AI and the Coming of “Universal Knowledge”
In the past week, I’ve had a few “Wow!” moments related to LLMs, AI, and digital knowledge, and so I thought I’d document that here. The comments I will make…
The Decline of the Sense of Scholarly Self-Worth in the Digital and AI Ages
I recently wrote a blog post on how in the 2020s, what we can call activist/progressive scholarship has largely come to dominate in certainly the North American variety of Asian…
Why Digital Humanities Doesn’t Work
Digital Humanities doesn’t work. That is what I, an initial believer and advocate, now think.Let me explain why.Back some fifteen years ago, as the Internet became ever more a part…
Theo Von and Sam Altman on the Future of Historians
CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman was recently interviewed by comedian Theo Von. Early in the interview, Theo asks Altman about the future of History and historians.Here is what they said:(11:14…
The Internet, Wokeism, and Vietnamese Confucian Scholars in the 1920s
For the past two decades, I have been working in higher education and observing how the Internet, and the digital revolution more generally, has transformed my profession (History).While there have…
I’m an Academic Content Creator, I’m Not Regressive, and I Don’t Use Qbot
There is an article that is getting shared on social media that I disagree with. It is an opinion piece in Times Higher Education entitled “Academics aren’t content creators and…
Connectivities, Employability, Rankings and the End of Asian Studies/History
Higher education is going to be different when the Covid-19 pandemic ends, and I can see multiple forces at play that will collectively diminish fields like Asian Studies and Asian…
Post-2008 Knowledge & the Future of the Humanities (and Area Studies)
For the past decade I’ve been thinking and writing about the declining interest among students in History, the Humanities, Asian Studies, etc., and I’ve recently gotten a better sense of…
Neoliberalism and Online Teaching Did Not Kill Higher Education – Professors and Administrators Did
[From Content Asian Studies] It’s 2030. A new semester is beginning, and a new class of freshmen is heading off to universities around the world where most of their courses…