An AI-powered, billionaire-backed chain of private schools promises to educate students with two hours of virtual learning a day and entrepreneurship workshops. There are no teachers, and tuition is nearly double the most expensive private school in the state. This is Alpha School and, come August, it’s touching down in Oklahoma. Here’s how it works, according to Alpha: Students start each morning on a laptop, with two hours on Alpha’s adaptive, AI learning platform. Half an hour is allotted to each core subject: math, reading, science and social studies. Then, in the afternoon, students learn through projects and workshops that build life skills. Alpha’s rejection of tradition is its draw; for one soon-to-be Alpha parent, whose son will start eighth grade at the Tulsa location, the workshops and highly personalized learning convinced her family to commit.
Monday, August 10, 2026
AI and SMEs: From Automation to Growth - The AI Professor Luca
In this episode of The AI Professor, host Professor Luca highlights artificial intelligence as a major competitive equalizer for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) [00:00]. Drawing from an MIT Technology Review report, he explains that AI helps small teams manage multi-disciplinary roles—such as administration, marketing, and finance—freeing up the entrepreneur’s time to focus on strategic growth and innovation rather than simple task automation [00:26]. Data from a Goldman Sachs study reveals that while 76% of surveyed small businesses already use AI and 84% report increased productivity, only 14% have fully integrated AI into core workflows, citing key hurdles in cybersecurity, tool selection, and technical skill gaps [01:24]. Expanding the scope to medium-sized businesses, insights from the World Economic Forum indicate that generative AI holds over $2 trillion in potential value for the sector, though pilot projects often fail when organizations try to automate indiscriminately without updating underlying skills and processes [02:19]. Luca concludes that long-term competitive advantage will not come from standard chatbots, but from thoughtfully integrating AI into core workflows alongside human oversight and expertise [02:45]. Summary by Gemini Flash
Sunday, August 09, 2026
Artificial Intelligence Exposes the Failings of Modern Scholarship - B.M. Ryan, Minding the Campus
Artificial intelligence thrives because universities reward predictable academic writing over genuine intellectual discovery. As higher education expanded, publication increasingly became less a record of discovery than a currency of professional advancement. Papers certify careers, grants, promotions, and institutional prestige. The result is an explosion of research output without a corresponding explosion of transformative ideas. Novelty has always been rewarded, but only when it is legible within shared methods, shared language, and shared standards of evidence. On this view, AI does not dissolve the institution so much as accelerate it—making fluent, norm-compliant prose cheap while leaving untouched the deeper filters that decide what counts as knowledge.
Montana Tech Names First Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer in Montana University System - Amanda Badovinac, Montana Tech
Recognizing the transformative impact of emerging technologies on higher education and industry, Montana Technological University has appointed Professor Chad Okrusch, Ph.D. to serve as the university’s first chief artificial intelligence officer. The position is the first of its kind in the Montana University System (MUS). As chief artificial intelligence officer, Okrusch will lead Montana Tech’s strategic integration of artificial intelligence across campus, ensuring that students, faculty, and staff are equipped to navigate, utilize, and shape the future of AI responsibly.
Saturday, August 08, 2026
Students as Conscientious Objectors to Generative AI: We should listen to them—and treat their objections with respect - Carla Fehr and Jennifer Saul, Inside Higher Ed
When Carla explained the assignment, the first question raised was “What if we don’t want to use GenAI?” At first, she responded that it was part of the assignment and that whether or not they wanted to use generative AI, they should at least know how to use it. If they then chose to reject it, they could do so from a place of knowledge and experience. The class atmosphere became tense as more students pushed back against this required use of generative AI. They wanted to know what their classmates thought rather than what a large language model produced in response to prompting; they wanted to wrestle with difficult readings and complex ideas; they wanted to work together across their human differences to negotiate new ideas and find ways of expressing them. And they didn’t want to outsource any of this effort to generative AI. They wanted to do the work, even the mundane work.
Coursera invests $100 million in Andrew Ng’s AI learning company LearnVector - EdTech Innovation Hub
The newly formed company plans to use AI agents to create individualized learning experiences that adapt as people practice and master new skills. The deal brings Ng’s work in agentic AI into Coursera’s wider strategy for personalized learning. LearnVector plans to develop one-to-one experiences that adapt to individual learners, provide opportunities to practice and remain involved until they have mastered the material. Greg Hart, Chief Executive Officer and President of Coursera, revealed the investment on LinkedIn, describing Ng’s focus as extending beyond the development of AI itself to “how to use it to unlock human potential.” Ng co-founded Coursera and has combined work in artificial intelligence with efforts to expand access to education. “Few people have taught AI to more learners or done more to help people understand and apply this technology,” Hart observed. The investment also has roots in conversations between the pair before Hart joined Coursera. Reflecting on those discussions, he recalled: “We both became energized talking about the ways AI could be used to transform the learning experience and deliver better outcomes for learners.”
Friday, August 07, 2026
Why AI Is Changing What It Means to Be Intelligent - Lydia Elliott, Faculty Focus
Across higher education, artificial intelligence has rapidly changed how students complete academic work. Essays, summaries, explanations, and structured problem-solving can now be generated instantly. The first concern has understandably been academic integrity. A deeper issue, however, is emerging. We are beginning to mistake performance for understanding. Students can now produce correct answers without necessarily developing the ability to interpret situations, make decisions, or apply knowledge responsibly.
Microsoft's latest quantum chip is 1,000 times more reliable than its predecessor — but why is it so controversial? - Keumars Afifi-Sabet, Live Science
Microsoft has revealed a new quantum computing chip with quantum bits (qubits) it says are capable of maintaining their quantum state for 1,000 times longer than its predecessor — paving the way for more reliable quantum computers by 2029. But not all scientists believe the company's claims. The experimental quantum processing unit (QPU), dubbed Majorana 2, features a four-qubit array that offers a reported mean qubit lifetime of 20 seconds and, in some instances, up to a minute. This is a massive improvement in quantum coherence times — the time that qubits are entangled so that calculations can run in parallel — typically seen in QPUs. Normally, this lifetime is measured in milliseconds (thousandths of a second). The new chip could put scientists on the path to building a quantum computer that's commercially viable by 2029 — halving the timespan researchers initially expected — Microsoft representatives said in a statement.
The 10 most valuable AI skills students want to learn - Alcino Donadel University Business
There are 10 foundational AI skills education leaders should embed in their curriculum to ensure graduates are ready for the workforce, a new Coursera report contends. Student interest in generative AI is exploding as employers across industries make the technology a key part of daily operations. Participation in Coursera’s generative AI courses has increased by 234% over the last year, while professional certificate enrollment jumped by 91% as employers wish to verify what job candidates are learning. The fastest-growing, non-technical AI skill is creating content that promotes a business’ strategy or services. Courses that focus on critical thinking around responsible and ethical AI use have grown by 185%. Critical thinking is increasingly taught in STEM disciplines, including data, IT and software development.
Thursday, August 06, 2026
How can the public sector meet the AI moment? - McKinsey
Achieving real impact, however, requires more than isolated pilots. Fully realizing AI’s potential demands organizations rewire by redesigning processes, ways of working, and operating models to make the technology part of everyday service delivery. This series explores how leaders can move beyond experimentation and take practical steps to scale AI responsibly, delivering measurable improvements in efficiency, service quality, and the experience of the people they serve. Our ambition is to help the public sector dramatically improve their capacity to deliver for residents by providing leaders with the insights and confidence needed to accelerate that journey.
Is that AI agent worth it? Agentic economics and the modern operating model - McKinsey
A lot goes into what determines that value, such as whether the agent output is correct, whether humans must supervise or repair it, how much compute it consumes while reasoning, and whether the value of the completed work exceeds the full operational cost of generating it. In essence, for CEOs this boils down to answering a basic question: Are the AI agent capabilities we’re building and running worth the value we’re getting from them? Answering that question is becoming ever more pressing for CEOs as AI systems move from agentic coworkers to agents capable of more complex tasks like reasoning and orchestrating workflows across the enterprise. Furthermore, AI spending is expected to rise to roughly 25 percent of enterprise IT budgets within the next several years. Yet many organizations still cannot clearly explain which AI systems are generating value, what they truly cost to operate, or how those economics change as usage scales.
Wednesday, August 05, 2026
From Knowledge Building to Wisdom Building in Higher Education - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed
In years gone by, we said that students went to college to gather knowledge. Now, college is appropriately expected to be much more about building wisdom. The advent of the internet toward the end of the last century went a long way to stimulate this shift to the emphasis on wisdom. More recently, artificial intelligence has further accelerated the move. Those of us in higher education who still have our focus on knowledge gathering in our classes are a quarter of a century behind the times. Rote memorization of facts is out of date, supplanted by highly refined search and retrieval skills coupled with an ability to apply sophisticated critical and creative thinking to those data. We are at the turning point in higher learning where we must now shift our focus from memorization and recitation of facts to the synthesis and analysis of a much broader virtual “library” of knowledge. From this perspective, we will build wisdom among our students. This new level of learning will provide the platform for graduates and certificate completers to exercise leadership and vision in our society.
Robot reboot - McKinsey
A new generation of robotics is powering up. How can leaders capture the value at stake while ensuring successful human–machine collaboration? The market for general-purpose robotics, including humanoid robots, is poised to skyrocket—growing to an estimated $370 billion by 2040, up from under $1 billion today. Beyond their economic value, next-generation robots will think and act more autonomously, evolving from highly specialized machines into systems capable of performing a diverse set of tasks. The leap in general-purpose robots is being driven largely by advances in software—including AI—which enable robots to be more useful in different environments, such as manufacturing.
https://www.mckinsey.com/quarterly/the-five-fifty/five-fifty-robot-reboot
Tuesday, August 04, 2026
90% of students use AI in the classroom, Instructure poll finds - Laura Spitalniak, Higher Ed Dive
A large majority of college students — 90% — report using artificial intelligence in class at least occasionally, according to new survey data from ed tech provider Instructure. Nearly two-thirds of college instructors, 61%, said the same. But the survey, released Tuesday, also found that only 11% of higher ed instructors received comprehensive AI training, while 41% said they had not received any formal training on AI. Educators are looking for support in the form of hands-on training, clear guidance from their institutions about AI use, and ongoing professional development on the topic, according to Instructure.
California launches first-in-the-nation AI literacy initiative with SDSU leadership - San Diego State University
San Diego State University is co-leading AI-Ready California, a first-in-the-nation statewide pilot micro-credential program, offered to Californians interested in expanding their AI literacy and preparing to join the workforce of the future. “Artificial intelligence has rapidly become a foundational skill for work, much like digital literacy became a generation ago,” said James P. Frazee, SDSU’s vice president for information technology and chief information officer. “AI-Ready California is about ensuring every Californian has the opportunity to build the knowledge, judgment and confidence to use AI responsibly and effectively – regardless of their background or career path – and to be competitive for our changing workforce,” said Frazee, also a founding member of the California State University AI Workforce Acceleration Board.
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