Professor Nutella
@jpnudell.bsky.social
Pizza appreciator, ancient historian, reader, writer, baker. In some order.
Blogging here: https://joshuapnudell.com/blog/
Blogging here: https://joshuapnudell.com/blog/
Reposted by Professor Nutella
Don’t do this! It just encourages administrators to push LLM use, and convinces students that their use of generative AI is legitimate.
About 25 percent of faculty members have used AI to save time in creating more engaging in-class activities or generating quizzes and other assessments. Yet talking about AI use is taboo in some quarters. https://chroni.cl/4rjLxQp
Why Professors Are Using AI in Course Design
Some believe in the technology’s promises; others are simply desperate for help.
chroni.cl
November 25, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Don’t do this! It just encourages administrators to push LLM use, and convinces students that their use of generative AI is legitimate.
Reposted by Professor Nutella
What if the best AI safety system is just tort law?
“Nobody knows who’s liable if things go wrong.” www.ft.com/content/abfe...
November 25, 2025 at 6:41 PM
What if the best AI safety system is just tort law?
Around this time every year I have the thought that I should better keep up with things as they're published, but, looking over the last half decade of my reading logs, I usually finish 10–15 titles the year of, with that number again in the following year, often selected from "best of" lists.
November 25, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Around this time every year I have the thought that I should better keep up with things as they're published, but, looking over the last half decade of my reading logs, I usually finish 10–15 titles the year of, with that number again in the following year, often selected from "best of" lists.
Reposted by Professor Nutella
that list of four potential peer reviewers you gave your acquisitions editor? one of them is retired, another is chairing their department and simply can't, the third is on leave and has an autoreply up for months, and the fourth replied within 20 seconds to say "no."
November 25, 2025 at 1:46 PM
that list of four potential peer reviewers you gave your acquisitions editor? one of them is retired, another is chairing their department and simply can't, the third is on leave and has an autoreply up for months, and the fourth replied within 20 seconds to say "no."
Reposted by Professor Nutella
chotiner is a pretty good journalist and i would like there to be so many of him that he seems unremarkable
November 25, 2025 at 4:17 AM
chotiner is a pretty good journalist and i would like there to be so many of him that he seems unremarkable
Reposted by Professor Nutella
I think it’s pretty clear at this point that one of the main impacts of LLMs is to disrupt thinking: to make it so that far too many people never properly learn how to do it, and then to control the output so there are thoughts that people never learn how to think.
November 24, 2025 at 5:18 PM
I think it’s pretty clear at this point that one of the main impacts of LLMs is to disrupt thinking: to make it so that far too many people never properly learn how to do it, and then to control the output so there are thoughts that people never learn how to think.
Reposted by Professor Nutella
The knowledge contained in our fields (any field) is valuable and we should act like it is.
It’s not just a problem with LLMs. People pushing skills over content drive me crazy. If students never develop domain knowledge, all of the analytical skills don’t matter much because they don’t have a basis for analysis.
November 24, 2025 at 10:18 PM
The knowledge contained in our fields (any field) is valuable and we should act like it is.
Reposted by Professor Nutella
We should have listened when the modems screamed at us.
July 22, 2025 at 2:30 PM
We should have listened when the modems screamed at us.
The best thing about Rogue One as a movie is that it gave us Andor. I like some of the scenes and characters but am very much in the camp that it is not a good (or even necessary) movie overall.
November 24, 2025 at 9:45 PM
The best thing about Rogue One as a movie is that it gave us Andor. I like some of the scenes and characters but am very much in the camp that it is not a good (or even necessary) movie overall.
Reposted by Professor Nutella
I’m sure I’m gonna get dragged for this, but I think AI is bad. AI has completely ruined Google search and it’s created a lot more slop that needs to be avoided on the Internet.
November 24, 2025 at 9:06 PM
I’m sure I’m gonna get dragged for this, but I think AI is bad. AI has completely ruined Google search and it’s created a lot more slop that needs to be avoided on the Internet.
My hierarchy of preferred assignments to grade goes: stack of physical papers > stack of non-bluebook tests > papers on the course LMS > bluebook exams.
I can decide to assign papers rather than bluebook tests but practical and pedagogical considerations never let me get past the next rung.
I can decide to assign papers rather than bluebook tests but practical and pedagogical considerations never let me get past the next rung.
November 24, 2025 at 8:59 PM
My hierarchy of preferred assignments to grade goes: stack of physical papers > stack of non-bluebook tests > papers on the course LMS > bluebook exams.
I can decide to assign papers rather than bluebook tests but practical and pedagogical considerations never let me get past the next rung.
I can decide to assign papers rather than bluebook tests but practical and pedagogical considerations never let me get past the next rung.
Point for audiobooks: hearing unfamiliar accents written into a text brings the accent to life in a way that reading them does not.
November 24, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Point for audiobooks: hearing unfamiliar accents written into a text brings the accent to life in a way that reading them does not.
Reposted by Professor Nutella
I will add the following: our students lack the research skills required to audit an LLM essay for errors. They don’t arrive on campus with these skills; we teach it to them over four long years. So throwing freshmen in the deep end and saying “swim your way to a shore of rectitude” is folly.
November 24, 2025 at 1:23 PM
I will add the following: our students lack the research skills required to audit an LLM essay for errors. They don’t arrive on campus with these skills; we teach it to them over four long years. So throwing freshmen in the deep end and saying “swim your way to a shore of rectitude” is folly.
I’m here for a beef between French and Italian wine…but I’ll take Greek wines over either.
Italian wines are better than French wines no I will not elaborate send tweet
November 24, 2025 at 2:55 AM
I’m here for a beef between French and Italian wine…but I’ll take Greek wines over either.
Reflections on three years of varia posts, plus the usual: links about history, education, politics, AI, and more, what I’m reading, what I’m watching, and an album of the week (and a picture of my dog)
joshuapnudell.com/2025/11/23/w...
joshuapnudell.com/2025/11/23/w...
Weekly Varia no. 157, 11/23/25
Reflections on three years of writing varia posts, plus this week’s links about history, education, AI, politics, and cheese, and my media roundup.
joshuapnudell.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:00 AM
Reflections on three years of varia posts, plus the usual: links about history, education, politics, AI, and more, what I’m reading, what I’m watching, and an album of the week (and a picture of my dog)
joshuapnudell.com/2025/11/23/w...
joshuapnudell.com/2025/11/23/w...
Reposted by Professor Nutella
Who invests in critical thinking and who invests in an AI chatbot to help you think will be really telling.
November 23, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Who invests in critical thinking and who invests in an AI chatbot to help you think will be really telling.
Reposted by Professor Nutella
A case that AI in the classroom needs to be addressed as a social issue rather than as an arms race.
joshuapnudell.com/2025/11/22/a...
joshuapnudell.com/2025/11/22/a...
AI in the Classroom is a Social Problem
A case that AI in the classroom needs to be addressed as a social issue rather than as an arms race.
joshuapnudell.com
November 23, 2025 at 4:03 AM
A case that AI in the classroom needs to be addressed as a social issue rather than as an arms race.
joshuapnudell.com/2025/11/22/a...
joshuapnudell.com/2025/11/22/a...
Reposted by Professor Nutella
My hot take is that over the next 10 years, we're going to see more emphasis on and investment in the humanities at Ivy League and other fancy schools just as state schools and small privates continue to decimate and even eliminate the humanities.
"While other universities report that the humanities are shrinking, at Berkeley, the opposite is true. The music major is the fastest-growing major on campus. We are finding bigger classrooms because film is exploding. English is back to the numbers we saw 15 years ago. We are hiring" bit.ly/4ohKuOe
"The humanities really are a resource — a confidence for living in our times.” Dean Sara Guyer on the modern utility of humanities degrees
This interview originally appeared on the Division of Arts
bit.ly
November 23, 2025 at 4:13 PM
My hot take is that over the next 10 years, we're going to see more emphasis on and investment in the humanities at Ivy League and other fancy schools just as state schools and small privates continue to decimate and even eliminate the humanities.
Became disillusioned with Plan A (federal service) under W. Bush; my university had little support for Plan B (HS teaching); and I realized that people got to write the books I liked reading—combined with graduating into the teeth of the 2008 recession that made grad school an attractive route.
November 23, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Became disillusioned with Plan A (federal service) under W. Bush; my university had little support for Plan B (HS teaching); and I realized that people got to write the books I liked reading—combined with graduating into the teeth of the 2008 recession that made grad school an attractive route.
Reposted by Professor Nutella
Impossible how good reading is. You mean I just point my face at the paper for a bit and it does a whole update on my brain?
November 23, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Impossible how good reading is. You mean I just point my face at the paper for a bit and it does a whole update on my brain?
Reposted by Professor Nutella
A little "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that" wouldn't go amiss right now.
November 23, 2025 at 2:17 PM
A little "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that" wouldn't go amiss right now.
Reposted by Professor Nutella
Yeah, my 'hours' as an adjunct have always been carefully calculated so that I didn't get health benefits and the one time the department slipped up and put me over the line they 1) didn't notice until I told them and 2) have been cutting back my teaching bit by bit ever since.
I'm only halfway through the video, but...YEAH.
My favorite* part of adjuncting was how they deliberately, contractually classified us as not working more than 29 hours a week so that not only were we not eligible for any benefits...
but we can't count that time towards PSLF bc it's not full-time.
My favorite* part of adjuncting was how they deliberately, contractually classified us as not working more than 29 hours a week so that not only were we not eligible for any benefits...
but we can't count that time towards PSLF bc it's not full-time.
This (youtu.be/2AvfOhtmCZY?...) is an older @acollierastro.bsky.social video I must have missed, but it is brilliant in explaining the intensity of the bullshit of the adjunct system, for students and instructors.
November 23, 2025 at 3:38 AM
Yeah, my 'hours' as an adjunct have always been carefully calculated so that I didn't get health benefits and the one time the department slipped up and put me over the line they 1) didn't notice until I told them and 2) have been cutting back my teaching bit by bit ever since.
A case that AI in the classroom needs to be addressed as a social issue rather than as an arms race.
joshuapnudell.com/2025/11/22/a...
joshuapnudell.com/2025/11/22/a...
AI in the Classroom is a Social Problem
A case that AI in the classroom needs to be addressed as a social issue rather than as an arms race.
joshuapnudell.com
November 23, 2025 at 4:03 AM
A case that AI in the classroom needs to be addressed as a social issue rather than as an arms race.
joshuapnudell.com/2025/11/22/a...
joshuapnudell.com/2025/11/22/a...
Reposted by Professor Nutella
I once knew a Federal bank examiner, and one time someone asked him why we had to KEEP inspecting banks over and over. He basically said every new batch of business school grads invents bank fraud from first principles.
AirBnB CEO calling it “vibe revenue” just 👨🍳 😘
The underlying cause of every bubble - debt masquerading as financial innovation - depends on not just short financial memory & speculative neophytism, but reinventing jargon of finance, like how each generation of kids has new ways to say same things.
The underlying cause of every bubble - debt masquerading as financial innovation - depends on not just short financial memory & speculative neophytism, but reinventing jargon of finance, like how each generation of kids has new ways to say same things.
November 22, 2025 at 6:02 PM
I once knew a Federal bank examiner, and one time someone asked him why we had to KEEP inspecting banks over and over. He basically said every new batch of business school grads invents bank fraud from first principles.
Reposted by Professor Nutella
Aside from being painfully true, this reminds me of the 10 year cycle of med schools reinventing their curricula, which is primarily driven by the introduction of a newly minted Dean/Chancellor/President who is full of “new” ideas.
And each time measurable student outcomes are improved…not at all.
And each time measurable student outcomes are improved…not at all.
I once knew a Federal bank examiner, and one time someone asked him why we had to KEEP inspecting banks over and over. He basically said every new batch of business school grads invents bank fraud from first principles.
AirBnB CEO calling it “vibe revenue” just 👨🍳 😘
The underlying cause of every bubble - debt masquerading as financial innovation - depends on not just short financial memory & speculative neophytism, but reinventing jargon of finance, like how each generation of kids has new ways to say same things.
The underlying cause of every bubble - debt masquerading as financial innovation - depends on not just short financial memory & speculative neophytism, but reinventing jargon of finance, like how each generation of kids has new ways to say same things.
November 22, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Aside from being painfully true, this reminds me of the 10 year cycle of med schools reinventing their curricula, which is primarily driven by the introduction of a newly minted Dean/Chancellor/President who is full of “new” ideas.
And each time measurable student outcomes are improved…not at all.
And each time measurable student outcomes are improved…not at all.