Rob Farrow

The U.S. spent $30 billion to ditch textbooks for laptops and tablets: The result is the first generation less cognitively capable than their parents | Fortune Neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath said older generations “screwed up” giving students access to so much technology: “I genuinely hope Gen Z quickly figures that out and gets mad.”

Now THAT's a headline.

"The U.S. spent $30 billion to ditch textbooks for laptops and tablets: The result is the first generation less cognitively capable than their parents"

fortune.com/2026/02/21/l...

BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide.

This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.

The double-edged sword: Open educational resources in the era of Generative Artificial Intelligence Commentary on The double-edged sword: Open educational resources in the era of Generative Artificial Intelligence by Stephen Downes. Online learning, e-learning, new media, connectivism, MOOCs,…

The double-edged sword: Open educational resources in the era of Generative Artificial Intelligence

If you're interested in #AI and #oer check out this new publication:

Tlili, A., Farrow, R., Bozkurt, A., Amiel, T., Wiley, D. & Downes, S. (2026). The Double-Edged Sword: Open Education's tension in the Era of Generative Artificial Intelligence, JALT 9(1) jalt.open-publishing.org/index.php/ja...

radical online collections and archives I am very interested in the growing amount of radical literature from around the world that is being scanned and digitised. As there are so many and from many different places, I thought it would b…

Nearly 10,000 *online* and *open access* collections of radical, labour and anti-colonial historical documents are now listed.

But always looking for more!

If you know of any collections not listed, please get in touch.

#history #archives

hatfulofhistory.com/radical-onli...

But it does it quickly and congratulates you for asking

The Senate report: www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/u...

Main Responsibilities Operational and Financial Administration: • Coordinate the day-to-day operational and administrative activities of the AI Accountability Lab. • Oversee lab budgets and financial planning for research grants and cost centres; monitor expenditure and prepare financial reports for the PI and Faculty Finance Office. • Ensure adherence to Trinity and funder financial policies and procurement procedures. • Maintain internal administrative systems, documentation, and records to support efficient project delivery. • Liaise with central Finance, the Research Development Office, and external funding bodies on budgetary and governance matters. • Coordinate HR administrative processes for the lab, including recruitment, onboarding, contract administration, and research staff extensions in liaison with central HR and the Research Office. • Create and maintain shared resources, calendars, and internal documentation. • Coordinate relationships and collaboration with other research centres, government bodies, policy makers, civil society partners, and media as required by the research team. • Plan and schedule internal lab meetings, reading groups, invited speakers, collaborative work sessions, and other events as required.

Research Coordination and Governance: • Track project timelines, deliverables, reporting schedules, and ethical compliance across multiple funded projects. • Ensure research activities meet Trinity and funder governance requirements (e.g., ethics, data management, GDPR, and reporting). • Coordinate workshops, seminars, and collaborative events with research centres and external partners as required. • Maintain shared documentation and project records to support effective collaboration. • Ensure that research outputs comply with ethical and scientific standards and satisfy the terms and conditions of relevant funding bodies.

Communications and External Engagement • Coordinate internal and external communications for the lab, including its website, newsletters, and social media presence. • Liaise with policy makers, media, and stakeholder organisations on behalf of the lab, in consultation with the PI. • Support the dissemination of research outputs, such as academic publications, policy briefs, and public events in collaboration with ADAPT’s and TCD’s communications staff. • Work with Trinity Communications to prepare press releases and highlight lab achievements. • Representing the lab externally with media if required. Planning and Cross-Centre Coordination • Support the PI in delivering AIAL’s annual operational plan and reporting on progress against objectives. • Coordinate activities across multiple projects and partnerships to ensure consistency and alignment with institutional priorities. • Contribute to process improvements that strengthen the lab’s administrative and operational framework. • Act as a key contact for internal governance reviews, audits, and funder compliance checks. Any other duties or responsibilities as assigned by the PI or their delegate in support of the effective operation of the AI Accountability Lab and its objectives.

I’m looking for my right-hand person to come help me run the @aial.ie

- Job Title: Lab Coordinator, AI Accountability Lab (0.8 FTE)
- Pay Scale: (€58,999 - €69,325 per annum pro-rata)
- Closing Date: 11-Feb-2026 12:00

Apply here: my.corehr.com/pls/trrecrui...

Main Responsibilities👇🏾

‘If I think about what this means, I want to cry’: what happens when a city loses its university? When Essex University’s Southend campus opened, it was a message of hope for a ‘left behind’ UK seaside town. Its closure will be felt far beyond its 800 students, some of whom will not get their degr...

Essex University, Southend campus closure:
800 students and staff afected.
"but it will also have a huge impact on a city that has come to depend on the university in many ways."
#HigherEd #AcademicSky

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Damn you’re telling me the technology that was very obviously intended for unregulated speculation and criminal enterprises was used to do awful things

A Pedagogy of the Inevitable Over the last couple of years, two altogether incompatible discourses of “AI literacy” have emerged. One seeks just enough literacy to support a smooth, perhaps even joyful, integration with new techn...

One of the best AI critiques I’ve seen read.dukeupress.edu/critical-ai/...

Hard Times Have Come For The PhD Degree Long considered the pinnacle of academic achievement, the PhD is now facing strong headwinds, including reduced federal support for jobs, research and graduate training.

Leading PhD programs are not admitting students. International applicants are turning to other counties. PhD staff are fleeing federal agencies in droves. Efforts to bring more minority students into the fold are under attack. #HigherEd #AcademicSky www.forbes.com/sites/michae...

Edinburgh tomb of philosopher David Hume vandalised with ‘satanic’ symbols Tour guide reports drawing of naked woman pointing knife at baby and coded writing at Old Calton burial ground

Edinburgh tomb of philosopher David Hume vandalised with ‘satanic’ symbols

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

UK universities face rising deficits as levy looms As a third of UK universities face financial deficits, experts are concerned about a growing number of institutions at risk of exiting the market, with the incoming international student levy set to m...

UK universities face rising deficits as levy looms

thepienews.com/uk-universit...

CONTRIBUTOR GREG BROCKMAN AMOUNT ELECTION TO DAT $25,000,000 $25,000,000

The largest Trump superPAC donor so far this cycle is the president of OpenAI

Technofascism: AI, Big Tech, and the new authoritarianism - AI & SOCIETY The rapid development of digital technologies, including AI, is having a significant impact on the social, economic, and political life. Yet, while presented as milestones in innovation and progress, ...

"Education can be a major tool for anti-technofascist resistance and democracy building."

Reminder: All it would take to end the murder of American citizens by an untrained government goon squad is 16 Republicans in Congress voting with Dems to defund ICE (or 23 to impeach and remove Trump — 3 in House & 20 in Senate). That’s it. 23 Americans can vote for the public and end all of this.

America’s Own Goal: Who Pays the Tariffs? - Kiel Institut

US consumers bore 96% of the cost of the 2025 Trump tariffs.

Impeccable timing for this paper by @julianhi.nz and colleagues at @kiel.institute.

www.kielinstitut.de/de/publikati...

Academia teaches you critical thinking, mostly about your own life choices

In Scientific Publishing, Who Should Foot the Bill? Publishers often charge authors to publish their publicly-funded research. Will a federal crackdown make a difference?

'And according to @eschares.bsky.social, data suggest that APCs bear almost no relation to publishing expenses. “So that tells me that APCs are not set on really what it costs to produce an article there,” he said. “It’s more prestige.”'

Undark piece on who should pay for scientific publishing.

Technology is the only thing that has ever reduced poverty <p><em>Public debate increasingly casts technology as a threat — to jobs, to equality, even to civilisation itself. In this article, environmental activist Zion Lights challenges that narrative, showi...

Every major improvement in human wellbeing, from rising life expectancy to declining famine, has its roots in technological advance rather than moral evolution or political reform. iai.tv/articles/tec... #technology #wellbeing #PhilosophySky #philsky

Coursera and Udemy enter a merger agreement valued at around $2.5B | TechCrunch Coursera and Udemy, two of the biggest names in online learning, are combining platforms next year.

Coursera and Udemy enter a merger agreement valued at around $2.5B | TechCrunch techcrunch.com/2025/12/17/c...

Just so I'm clear on this, computer memory has tripled in price because a bunch of it that hasn't been produced yet has been ordered to populate GPUs that aren't installed in data centers that aren't built yet in order to service a demand that doesn't exist to make profits that don't happen.

A Physics Renaissance Is Coming The field can no longer ignore the fundamental mystery posed by living things.

My @theatlantic.com piece on the emerging new "Physics of Life". Complexity science, information theory, network theory... a whole new trans-disciplinary way of asking an ancient question.

www.theatlantic.com/science/2025...

Open science and epistemic equity: opportunities and challenges in the contemporary research ecosystem - BMC Research Notes BMC Research Notes - The contemporary context for open science is characterised by growing international policy momentum toward more transparent, inclusive, and collaborative scientific practices...

I'm pleased to announce my latest publication: Farrow, R. (2025). Open science and epistemic equity: opportunities and challenges in the contemporary research ecosystem. BMC Research Notes, 18(1). doi.org/10.1186/s131...

AI-based review. As I stressed some time ago, see
papers.ssrn.com/sol3...
this is going to happen, more or less properly, depending on whether decision-makers will embrace, shape, and steer this technology or resist it.
Stanford Agentic Reviewer - Submit Paper https://paperreview.ai/

Listen I know y’all don’t like AI on here, but this is the densest image you will ever see.

Two AI copyright cases, two very different outcomes – here’s why Cases in the UK and German courts are among the first to be decided on this pressing issue.

Two AI copyright cases, two very different outcomes – here’s why

theconversation.com/two-ai-copyr...

Welcome to Open Scholar Cards. 24 cards capturing the methods, tensions, and values behind modern open research practice. Card 1- Transparent Process.

AI to power national renewal as government announces billions of additional investment and new plans to boost UK businesses, jobs and innovation A major package of new reforms and investment will put AI at heart of government’s mission to drive growth, create jobs and spread prosperity across the country.

AI to power national renewal as government announces billions of additional investment and new plans to boost UK businesses, jobs and innovation. www.gov.uk/government/n...