Hannes Cools

The #QuitGPT campaign is picking up serious momentum - especially with news of OpenAI’s deal with the US war department.

I wonder: Quitting ChatGPT and cancelling subs is one step. But what do we do when OpenAI models are baked into so many existing tools and other digital infrastructures?

Also cultural differences and institutional/university differences: some uni's really push LLM use or institutionalise it, whereas other inst/unis discourage LLM use - doesn't make the whole responsible usage discussion easier... not for aca. journals and unis (no silver bullets etc.)

Indd - in focus groups, native speakers were stating that they are not using LLMs in their work, and they expect their co-authors not to use them either. At the same time, non-native s were using LLMs quite often. We also saw regional differences, but indd largely reproducing exist. power structures

🔥 New preprint 🔥
Guidance over guidelines? Unpacking the uses and concerns of generative AI in Communication Science 👇
osf.io/preprints/so...

@ascor.bsky.social @aimediademlab.bsky.social @ddc-sdu.bsky.social @theoaraujo.bsky.social @damiantrilling.net

Link to preprint:
osf.io/preprints/so...

Five Takeaways From the ‘First-of-its-kind’ International Survey About the Use of Generative AI in… If Generative AI seemed inevitable to you one day and off-limits the next, you are not alone. In this preprint, results of a…

💥 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐀𝐈 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 💥

International survey of 1138 scholars across 77 countries - plus four focus groups - maps the what, how and why. 69.2% already use it for at least one research task, especially writing and literature review.

5 takeaways:

medium.com/@hannes.cool...

"Silence is the loudest sign of a regime in crisis."

Iran's internet blackout has now passed the 24-hour mark with national connectivity flatlining at 1% of ordinary levels. 👇

🧐 Interesting to see the launch of SPUR (Standards for Publisher Usage Rights), a new coalition from BBC, Sky News, the FT, the Guardian and The Telegraph.

They’re building shared, global standards so AI can access high-quality journalism responsibly:
LINK: www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...

Inside the $265mn war over who writes America’s AI rules Silicon Valley rivals in spending blitz for control of Congress and state capitols

"Groups campaigning for and against more AI regulation are amassing at least $265mn in collective financial firepower, according to FT analysis. This is $100mn more than the main parties’ fundraising vehicles for House elections had raised by this time in 2022."
www.ft.com/content/c182...

De Correspondent en Follow the Money gaan samenwerken om onafhankelijker te worden van Amerikaanse big tech Al jaren schrijven we kritisch over onze afhankelijkheid van Amerikaanse techbedrijven. En wij vinden: wie daarin geloofwaardig wil zijn, moet ook bereid zijn het zelf anders te doen. Daarom starten w...

Vandaag kondigen De Correspondent en Follow the Money aan dat ze gaan samenwerken om onafhankelijker te worden van Amerikaanse big tech ✨
@casperwolfert.bsky.social
decorrespondent.nl/16752/de-cor...

Washington Post Begins Laying Off More Than 300 Journalists

Democracy dies when laying off journalists...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/b...

🇪🇺🌐 The future of social media may be decided in Europe A survey of European AT Protocol projects, including 4 mini case-studies

"The future of social media may be decided in Europe", @laurenshof.online writes. He argues that developers have shown that it is possible to build independent platforms on AT Protocol, yet suitable funding mechanisms are largely absent.👇
#digitalsovereignty
newpublic.substack.com/p/the-future...

Academic Freedom Under Attack This panel discussion addresses the growing global assault on academic freedom—a cornerstone of democratic societies now under increasing threat from authoritarian regimes.

🎙️ Our lab is organizing a panel discussion with @natalihelberger.bsky.social and special guest @oscarwestlund.bsky.social on the global challenges posed to academic freedom. Join to learn why defending it matters!

📍 SPUI25 (and online)
📅 24.02 | 17:00
Sign up for free: www.spui25.nl/programma/ac...

Wat kan de democratische rol van de journalist zijn in de huidige cultuur van communicatie? Wat kan de democratische rol van de journalist zijn in de huidige cultuur van communicatie?

[Verslag Journalistieke Driedaagse]
𝐖𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐯𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐳𝐢𝐣𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞?

Dat was de centrale vraag van de driedaagse van Stichting Democratie & Media waar ik afgelopen weekend aan deelnam. Drie inzichten 👇

medium.com/@hannes.cool...

"Russia denies it is interested in Moscow"

You okay, @financialtimes.com? 🤔😅
@maxseddon.bsky.social

An Interview With the President

We can't say we didn't see it coming 😳

NYT interview with Trump.

On 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱:

T: "Ownership to me is important"
NYT: "Why is it important?"
T: "It's what I feel is psychologically needed for success"
NYT: "Psychologically important to you or the US?"
T: "To me" 😳
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/p...

Petra De Sutter zal eredoctoraat Universiteit Amsterdam niet in ontvangst nemen na AI-commotie Petra De Sutter zal volgende week geen eredoctoraat in ontvangst nemen aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA). Dat bevestigt de UvA donderdag aan nieuwsagentschap Belga. De Sutter heeft de universiteit laten weten dat zij zich onder de huidige omstandigheden terugtrekt en de uitreiking niet wil laten doorgaan.

www.nieuwsblad.be/nieuws/petra...

PLEASE SHARE

📣 Multi-position (PhD and postdoc) call for an interdisciplinary project on "AI in the News Ecosystem: Navigating Trust and Authenticity”

Project @ddc-sdu.bsky.social (Digital Democracy Centre (SDU)).

Multiple positions with different backgrounds and profiles.

Links in🧵

#commsky

volgende week krijgt ze eredoctoraat aan uva, misschien kan ze nog wat inspiratie opdoen bij haar collega Chat?

Rector Petra De Sutter gebruikte door AI ‘gehallucineerde’ citaten in openingsspeech De foute citaten werden op de UGent-website in oktober ‘opgekuist’ zonder enige uitleg.

UGent-rector Petra De Sutter gebruikte onbestaande citaten in haar speech bij start vh academiejaar. Ze bevestigt dat de fouten door AI veroorzaakt zijn 🫠
De UGent verwacht v studenten “dat wie AI gebruikt, het werk controleert, kritisch beoordeelt & waar nodig bijstuurt” apache.be/2026/01/08/r...

❄️❄️❄️
Look! Snow in Amsterdam trying to distract you from the state of the world 🫠

What a way to start the new year: "This paper is stellar in my opinion", said no Reviewer 2 ever 😜

2025 wrapped! 🎁🔥

Despite the challenges and uncertainties of the world, this year brought an incredible highlight: the birth of my son ✨✨✨

Happy holidays to all!!

"Hallucineren" chosen as Van Dale's word of 2025 as AI gives term new meaning The editors of Van Dale have chosen “hallucineren” as the Word of the Year 2025. According to the dictionary, artificial intelligence has given the word, Dutch for “hallucinating,” a new meaning.

'Hallucinate' has been chosen as the Dutch word of the year... Again building on this anthropomorphic notion that LLMs etc can make up or hallucinate content. This implies they have a capacity to perceive, which they don’t.
@emilymbender.bsky.social
nltimes.nl/2025/12/16/h...

Opinie: Het Nationaal AI Deltaplan komt vooral de industrie ten goede, en niet de mens Het nieuwe deltaplan dat oproept om te investeren in AI-infrastructuur is vooral een verlanglijstje van de tech-elite. Nederland verdient een breder debat. Niet: hoe snel kunnen we AI invoeren? Maar: ...

Ik schreef opinie voor @volkskrant.nl nav 'Nationaal' AI Plan.

"Nederland verdient een breder debat. Niet: hoe snel kunnen we AI invoeren, maar: welke AI willen we? (...) Niet: hoe doen we mee aan de race, maar: waar willen we eigenlijk naartoe?"

www.volkskrant.nl/columns-opin...

NRC rectificeert berichtgeving rondom informateur Wijers Beste lezer, Deze week zijn er nieuwe feiten bekend geworden over onze berichtgeving over informateur Hans Wijers. Na nader intern onderzoek moeten we constateren dat we bij het voorleggen van zijn ve...

Zeer, zeer pijnlijk voor NRC. Maar liefst drie rectificaties voor berichtgeving Wijers. Zelfs bij het bericht van afgelopen zaterdag van hoofdredacteur Patricia Veldhuis staat nu: "NRC kan niet instaan voor de zorgvuldige totstandkoming van dit artikel." 🫠
www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...

We just published a new report on how UK journalists are adopting AI in their work
Authored by @neilthurman.bsky.social @sinatk.bsky.social & @richardfletcher.bsky.social, it's based on a survey conducted in 2024

Read in full
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/ai-adoption-...
10 findings in thread

Disappointed but not surprised.
Secretary RF Kennedy shares a Thanksgiving photo of Trump & Musk that's clearly AI-generated... 🫠🫠 Not a great look.

Sandbox Journalism: The Role of Media Labs as Innovation Drivers in European News Organisations News organisations are seeking to innovate but face constraints related to time and resources for experimentation. In response, many have established in-house “labs” to support the development and ...

Full article [open access]: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....