Jim McGrath
@jimmcgrath.bsky.social
Instructional Designer and college educator. PhD in English. Interested in course design, digital pedagogy, and digital literacy. also digital humanities, public humanities/history, poetry, horror, comics, aesthetics.
https://linktr.ee/jimmc_grath
https://linktr.ee/jimmc_grath
Reposted by Jim McGrath
New issue of my newsletter: "The Writing Is on the Wall for Handwriting Recognition" — One of the hardest problems in digital humanities has finally been solved, and it's a good use of AI newsletter.dancohen.org/archive/the-...
The Writing Is on the Wall for Handwriting Recognition
One of the hardest problems in digital humanities has finally been solved
newsletter.dancohen.org
November 25, 2025 at 4:35 PM
New issue of my newsletter: "The Writing Is on the Wall for Handwriting Recognition" — One of the hardest problems in digital humanities has finally been solved, and it's a good use of AI newsletter.dancohen.org/archive/the-...
Reposted by Jim McGrath
And maybe one day we may even realize that "language" and "text" or even "writing" are not the same thing either; and definitely not synonymous of "intelligence"
I’ve been running around asking tech execs and academics if language was the same as intelligence for over a year now - and, well, it isn’t. @benjaminjriley.bsky.social explains how the bubble is built on ignoring cutting-edge research into the science of thought www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
November 25, 2025 at 5:34 PM
And maybe one day we may even realize that "language" and "text" or even "writing" are not the same thing either; and definitely not synonymous of "intelligence"
Reposted by Jim McGrath
We're excited to be hosting the next fully-online #ELO2026 @eliterature.bsky.social conference at UCF. As before, we're committed to a low-cost event with an open access archive of recordings and a virtual exhibition open to all. CFP up now: projects.cah.ucf.edu/elo2026/ #dhmakes
November 25, 2025 at 3:22 PM
We're excited to be hosting the next fully-online #ELO2026 @eliterature.bsky.social conference at UCF. As before, we're committed to a low-cost event with an open access archive of recordings and a virtual exhibition open to all. CFP up now: projects.cah.ucf.edu/elo2026/ #dhmakes
"Digital humanities methodologies might serve as useful counters and correctives to desires to prioritize AI outsourcing and integrations at the expense of pedagogy." New blog post from me on digital pedagogy in the age of AI: jimmcgrath.us/teaching/dig...
Digital Processes, Not Products: Embracing Digital Ephemerality and Iteration
Hi! Below you’ll find the text of a “PODTalk” I gave at the 2025 POD Network Conference in San Diego. This was my first time attending and presenting at POD and I really enjoyed m…
jimmcgrath.us
November 25, 2025 at 2:16 PM
"Digital humanities methodologies might serve as useful counters and correctives to desires to prioritize AI outsourcing and integrations at the expense of pedagogy." New blog post from me on digital pedagogy in the age of AI: jimmcgrath.us/teaching/dig...
Reposted by Jim McGrath
Feeling inspired by this talk from instructional designer Jim McGrath about use of AI in higher education ❤️
I posted the talk I gave at the annual POD Network conference last week: "Digital Processes, Not Products: Embracing Digital Ephemerality and Iteration." Topics include AI, digital pedagogy, hypertext, and more! jimmcgrath.us/teaching/dig...
Digital Processes, Not Products: Embracing Digital Ephemerality and Iteration
Hi! Below you’ll find the text of a “PODTalk” I gave at the 2025 POD Network Conference in San Diego. This was my first time attending and presenting at POD and I really enjoyed m…
jimmcgrath.us
November 25, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Feeling inspired by this talk from instructional designer Jim McGrath about use of AI in higher education ❤️
I posted the talk I gave at the annual POD Network conference last week: "Digital Processes, Not Products: Embracing Digital Ephemerality and Iteration." Topics include AI, digital pedagogy, hypertext, and more! jimmcgrath.us/teaching/dig...
Digital Processes, Not Products: Embracing Digital Ephemerality and Iteration
Hi! Below you’ll find the text of a “PODTalk” I gave at the 2025 POD Network Conference in San Diego. This was my first time attending and presenting at POD and I really enjoyed m…
jimmcgrath.us
November 24, 2025 at 7:29 PM
I posted the talk I gave at the annual POD Network conference last week: "Digital Processes, Not Products: Embracing Digital Ephemerality and Iteration." Topics include AI, digital pedagogy, hypertext, and more! jimmcgrath.us/teaching/dig...
Reposted by Jim McGrath
Players are roleplaying in Fortnite to teach each other their rights when encountering ICE officials
“I would slip [the warrant] under the door, but there’s no space under the door,” the agent says.
The civilian pauses. “Well. Sounds like a personal problem.”
www.404media.co/ice-defense-...
“I would slip [the warrant] under the door, but there’s no space under the door,” the agent says.
The civilian pauses. “Well. Sounds like a personal problem.”
www.404media.co/ice-defense-...
Inside an ICE Defense Training on Fortnite
A group of immigrant rights organizers are helping people use Fortnite to practice what to do if they encounter ICE agents in the wild.
www.404media.co
November 24, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Players are roleplaying in Fortnite to teach each other their rights when encountering ICE officials
“I would slip [the warrant] under the door, but there’s no space under the door,” the agent says.
The civilian pauses. “Well. Sounds like a personal problem.”
www.404media.co/ice-defense-...
“I would slip [the warrant] under the door, but there’s no space under the door,” the agent says.
The civilian pauses. “Well. Sounds like a personal problem.”
www.404media.co/ice-defense-...
Very sad to hear that poet Charles Coe has passed away. I was lucky enough to have dinner with him and some mutual friends a few years ago and he was so lovely. www.charlescoe.org/about
ABOUT — Charles Coe
www.charlescoe.org
November 23, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Very sad to hear that poet Charles Coe has passed away. I was lucky enough to have dinner with him and some mutual friends a few years ago and he was so lovely. www.charlescoe.org/about
that brief span of time where it seemed like there was a Ranch 1 on every block of Manhattan
I'm not going to read the NYT story but I do want to hear what other people would put in their "Lost New York" takes, mine would include Dr Zizmor ads and the free transfer between the Broadway G/Lorimer JMZ stops
November 17, 2025 at 11:41 PM
that brief span of time where it seemed like there was a Ranch 1 on every block of Manhattan
Salem State University's Center for Teaching Innovation (where I work) has done a light website refresh with some more information about our faculty support work. A first step in raising CTI's profile a bit beyond SSU campus! www.salemstate.edu/cti
Center for Teaching Innovation | Salem State University
www.salemstate.edu
November 14, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Salem State University's Center for Teaching Innovation (where I work) has done a light website refresh with some more information about our faculty support work. A first step in raising CTI's profile a bit beyond SSU campus! www.salemstate.edu/cti
If anyone I know is heading to POD in San Diego next week (provided air travel doesn't get worse by then), let me know! I'll be giving a talk on digital pedagogy in the age of AI, iteration, and third-party tools. Also looking for San Diego recs: pinball, book/comic shops, and museums/exhibits.
November 14, 2025 at 6:14 PM
If anyone I know is heading to POD in San Diego next week (provided air travel doesn't get worse by then), let me know! I'll be giving a talk on digital pedagogy in the age of AI, iteration, and third-party tools. Also looking for San Diego recs: pinball, book/comic shops, and museums/exhibits.
i feel like we could be making a bigger deal out of this, fellow Celtics fans
November 13, 2025 at 6:02 PM
i feel like we could be making a bigger deal out of this, fellow Celtics fans
Reposted by Jim McGrath
“The Post has a content partnership with OpenAI.”
Check our article instead, which uses conversations not individually chosen for public sharing, actually describes our methods and data, and finds quite different distributions for how people use ChatGPT and personal info disclosed in their chats.
Check our article instead, which uses conversations not individually chosen for public sharing, actually describes our methods and data, and finds quite different distributions for how people use ChatGPT and personal info disclosed in their chats.
November 12, 2025 at 2:44 PM
“The Post has a content partnership with OpenAI.”
Check our article instead, which uses conversations not individually chosen for public sharing, actually describes our methods and data, and finds quite different distributions for how people use ChatGPT and personal info disclosed in their chats.
Check our article instead, which uses conversations not individually chosen for public sharing, actually describes our methods and data, and finds quite different distributions for how people use ChatGPT and personal info disclosed in their chats.
another new Frankenstein adaptation has dropped this year, courtesy of The Onion
November 12, 2025 at 2:26 PM
another new Frankenstein adaptation has dropped this year, courtesy of The Onion
Reposted by Jim McGrath
Huge thanks to @mattseybold.bsky.social for writing this great post, which highlights CUNY's transformative potential to build open educational infrastructure
theamericanvandal.substack.com/p/mamdani-wi...
theamericanvandal.substack.com/p/mamdani-wi...
November 6, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Huge thanks to @mattseybold.bsky.social for writing this great post, which highlights CUNY's transformative potential to build open educational infrastructure
theamericanvandal.substack.com/p/mamdani-wi...
theamericanvandal.substack.com/p/mamdani-wi...
Reposted by Jim McGrath
The long-running ideological war on libraries, education, and government workers is not separate from AI boosterism. It is the same ideological war on human knowledge and expertise. In some cases AI is being used to directly supercharge this effort:
www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...
www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...
AI Is Supercharging the War on Libraries, Education, and Human Knowledge
"Fascism and AI, whether or not they have the same goals, they sure are working to accelerate one another."
www.404media.co
November 6, 2025 at 4:21 PM
The long-running ideological war on libraries, education, and government workers is not separate from AI boosterism. It is the same ideological war on human knowledge and expertise. In some cases AI is being used to directly supercharge this effort:
www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...
www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...
Reposted by Jim McGrath
@davidbessis.bsky.social 's recent episode on Russ Roberts' EconTalk is extraordinary. www.econtalk.org/a-mind-blowi... . I highly recommend it to anyone in *any* field of study.
I cannot wait to read his book _Mathematica_, especially since I already see so much of Borges baked in there.
I cannot wait to read his book _Mathematica_, especially since I already see so much of Borges baked in there.
A Mind-Blowing Way of Looking at Math (with David Bessis) - Econlib
What if math isn’t about grinding through equations, but about training your intuition and changing how your brain works? Mathematician and author David Bessis tells EconTalk’s Russ Roberts that the s...
www.econtalk.org
November 6, 2025 at 2:41 PM
@davidbessis.bsky.social 's recent episode on Russ Roberts' EconTalk is extraordinary. www.econtalk.org/a-mind-blowi... . I highly recommend it to anyone in *any* field of study.
I cannot wait to read his book _Mathematica_, especially since I already see so much of Borges baked in there.
I cannot wait to read his book _Mathematica_, especially since I already see so much of Borges baked in there.
Reposted by Jim McGrath
Great to see a new issue of Current Research in Digital History!
CRDH Vol. 8: New research from Fabio Gigone, Natacha Klein Käfer, Natália da Silva Perez, Nadav Borenstein, Miara Fraikin, Sanne Maekelberg, and Anna McGee explores topics from royal iconography to AI-powered print analysis, midwifery education to palace networks.
Read here: https://crdh.rrchnm.org
Read here: https://crdh.rrchnm.org
Current Research in Digital History
Hosted by the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, Current Research in Digital History is an open-access, peer-reviewed, online publication. Its primary aim is to encourage and publish scholarship in digital history that offers discipline-specific arguments and interpretations.
crdh.rrchnm.org
November 5, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Great to see a new issue of Current Research in Digital History!
the use of the word "crime" in this piece about AI and academic integrity is telling. I think the author could benefit from reimagining faculty-student dynamics and perceptions of students: www.chronicle.com/article/the-...
Opinion | The Post-Plagiarism University
Professors have tried to fit AI into old categories of academic misconduct. Students aren’t buying it.
www.chronicle.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:09 PM
the use of the word "crime" in this piece about AI and academic integrity is telling. I think the author could benefit from reimagining faculty-student dynamics and perceptions of students: www.chronicle.com/article/the-...
Reposted by Jim McGrath
so @matteowong.bsky.social & I wrote on data centers: arguably the most important buildings in the world & are, in a way, holding the economy hostage. Byzantine financial instruments, private equity, depreciating tech, hype, $trillion valuations. it’s all there. an ai crash prob starts here.
Here’s How the AI Crash Happens
The U.S. is becoming an Nvidia-state.
www.theatlantic.com
October 30, 2025 at 10:25 PM
so @matteowong.bsky.social & I wrote on data centers: arguably the most important buildings in the world & are, in a way, holding the economy hostage. Byzantine financial instruments, private equity, depreciating tech, hype, $trillion valuations. it’s all there. an ai crash prob starts here.
Reposted by Jim McGrath
Empirics which support the argument of Shah and Bender -- dl.acm.org/doi/fullHtml...
When people learn with ChatGPT instead of following their own searches, they end up knowing less, caring less, and producing worse advice, even when the facts are the same.
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Experimental evidence of the effects of large language models versus web search on depth of learning
Abstract. The effects of using large language models (LLMs) versus traditional web search on depth of learning are explored. A theory is proposed that when
academic.oup.com
October 28, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Empirics which support the argument of Shah and Bender -- dl.acm.org/doi/fullHtml...
went inside a bookstore today and didn’t buy anything, please clap
October 28, 2025 at 10:22 PM
went inside a bookstore today and didn’t buy anything, please clap
Reposted by Jim McGrath
Friends choose your so-called "critics" carefully.
Its not a binary.
If people do circular citations and happen to never cite the women who laid the groundwork for decades and pay the price, there's a problem.
Its not a binary.
If people do circular citations and happen to never cite the women who laid the groundwork for decades and pay the price, there's a problem.
Who the fuck is this dude who rolled in saying what women researchers have been saying for years? He came on my thread here once to tell me I was wrong about something — I wasn’t. I responded, he said nothing, and disappeared. @alexhanna.bsky.social @safiyanoble.bsky.social
Ed Zitron Gets Paid to Love AI. He Also Gets Paid to Hate AI
He’s one of the loudest voices of the AI haters—even as he does PR for AI companies. Either way, Ed Zitron has your attention.
www.wired.com
October 27, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Friends choose your so-called "critics" carefully.
Its not a binary.
If people do circular citations and happen to never cite the women who laid the groundwork for decades and pay the price, there's a problem.
Its not a binary.
If people do circular citations and happen to never cite the women who laid the groundwork for decades and pay the price, there's a problem.
Reposted by Jim McGrath
📣THREAD: It’s surprising to me that so many people were surprised to learn that Signal runs partly on AWS (something we can do because we use encryption to make sure no one but you–not AWS, not Signal, not anyone–can access your comms).
It’s also concerning. 1/
It’s also concerning. 1/
PSA: we're aware that Signal is down for some people. This appears to be related to a major AWS outage. Stand by.
October 27, 2025 at 10:38 AM
📣THREAD: It’s surprising to me that so many people were surprised to learn that Signal runs partly on AWS (something we can do because we use encryption to make sure no one but you–not AWS, not Signal, not anyone–can access your comms).
It’s also concerning. 1/
It’s also concerning. 1/