Mark Guzdial
banner
markguzdial.bsky.social
Mark Guzdial
@markguzdial.bsky.social
Professor in CSE, Information, and Education at
U-Michigan. Director of PCAS https://lsa.umich.edu/computingfor. Computing Ed Researcher, blogger, dad. https://computinged.wordpress.com/
Reposted by Mark Guzdial
Preprint w/ (rapid) analysis of Grokipedia, showing it to be “highly derivative of Wikipedia”, but differing, often on controversial topics, in that Grokipedia includes content/cites from low quality (hyper partisan & conspiracy laden) sources like Stormfront & Infowars. arxiv.org/pdf/2511.09685
arxiv.org
November 14, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Reposted by Mark Guzdial
Totally agree! I’ve learned so much from this talk. He actually referred to it in the SnapCon 2025 keynote youtu.be/U9W04TEMBUk?... when he pointed to the perceptron sprite code and said something like “that’s for another talk”. And a month later that talk showed up.
What's new in Snap! 11 - Data - Extensions - Neural Networks
YouTube video by Jens Mönig
youtu.be
October 29, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Astonishing talk by @jmoenig.bsky.social. From teaching linear algebra using powerful examples in Snap!, then replicates (working code!) the history of perceptrons (from Rosenblatt to Rummerlhart), then creates a NN to recognize musical instruments. SO recommended! www.youtube.com/live/_JSnHmG...
🔵 Bottom Line - Teaching Neural Networks with Snap!
YouTube video by SAP Developers
www.youtube.com
October 29, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Reposted by Mark Guzdial
So the ceasefire in Gaza isn't real, people are being kidnapped by ICE all over this country, the government is shut down, and millions of people are about to lose SNAP and healthcare and all of these EXACT SAME THINGS would be happening if the Black lady won in November???

Got it.
October 29, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by Mark Guzdial
Computing has always been a seesawing discipline. We had the AI winters of the 1970s and the 1990s, and we had the dotcom crash and the ensuing “Image Crisis.” It seems another crisis is upon us. Will we ever learn? It is time for some serious thinking! cacm.acm.org/opinion/comp...
Computing Is Indeed a Discipline in Crisis – Communications of the ACM
cacm.acm.org
October 23, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Rebecca Quintana nails it. "Educational Technology Companies Are Putting AI Before Educator Expertise" @rebquintana.bsky.social

www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
Ed-Tech Companies Are Putting AI Before Educator Expertise
A guest post from U-M’s Rebecca Quintana.
www.insidehighered.com
October 27, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Why does the NAS Workshop on Discipline-Based Education Research have no speakers from computing education research? With the impact of AI on education, I'd think that CER would be relevant. mailchi.mp/nationalacad...
[Register now] Workshop: Discipline-Based Education Research
mailchi.mp
October 23, 2025 at 5:48 PM
The No Kings protest in Ann Arbor was all down Stadium from I-94 to the Big House, so that many of the out-of-towners coming in for the game would see it. Yup, got flashed the bird several time. #purplestate #NoKings #NoFascism
October 18, 2025 at 8:09 PM
I’m reading about Joel Mokyr who just won a share in the Nobel Prize in economics. 
(news.northwestern.edu/stories/2025...). He’s an economic historian (!) who explains why Europe got the Industrial Revolution and China didn’t, when China had all the elements (e.g., movable type) before Europe.
Joel Mokyr wins Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences
Nobel recognizes Mokyr’s theory on sustained economic growth
news.northwestern.edu
October 15, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Why GenAI does not work for science communications. www.science.org/content/blog...
Can ChatGPT help science writers?
www.science.org
September 25, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by Mark Guzdial
The School of Information at Michigan is looking for its next John Derby Evans Professor in Information. It's open at the Assistant and Associate levels, and its a broad search: anyone working at the intersection of tech and society can apply. Please share!

www.si.umich.edu/people/facul...
John Derby Evans Professorship in Information (Assistant or Associate Professor) | umsi
The University of Michigan School of Information (UMSI) invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position focusing on technology and society.
www.si.umich.edu
September 15, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Reposted by Mark Guzdial
University of Michigan School of Information has four faculty positions ranging from Presidential Postdoc to Full. They're all linked here. PPFP due Sep 26, the others Nov 1 or 15. www.si.umich.edu/people/facul...
Faculty recruiting | umsi
Learn about open faculty positions at UMSI.
www.si.umich.edu
September 15, 2025 at 5:26 PM
We're over 580 students enrolled in PCAS courses this semester, and six sections have only five seats remaining. Time to expand -- again!
September 4, 2025 at 1:41 PM
This is pretty cool -- a 3-D printed microscope using Snap! for zooming and object identification. maketolearn.org/wp-content/u...
maketolearn.org
September 3, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Valerie Barr says what a lot of CS teachers are thinking. cacm.acm.org/blogcacm/fee...
Feeling Cranky About AI and CS Education – Communications of the ACM
cacm.acm.org
September 2, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Reposted by Mark Guzdial
This captures many of my worries about OpenAI's approach to education (and then some)
OpenAI claims to be pursuing a "moonshot" in education. Today I provide a short annotated guide to what that "moonshot" entails, with nods to @mikecaulfield.bsky.social @simonwillison.net @audreywatters.bsky.social @leonfurze.com @janerosenzweig.bsky.social and especially @heymrsbond.com
An Annotated Guide to OpenAI's Enshittification of Education
1.
open.substack.com
August 7, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Such a great one-line summary of most of academia:

Success in this field demanded a forceful, single-minded capacity for self-delusion.
August 29, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Reposted by Mark Guzdial
5/ In Shanghai, they were herded into a ghetto. Yes, there was a Jewish ghetto *in Shanghai* (read here). The Germans tried to get the Jews deported, but the Japanese wouldn't. She still speaks with great admiration for the Japanese. ↵
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shangha...
Shanghai Ghetto - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
May 21, 2024 at 2:40 AM
Reposted by Mark Guzdial
3.2/ His bravery was of course not rewarded, and he paid for it in many ways. He didn't ask for credit, either. He was only recognized near the very end of his life. He is apparently the only Japanese person recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations. ↵
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiune_...
Chiune Sugihara - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
May 21, 2024 at 2:39 AM
Reposted by Mark Guzdial
1/ Over the weekend there was a block party a short distance from my place for a lady who turned 90. That's notable enough, but in her case it's special because she's a Holocaust survivor. I chatted with her today and looked up some things. Remarkable story! Buckle in: ↵
May 21, 2024 at 2:39 AM
Looking forward to Luca's defense tomorrow! Teaching Introductory Programming Using Graphics as a Domain www.usi.ch/en/feeds/32743
Teaching Introductory Programming Using Graphics as a Domain
You are cordially invited to attend the PhD Dissertation Defence of Luca Chiodini on Monday 25 August 2025 at 13:30 in room D0.02 (USI East Campus) / online. Abstract: An increasingly wider and more d...
www.usi.ch
August 24, 2025 at 6:34 PM
I asked GPT-4.1 about Turing Award laureates who had written about education. Of course, I should have remembered Seymour Papert in 1980.

Oh wait...
August 22, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Reposted by Mark Guzdial
95% of generative AI pilots at companies are failing fortune.com/2025/08/18/m...
MIT report: 95% of generative AI pilots at companies are failing
There’s a stark difference in success rates between companies that purchase AI tools from vendors and those that build them internally.
fortune.com
August 19, 2025 at 2:43 PM
The State of Michigan will be requiring all high schools to offer an *in-person* CS course by 2027-2028. I like the definition of CS that they're providing -- it includes all of PCAS (lsa.umich.edu/computingfor). (And no mention of AI!) www.michigan.gov/mde/-/media/...
August 22, 2025 at 1:58 PM