Where am I going? Where have I been?

The task of writing a reflective essay is to describe my educational philosophy and beliefs, how they were framed and formed, and how I hope to apply them in future applications. In order to understand my goals, one must first look at the path that has lead me to these goals. Before I can truly understand where I am going, I must first review where I have been. I have never – not even for one minute – regretted my decision to become an educator. In the last seven years, I have never wished to skip a single day of work. I love my job; I love my students; I love my colleagues; and I love learning

Ethics of Artificial Intelligence Demarcations

In this paper we present a set of key demarcations, particularly important when discussing ethical and societal issues of current AI research and applications. Properly distinguishing issues and concerns related to Artificial General Intelligence and weak AI, between symbolic and connectionist AI, AI methods, data and applications are prerequisites for an informed debate. Such demarcations would not only facilitate much-needed discussions on ethics on current AI technologies and research. In addition sufficiently establishing such demarcations would also enhance knowledge-sharing and support rigor in interdisciplinary research between technical and social sciences.Comment: Proceedings of the Norwegian AI Symposium 2019 (NAIS 2019), Trondheim, Norwa

The short term musculoskeletal and cognitive effects of prolonged sitting during office computer work

Office workers are exposed to high levels of sedentary time. In addition to cardio-vascular and metabolic health risks, this sedentary time may have musculoskeletal and/or cognitive impacts on office workers. Participants (n = 20) undertook two hours of laboratory-based sitting computer work to investigate changes in discomfort and cognitive function (sustained attention and problem solving), along with muscle fatigue, movement and mental state. Over time, discomfort increased in all body areas (total body IRR [95% confidence interval]: 1.43 [1.33–1.53]) reaching clinically meaningful levels in the low back and hip/thigh/buttock areas. Creative problem solving errors increased (ß = 0.25 [0.03–1.47]) while sustained attention did not change. There was no change in erector spinae, trapezius, rectus femoris, biceps femoris and external oblique median frequency or amplitude; low back angle changed towards less lordosis, pelvis movement increased, and mental state deteriorated. There were no substantial correlations between discomfort and cognitive function. The observed changes suggest prolonged sitting may have consequences for musculoskeletal discomfort and cognitive function and breaks to interrupt prolonged sitting are recommended