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Kerstin Sailer

@kerstinsailer.bsky.social

1.7K followers 990 following 540 posts

Professor in the Sociology of Architecture at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL. Founder of brainybirdz. Blogger. Speaker. Long Covid disability advocate. Love books, food, photography, data visualisation, art. Also @[email protected]

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Kerstin Sailer @kerstinsailer.bsky.social · Oct 10

My inaugural professorial lecture on 'Architectures of Care' at the #BartlettSchoolOfArchitecture #UCL from March 2024, is available here:

vimeo.com/925814729

#ArchitecturalResearch #WorkplaceResearch #workplaceDesign #userExperience #EvidenceBasedDesign #SpaceSyntax #disabilitystudies

Professor Kerstin Sailer Inaugural Lecture

Kerstin Sailer delivers her inaugural professorial lecture, hosted and introduced by Christoph Lindner, Dean of The Bartlett Faculty. Architectures of Care: From…

vimeo.com

Reposted by Kerstin Sailer

Jake Wright @bcnjake.bsky.social · 13d

"There's no ethical use case for AI in the classroom" has become my personal Carthago delenda est.

I even take time to explain to my students how we won't use it in class because it's dehumanizing. To their credit, they seem to get it.

CETERUM AUTEM CENSEO INTELLIGENTIA ARTIFICIALIS ESSE DELENDAM

AI is dehumanizing

I’ve saved the most important part for last. AI is dehumanizing. Using AI means saying that the people involved in what you’re trying to do don’t matter. Because AI platforms are built on theft, using AI says that the people whose work is being stolen don’t matter. If I used AI to grade your work, which is now possible with Canvas integrations, I would be saying your work is not worth taking seriously enough to read myself. It’s saying you don’t matter enough to take seriously. A world where AI grades AI generated submissions from an AI generated assignment is not a world where people and the work they do matters, and I refuse to live in that world.

The dehumanizing aspect of AI is even worse when you consider the effects of AI on you as a student. Using AI as a substitute for doing the work yourself robs you of your voice. It prevents you from developing your own sense of who you are, what you believe, and how you express that in your own unique way and replaces it with statistically generated slop literally incapable of forming a novel thought. In a world that works to dehumanize us every day—to say who we are and the relationships we form don’t matter—I don’t want to add to that work. I don’t want to do this because the relationships you form matter. Your voice matters. You matter.

In 19th Century England, a group of artisan weavers banded together to fight against mechanization. Tools like the water frame and spinning jenny allowed factory owners to produce a worse product at a price so low that the quality of the finished product didn’t matter. These artisans, the Luddites, weren’t opposed to technology. They were opposed to technology dehumanizing people and denying them dignity. Like the Luddites, I’m not opposed to technology and embrace it when it makes our lives better. But like the Luddites, I have an obligation to resist technology that dehumanizes people in my community, and I think AI does that. So, there’s no AI in this class.

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Kerstin Sailer @kerstinsailer.bsky.social · 6h

Danke! Das freut mich sehr wenn Vorträge gut ankommen 😊

Reposted by Kerstin Sailer

Christian Stegbauer @christianst.bsky.social · 7h

Ganz großen Dank Kerstin für die Keynote, den besten Beitrag des ganzen Kongresses !

Kerstin Sailer @kerstinsailer.bsky.social · 1d

Really enjoyed participating in the DGNet (Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Netzwerkforschung) conference in Bayreuth - thanks to Christian Stegbauer and Iris Clemens for the kind invite to give a keynote and for the warm welcome

#SocialNetwork #SocialNetworkAnalysis #ArchitecturalResearch

Title slide of my keynote talk entitled "Netzwerke im Raum - Raumstrukturen als Netzwerke". The photo in the background shows a summer party at a research institute with several groups of people dotted around a large foyer with a staircase, talking in small groups

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Kerstin Sailer @kerstinsailer.bsky.social · 8h

Ganz vergessen dass @christianst.bsky.social ja auch hier unterwegs ist. Also auch hier nochmal Danke!
#Netzwerkforschung

Kerstin Sailer @kerstinsailer.bsky.social · 12h

Danke! Ist vom englischen Hersteller Cambridge Masks. Super bequem und FFP2 Standard

Kerstin Sailer @kerstinsailer.bsky.social · 1d

'Das Unsichtbare sichtbar machen'
#FotoVorschlag
Dass ich #LongCovid habe, sieht man mir nicht an. Aber Maske und Sonnenblumenumhänger machen das Unsichtbare vielleicht etwas sichtbarer

Selfie in front of a Eurostar train at St Pancras Station: I'm a blond woman wearing glasses, a face mask with blue floral pattern, a sunflower lanyard (for invisible disabilities) and a light green tank top

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Kerstin Sailer @kerstinsailer.bsky.social · 1d

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Reposted by Kerstin Sailer

SFB 1265 @sfb1265.bsky.social · 2d

How do we live together in an ever-changing city?

In her @berlinscienceweek.bsky.social interview, #sfb1265 speaker Martina Löw (@tuberlin.bsky.social) explores social cohesion, diversity, and the spaces that connect us.

Read it here 👉: berlinscienceweek.com/social-cohes...

#BerlinScienceWeek25

Social Cohesion

How can Berlin stay united amid diversity and change? Prof. Löw explores the future of social cohesion beyond now.

berlinscienceweek.com

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Kerstin Sailer @kerstinsailer.bsky.social · 3d

Sieht man hier vielleicht nochmal besser, wenn auch Leute mit drauf sind

Central Foyer of the V&A Storehouse, surrounded by three floors of shelves storing all sorts of artefacts. Lots of people in the centre

Kerstin Sailer @kerstinsailer.bsky.social · 3d

Das Lager ist sozusagen eine neue Art von Museum.
Freut mich, dass du meine Vorlesung hörst

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Kerstin Sailer @kerstinsailer.bsky.social · 3d

'(Hoch)Stapelei' #FotoVorschlag

In the V&A Storehouse in East London, diverse artefacts are piled high in shelves. A Chinese vase in the foreground, several pieces of intricate wooden furniture in the background

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Reposted by Kerstin Sailer

Beatyblue @beatyblue27.bsky.social · 3d

'(Hoch)Stapelei' #FotoVorschlag
Bücherhochstapelei im Amsterdamer Rijksmuseum.

Das Foto zeigt eine mehrstöckige Bibliothek mit vollgepackten Bücherregalen, die durch Geländer und eine Wendeltreppe miteinander verbunden sind.

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Kerstin Sailer @kerstinsailer.bsky.social · 3d

Markgräfisches Opernhaus, Bayreuth

What a building!

#Architecture

A wooden stair with beautiful carvings leads to the upper ranks of the Opera House. The stairs are rather narrow and were mainly used by servants bringing refreshments to the nobility

Upper ranks at the side of the baroque Opera House with beautiful wood carvings and chandeliers

Front stage of the Opera House including 3D painted scenery. Three people stand on the stage, all with their back to the audience, admiring the delicate art of the stage

Detail of a golden statue on top of a richly carved column - we only see a pair of feet dangling in the air

Kerstin Sailer @kerstinsailer.bsky.social · 3d

For the data geeks among us: correlation is not causation

Some fun examples
www.tylervigen.com/spurious-cor...

#Data #DataScience

Kerstin Sailer @kerstinsailer.bsky.social · 7d

It does - thanks! 👍🏻

Kerstin Sailer @kerstinsailer.bsky.social · 7d

The link only leads to a login page. Can you reshare?

Kerstin Sailer @kerstinsailer.bsky.social · 9d

Lovely short piece on the role of coffee breaks in science

I've written about one of my early PhD case studies (studying spatial and social networks) and the two coffee cultures at this research institute 12 years ago in this blog post:

spaceandorganisation.org/2013/05/06/a...

Reposted by Kerstin Sailer

Emma @inneiennyfas.bsky.social · 17d

#VioletAffleck speaking at the UN meeting "Healthy Indoor Air: A Global Call to Action", saying all the things that need to be said. The knowledge, passion, brains and determination of this young woman are amazing. She should be put in charge of public health everywhere.

#CallForPublicHealthAction

Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 17d

“We are told by leaders that we are the future. But when it comes to the ongoing pandemic, our present is being stolen right in front of our eyes.”

Incredible speech by Violet Affleck who warned about the ongoing dangers of COVID & Long Covid, & advocated for masks and clean air at the UN today!

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Kerstin Sailer @kerstinsailer.bsky.social · 12d

Sounds great!
Also 🫶🏼 👏🏻 for remote joining option

Reposted by Kerstin Sailer

Kathryn Oliver @oliver-kathryn.bsky.social · 12d

Is research really worth it? Come and hear what I think about why we do what we do.

www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/e...

Is research really worth it? with Professor Kathryn Oliver | LSHTM

Research is something we spend a lot of money and time on — as individuals, organisations, and states. But is it worth it? Do we get bang for our buck? Who really benefits? And does research actually

www.lshtm.ac.uk

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Kerstin Sailer @kerstinsailer.bsky.social · 13d

'Blick aus deinem Fenster'
Die Dächer Nordlondons
#FotoVorschlag

Very dramatic sunset over silhouetted rooftops. The sky ranges from yellow and orange to light blue and grey. A series of clouds are dotted across the sky, painted by the setting sun in pink and purple hues

Reposted by Kerstin Sailer

Sophie Carr @sophiecarr.bsky.social · 22d

Waves crash over icebergs in the surf at Fellsfjara beach at Jökulsárlón in South-East #Iceland during glorious sunset light in Nov 2020.

The tail of a crashing wave shoots into the sky after breaking over icebergs in the surf. The spray is illuminated by the setting sun (out of sight off to the left of the shot) but glowing pink. Behind are some low mountains and some dark cloud above.

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Kerstin Sailer @kerstinsailer.bsky.social · 14d

Wie cool! Als Nachteule verpasse ich die Morgendämmerung allzu oft

Reposted by Kerstin Sailer

Manfred Herrmann @fotografix.bsky.social · 14d

'An der Schwelle zum Tag' #FotoVorschlag in den Lechtaler Alpen. Einsam, wild und wunderschön…

Das Foto zeigt eine ruhige Hochgebirgslandschaft in der Dämmerung. Im Vordergrund liegt ein kleiner Bergsee, dessen Wasser im sanften Blau schimmert. Dahinter ragt ein markanter, felsiger Gipfel auf, der sich deutlich vom Himmel abhebt. Die umliegenden Berge bilden eine Kette aus schroffen, grauen und grünen Hängen, die sich bis zum Horizont erstrecken. Am Himmel liegt ein sanfter Farbverlauf von tiefem Blau zu zartem Rosa und Violett, typisch für die Minuten vor Sonnenaufgang. Die Stimmung wirkt friedlich, still und fast mystisch.

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Kerstin Sailer @kerstinsailer.bsky.social · 14d

Among your amazing robot drawing collection, you don't happen to have one in a gym?

I'm lecturing to my new Masters students next week for the first time and want to convince them that they shouldn't use AI to write their essays for them - it's like sending a robot to the gym to get fit