Fredrik Graver

Professor of film school pedagogy at the Norwegian Film School. Fascinated by the intersection of art and technology. Am convinced creative expression and making art is what makes us human. Involved in MishMash – Centre for AI and Creativity as I believe we cannot leave AI to the tech companies.

Reader of science fiction. Lover of dogs. Watcher of sports. Drinker of whisky. Sceptical enthusiast when it comes to gadgets and tech.

My writing is zuzai*

* Characterized by the absence of AI.

About me: https://filmschoolteacher.info/about/
Blog: https://filmschoolteacher.info/fredsnotes/
Pixelfed photos: https://pixelfed.social/i/web/profile/7151
Gravatar: https://gravatar.com/scrumptiouslyfa14fe7a0a

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npub1d800kqcd4vr28sn4gm8qktm6x5mkjxe34t6g4t9wamp3qgxfn4cqvd7xqv

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fgraver_at_hcommons.social@momostr.pink

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nprofile1qqsxnhhmqvx6kp4rcf65dnst9aar2dmfrvc64ay24jhwascsyrye6uqpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0ds5q88vt

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relay.damus.io

nos.lol

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npub1d800kqcd4vr28sn4gm8qktm6x5mkjxe34t6g4t9wamp3qgxfn4cqvd7xqv

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Last Notes

2026-07-11 19:51:30 UTC

The AI Resist List https://airesistlist.org/

2026-05-08 17:41:42 UTC

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Cool! My undergrad degree was in Cultural Studies (in Canada), but then I ended up working in theatre and film before moving (back, in a sense) to Norway.

2026-05-08 17:24:52 UTC

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I will! The National Film School at IADT is hosting an international film schools conference in the last week of October. I’m hoping to get the funding to travel there.

2026-05-08 13:52:52 UTC

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Good to know! I’m hoping to travel to Dun Laoghaire in October.

2026-04-27 18:07:10 UTC

On LLMs, language, cultural references, and supressing the horrors of war. A worth-while read from @npub1z09…5s80.
“Du må ikke sove”: a floating motif detached from its meaning (or: LLMs can write Norwegian but miss cultural references) – Jill Walker Rettberg https://jilltxt.net/du-ma-ikke-sove-a-floating-motif-detached-from-its-meaning-or-llms-can-write-norwegian-but-miss-cultural-references/
(The original poem in it’s entirety can be found here: https://www.nb.no/items/d7fb96765bfb5f0bef6b1218f5cd7231?page=325)

2026-04-02 08:32:47 UTC

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6%. Because yes, some industries *do* need to die. Just not the one the tech bros think…

2026-03-29 07:39:19 UTC

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Bloody time change. It happened here too…thankfully, the dog—who is my weekend alarm clock—still slept the same number of hours.
I think the development of art and the development of technology og hand in hand, and have for as long as homo sapiens has existed. So there is no problem, from my point of view, that artists chose to use whatever technology they have at their disposal. But that does not mean the tool itself can create—or engage in a creative process—on it’s own accord.
And I see that AI is a very different and more powerful kind of tool than what we had access to before. But it’s still a tool.

2026-03-28 22:18:51 UTC

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Our past experiences, combined with our embodied connections to current experiences, and our ability to be creative and have intuitive responses is what enables ut to create art. One thing I have found in my research recently is that the ability to create art is not only particularly human; it is also what has enabled us to evolve into the creatures we are today.
Can AI create art? No. Of this I am very sure.

2026-03-28 22:08:15 UTC

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I ended up asking Claude as after several weeks of reading articles by humans, I was no closer to understanding what these AI agent things are. After having an AI create that article, I actually do understand a little more. At least, enough more to help me (I hope) continue to explore what humans have to say.
I’m a big believer in the process of making art. AI will never be able to create art as it cannot have a messy, emobodied, emotional, experiential process. Art may or may not be aesthetically pleasing—and AI certainly is capable of creating something aesthetically pleasing—but art always springs from a very human process. Art always results in something new, something that has not existed before. AI cannot do that.

2026-03-28 21:27:37 UTC

I have, of course, heard of AI agents—and read a number of articles about them and testimonials to how different people have used them. At the same time, I do not feel I understand them. What are they exactly? And so, I thought I would see if a LLM—in this case, Antropic’s Claude—could explain them to me.
Below is the result. I’ve included my prompt, the response from the LLM, and the article I asked it to write. It seems…fine. I do actually have a better sense of how an AI agent works, even if I’m not sure I trust everything it wrote.
Claude-generated article on AI agents – fredsnotes https://filmschoolteacher.info/fredsnotes/2026/03/28/claude-generated-article-on-ai-agents/

2026-03-23 14:40:44 UTC

Using your AI chatbot as a search engine? Be careful what you believe https://theconversation.com/using-your-ai-chatbot-as-a-search-engine-be-careful-what-you-believe-277616

2026-01-15 19:09:10 UTC

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I completely agree: your videos are not slop, @npub1wkl…q330. On the contrary, they are full insight. caring, and thought even if they can be technically rough around the edges. Quite the opposite of AI slop, in fact!

2026-01-15 12:24:34 UTC

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But back to the issue at hand: my problem with AI slop isn’t that it’s crap. It’s that it’s created with such speed and at such a volume that it threatens to drown out simple human expressions. I believe we humans are evolutionarily hard wired to create art. But will anyone find it when there is so much artificial crap out there? And, if we can’t find it, how can we touch each other through artistic expression? (2/2)

2026-01-15 12:24:34 UTC

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To be fair, I haven’t really noticed people using the term «slop» for the mediocre crap humans have created for centuries. But there is something to be said for the humanity of a creation.
I’ll illustrate with an anecdote: a couple of years ago we visited the Capitolini museum in Rome. Among the fantastic pieces of pottery from the Etruscan and early Roman eras is a small clay figure that is quite amateurish. It looks like something a child might have made in a hurry. And that piece was the one my (grown) daughter loved the most, precisely because of the humanity of it. It looked crappy, but it was crap that could have been made by anyone, and then ended up in a museum 2000 years later. Both the incongruity of it, and the fact that this simple, human artitstic expression survived the millennia touched her deeply. (1/2)

2026-01-08 18:43:22 UTC

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Exactly. No grades does not mean no evaluations of how a student is progessing and learning. But it does mean a complete rethink of how we evaluate.

2026-01-08 18:31:31 UTC

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I think there are better ways to give the students an indication of whether they need to works harder or not, and where they need to put in their effort. Grades inevitably become a goal in themselves, and thus undermine learning. It took a long time (far too long!) to realise this.

2026-01-08 16:39:43 UTC

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Agreed. As an educator at a programme with no grades whatsoever (BFA in filmmaking) I can attest to the fact that when grades are not involved, and the students’ futures do not depend on whether they get a C or an A, they are free to focus on learning to a much greater degree.
I would love to see grades eliminated altogether from most educational programmes, at all levels.

2025-12-04 19:07:57 UTC

Furst Haugen forstår tydeligvis ikke hvordan politikk virker. Ved å «nekte å ta side» så *har* NRK tatt side. De har tatt side med de som mener det er helt greit at et land som begår et aktivt folkemord får lov til å renvaske seg gjennom en festlig musikkonkurranse. Den falske påstanden om å «ikke ta side» vil alltid bekrefte overfor overgriperen at den kan fortsette som før uten konsekvenser.
Skam dere, NRK!
Israel får delta i Eurovision – NRK Kultur og underholdning https://www.nrk.no/kultur/israel-far-delta-i-eurovision-1.17675864

2025-11-26 18:09:13 UTC

At least two different people on this train car are watching stuff on their phones — without headsets; thus forcing the rest of us to listen to whatever they’re interested in…
Perhaps I should play some music out loud? My iPad is louder than their phones… Some Gangstagrass, perhaps?

2025-11-25 11:26:11 UTC

It's been a while since I last posted to my "Thinking out loud" series on #FineArtsPedagogy. Right now, I've been delving into the nature of creativity, which brings together both my work at The Norwegian Film School and the emerging work at MishMash - Centre for AI & Creativity.
I have been troubled by understandings of creativity that emphasize product and value. I have read and argued with myself, and find I need to think of creativity as primarily a process, which involves intention and action.
https://filmschoolteacher.info/fredsnotes/2025/11/25/thinking-out-loud-what-is-creativity/
#Creativity #Philosophy #FilmSchool #ArtsPedagogy

2025-11-11 19:51:36 UTC

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I had an old machine that has been offline for a couple of months and was able retrieve most of my files from there — but not all. Among the things that are gone is a backup folder with a ton of personal history (including my FB and Twitter archives from when I deleted my accounts there). I’ve sent tab.digital an email to support, but am not holding my breath. I’m a free user since the 8GB that includes has been plenty for my needs, but I’m afraid that means they don’t have backups of my data. I hope I’m wrong.
I see there is a script on GitHub that might help, but I’m afraid using it on my Mac is well beyond my abilities. (2/2)

2025-11-11 19:51:36 UTC

Very strange thing happened with my files on the tab.digital @npub1rk6…hv4q… I noticed today they have been spontaneously encrypted; apparently not by some cryptoransomer, but a known bug that has plagued random users for at least two years. All the text files, regardless of file type, now start with the header HBEGIN:oc_encryption_module:OC_DEFAULT_MODULE:cipher:AES-256-CTR:signed:true:useLegacyFileKey:false:encoding:binary:HEND. Since I didn’t turn on encryption, I have no way of unencrypting them. Very frustrating. (1/2)

2025-11-04 15:46:28 UTC

Dick Cheney was right up there with Henry Kissinger. They made the world a worse place than it was before they achieved power and influence.

2025-09-29 18:58:58 UTC

It seems progressive and social democratic politicians are at a loss over how to win elections and gain popularity, so here are my tips.
1. Increase taxes for the rich.
2. Stop subsidies to companies making huge profits.
3. Invest in social welfare programmes like education, health care, and the like.
4. Stop investing in war criminals like the Israeli government.
5. Enact policies to stop the climate crisis.
6. Subsidise working families to protect them from the costs of environmental policies.
7. Stop treating public utilities like businesses. Their role is to provide services for citizens, and they should be measured according to how well they do that. Period.
8. Enact tax policies that prevent the hoarding of wealth, including inheritance taxes.

2025-09-11 16:40:21 UTC

Kommentar: Charlie Kirk fortjener et redelig forsvar av ytringsfriheten – ikke helgengjøring - Filter Nyheter https://filternyheter.no/kommentar-charlie-kirk-fortjener-et-aerlig-forsvar-for-ytringsfriheten-hans-ikke-helgengjoring/

2025-09-07 15:44:31 UTC

#SilentSunday
https://spaces.hcommons.social/media_attachments/files/115/163/782/780/387/200/original/323a0ffa1065d14c.jpeg

2025-07-29 16:30:00 UTC

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Ghost is on there too? I thought they were supposed to be the ethical alternative to Substack?
This is why we can’t have nice things.

2025-07-22 08:57:15 UTC

I have the priviledge of taking a whole semester for my research this fall, and intend to blog / think out loud as I work my way through #Pedagogy, #Philosophy, #Art, #Filmmaking, #ExperientialLearning, #4ECognition, and a host of other topics — yes, including some thoughts on #AI and how it effects creativity, imagination, and human agency.
I think I’ll gather the whole thing under the hashtag #ArtsPedagogy, as that is the main thrust of my research.
Thinking out loud v.01 – fredsnotes https://filmschoolteacher.info/fredsnotes/uncategorized/thinking-out-loud-v-01/

2025-06-02 12:12:35 UTC

Is there a more perfect illustration of capitalism at work? https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/01/dark-roof-lobby

2025-04-12 08:04:53 UTC

M-dashes are the only civilised option, truly. I use m-dashes (and proper punctuation!) in text messages. https://wandering.shop/@kagan/114321556554961945

2025-03-13 10:49:49 UTC

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I have the same thought in my darker, more cynical moments: the planet would be better off without us.

2025-02-09 16:43:17 UTC

#SilentSunday
https://spaces.hcommons.social/media_attachments/files/113/974/928/740/667/170/original/10bc73be5cd50dad.jpeg

2025-01-21 16:32:07 UTC

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Then they had lyrics like «All we need is radio ga-ga, radio goo-goo…» That alone should be disqualifying.

2025-01-20 08:51:04 UTC

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I know of Freeland and Carney. Who else is in the race? Difficult to follow from abroad, but some of my old NDP-leaning friends seem to be favouring Freeland.

2025-01-06 19:23:30 UTC

Musk has become the very definition of a foreign insurrectionist. He is attempting to use his money and influence to destabilise the governments of countries other than his own, and should be subject to the same sorts of sanctions and restrictions as Russian oligarchs.
Starmer condemns ‘lies and misinformation’ as he hits back at Musk https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jan/06/starmer-condemns-lies-and-misinformation-as-he-hits-back-at-musk?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

2025-01-06 18:44:49 UTC

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I voted, but forgot to comment.
My philosophy? I need more shelves! Those Elfa ones might just do the trick if I completely redo my office / den / storage room…

2024-12-22 17:13:06 UTC

#SilentSunday
https://spaces.hcommons.social/media_attachments/files/113/697/592/802/446/984/original/d429784ec478558b.jpeg

2024-11-21 16:09:54 UTC

👏👏👏
Now, the questions becomes: will any of the ICC member states actually follow up on the arrest order should they have the opportunity…? https://social.mondoweiss.net/@mondoweiss/113521103082158420

2024-11-09 19:38:16 UTC

‘It will renew your faith in humanity’: books to bring comfort in dark times https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/nov/09/it-will-renew-your-faith-in-humanity-books-to-bring-comfort-in-dark-times?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

2024-11-01 18:12:17 UTC

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And yet they support the Tories. Who are not that different.

2024-11-01 18:09:19 UTC

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The truly scary thing is Trumps misogyny resonates with so many, both in the USA and so many other countries. I simply cannot understand why so many men hate women so much, but it is on those of us men who oppose misogyny to stand up and speak against it again and again and again.

2024-10-26 17:50:44 UTC

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«Cold»? Really? Not very observant, are they.
I didn’t follow you on Twitter, but on here I find you anything but cold. Whoever said that either lacks observational skills or is trying to gaslight you.

2024-10-23 04:40:11 UTC

The tyranny of the cloud: how we became serfs to big tech - The Skeptic https://www.skeptic.org.uk/2024/10/the-tyranny-of-the-cloud-how-we-became-serfs-to-big-tech/

2024-10-14 18:24:36 UTC

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If I lived in the US, I don’t think I could vote for a Democratic party that supports a nation that commits genocide, firebombs civilians, and breaks all tenets of international law as they brutally invade a neighbouring country, attacking UN Peacekeepers in the process.
But I also can’t shake this niggling fear that the Trump administration-to-be is watching Netanyahu closely and taking notes for their own authoritarian, racist playbook.

2024-09-11 17:41:40 UTC

This is true in general, not just for the UK. For any corporation, the Board of Directors and the top management should be held *personally* responsible for any and all damage the company causes. Only then is there a chance they will start to put the safety and welfare of their employees, their customers, and society at large ahead of annual dividends and company profits.
Avoiding man-made disasters like Grenfell could be helped by holding executives more accountable https://theconversation.com/avoiding-man-made-disasters-like-grenfell-could-be-helped-by-holding-executives-more-accountable-238451

2024-09-11 17:16:32 UTC

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Like many, I’ve become quite allergic to the «not all…» argument.
Not all men
Not all white people
Not all [members of monotheistic religions]
Not all rich people…
and so on, ad nauseam.
We need to take responsibility to make change, in whatever way we can, no matter what oppressive group we are part of.

2024-09-11 16:50:47 UTC

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Ouch. Your characterization of men in this post is … not wrong. Unfortunately.

2024-09-01 19:10:24 UTC

The Germans have elected a Nazi party. Not a party that others call nazis. Actual, honest-to-goodness, nazis.
German far-right party AfD poised for state election victory in east https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/01/german-far-right-party-afd-state-election-victory-thuringia?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

2024-08-09 19:18:50 UTC

You know who else should be on trial for the UK’s far-right riots? Elon Musk | Jonathan Freedland
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/09/uk-far-right-riots-elon-musk-x

2024-08-07 15:46:33 UTC

Three forgotten women who wrote fairytales which subverted the Grimms’ gender norms https://theconversation.com/three-forgotten-women-who-wrote-fairytales-which-subverted-the-grimms-gender-norms-233931