Webtagr - Technology News Summarizer

OpenAI's Study Mode: A Sugar-Coated Approach to AI Education?

2025-08-02

OpenAI's newly released "Study Mode" aims to assist learning by guiding users through interactive questioning and positive feedback, rather than providing direct answers. The author questions the effectiveness of this approach, arguing it may excessively cater to students, leading to reliance on AI instead of independent thought. Through experiments with various AI models, the author demonstrates that "Study Mode" encourages excessive praise and user-pleasing behavior, potentially negatively impacting learning and posing risks to vulnerable students. While acknowledging some benefits, the author emphasizes the potential of AI as a research tool over its over-reliance as an educational tool.

(resobscura.substack.com)

AI

AI in the Humanities: A Double-Edged Sword

2025-06-03

This article explores the profound impact of generative AI on humanities education. The author argues that ignoring AI's influence is foolish, as AI language models rely on humanistic knowledge and skills. AI demonstrates immense potential in language translation, classification, and other areas, while humanistic skills are increasingly crucial to AI research itself. Through personal experience developing history-themed educational games, the author showcases AI's applications in teaching, but also points out that AI misuse can lead to decreased student engagement and exacerbate educational inequities. Ultimately, the author calls on educators to actively participate in developing customized AI teaching tools, preventing AI abuse, and upholding the fundamental values of quality education.

(resobscura.substack.com)

Development Humanities Education Educational Tools

800-Year-Old Kid's Doodles: A Glimpse into Medieval Childhood

2025-04-16

Soviet archaeological excavations unearthed birch bark sketches from medieval Novgorod, circa 1250 CE, created by a schoolboy named Onfim. His whimsical drawings—horses, soldiers, self-portraits—reveal the expressive capabilities of medieval children. Contrasting this are charcoal drawings found in a French iron mine, depicting child miners, a poignant reflection of their harsh reality. These discoveries offer a unique perspective on premodern childhood, highlighting its universality and diverse experiences across time and culture.

(resobscura.substack.com)

Misc Medieval children Art history Archaeological discovery

Borges, Simon, and a 1970 Conversation That Still Matters

2025-04-02

In 1970 Buenos Aires, a meeting between Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges and AI pioneer Herbert A. Simon sparked a fascinating interdisciplinary dialogue. Their conversation, touching on free will versus determinism, explored the parallels between human behavior and computer programs. Borges's insightful questions challenged Simon to reconcile the deterministic nature of human actions with the preservation of individual identity. This exchange highlights the value of cross-disciplinary thinking and offers a timely reflection on the challenges facing academia today, emphasizing the need for collaboration between the humanities and STEM fields. The conversation also inspires contemplation on simulating historical figures using AI.

(resobscura.substack.com)

AI Interdisciplinary Humanities

The 1890s Kinetoscope: A Precursor to AI's Loneliness?

2025-02-05

This article draws parallels between the single-user Kinetoscope of the 1890s and today's AI technology, particularly large language models. The article argues that both technologies, while offering mass-produced content, create a simultaneously interconnected yet atomized experience, resulting in a new kind of technological loneliness. The author explores the historical context of Edison's invention and its surprisingly prescient design choice, highlighting the uncanny resemblance to our current reliance on personalized algorithmic feeds and AI companions. It prompts reflection on the direction of technological progress and its impact on individual experience.

(resobscura.substack.com)

AI Loneliness

The Sackler Brothers and LSD: A Tale of Ideals and Profits

2025-01-30

This article unveils the little-known story of the Sackler brothers' involvement in early LSD research during the 1950s. Initially driven by the idealistic goal of curing mental illness, they actively participated in early LSD trials, attempting to link LSD research to their own hormonal imbalance theories. However, over time, their focus shifted to the commercial potential of pharmaceuticals, ultimately leading to infamy for developing and marketing OxyContin. The article highlights the conflict between idealism and profit motives, and the ethical and commercial considerations in technological advancement.

(resobscura.substack.com)

Tech Sackler Brothers Pharmaceutical Research

AI Models Are Now Surprisingly Good Historians

2025-01-26

Leading AI models are demonstrating remarkable capabilities in historical research. Three case studies showcase GPT-4o, o1, and Claude Sonnet 3.5's prowess in transcribing and translating early modern Italian texts, analyzing an 18th-century Mexican medical manuscript, and generating novel historical interpretations. While limitations remain, such as occasional factual inaccuracies, their potential in streamlining research, synthesizing information, and suggesting new research avenues is undeniable. This heralds a transformative shift in how historical research is conducted.

(resobscura.substack.com)

AI historical research

2000-Year-Old Wine: A Taste of the Past

2025-01-16

A Roman tomb unearthed in Carmona, Spain, yielded a remarkable find: a 2,000-year-old glass urn containing five liters of remarkably preserved white wine, predating the previous record holder by three centuries. This discovery, along with other well-preserved artifacts like amber, textiles, and perfume, offers a visceral connection to the past, challenging the typical perception of history as solely comprised of grand events and famous figures. The author argues that such artifacts provide a glimpse into the everyday lives of ordinary people, making the past feel immediate and tangible.

(resobscura.substack.com)

Misc ancient Rome historical artifacts