Bill McDermott, the chief executive of ServiceNow, an American cloud computing firm, told reporters recently that the advancement of artificial intelligence could push the unemployment level of recent college graduates into the almost 40%. McDermott told CNBC that “so much of the work is going to be done by agents,” highlighting the challenge that college graduates will likely face. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York put the unemployment rate of recent college graduates, at the end of last year, at 5.7%, while underemployment for the same group reached 42.5%. Layoffs at large companies, particularly in Big Tech, continue. The fintech firm Block, recently announced it would lay off about 4,000 employees, roughly half of its workforce.
Friday, March 20, 2026
Key findings about how Americans view artificial intelligence - Michelle Faverio and Emma Kikuchi, Pew Research
Drawing on five years of Pew Research Center surveys, here are 13 findings about how Americans use and view AI, and where they see promise and risk. Americans continue to be wary of AI’s impact on daily life. Half of U.S. adults say the increased use of AI in daily life makes them feel more concerned than excited, according to a June 2025 survey. Just 10% say they are more excited than concerned. Another 38% say they are equally concerned and excited. More Americans are concerned today than they were when we first asked this question in 2021. Back then, 37% said they were more concerned than excited. In contrast, concern is lower in many of the 24 other countries we’ve polled about AI.
Thursday, March 19, 2026
University of Phoenix Scholars Publish Study on Academic Applications of Generative AI in Higher Education - University of Phoenix
University of Phoenix College of Doctoral Studies scholars Patricia Akojie, Ph.D., Marlene Blake, Ph.D., and Louise Underdahl, Ph.D. have published new research exploring how generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools are being used in academic environments. Their article, "Academic Applications of Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools: A Scoping Review," appears in the peer-reviewed International Journal of Digital Society. The study analyzes current scholarly literature on the academic applications of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, focusing on their role in doctoral research, academic writing, literature review processes, and knowledge development. Using a scoping review methodology, the researchers identify emerging patterns in how AI technologies are being adopted across higher education, while also highlighting the importance of ethical guidelines, academic integrity, and responsible AI use.
OpenAI ChatGPT leader discusses AI agents and the future of knowledge work at Harvard Business School - Emma Thompson, EdTech Innovation Hub
The discussion also explored how the responsibilities of product managers could change as generative AI systems become part of the development process. Ostrovskiy wrote: “The job becomes less about coordination and more about 1) understanding real user problems, 2) defining what ‘success’ means in an AI system, and 3) building evals and feedback loops so you can tell if a new model configuration is actually better than the last one.” He added that curiosity about how AI systems behave may become a core skill across multiple roles: “The advantage goes to people who are curious about system behavior and who like building, regardless of whether their title says PM, engineer, designer or something else.” The conversation also included advice for students learning how to evaluate AI systems: “Build something with one foundation model, then swap in a different model or prompt configuration and force yourself to decide if it’s better. When you’re a student looking to become a better PM, even a simple spreadsheet of use cases plus a qualitative rubric counts as an eval.”
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
What 3 Leading AI Models Say Are the Most Vulnerable Jobs in Higher Ed - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higther Ed
I asked artificial intelligence to tell me what jobs in higher education are most vulnerable to replacement in the near term. Sonnet is very honest in its replies, painting a difficult picture for those who seek to find new jobs in higher ed. For those already in the field, Sonnet suggests becoming the most adept user of AI in your office. Seek to transfer to the unit or office where AI is a top priority. It adds, “Consider whether your institution is viable. Smaller, tuition-dependent institutions without strong endowments are in structural decline. Loyalty to a sinking ship is not a career strategy.” Across all career stages in higher education, Gemini recommends, “To remain relevant, higher education professionals must pivot toward AI Orchestration. Success is no longer measured by how well you perform a task, but by how well you direct the agents performing them.”
Adopting AI is a social contract - Andrew Inkpen & Dani Inkpen, University Affairs
Integrating artificial intelligence into our societies and personal lives binds us to certain futures and forecloses the possibility of others. Are we ready to accept the consequences? Much of the present conversation about AI in higher education centers around questions of implementation. How do we use AI in accordance with principles of universal design? How can we ensure equity in its usage, be it across axes of gender, race or class? What does AI mean for the longevity of the professorial profession? Implementation should indeed be approached with care and nuance, and we welcome this conversation. Yet, questions of implementation assume that AI is desirable and inevitable in the classroom. The prior question of whether AI in higher education is actually desirable is often overlooked. Two widespread assumptions underpin this move: 1) technological progress is inevitable; 2) technology is apolitical — it only becomes political in its implementation.
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
AI broke the college degree: Why higher education matters more than ever - Katherine Perry, the Linfield Review
While it was once a faraway and futuristic idea, AI has now found its way into many aspects of everyday life, including higher education. This is what Patrick Dempsey, founder and co-CEO of Pend AI, spoke about in his keynote lecture on Feb. 18. Higher education is, at least in part, meant to equip students with the skills and specialized knowledge from their fields they will need in their careers after graduation. For this reason, Dempsey weighed in on the discourse surrounding AI in the workplace. While many worry that AI will automate jobs wholesale, he posited that AI could be used to automate certain tasks within jobs that don’t require this specialized knowledge, like emailing and meetings.
AI Tools to Reduce College Dropout Rates - Nancy Mann Jackson, EdTech
Roughly 3 in 10 college students drop out without earning any degree, resulting in higher unemployment and lower lifetime earnings than those who earn bachelor’s degrees, according to the Education Data Initiative. To help boost student retention, colleges and universities are using a variety of artificial intelligence tools that can help identify at-risk students early, offer customized learning, provide 24/7 assistance and improve engagement. “We’ve always known in higher education that we need to deliver more personalized, timely help to students who are struggling, but we haven’t always had the resources to deliver personal attention at scale,” says Timothy Renick, executive director of the National Institute for Student Success at Georgia State University. “Using technology can level the playing field, allowing us to leverage data and analytics to deliver personal attention at scale in a way that is much more cost effective than hiring hundreds of new staff.”
https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2026/03/ai-tools-reduce-college-dropout-rates
Monday, March 16, 2026
Today’s AI is built to respond. The future belongs to proactive systems. - Kiara Nirghin & Nikhara Nirghin, Big Think
Much of what we’ve seen from the biggest artificial intelligence (AI) companies has revolved around words: You go to their chatbot, ask it a question, and it responds. Over the past couple of years, some have taken this a step further with AI agents — those can actually do things, but only things you’ve told them to do. The next frontier in AI is not better chat. It is not even better agents. The next frontier is proactive AI, the kind that takes action, learns in real time, and, critically, comes to you before you go to it. This distinction is not a feature improvement. It is a civilizational pivot.
What national AI plans get wrong and how to fix them - Cameron F. Kerry and Saurabh Mishra, Brookings
AI is not a standalone sector; it creates value only when embedded in real industries. Countries should build cognitive infrastructure, including data, institutions, talent, and inherent local domain knowledge—not just compute capacity—to operationalize AI for real-world impact. The winning strategy is to strengthen what a country already does well and use AI to move into adjacent higher-value activities.
Sunday, March 15, 2026
Universities Are Not Only About Jobs. They're About Human Existence in the Age of AI. - Maria Mercedes Mateo-Berganza Diaz, IDB
In a world where AI can outperform humans in many cognitive tasks, universities must preserve human judgment, ethics, and purpose — not just technical skills. Higher education must prioritize broad, humanistic foundations alongside specialized skills to prepare students for complex, “messy” work that machines cannot replace. For the Global South, the stakes are even higher: universities are essential to safeguard agency, cultural sovereignty, and the ability to shape futures — not merely adapt to those designed elsewhere.
OpenAI's new GPT-5.4 clobbers humans on pro-level work in tests - by 83% - David Gewirtz, ZDnet
GPT-5.4 is also more reliable, producing 18% fewer errors and 33% fewer false claims than GPT-5.2, according to OpenAI. GPT-5.4's 83% score suggests AI rivals expert professionals. Tests span nine industries and 44 real-world occupations. New capabilities boost coding, tools, and computer control.
Saturday, March 14, 2026
OpenAI’s New GPT-5.4 Pro Is Now The Smartest AI In The World. - TheAIGRID, YouTube
The video discusses the release of OpenAI’s GPT-5.4 Pro, highlighting its dominance across sophisticated benchmarks like Frontier Math and OSWorld, where it demonstrates superhuman problem-solving by resolving mathematical equations that remained unsolved for decades [06:46]. While the model shows significant advancements in professional white-collar tasks and creative writing, the creator notes that its high performance comes with a substantial price increase [02:17] and introduces serious cybersecurity risks. Classified as a "high" threat in OpenAI’s preparedness framework, the model's ability to autonomously execute complex cyberattacks [21:42] suggests that future iterations could reach "critical" risk levels, potentially necessitating stricter access controls and government oversight as AI capabilities continue to accelerate toward human-level proficiency in specialized fields [13:37]. [summary assisted by Gemini 3]
AI in HE: International study finds high use, low support - Karen MacGregor, University World News
An international survey of university academics and students by Coursera, the massive online learning platform with 375 leading university and industry partners, has revealed highly positive attitudes towards generative AI and more than 95% make use of AI tools. But a weighty 56% fear that higher education is unprepared to handle AI. In the survey of 4,200 educators and students in India, Mexico, the United States, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia, only 26% of academics said their university had an AI use policy. Two thirds (65%) of educators and students believed unregulated AI could undermine degrees. Importantly, Dr Marni Baker Stein, chief content officer at Coursera, told University World News: “We’re seeing learners run out ahead in figuring out how to use AI tools in pretty sophisticated and personalised ways to help them in their studies. The question is, how and when do universities catch up with that velocity in the learner population?”
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