iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

This passage underpins my approach to AI-generated manuscripts submitted to @socialindicators.bsky.social. If the text is obviously AI, why would I have confidence that there is underlying research that *isn't* AI? Do the "authors" even know what they have written? www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/o...

Many scientific fields are already drowning in plausible-seeming but unverified papers generated with significant help from a large language model. What’s slop and what’s not? Is there an actual gem amid the gazillion new hypotheses? It’s becoming increasingly impossible to tell.

121 2

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Four reviews? Maybe 14?? cmon...

000 0

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Outstanding investigative reporting (about a deeply cynical Israeli initiative). www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

000 0

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Really good point. New paragraph added to my standard desk-rejection letter responding to an AI-generated paper (the middle paragraph in this screenshot):

An additional thought pertinent to that decision: I think reviewers are likely to recognize AI-generated text – and they would then reasonably wonder why they are being ask to *think* about the paper themselves when an author has not *written* it themselves.

120 2

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Result of a check of the first ~800 words on Pangram: "100% human written"

140 4

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

I really think we shouldn't let outfits like this spam us on disciplinary/association distribution lists. Why let them become list members & then try to sell us crap like this?

Email message: Transmitting Science is offering the live online course “Innovating teaching with Generative AI”.

Course webpage: https://www.transmittingscience.com/courses/scientific-communication/innovating-teaching-with-generative-ai/

This practical short course is designed to familiarise teaching staff in Higher Education with the ethical use of generative AI (GenAI) in teaching. Participants will be trained in AI concepts, large language models (LLMs), and the functionalities of most common GenAI multimodal tools (Copilot, ChatGPT, etc.).

By the end of the course, participants will be equipped to integrate these technologies effectively into their teaching practice and support the development of AI literacy among learners.

020 2

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Among the outrageous features of this statement from Wegier is the implication that Reform-UK & Farage *have* done enough to root out antisemitism from *their* party. They could start by getting rid of Farage.

020 2

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Ha-ha, I want to start writing like this. (Sadly, I'm not Andrew Gelman.) "OK, maybe it still can work if your goal is to get published in PPNAS, get tenure, give Ted talks, and make boatloads of money in speaking fees." journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

To study smaller and smaller effects using NHST, you need better measurements and larger sample sizes. The strategy of run-a-crappy-study, get p less than .05, come up with a cute story based on evolutionary psychology, and PROFIT . . . well, it does not work anymore. OK, maybe it still can work if your goal is to get published in PPNAS, get tenure, give Ted talks, and make boatloads of money in speaking fees. But it will not work in the real sense, the important sense of learning about the world.

1101 10

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

This blog suggests: "redesign the [assessment] task by using AI outputs as material for critique, reflection, and improvement". But we could then anticipate some students will use AI to criticize, reflect on, and improve the output earlier produced by AI.

another post on this blog argues that if a standard essay prompt can be answered by an AI, the response is not necessarily to prohibit AI, but to redesign the task by using AI outputs as material for critique, reflection, and improvement.

000 0

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Tr*mp naturally doesn't care about these actions (blowing up desalination plants) being war crimes. But the generals and other military personnel absolutely *will* have to care.

010 1

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Hey, I have this hope as well -- but not only for Iran...

NY Times headline: Netanyahu Hopes Strikes on Iran Will Lead to Uprising and Regime Change

010 1

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Affinities here with Christopher Browning's "Ordinary Men": Weak-minded men unwilling to think for themselves...

image of the cover of Christopher Browning's book "Ordinary men"

080 8

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Or, show up with red-noses. Imagine a whole room-full...

010 1

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Sometimes I figure I could in fact live on bread alone.

000 0

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

SO FIX IT YOU FOOLS!!!!!!!! www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

020 2

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

He might as well be shooting people on 5th Avenue. It would be better, a lower death toll.

030 3

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Looks good, 4.0 avg use rating…

010 1

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

How AI is undermining learning and teaching in universities www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

010 1

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Boris Johnson's version of "common sense":

010 1

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

The beautiful trees in my local park are mostly going to die in part because of climate change.

120 2

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

AI-generated text in a manuscript submitted to my journal. I'm relieved -- I didn't want to proceed with it anyway and I would have struggled to explain why without spending hours on it. Thanks author for making my day easier.

180 8

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Surely Jenkins is just trolling @theguardian.com now -- testing how far he can go, what sort of idiotic Trump-addled headlines he can get away with before finally getting the (well-deserved) sack.

010 1

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

Alan Dershowitz to the rescue! MAGA will listen to the Dersh. (Even if they won't listen to 47 ... I guess ...) www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...

010 1

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Of COURSE this is what Bezos thinks... .

010 1

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

In the comics section of the lamentable Washington Post:

image of the headline of an article by Liz Truss, published in the Washington Post.

020 2

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

New publication (in Migration Studies): “Comparing migrants’ and stayers’ happiness: Addressing incomplete information via a bounds analysis” academic.oup.com/migration/ar...

182 8

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 11/05/2025

Just finished reading Sarah Wynn-Williams' memoir/exposé of Facebook. Repeated instances of jaw hitting the floor. The chapter on Myanmar -- astonishing. Don't just give up Twitter. Facebook is no better. (I stopped using it years ago)

The cover of Sarah Wynn-Williams' book "Careless people: a cautionary take of power, greed, and lost idealism"

020 2

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

Some academics now feed a manuscript into Chatgpt/etc. and then submit the output as their "review". So, now I sometimes have to check (result below). I seriously don't understand what someone gains this way. If you don't want to do a review (the real way), just decline the request.

Output from Zerogpt, showing that a big block of text was entirely generated by AI.

180 8

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

This idiot must help the Guardian sell newspapers somehow. I can't work out how, but there has to be a reason they keep him on staff. Maybe it's akin to the way companies selling laundry detergent figured out women would buy their product when it came in packages with a harsh annoying color.

Newspaper headline: The tariffs are bad, but Britain should remember this: Trump will be gone in four years, by Simon Jenkins

000 0

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

New in European Sociological Review: “Does inequality undermine life satisfaction? Effective identification of country-level controls for a longitudinal investigation”. Economic inequality lowers LS among lower earners – but it *raises* LS among higher earners. academic.oup.com/esr/advance-...

Title and abstract of published article:

Does increased economic inequality undermine people’s subjective well-being (SWB)? Longitudinal analyses ostensibly offer a good foundation for results that can be interpreted in causal terms, because the analytical design controls for time-constant differences between countries. But researchers must still consider what controls to include for time-varying variables. Researchers engaged with this topic generally focus their attention on controls for individual-level determinants of SWB. I argue (in part by pointing to results in previous research) that individual-level controls are not important for this question—instead, what is needed is more careful attention to the identification of time-varying country-level controls. A more plausible set of decisions leads to a more extensive set of country-level controls. Applying that perspective to an analysis of relatively wealthy countries during the period 1990 to 2019, one main finding is that the overall negative impact of economic inequality on life satisfaction is much smaller than what is evident in previous research. But there are important differences for income groups. The negative impact on lower earners is larger than the overall result. For higher earners rising income inequality leads to increased life satisfaction—a striking result that contrasts with previous research.

43718 37

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

A moment later, the president said he was also considering evicting the Palestinians from the West Bank and awarding that territory to Israel. “We’re discussing that,” Trump said when asked about giving Israel control over biblical “Judea and Samaria,” which includes the West Bank. “And people do like the idea.” He promised an announcement “on that very specific topic over the next four weeks.”

From the river to the sea, Palestine will cease to exist. As those uncommitted voters now know: Elections have consequences.

121 2

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

I have the same thought about the notion that theoretically I could end up getting disciplined for "bringing the university into disrepute" via posts about it on social media.

Keir Starmer: "I got a letter from a Tory voted in a Labour seat -- Liz Truss." It wasn't written in green ink but it might as well have been. She was complaining that saying she had crashed the economy was damaging her reputation. It was actually crashing the economy that damaged her reputation."

010 1

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

Hoping for insight re a heating system run by a Mitsubishi Ecodan heat-pump. The #heatpump itself is working, but the system is not warming the radiators. My guess is that water pressure is too low. (on the gauge here it's ~0.5 bar) Opening the 2 black valves doesn't seem to do anything.

010 1

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

I've been frustrated by not having "bookmarks" in Bluesky. Just discovered that this feature does exist, via browser extensions!

020 2

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 27/12/2024

Turn off the option that does auto-update:

110 1

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

And well done to the anonymous colleagues who wrote it -- thank you for your service. I'd love to hear from the editor, but he doesn't seem to have joined bluesky...

121 2

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

My own individual path to happiness -- a Friday evening with no manuscripts on deck. (I wouldn't be surprised to wake up tomorrow to 30 new assignments -- so, it's a question of willpower: will I refrain from checking??)

An editor's dashboard, showing no tasks at all...

020 2

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

The same thing is going on in the Mac version of Word:

041 4

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 09/10/2024

The Dangers of Donald Trump, from Those Who Know Him. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

010 1

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 08/02/2024

New in Journal of Happiness Studies: ‘To evaluate the age-happiness relationship, look beyond statistical significance’ #sociology In the majority of European countries there is no ‘u-shape’ of happiness: getting older typically means declining happiness (with some exceptions).

183 8

David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 07/02/2024

New in Journal of Happiness Studies: ‘To Evaluate the Age–Happiness Relationship, Look Beyond Statistical Significance’ In the majority of European countries there is no ‘u-shape’ of happiness: getting older typically means declining happiness (with some exceptions).

383 8