I'll be on sabbatical until August 2027 and using the time to explore some deeply profound questions ... including why I spend so much time writing stuff so few people want to read!
I enjoy your posts and find them thought provoking and important in formulating my thinking about AI and its impact on my work in social services — keep the posts coming!
Dear Andrew, I hope you will continue to post and tell us about your sabbatical - the people you meet, the places you go, the new perspectives they bring. I read your Substack articles and think about how they apply to my own teaching (as a volunteer helping seniors use technology)
Andrew - I try to read EVERYTHING that you publish.
Why?
Because I trust you. But more than that (if that’s possible?), you articulate a post Generative-AI world that too few of us are prepared to acknowledge.
It is true, we do not know what we don’t know, but if we had to gamble on a path to navigate a civilisation through the eye of an ‘AI’ needle, it would be yours I would take.
And I’m busy building the tools to bring with us so please do not stop.
Coffee in London, Kuala Lumpur or anywhere in between would be ace.
PS. Please try to switch off, but not until after you’ve responded to my messages lol
Andrew - please don’t stop writing. Your piece on AI’s ability to write a passable draft of a dissertation last year inspired some of my posts about the future of research and, as far as I can tell, you’re one of the few people in higher ed engaging in these tools in a meaningful way. You underestimate how many people you reach if you solely base it on likes or shares. Lots of people read but don’t engage. I would not let numbers dictate whether you keep writing: I’m sure as someone who’s been published in major outlets you have a different standard for recognition, but when I started writing a little over a year ago I had zero expectations and just had fun with it because I had a lot to say. Now it’s a part of my weekly routine and I can’t imagine giving it up. It’s crucial there are more voices from across the spectrum of AI discourse if educators are to have any idea how to move forward.
Your column is one of the first things I read every time it lands in my email. I quote you regularly and often refer others to your work. You have made a significant impact on my thinking about AI and being human. Thank you!! I am semi-retired from higher ed, but still working with a colleague on tracking faculty use of AI in both their personal lives and their academic work. You have been most helpful in guiding our thinking!
Dear Mr. Maynard, I appreciate your articles on AI and have found them insightful and helpful. I teach as an adjunct and like so many people and am developing my own best practices strategy that is both ethical and practical. I am glad to say, my students so far are cautious in their use of the tool. I hope you have a restful and replenishing sabbatical. Thank you for your articles.
Well I enjoy your newsletters. One thing I’ve done (and I’m expanding on for other content AIP produces) is to embed Altmetrics on our magazines like Physics Today (which was on a journal platform but we moved it to Brightspot, a content management system like Wordpress) and make sure any content that has academic use has a DOI. It’s pretty easy to set up and if you can’t get your platform to do it automatically you can manually load the DOI’s into Crossref (they do have standards but they aren’t restrictive). By having both it gives you an insight into what conversations are happening around your content on social media etc.. as the DOI makes it easier for Altmetrics to track it, which in turn increases the odds of it getting cited in research papers. Our researchers are happy as before I put this rule in, they had no idea how well their reports were doing and can finally track citations, the editors are happy as it gives them the opportunity to see what is being said about their stories without having to g to go to every social media or news site, so it’s a win all around.
Hi Andrew. I read what you write and am excited to see what your sabbatical will yield.
Thank you for sharing your ideas and exploring your logics here. So much of what I have read in your channel gives me hope in our ability to see and create possible futures.
Andrew, I read what you write, and it’s thoughtful and pointed. Take the sabbatical without any guilt. Recharging is important for all of us. We live in times where people are fighting for the attention of others. Quality has taken a back seat to catchy phrases and topics that garner an emotional response. The best writers I know complain about the number of readers they are able to convince to read their work.
We have to remember that most writing is designed to clarify our thinking, unless you make your living writing. Then you have to sacrifice your ideas and unique style to serve the needs of a mass audience. I refuse to do that. So I will continue to write, even if for an audience of one other. That’s enough to create an inspirational moment and perhaps a conversation. Our culture has selected anger and hate as shortcuts to cope with fear: fear of the future, fear of others that are not like us, fear of man’s most basic instincts.
Academics are under fire for egotism, grooming students, and living their lives in their heads. Theories, philosophies, and ideologies are important, but only when they are positioned in the context of our daily actions. Make that bridge and people will start reading, and do it through storytelling. Stories are the one element of our lives that regularly capture our souls.
Thanks Joel! And of course what I didn't mention — and you note so clearly — is that like many of us I write as part of the process of thinking, and so there is value there even with a select audience 😊
I enjoy your posts and find them thought provoking and important in formulating my thinking about AI and its impact on my work in social services — keep the posts coming!
Thanks Bryan!
Dear Andrew, I hope you will continue to post and tell us about your sabbatical - the people you meet, the places you go, the new perspectives they bring. I read your Substack articles and think about how they apply to my own teaching (as a volunteer helping seniors use technology)
Thanks Deborah!
Andrew - I try to read EVERYTHING that you publish.
Why?
Because I trust you. But more than that (if that’s possible?), you articulate a post Generative-AI world that too few of us are prepared to acknowledge.
It is true, we do not know what we don’t know, but if we had to gamble on a path to navigate a civilisation through the eye of an ‘AI’ needle, it would be yours I would take.
And I’m busy building the tools to bring with us so please do not stop.
Coffee in London, Kuala Lumpur or anywhere in between would be ace.
PS. Please try to switch off, but not until after you’ve responded to my messages lol
You're on for coffee — I'll track you down :)
Andrew - please don’t stop writing. Your piece on AI’s ability to write a passable draft of a dissertation last year inspired some of my posts about the future of research and, as far as I can tell, you’re one of the few people in higher ed engaging in these tools in a meaningful way. You underestimate how many people you reach if you solely base it on likes or shares. Lots of people read but don’t engage. I would not let numbers dictate whether you keep writing: I’m sure as someone who’s been published in major outlets you have a different standard for recognition, but when I started writing a little over a year ago I had zero expectations and just had fun with it because I had a lot to say. Now it’s a part of my weekly routine and I can’t imagine giving it up. It’s crucial there are more voices from across the spectrum of AI discourse if educators are to have any idea how to move forward.
Thanks Stephen - really appreciate this!
Your column is one of the first things I read every time it lands in my email. I quote you regularly and often refer others to your work. You have made a significant impact on my thinking about AI and being human. Thank you!! I am semi-retired from higher ed, but still working with a colleague on tracking faculty use of AI in both their personal lives and their academic work. You have been most helpful in guiding our thinking!
Thank you Linda!! I know I'm a little "gripey" in the article, but it means a lot hearing things like this!
Dear Mr. Maynard, I appreciate your articles on AI and have found them insightful and helpful. I teach as an adjunct and like so many people and am developing my own best practices strategy that is both ethical and practical. I am glad to say, my students so far are cautious in their use of the tool. I hope you have a restful and replenishing sabbatical. Thank you for your articles.
Thank you Carlos!
Well I enjoy your newsletters. One thing I’ve done (and I’m expanding on for other content AIP produces) is to embed Altmetrics on our magazines like Physics Today (which was on a journal platform but we moved it to Brightspot, a content management system like Wordpress) and make sure any content that has academic use has a DOI. It’s pretty easy to set up and if you can’t get your platform to do it automatically you can manually load the DOI’s into Crossref (they do have standards but they aren’t restrictive). By having both it gives you an insight into what conversations are happening around your content on social media etc.. as the DOI makes it easier for Altmetrics to track it, which in turn increases the odds of it getting cited in research papers. Our researchers are happy as before I put this rule in, they had no idea how well their reports were doing and can finally track citations, the editors are happy as it gives them the opportunity to see what is being said about their stories without having to g to go to every social media or news site, so it’s a win all around.
Thanks Paul!
Hi Andrew. I read what you write and am excited to see what your sabbatical will yield.
Thank you for sharing your ideas and exploring your logics here. So much of what I have read in your channel gives me hope in our ability to see and create possible futures.
Thanks so much Anne!
Andrew, I read what you write, and it’s thoughtful and pointed. Take the sabbatical without any guilt. Recharging is important for all of us. We live in times where people are fighting for the attention of others. Quality has taken a back seat to catchy phrases and topics that garner an emotional response. The best writers I know complain about the number of readers they are able to convince to read their work.
We have to remember that most writing is designed to clarify our thinking, unless you make your living writing. Then you have to sacrifice your ideas and unique style to serve the needs of a mass audience. I refuse to do that. So I will continue to write, even if for an audience of one other. That’s enough to create an inspirational moment and perhaps a conversation. Our culture has selected anger and hate as shortcuts to cope with fear: fear of the future, fear of others that are not like us, fear of man’s most basic instincts.
Academics are under fire for egotism, grooming students, and living their lives in their heads. Theories, philosophies, and ideologies are important, but only when they are positioned in the context of our daily actions. Make that bridge and people will start reading, and do it through storytelling. Stories are the one element of our lives that regularly capture our souls.
Enjoy your sabbatical.
Thanks Joel! And of course what I didn't mention — and you note so clearly — is that like many of us I write as part of the process of thinking, and so there is value there even with a select audience 😊
And thanks for reading!