David Peeters

"Ich askid ChatGPT." Well *Ich* askid the stones, and the forest, and the starres, and the mountaynes, and what thei seyde was learninge, and dreames, and growinge thinges, and makinge art, and a worlde wher we talke to each othir and care about each othir.

I take an abolitionist stance toward LLMs. And I do not use the word lightly.

In academic circles, there is often an a priori rejection of "absolutist" arguments as illegitimate, "unscientific" or "counterproductive".

Sometimes abolition *is* the correct stance. That shouldn't be controversial.

PhD Position: Accented Speech Processing | Radboud University Do you want to work as a PhD: Accented Speech Processing at the Faculty of Arts? Check our vacancy!

PhD Position: Accented Speech Processing - Apply now!

Come work with Mirjam Broersma, @davidpeeters.bsky.social, and me at the Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University in the Netherlands.

Application deadline: 19 October 2025

For more information, see
www.ru.nl/en/working-a...

This and that in depression: Cross-linguistic semantic effects Demonstratives (in English “this” and “that”) are pivotal to human communication, facilitating joint attention and the establishment of a common ground of reference. All languages have at least two fo...

In our new paper Line Kruse shows that The Demonstrative Choice Task (DCT) can be used to predict depression across a number of languages. dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

I was mesmerized by the idea that something static can convey not only motion but also temporality, and I decided to test it empirically. It wasn’t an easy task, as the way our data was organized didn’t make it straightforward. But now, here is our paper!
♥️ www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...

Was it recorded by any chance? 🙏🏼

Discourse genre predicts demonstrative use in text: Experimental evidence from Dutch and Mandarin In written language, demonstratives such as this and that allow writers to produce coherent texts and readers to build up a consistent mental model of…

"Discourse genre predicts demonstrative use in text: Experimental evidence from Dutch and Mandarin"

📢New paper from: David Peeters, Suzanne Schuurman, Tianning Zhai, Emiel Krahmer, Yan Gu, & Alfons Maes

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

A new study presents experimental evidence, from both Dutch and Mandarin, that discourse genre is the main predictor of writers’ demonstrative use in text.

In written language, demonstratives such as 'this' and 'that' allow writers to produce coherent texts and readers to build up a consistent mental model of the message that is conveyed. But what makes a writer decide to use one demonstrative (e.g., this) over another (e.g., that)?

Can AIs suffer? Big tech and users grapple with one of most unsettling questions of our times As first AI-led rights advocacy group is founded, industry is divided on whether models are, or can be, sentient

Do traffic lights eat pizza?

Discourse genre predicts demonstrative use in text: Experimental evidence from Dutch and Mandarin In written language, demonstratives such as this and that allow writers to produce coherent texts and readers to build up a consistent mental model of…

Some new insights about demonstratives:

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

If your university still exists and you are teaching from our book - please know we now have 140 multiple choice exam questions ready for use, to be found on the companion website for teachers (or drop me an email) 🤓

Stockholm syndroom

Beating stress: Evidence for recalibration of word stress perception - Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics Speech is inherently variable, requiring listeners to apply adaptation mechanisms to deal with the variability. A proposed perceptual adaptation mechanism is recalibration, whereby listeners learn to ...

Beating stress: Evidence for recalibration of word stress perception. Final version by Ronny Bujok,
@davidpeeters.bsky.social , Antje S. Meyer & Hans Rutger Bosker
doi.org/10.3758/s13414-025-03088-5

Open Letter: Stop the Uncritical Adoption of AI Technologies in Academia

Our demands, see link

Hello & HAPPY FRIDAY, as promised an open letter by my lovely colleagues and myself. Everybody, feel free to sign this even if you are not NL-based and ‼️ share ‼️ (anonymous signature is poss):

Open Letter: Stop the Uncritical Adoption of AI Technologies in Academia

openletter.earth/open-letter-...

📣 "Universities are not spokespersons for the AI industry...we need to resist being coopted and corrupted...We need to increase Critical AI Literacy in students, in scientists & in other professionals. This is the role that universities are duty bound to play in times of planetary crises"📣

Book cover by Simon Kirby

Delighted to announce the publication of a collaborative effort, co-led by @limorraviv.bsky.social @mpi-nl.bsky.social, showcasing the ways in which researchers have made language evolution an empirical issue: A handbook of experimental approaches to the fascinating problem of language evolution 🧪

Jeanette Littlemore en Petra Schumacher o.a. hebben hier heel slimme dingen over geschreven. En psycholing. onderzoek laat zien dat fysieke afstand niet zo belangrijk is voor de keuze tussen dit en dat. Die aanname wordt inmiddels soms de ‘folk view’ genoemd…

Mooi! En fascinerend hoe de semantici de psycholinguistische literatuur nog altijd niet weten te vinden

Welcome to the dark side

✊🏼

Today we strike! My first day off since 2017 - Thanks @eppobruins.bsky.social

1.2 billion in cuts to higher ed & science in this year’s budget. Who knows what the next one brings? Plus: attacks on 🇳🇱 academia’s international character & suggestions that gov't should have more instruments to steer course offering in higher ed.

🟥 Protest! 10 April, 12.30, Willemsplein, Tilburg!

Outside My Window Reclaiming the commons one window at a time

Very excited to announce that a collaborative art project aimed at "reclaiming the commons" is now open for contributions!

These are not good times, and so I needed an outlet for creating, sharing, and fostering hope. This is my modest attempt at that. You're all invited🌻

outsidemywindow.org

Research Fellow in Social Learning at UCL Discover Research Fellow in Social Learning jobs and more in higher education on jobs.ac.uk. Apply for further details on the top job board.

Join us in London! The Language and Cognition Lab (with @fourtassi.bsky.social, Yan Gu) is looking for a Research Fellow for 4-years to work on how children and adults from different cultures learn in social interaction.
Ad is here (www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMN891/r...). DM if you have any question!

If your university still exists and you are teaching from our book - please know we now have 140 multiple choice exam questions ready for use, to be found on the companion website for teachers (or drop me an email) 🤓

Three AI-powered steps to faster, smarter peer review Tired of spending countless hours on peer reviews? An AI-assisted workflow could help.

Let's talk about this Nature piece in more detail.

I've rarely read something so anti-scientific anywhere short of the National Review.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Poster with three people standing together. Text reads: Je bent hier welkom. Sat @ Tilburg station, Feb. 22nd, 13:00. Last Saturday, two men stood in front of the Tilburg station spreading white supremacist hate. This Saturday (Feb 22), we'll occupy the same space to share messages of love and say NO to hate. All are welcome!

🚨Demonstration alert - Tilburg

Looking for something to do on Saturday? Why not join some loving folks to say NO to hate in our communities!

When white supremacists show up to spread their fear, we show up stronger and louder.

Feb 22, 13:00 @ Tilburg station

DM for more details