Nick Bowman (包尼克) he/him/his

Can AI Replace Social Science Researchers? No. No it can't. Come on, now.

Karpf: "If you think Claude Code is a better social scientist than you, then you’re probably right. But that means, at some point, you stopped trying to answer interesting/puzzling questions and started trying to win the publish-the-most-articles race." davekarpf.beehiiv.com/p/can-ai-rep...

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But I do appreciate the engagement. 😁

I think the underlying concern here is there are several faculty, including folks like myself who are pretty heavy AI users, we still push back on the technochauvinist approach.

Perhaps his comparison, I use calculators all the time. But I also commonly do the math by hand or in my head.

Diff scenarios call for different skills.

But if we only teach the AI skill, we never cultivate the underlying understanding.

But I think where a lot of this comes back to OP is the notion that we should just be defaulting to AI for *all the things*

I teach AI uses extensively in my classes. For instance, students learn how to check programming code.

I've also trained students on how to check their written arguments for accuracy, as well as citations they may have missed.

And the frustration with many faculty is we increasingly see people default to the technologies ... even at the expense of checking what they've already learned.

I think you're mistaking concern with fear. The idea is not all or nothing, but what we're seeing is the growing disconnect between what's being written and what's being understood.

And I think it's paired with the presumption that AI *must* be used.

But I think more to the point is once they've gone through k number of iterations, it just seems more efficient to ... own the content?

I don't think the suggestion is that we be luddites, but I do think we need to remind folks what precisely they're doing when they author something.

I think I don't quite understand what the end goal is here?

When we're talking about voice, we're literally talking about having people walk us through their oral arguments.

Students often find it very difficult to own words that they never wrote.

"we want to fight more than they do."

Let that sit.

... and if you're accepted, I *just might know a guy* who can help you secure a tuition discount of up to 35%.

(SPOILER: Me. I'm the guy. ;p ).

Please share widely, and let's chat: newhouse.syracuse.edu/academics/me...

... and if you're an undergraduate student and/or know other high-achieving undergraduate students who want to stay in the region to pursue graduate studies? Send them over my way. Our Master's degree in Media Studies is still accepting applications for the Fall 2026 cohort.

Are you heading to #ECA26 Pittsburgh next month? If so, you'll be joined by several undergraduate, graduate, and faculty from The Newhouse School attending the conference and presenting their research - so keep a lookout for Orange along the way.

a group of penguins are standing on top of a snowy hill . ALT: a group of penguins are standing on top of a snowy hill .

Sounds like we have a path forward. =)

You're probably right. Of course, we can rightfully ask the question: are we prepping them for now or for later, no?

I'd like to think that intellectual rigor and deep knowledge of the words coming out of my fingertips are timeless skills. =)

At least, those kid will *slay it* in a job interview!

Truth. I will say FWIW that I rather like the verbal homework. I've had to sacrifice in-class time to make it happen and it's made me reconsider the scope of what I cover in a class. But ... maybe it's the new "secret sauce" that we need to tap: training them to defend their ideas?

But I suppose end of day, I want them to be exemplary. It's up to them of they share that goal. It's up to them of they want to use these four years to hone and sharpen, or just use them to dull a "good enough" blade for a job market that can sniff out and exploit weaknesses from 20 miles away. =/

For sure. I suspect it comes down to rubrics in some sense - are voices important (for some projects, maybe they're not) and if so, how do we "weight" for those?

Other tact? Oral defense of written work (of possible). This tends to separate folks "in the know" from the folks "in the machine."

And to be clear, I'm not saying that "if LLM --> bad grade automatically" ... but rather, it's something they often do not realize.

Efficiency isn't exemplary. It's average. And it's probably not going to rate highly.

There's a lesson in there somewhere, methinks.

For now? I generally just assign the grade that their LLM earned. They're often quite surprised when they land a C and the feedback is something along the lines of "this is very generic argumentation, and it's not clear you've engaged this."

Cs get degrees, but they don't do much for skills.

Sure. But it's mostly because too many of 'em are focused on efficiency over accuracy. We've slowly taught folks that labor is a rube's pursuit.

Look, I don't think we should just "expend effort" either, but sometimes? Effort --> Skill/Craft.

Yeh. It's one of many reasons why I generally don't follow the trend on this one. My role? To translate for my students when they might want to use a tool vs when they're really just becoming a tool for usage by others.

The banality of data-imbred AI writing? Makes you a tool.

Dear journals: When authors submit their work for review, please do not send them back a robot-generated list of nine things to correct. Just read the science. If you want format shifts, ask for them in revision.

We really need to ask more journals to adopt a "submit your way" initial manuscript.

You can’t celebrate the First Amendment with Donald Trump

As a matter of principle, you can either have a dinner that celebrates the First Amendment or you can have a dinner that features Donald Trump.

How President Trump’s Image Permeates the White House and Beyond

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

If you need assistance of this sort, you're not doing the job anymore. This is the rough equivalent of being a baseball player, but developing a tool to hit, throw, and catch the ball for you. Y'know, "just in case."

Orwell wept

As the laid off Middle East News Editor, I concur. Management eliminated the positions of every single staff correspondent and bureau chief in the Middle East.