Panta Rhei Enterprise

Let’s talk about AI …

Artificial intelligence has been a topic on this site. This is not surprising to people who know a little about me. I started learning about natural language processing and – a little later – about student modeling in 1995, when I began to work at the Centre for Computational Linguistics at UMIST. All three – natural language processing, student modeling , and computational linguistics – are part of artificial intelligence research in their different ways. Over the last many months, I started learning more about generative AI and how it impacts education and especially language education. I have now completed drafts for two book chapters. I have started splitting them into smaller parts and edited them slightly. I hope you will find them interesting. The first part is up. Let me know you think this academic writing is working on a blog.

Fractal. One morning. And another.

Was he crazy?

I am not sure who asked this question. It’s legitimate to ask. I have been working on this blog (and another one, for that matter) for over four years now. Is there much to show for it? Am I crazy? In a time of everyone being able to blast out text … in a time of radio shows having a blog or a podcast … celebrity therapists writing to thousands each week … And I am just writing. Who is reading this? I don’t know. I only see the stats of views and visitors and likes and comments and countries and continents and referrers and search engines. From all continents and countries, do the viewing and visiting – and maybe reading – and the liking and commenting. Leave a trace. For me – and maybe for all of you – it is good to think about writing once in a while. To reflect. We learn best when we take time to reflect. Reflect on writing.

Writing used to be a lonely affair. Thomas Mann had certain hours of the day during which he would retreat to his study and write. Nobody allowed near. Children tip-toeing. I am writing once a week. Wherever I can sit with my laptop. Every week. I don’t make it every week. To the writing group in the early morning. The writing feels fractured. I write slowly and have to find the time. More time, because I write slowly. Only a fraction of what I think about ends up being written. Not all I write, you can read. Fractured. As I said. Or is it? Fractured? For some time now, I write for this blog. This is not fiction. It is my reality. Texts I want to build up and out. Texts I want to collect. Thoughts I want to structure. On complexity. On change. And then ending up writing about AI. Often. AI and again AI. But that was just recently. Before that I used the other blog for practice. Writing practice. Was he crazy? Yes, I am asking about myself. Am I crazy? Just practicing and putting it out there? Soon after having written it. And most of it. The personal. The fictional. The poetic. The raw and unpolished. Practice in public. Reflect. Who reads it anyway? You tell me. Are you reading this? Writing is a lonely affair. These days. On the computer. On the interweb. Funny word. And an even stranger place, when I write. And strangely familiar. A place where you can read anything. Are you reading this?

Maybe it is not fractured. It is small. And small again. Similar. Sometimes self-similar. Fractal. Aren’t fractals beautiful? Will many small make one large? Not fractured? But fractal. Similar. Self-similar. And connected. Like a tree. Naturally grown. The structure of the veins of a small leaf are similar to the structure of the twigs and branches of that same tree. Fractal. Complexity.

If I am not crazy, the little texts will fit together and form an intricate blog. Over time.

Was he crazy?

Rupture

Rupture!

Writing gives me a chance to think. It does not happen very often. I need to make it happen. Often. As often as I can. The thinking. The writing helps. Helps me remember. Helps me to slow down. Slow down my thinking. When it’s slow, it gets deeper. Alright. That’s a cliché. No, it’s not. Who said that. I got interrupted. Now my stream of thoughts has been disrupted. How did that happen?

Let me go back to the chance to think. About disruption. Disruptive. Is this good or bad? The question is too simple, too linear. Just one alternative. And there are so many. Alternatives. Alternatives after a disruption. It’s complex. Linear is just one of a zillion alternatives. Is zillion a number? Apparently not. I learnt that at trivia night three weeks ago. Interrupted again. I was thinking about disruption. In recent posts, I was talking about AI. Generative AI. Technology. And now disruption. Disruptive technologies.

No, I am not getting all businessy in this blog. Business folk like to talk about disruptive technologies. And so do I. It happens all the time. The disruption. Film disrupted theater. TV disrupted movie theaters. Video cassettes disrupted movie theaters too. VCR. VCR disrupted BetaMax. BetaMax was of better quality. It was discontinued. VCR prevailed. Until … Until the DVD disruption came. Netflix used to send out VCR cassettes. Streaming services disrupted the DVD. During COVID lockdown new films were streamed. The theaters were closed.

Is this all good or bad? You decide. All of you. Each time you decide. Again. And again. Each of you. Separately. And together. It’s complex. It can’t be linear. There are a zillion alternatives. And sometimes only one seems to prevail. For a short time. A disruption. And another one. In different areas. Not just film and theater and video. A disruption. Disruptive technologies. And we are taken by surprise. At times.

Disruptive technologies. And since 2022 we have been talking about AI. A disruption? AI disruption. Sure. What will it bring? What will we gain? What will we lose? In learning and for teachers, we read about new tools. The lesson plan that writes itself? The text the kids will read that was generated on the teacher’s computer. The feedback the machine gave, the errors corrected. With new errors?

Rupture.