stadiums and terraces years later
rte.ie
The story here is not this stupid movie – which will never get made and never come out – but how the Tilly Norwood people keep getting these credulous articles placed in national news sources despite zero demonstration of any success or demand for this.
The comedy-drama will star AI "actor" Tilly Norwood in a “hybrid production with traditional film and TV professionals — such as directors, writers and editors — working alongside AI specialists, with AI training and mentorship built into the production itself,” the company says.
📢 Applications are now open for the #ChangingTIDE Media Literacy Incubator in Dublin! Are you aged 18–30 and resident in an EU/CERV country? Join us to explore media literacy, disinformation, and more with young people from across Europe. Apply now 👇 fujomedia.eu/news/call-fo...
FuJo | Call for Applicants: Media Literac
Dublin City University is the Irish partner in ChangingTIDE, an EU-funded project that aims ...
fujomedia.eu
Dónal and Ciarán are back to discuss some of the various costs of AI. Here, they discuss Pope Leo’s recent papal encyclical on AI and humanity, which the pope called for AI to be “disarmed” and to be prevented “from dominating humanity” through “monopolistic control.” #genai #artificialintelligence
Exclusive: I have seen OpenAI's audited financials for 2024 and 2025. In 2025, OpenAI had $13.07 billion in revenue and $34 billion in costs. $867 million of its revenue came from SoftBank, and $303 million came from Microsoft. www.wheresyoured.at/exclusive-op...
Exclusive: OpenAI Losses Increased Nearly 8X in 2025, With Spending Hitting $34 Billion
Soundtrack: In Flames - Colony To further support my independent journalism, please subscribe to my premium newsletter. It’s $7 a month or $70 a year. If you’re subscribed to the free newsletter and ...
wheresyoured.at
Remembering the time I asked an Aer Lingus AI a very simple question and it became determined to cancel my flight so I ended up shouting at it in ALL CAPS
In the latest episode, @donalmulligan.com & @ciaranoconnor.bsky.social discuss "The Costs of AI", including Ireland's data centres, environmental costs, AI labour effects, token-based billing, and the costs for truth, knowledge, and our shared humanity. podcast.enoughaboutai.com/2421061/epis...
Speaking of, please enjoy this deranged AI slop 1916 banner from the blockade that just gets worse and worse the more you look at it
I saw a comment along the lines the 'left' will brand anyone far right now, even struggling farmers. And then you see this kind of AI slop and you are reminded, nope. Also, it's not Easter lads.
Criminally funny, but also I'm crying inside Norway comes for the #TechBros www.forbrukerradet.no/breakingfree vimeo.com/1168468796?f...
The Enshittificator
Digital products and services keep getting worse. In the new report Breaking Free: Pathways to a fair technological future, the Norwegian Consumer Council has delved…
vimeo.com
New year - new hype, new harms, new nefarious things Meta is up to... First 2026 @enoughaboutai.com ep is out and to be found wherever podcasts are. @ciaranoconnor.bsky.social & I talk about Grok, OpenClaw, Safer Internet Day, and taking a deep breath. podcast.enoughaboutai.com/2421061/epis...
Hype, Hazards, Harms, and Help - Enough About AI
Dónal and Ciarán return for a new year of new updates and new concerns in the world of Generative Artificial Intelligence. Again for 2026, the podcast will provide roughly quarterly updates on major t...
podcast.enoughaboutai.com
Glorious bygone days, stamping out Sister Miriam Godwinson.
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (1999). This game doesn't get enough love today.
‘Novice workers who rely heavily on AI to complete unfamiliar tasks may compromise their own skill acquisition… We find that AI use impairs conceptual understanding, code reading, and debugging abilities, without delivering significant efficiency gains on average.’ arxiv.org/pdf/2601.20245
Need a distraction from the 24-hour news cycle? Check out "Balloon Dog Anatomy" by the great Jason Freeny.
Hmm, I'm not sure there are enough letters in there and I would prefer that any acronym was derived from the initials of the name in French for maximum EU-ness. Perhaps le "Service Claude Chappe de Messagerie Numérique TransEuropéen des Citoyens"? Find me on SCCMNTEC...
First of all, the EU would not call this platform something as tidy as 'W'. It would be called the European Erasmus Digital Citizen Plus (the EEDCP), and you can only tweet in the format of an European Citizens' Initiative.
A thorough, and entertaining, review of the UK government's AI Skills Hub. TLDR: The state of this yoke.
I think I might take one of these "under 20 minutes" AI skills courses the UK Govt. seems very keen on everyone doing and live-post it here... Maybe we can all learn something together! The press release sends me to aiskillshub.org.uk/aiskillsboost/ - let's go and see!