BU Wheelock Forum Explores AI in Education - Boston Uniiversity

What do teaching and learning mean in an AI world? This question was at the center of the 2026 BU Wheelock Forum AI and the Future of Education, hosted by the Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development on March 25. Approximately 250 people—including educators, administrators, and scholars—attended the event, which featured a keynote from Aaron Rasmussen (COM’06, CAS’06), cofounder of online education platforms Outlier.ai and MasterClass; a faculty panel discussion moderated by Wheelock Dean Penny Bishop; and a modern dance performance using Random Actor, a technology developed by James Grady, a College of Fine Arts assistant professor of art, graphic design, and Clay Hopper, a CFA senior lecturer, directing, that harnesses AI to extend the visual expression of human movement. 

https://www.bu.edu/articles/2026/wheelock-forum-explores-ai-education/

Cal State’s new framework promises jobs or grad school path for all students - Cate Rix, EdSource

Over the past decade, California State University campuses pursued an ambitious plan to encourage students to complete their degrees faster and boost overall graduation rates. Now the system is making a bold promise: Every student will graduate with a clear path to a career or graduate school. And it is planning changes to make the system’s degree programs more career-focused, possibly by phasing out some majors. CSU leaders say academic and career advising will be closely connected as a new Student Success Framework rolls out. They also say that less popular majors may be phased out, offered only on some campuses or merged into other programs.

https://edsource.org/2026/csus-new-framework-promises-jobs-or-grad-school-path-for-all-students/754804

Where can AI be used? Insights from a deep ontology of work activities - Alice Cai, et al; arXiv

 Where can AI be used? Insights from a deep ontology of work activities = Alice Cai, et al; arXiv

Here we provide a comprehensive ontology of work activities that can help systematically analyze and predict uses of AI. To do this, we disaggregate and then substantially reorganize the approximately 20K activities in the US Department of Labor's widely used O*NET occupational database. Next, we use this framework to classify descriptions of 13,275 AI software applications and a worldwide tally of 20.8 million robotic systems. Finally, we use the data about both these kinds of AI to generate graphical displays of how the estimated units and market values of all worldwide AI systems used today are distributed across the work activities that these systems help perform. We find a highly uneven distribution of AI market value across activities, with the top 1.6% of activities accounting for over 60% of AI market value. Most of the market value is used in information-based activities (72%), especially creating information (36%), and only 12% is used in physical activities. Interactive activities include both information-based and physical activities and account for 48% of AI market value, much of which (26%) involves transferring information. 

https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.20619

Courageous conversations: How to lead with heart - Kurt Strovink, Meagan Hill, and Mike Carson; McKinsey

Leadership, at its best, is a matter of the heart. Courage, which underpins every act of leadership, is also a matter of the heart; it comes from the French word cœur—heart. As Winston Churchill observed, “Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities, because . . . it is the quality which guarantees all others.” The point is simple: Courage is both moral and practical. It is not sentiment or bravado. It is the willingness to face what is real, invite challenge, and repair trust. The story of every great leader—from business to the arts, from education to government to sport—is written in these moments of choice: Do I accept the comfortable, or do I ask for and embrace the truth? Do I protect myself, or do I serve the enterprise?

https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/courageous-conversations-how-to-lead-with-heart

The next phase of higher education will blend digital and human learning: Chancellor, Lingaya’s Vidyapeeth - ET Edge Insights

Artificial Intelligence is redefining how universities deliver and manage education. From personalized learning pathways to predictive analytics that identify student needs, AI is making education more responsive and efficient. It is also automating administrative functions, enabling institutions to focus on academic excellence and innovation. Online learning has moved beyond being an alternative to becoming an integral part of higher education. Its ability to provide flexibility and scale has made quality education more accessible than ever. Going forward, we will see a strong shift towards hybrid models that seamlessly blend digital and in-person learning experiences.

https://etedge-insights.com/industry/education/the-next-phase-of-higher-education-will-blend-digital-and-human-learning-chancellor-lingayas-vidyapeeth/?amp=1

The State of Organizations 2026: Three tectonic forces that are reshaping organizations - McKinsey

These are challenging times for organizations everywhere. Forces ranging from artificial intelligence, economic uncertainty, and geopolitical fragmentation to evolving workforce expectations, increasing customer demands, and tougher competitive dynamics are redefining how leaders create value and sustain performance. This report, the second edition of McKinsey’s State of Organizations research initiative, seeks to help leaders better understand these dynamics and address them effectively. Read the report here. It draws on a survey of more than 10,000 senior executives across 15 countries and 16 industries. While leaders remain focused on driving performance, as in the first edition in 2023, the emphasis has moved from short-term resilience to sustained productivity and long-term impact, powered by technology and AI at the core of organizational transformation.

 https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-state-of-organizations

College students are writing with AI – but a pilot study finds they’re not simply letting it write for them - Jeanne Beatrix Law, the Conversation

A pilot study I led of undergraduate writers at Kennesaw State University takes a different approach. Using think-aloud protocols – a method where participants verbalize their thoughts while performing – our research captures how students interact with generative AI tools during the writing process itself. This method helps us understand decision-making processes as they occur. Our preliminary findings suggest a more complex reality than the common narrative that students are simply having AI write their assignments. Instead, many students appear to be negotiating when and how AI belongs in their writing.

https://theconversation.com/college-students-are-writing-with-ai-but-a-pilot-study-finds-theyre-not-simply-letting-it-write-for-them-276856

Perfect homework, blank stares: Colleges are turning to oral exams to combat AI - Jocelyn Gecker, The Associated Press

Educators are no longer naively wondering if students will use generative AI to do their homework for them. A big question now is how to determine what students are actually learning. Instead, students in Chris Schaffer’s biomedical engineering class at Cornell University are required to speak directly to an instructor in what he calls an “oral defense.” It's a testing method as old as Socrates and making a comeback in the AI age. A growing number of college professors say they are turning to oral exams, and combining a variety of old-fashioned and cutting-edge techniques, to help address a crisis in higher education. “You won’t be able to AI your way through an oral exam,” says Schaffer, who introduced the oral defense last semester. Educators are no longer naively wondering if students will use generative AI to do their homework for them. A big question now is how to determine what students are actually learning.

https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/national-international/perfect-homework-blank-stares-colleges-are-turning-to-oral-exams-to-combat-ai/3717785/

ChatGPT’s impact on student learning outcomes: a meta-analysis of 35 experimental studies - Xinning Wu, et al; Nature

The analysis included 35 studies published between 2022 and 2024, involving 4193 participants. The results indicated a moderately positive effect of ChatGPT on student learning outcomes (g = 0.670), significantly enhancing both cognitive and non-cognitive skills. In the analysis of moderating variables, the subject, experimental duration, and instructional mode had significant positive effects on student learning outcomes, whereas educational level and knowledge type did not show significant effects. Additionally, the publication bias test revealed no significant publication bias. This meta-analysis confirmed the effectiveness of ChatGPT in improving student learning outcomes and highlighted the roles of the subjects, experimental duration, and instructional mode as key moderating factors. Despite the risks of sample selection bias and limitations in fully covering the multidimensional moderating factors and higher-order thinking, the findings provided important empirical support for applying ChatGPT in education.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-026-07019-z

Cloning Myself with AI: Four Ways to Multiply Faculty Presence for Graduate and Adult Learners - Sherrie Myers Bartell, Faculty Focus

Have you ever wished you could clone yourself? I have. For many faculty in graduate and adult education that longing is more than a passing thought. Balancing the multifaceted needs of students who rely on your expertise, guidance, and presence often feels impossible. While teaching realities mean we can’t be everywhere at once, AI offers practical ways to extend our reach, enabling high-touch interactions even as responsibilities multiply. Thoughtfully leveraged, these tools help orchestrate a more responsive classroom by offering prompt feedback, facilitating richer discussions, and generating tailored resources, all while preserving the essential human connection at the heart of meaningful learning.

https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/cloning-myself-with-ai-four-ways-to-multiply-faculty-presence-for-graduate-and-adult-learners/

What Comes After an MBA? Why Leaders Are Turning to AI - Boston University Virtual

The MBA is the defining credential for a generation of business leaders. It builds financial acumen, strategic thinking, and cross-functional fluency — the toolkit for managing complexity and driving organizational performance. For decades, it was the answer to the question every ambitious professional eventually asked: What’s my next move? That question is back. And for a growing number of leaders, the answer looks different than it once did. AI is not just changing the tools organizations use. It is changing how decisions get made, how processes run, who is accountable for outcomes, and what it means to lead. Business leaders with MBAs are finding themselves navigating a new kind of gap — not a lack of strategic instinct, but a lack of structured fluency in an AI-driven operating environment. And a targeted, business-focused Master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence is increasingly the credential they’re turning to.

https://www.bu.edu/online/2026/03/23/what-comes-after-an-mba-why-leaders-are-turning-to-ai/

Terafab: The World’s Next Generation Chip Factory - Thomas Frey, Futurist Speaker

On March 21st, Elon Musk introduced Terafab—a $25 billion chip facility, jointly owned by Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI—designed to produce one terawatt of compute per year. That’s fifty times the current annual output of the global AI chip industry. Terafab isn’t just about catching up with TSMC, Samsung, and Nvidia; it’s about leaping ahead—and, remarkably, off-planet. Here’s where it moves from bold to unprecedented: 80% of Terafab’s chip output isn’t meant for Earth. SpaceX plans to launch up to a million satellites, each a node in an orbital data center—powered by solar energy, cooled by space, and forming the largest computing network in history. Without Terafab’s radiation-hardened, space-optimized chips, this vision remains science fiction.

https://futuristspeaker.com/future-of-work/terafab-the-worlds-next-generation-chip-factory/

Leading disruption before it leads you - McKinsey

The riskiest disruption isn’t necessarily the one coming. It may be the one CEOs refuse to lead.Today’s leadership mandate requires more than long-term strategy. In a recent interview with McKinsey’s Eric Kutcher, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna had advice for fellow leaders: “You’ve got to be willing to ‘do’: As opposed to getting disrupted by somebody else, disrupt yourself while you still have the cash flow and clients who value your capabilities.” That same urgency runs through recent conversations with CEOs on AI. Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson has been clear that this revolution can’t be delegated to a task force or tucked neatly under “innovation.” It requires CEO ownership. Meanwhile, Citi CEO Jane Fraser has argued that the goal of AI transformation isn’t automation layered onto old workflows—but redesign from the ground up.

https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/themes/leading-disruption-before-it-leads-you

University of Phoenix scholars publish study on academic applications of generative AI tools in higher education - University of Phoenix

Key findings from the study include:

• Generative AI tools are increasingly used in academic workflows, including literature review support, research brainstorming, and academic writing assistance.
• AI can improve research efficiency and idea generation, particularly for complex scholarly tasks such as synthesizing large bodies of literature. 
• Ethical and academic integrity considerations remain critical, including transparency about AI use and maintaining original scholarly analysis.
• Doctoral education may benefit from AI literacy training, helping researchers understand both the capabilities and limitations of generative AI technologies.
• Institutions may need clearer policies and guidance to support responsible AI adoption in research and teaching.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1120763