For all of software’s technological advances and world-changing impacts over the past half century, its seismic potential has historically been limited by a shortage of skilled developers, finite coding capacity, and the complexity of coordinating large projects. The emergence of gen AI, and more recently agentic AI, was and is supposed to overcome those obstacles, leading to untold new productivity and value creation. While many organizations are already seeing some positive impact from these tools, a small subset of companies is reaping particularly large gains. That is one of the key findings from a recent McKinsey survey of a wide range of nearly 300 publicly traded companies.
Thursday, November 20, 2025
Empowering personalized learning at scale: Loyola Marymount University’s AI course companion - Lorin Miller, Matt Frank, and Brian Drawert, AWS Public Sector Blog
LMU’s mission emphasizes personal connections in learning through a high-touch, individualized approach. With most students turning to generic, off-the-shelf AI tools, the university saw an opportunity. “One of the things that sparked this is, ‘How do we make a better version of what’s currently available?’” said Matt Frank, director of teaching, learning, and research technology at LMU. Brian Drawert, manager of research computing at LMU and the AI Study Companion’s developer, explained the core issue: “AI was already trying to help students with their coursework, but doing it poorly. The challenge was giving them a chat interface that actually answered questions for their class.” Modern learners also juggle complex schedules, including jobs, family commitments, and study abroad programs, making traditional faculty office hours inaccessible to many students. Building a 24/7 solution was particularly important.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025
The AI Tool EVERYONE Should Be Using - Futurepedia, YouTube
NotebookLM is more than just the viral AI podcast feature. It's the best tool I've found for actually understanding and retaining information - not just collecting it. In this video, I'll show you every NotebookLM feature and explain what makes it so powerful: how it handles 260x more content than ChatGPT using RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation), why it has such low hallucination rates, and how to use all the different output formats - podcasts, videos, mind maps, study guides, flashcards, and more. Whether you're a student, researcher, or just drowning in bookmarked articles and saved videos, this tutorial will show you how to turn scattered information into actual knowledge. [Also RAG retrieval augmented generation is explained - If you have not been using NotebookLM, I encourage you view this podcast to get up to speed on this great learning tool! - ray]
A new era of intelligence with Gemini 3 - Sundar Pichai, et al; the Keyword
It’s state-of-the-art in reasoning, built to grasp depth and nuance — whether it’s perceiving the subtle clues in a creative idea, or peeling apart the overlapping layers of a difficult problem. Gemini 3 is also much better at figuring out the context and intent behind your request, so you get what you need with less prompting. It’s amazing to think that in just two years, AI has evolved from simply reading text and images to reading the room. And starting today, we’re shipping Gemini at the scale of Google. That includes Gemini 3 in AI Mode in Search with more complex reasoning and new dynamic experiences. This is the first time we are shipping Gemini in Search on day one. Gemini 3 is also coming today to the Gemini app, to developers in AI Studio and Vertex AI, and in our new agentic development platform, Google Antigravity — more below.
Tuesday, November 18, 2025
Preparing for tomorrow’s agentic workforce - McKinsey Podcast
The time is now to focus on AI infrastructure, which will enable companies to scale AI and build a future where humans and multiple AI agents successfully work together. To effectively compete, companies must take a hard look at what they can do to support an AI infrastructure. On this episode of the At the Edge podcast, SambaNova Systems cofounder and CEO Rodrigo Liang joins host and McKinsey Senior Partner Lareina Yee to discuss agentic AI, the S-curve of AI value, and why businesses must adopt a hybrid AI model.
The state of AI in 2025: Agents, innovation, and transformation - McKinsey
Almost all survey respondents say their organizations are using AI, and many have begun to use AI agents. Most organizations are still in the experimentation or piloting phase: Nearly two-thirds of respondents say their organizations have not yet begun scaling AI across the enterprise. High curiosity in AI agents: Sixty-two percent of survey respondents say their organizations are at least experimenting with AI agents. Positive leading indicators on impact of AI: Respondents report use-case-level cost and revenue benefits, and 64 percent say that AI is enabling their innovation. However, just 39 percent report EBIT impact at the enterprise level. High performers use AI to drive growth, innovation, and cost: Eighty percent of respondents say their companies set efficiency as an objective of their AI initiatives, but the companies seeing the most value from AI often set growth or innovation as additional objectives. Redesigning workflows is a key success factor: Half of those AI high performers intend to use AI to transform their businesses, and most are redesigning workflows. Differing perspectives on employment impact: Respondents vary in their expectations of AI’s impact on the overall workforce size of their organizations in the coming year: 32 percent expect decreases, 43 percent no change, and 13 percent increases.
Monday, November 17, 2025
EDUCAUSE ’25: How AI Policies Affect Student Mental Health - Abby Sourwine, GovTech
Punitive, fear-driven approaches to rule-making about artificial intelligence in higher education can deepen mistrust, stress and disconnection among students. Alternatively, there are opportunities for teachable moments. As some institutions and instructors respond to the boom of artificial intelligence with bans and automated detection tools, students are worried about being falsely accused of using AI. At the 2025 EDUCAUSE conference, Ashley Dockens, associate provost of digital learning at Lamar University, and Cindy Blackwell, director of academic faculty development at Texas A&M University, warned that higher-education leaders and teachers may be holding students to an unreasonable standard — expecting students to inherently understand when AI use is appropriate and inappropriate and, in the latter case, to keep a perfect track record of resisting temptation.
Penn State Smeal launches comprehensive artificial intelligence initiative - Smeal College of Business
The Penn State Smeal College of Business has announced a comprehensive, college-wide artificial intelligence (AI) initiative. Smeal is integrating AI across its teaching, research and operations — ensuring students, faculty and staff are equipped to lead responsibly in an AI-driven economy. “AI isn’t a future possibility — it’s here, now,” said Corey Phelps, John and Karen Arnold Dean of Smeal. “As a leading business school, we have a responsibility to prepare our students not just to use AI, but to lead with it — with purpose, responsibility and integrity. The future success of our graduates depends on how well we rise to this moment.”
Sunday, November 16, 2025
The rise of micro-credentials in continuing education - BC Business
Learn or be left behind. This is the imperative that’s driving many mid-career (and, increasingly, earlycareer) professionals to gain a competitive advantage in today’s tough employment market through upskilling. “Today, artificial intelligence is not a futuristic concept but a mainstream reality reshaping industries and professions,” says Jo-Anne Clarke, dean of Division of Continuing Studies at the University of Victoria (UVic). “Add the complexities of tariffs, geopolitical uncertainty and economic volatility, and it’s clear that both employers and employees are navigating an increasingly dynamic and unpredictable landscape.” In this context, a person’s initial credentials, degrees or training may not be enough for prospective employers, or for existing employers hiring for a senior role.
https://bcbusiness.ca/industries/education/the-rise-of-micro-credentials-in-continuing-education/
Kelsey Robinson: Reshaping the Marketing Landscape - McKinley Quarterly
Across C-suites, there is growing interest in working hand in hand on everything from ROI and performance measurement to making space for bold ideas that drive growth. There is a lot of interest in the duality of rigor and inspiration. Another topic that’s dominating marketing conversations is agentic AI, autonomous AI systems that work independently to complete tasks. A year ago, marketers were talking about experiments and pilots with gen AI. Now, they’re exploring how to use agentic AI across broad domains in marketing and beyond: creating consumer experiences at scale, enabling hyperpersonalization, rethinking media buying, and unlocking creative development in ways that not only save money but also truly fuel growth. Many CMOs are asking themselves whether they have the right strategies and systems to make this leap.
Saturday, November 15, 2025
Exploring a space-based, scalable AI infrastructure system design - Travis Beals, Google Resarch
Project Suncatcher is a moonshot exploring a new frontier: equipping solar-powered satellite constellations with TPUs and free-space optical links to one day scale machine learning compute in space. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a foundational technology that could reshape our world, driving new scientific discoveries and helping us tackle humanity's greatest challenges. Now, we're asking where we can go to unlock its fullest potential. The Sun is the ultimate energy source in our solar system, emitting more power than 100 trillion times humanity’s total electricity production. In the right orbit, a solar panel can be up to 8 times more productive than on earth, and produce power nearly continuously, reducing the need for batteries. In the future, space may be the best place to scale AI compute. Working backwards from there, our new research moonshot, Project Suncatcher, envisions compact constellations of solar-powered satellites, carrying Google TPUs and connected by free-space optical links. This approach would have tremendous potential for scale, and also minimizes impact on terrestrial resources.
UPenn Expands Educator AI Training Program With Google - Government Technology
A $1 million grant from Google will help scale a one-district pilot program on teaching with artificial intelligence, offered through the University of Pennsylvania, up to five districts and regions. A University of Pennsylvania program training K-12 teachers and administrators on artificial intelligence best practices is scaling up, thanks to a $1 million investment from Google. The funding, announced Oct. 28 by the university’s Graduate School of Education, will allow the university’s Pioneering AI in School Systems (PASS) program to expand to five school districts and regions across Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware beginning in December. Launched in spring 2025, PASS was first piloted in the School District of Philadelphia. It provides professional development to help educators and administrators understand and implement AI responsibly in schools
Friday, November 14, 2025
Use GenAI to slow down and reflect more deeply - Sam Illingworth, Times Higher Education
GenAI is often presented to academics as a tool for acceleration. Marking can be automated, lecture slides summarised in seconds and drafts polished at speed. The message is clear: do the same work, only faster. Yet, this framing risks reinforcing an already unsustainable level of efficiency. What if, instead of speeding up, GenAI could help us slow down? Used thoughtfully, these tools can encourage reflection, deepen dialogue and make space for richer connections between research and teaching. Slowness here is not inefficiency. Instead, it is the deliberate act of reclaiming attention for what matters most: curiosity, questioning and collaboration.
Opinion: Higher education needs to catch up with AI, not run from it - Teresa Butzerin, Willamette Collegian
Given that AI will only become more prevalent in our lives, universities should be taking more formal steps to make sure graduating students are literate in the practical uses of AI and leave college with a well-rounded understanding of the ethical issues surrounding it. While the threat AI poses to academic integrity has caused it to become villainized in higher education, it’s time for universities to prioritize teaching students to use AI as a tool because these large language models are only getting faster, smarter and more omnipresent. A recent study conducted by OpenAI — the company that owns ChatGPT — revealed that over one-third of adults aged 18-24 in the U.S. use the chatbot regularly, and a significant portion of this use is related to the completion of schoolwork.
Thursday, November 13, 2025
Teaching with AI: From Prohibition to Partnership for Critical Thinking - Michael Kiener, Faculty Focus
However, banning AI will not prevent students from using it, whether for nefarious or appropriate purposes. Instead, it may deny students a chance to practice and engage with AI in an educational setting where they and faculty can explore its full potential collaboratively. This kind of restrictive thinking is based on two flawed assumptions: that AI cannot support student thinking and that students will only use AI to cheat. The challenge is not to police every use, but to reframe our approach from one of prohibition to one of collaborative partnership. This shift in perspective allows faculty to systematically integrate AI into courses in a developmentally appropriate manner. By centering policies on learning, we can encourage students to take an active, self-regulated approach to their education. This reframes the focus from dishonesty to autonomous learning, emphasizing academic values while scaffolding meaningful assignments that challenge student thinking.
Initiative will help Indiana colleges and universities address AI challenges and opportunities for their institutions and students - Lilly Endowment
Lilly Endowment Inc. is launching a new initiative, Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education (AIHE), to support Indiana colleges and universities in their ongoing efforts to address the implications of a rapidly evolving technology in their institutions and the lives of their students. Through AIHE, the Endowment is allocating a total of up to $500 million in funding to eligible higher education institutions in Indiana. The aim of the initiative is two-fold: to help Indiana colleges and universities 1) consider more fully the challenges and opportunities that artificial intelligence (AI) presents for their institutions and their students, and 2) develop new or enhance existing strategies and programs to improve their students’ education opportunities and outcomes and their preparation to prosper in the workplace and life in a future that will be increasingly shaped by AI.
Wednesday, November 12, 2025
Transitioning to the Agentic University 2026–27 - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed
Most of us in higher education are now familiar with generative AI bots, where you formulate a prompt and get a reply. Yet, we are now beginning the advancement to agentic AI, the autonomous 24-7 project manager. The dramatic enhancement in the capability of AI as it moves from bots to agents will bring about efficiencies and have a far greater impact on the day-to-day operations, strategies and effectiveness of our institutions. We will become less expensive, more personalized and more responsive to students and employers. Those are big claims, so for this column, I turned to my personal assistant, Google Gemini 2.5 Pro on Nov. 1, 2025, to help me with identifying the pathway to those outcomes.
Redefining Learning: How Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence are Transforming Education - digitalLEARNING Network
We are living through one of the most profound transformations in the history of education. The industrial model of learning is being replaced by a new paradigm that values experience, adaptability, and creativity. For decades, education has been structured around the transfer of information; now, we are moving toward the cultivation of intelligence itself — human and artificial. The convergence of Virtual Reality (VR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not simply an enhancement of traditional teaching tools. It represents a cognitive revolution. These technologies allow us to simulate reality, model complexity, and personalize learning in ways previously unimaginable. Education is no longer confined to the classroom or the screen; it becomes an immersive journey — emotional, sensory, and experiential.
Tuesday, November 11, 2025
Can creativity still exist in a world of Artificial Intelligence? - Bailee McLeod, Avondale
Our relationship with Artificial Intelligence (AI) is ever evolving. The continual advancement of the technology means our interactions with it can change, almost daily. What started as asking Siri to ‘call mum’ evolved to asking Google to ‘turn down the air conditioning’, to now asking Chat to make an itinerary of our three-week Euro vacation, or craft a work email for us. All time saving tasks, but what are the costs of integrating AI into our lives? We spoke with four leading creatives on Avondale University’s academic staff to explore the effects and impact Artificial Intelligence has on creativity, art and our human experience.
The change agent: Goals, decisions, and implications for CEOs in the agentic age - McKinsey Quarterly
Executives are fond of quoting hockey great Wayne Gretzky, who is credited with saying: “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” This is sound business advice at one level. But that puck is moving a whole lot faster than it used to as agentic AI rapidly evolves. Move faster may seem tone deaf as CEOs and their senior teams struggle to see bottom-line value from early gen AI investments. Developing and scaling gen AI use cases have proven frustratingly challenging. Some executives remain unconvinced that AI agents will have a significant impact—at least in the short term—and have stepped back from their investments.1
Monday, November 10, 2025
Opinion: Ray Kurzweil’s Predictions — AI Today and Tomorrow - Jim A. Jorstad, GovTech
To prepare students for a world so saturated with technology, it has arguably never been more important to speculate on the possibilities of our future, and how we can prepare for it. In business, science and education, we are now continually searching for clues about the future of artificial intelligence. In October 2006, I had the opportunity to listen to computer scientist and inventor Ray Kurzweil at the EDUCAUSE conference as he spoke about “The Acceleration of Technology in the 21st Century: the Impact on Education and Society.” The future-facing ideas he shared back then still have relevance to education and our daily lives, and I’d like to highlight some of them.
Literature Is Not a Vibe: On ChatGPT and the Humanities - Rachele Dini, LA Review of Books
The Guardian published “A Machine-Shaped Hand” on March 12, a day after Altman first shared it on X. A callout link at the top of the page directed readers to Jeanette Winterson’s response, “OpenAI’s Metafictional Short Story About Grief Is Beautiful and Moving”—a not-so-subtly titled piece that, while making an unconvincing case for the story’s literary value, provided a solid argument for automating reviews via such gems as “Good writing moves us”; “What is beautiful and moving about this story is its understanding of its lack of understanding”; “AI reads us. Now it’s time for us to read AI”; and “Literature isn’t only entertainment. It is a way of seeing.” The story itself is about an LLM prompted to write an original metafictional literary work about AI and grief.
Sunday, November 09, 2025
EDUCAUSE ’25: 3 Questions to Guide Higher Ed AI Strategy - GovTech
Many colleges and universities see the need for an institutional AI strategy, but there are so many variables involved that it can be hard for IT leaders to know where to begin. Addressing an audience of such leaders at the 2025 EDUCAUSE annual conference in Nashville this week, Managing Director Alexander Brown of technology consulting firm Attain Partners said as a baseline, each project should align with the institution’s mission and consider the different levels of trust among various user groups, their capacity for training and education, and infrastructural capacity to accelerate other projects in line with the rapid pace of emerging technology.
https://www.govtech.com/education/higher-ed/educause-25-3-questions-to-guide-higher-ed-ai-strategy
President Aoun outlines roadmap for higher ed in the age of AI - Cyrus Moulton, Northeastern
Artificial intelligence can do your research and write your term paper. It cannot, however, interpret your professor’s expression when you hand that paper in. Northeastern University President Joseph E. Aoun said higher education’s role is to teach how to navigate such a situation. “The value of higher education is to raise those questions about the balance between human agency and AI agency,” Aoun said during a keynote address in Toronto on Tuesday. “What’s at stake for us in higher education is to remain relevant in the age of AI.”
Saturday, November 08, 2025
Data Points - McKinsey
How does AI learn to see, hear, and think all at once? As multimodal gen AI models evolve rapidly, they are reshaping how organizations process and generate information—from interpreting complex visuals to answering questions across multiple formats and data types. Costs are dropping, capabilities are multiplying, and the business implications are profound. Think you’re up to speed on multimodal AI? Test yourself with this month’s Data Points questions
In a First, AI Models Analyze Language As Well As a Human Expert - Steve Nadis, Quantum Magazine
Among the myriad abilities that humans possess, which ones are uniquely human? Language has been a top candidate at least since Aristotle, who wrote that humanity was “the animal that has language.” Even as large language models such as ChatGPT superficially replicate ordinary speech, researchers want to know if there are specific aspects of human language that simply have no parallels in the communication systems of other animals or artificially intelligent devices. In particular, researchers have been exploring the extent to which language models can reason about language itself. For some in the linguistic community, language models not only don’t have reasoning abilities, they can’t.
Friday, November 07, 2025
Navigating AI Adoption in Higher Ed: College Presidents on Student Learning vs Operational Efficiency - University Business
While generative AI tools like ChatGPT have dominated headlines and sparked urgent conversations about academic integrity and pedagogy, many institutions are simultaneously exploring AI’s potential to revolutionize back-office operations—from enrollment management and advising to financial planning and facilities management. In this candid conversation, three college presidents share how they’re navigating these parallel paths of AI adoption. Should institutions prioritize AI investments that directly impact student learning experiences, or focus on operational efficiencies that can free up resources and improve service delivery? Are these truly competing priorities, or can they be part of a unified strategy?
Why open source may not survive the rise of generative AI - David Gewirtz, ZD Net
We live in an astonishing technology-based world, fueled by and dependent on software. That software provides our networks, our security, our financial transactions, our supply chain management, and, of course, the generative AI systems that are top of mind for just about everyone. But where does that digital infrastructure come from? Nearly all of it is based on free and open source software, what the industry calls FOSS. This is code built by enormously collaborative communities, driven by coders who use the fruits of FOSS and who also actively contribute back bug fixes and improvements.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/why-open-source-may-not-survive-the-rise-of-generative-ai/
Thursday, November 06, 2025
New front door to the internet: Winning in the age of AI search - McKinsey
Half of consumers use AI-powered search today, and it stands to impact $750 billion in revenue by 2028–what is your strategy and activation plan for gen AI engine optimization? Hot on the heels of the ascent of social media as a means of researching and buying products, consumers are quickly defaulting to AI-powered search (through both AI-powered apps like ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity, and Claude, and Google’s AI Overview) to guide their choices, evaluate brands, and increasingly to discover new ones. About 50 percent of Google searches already have AI summaries, a figure expected to rise to more than 75 percent by 2028, according to trend analysis. Half of consumers polled in a McKinsey survey now intentionally seek out AI-powered search engines, with a majority of users saying it’s the top digital source they use to make buying decisions.
How to shift AI from a shortcut to a learning partner - Rudy Gonzalez, University Business
This creates a significant challenge for universities: how can they integrate AI in ways that support learning rather than replace it? The solution is not simply adding AI tools to coursework. Instead, institutions need a clear strategy, strong governance and ongoing faculty development to guide how AI is used in the classroom. Higher education leaders must also foster a culture of change, one that guides students, faculty, and staff to embrace the transformative power of AI over its perceived threats or challenges.Do you have a chief AI officer? The first step in building a strategic framework involves establishing dedicated leadership to oversee AI implementation and use across campus.
https://universitybusiness.com/how-to-shift-ai-from-a-shortcut-to-a-learning-partner/
Wednesday, November 05, 2025
Big Tech Makes Cal State Its A.I. Training Ground - Natasha Singer, New York Times
Cal State, the largest U.S. university system with 460,000 students, recently embarked on a public-private campaign — with corporate titans including Amazon, OpenAI and Nvidia — to position the school as the nation’s “first and largest A.I.-empowered” university. One central goal is to make generative A.I. tools, which can produce humanlike texts and images, available across the school’s 22 campuses. Cal State also wants to embed chatbots in teaching and learning, and prepare students for “increasingly A.I.-driven” careers.
Use of ChatGPT in nursing education: A mixed method research on student perceptions and experiential practice recommendations - Suna Uysal Yalçın & Yurdanur Dikmen, Science Direct
Our findings revealed three main themes: (1) ‘the importance of the physical environment in education,’ (2) ‘limitations of artificial intelligence -supported education,’ and (3) ‘the supporting role of artificial intelligence and the hybrid learning model.’
Conclusion
The use of artificial intelligence tools, such as ChatGPT, in nursing education had an impact.on students' perceptions and experiences of the learning process, highlighting the absence of elements such as social interaction, motivation and teacher support, which are typically provided through face-to-face education.
Tuesday, November 04, 2025
High-tech meets high-touch: Harnessing AI for the modern university - Joe Sallustio, University Business
Artificial intelligence isn’t just at the gates of higher education—it’s already inside, actively reshaping everything from enrollment processes to student support. The question is no longer whether to adopt AI—that ship has sailed. The real question is whether your institution will lead this transformation or get left behind by competitors who move faster. I’ve interviewed over 400 college/university presidents who validate this sentiment. Here’s the brutal truth I keep hearing from presidents: there’s a massive gap between AI for productivity and AI for learning.
Leading Off [Understanding Data Centers] - Alex Panas & Axel Karlsson, McKinsey
In today’s increasingly digital economy, the need for better, more powerful infrastructure to fuel gen AI, agentic AI, and other emerging tech advancements is growing quickly. Enter data centers, the facilities that house and run critical IT infrastructure such as servers, storage devices, and network equipment. Global demand for more data centers—and their data processing, storage, and distribution capabilities—is already high. This week, we look at how the need for more computing power to fuel innovation is driving a boom in data center development.
Monday, November 03, 2025
Deploying agentic AI with safety and security: A playbook for technology leaders - McKinsey
Autonomous AI agents present a new world of opportunity—and an array of novel and complex risks and vulnerabilities that require attention and action now. While agentic AI has the potential to deliver immense value, the technology also presents an array of new risks—introducing vulnerabilities that could disrupt operations, compromise sensitive data, or erode customer trust. Not only do AI agents provide new external entry points for would-be attackers, but because they are able to make decisions without human oversight, they also introduce novel internal risks. In cybersecurity terms, you might think of AI agents as “digital insiders”—entities that operate within systems with varying levels of privilege and authority. Just like their human counterparts, these digital insiders can cause harm unintentionally, through poor alignment, or deliberately if they become compromised. Already, 80 percent of organizations say they have encountered risky behaviors from AI agents, including improper data exposure and access to systems without authorization.3
Google’s Quantum Chip Just Broke Physics: Scientists Are Freaking Out - Julia McCoy, YouTube
The podcast highlights a monumental breakthrough on October 22nd, 2025, when Google's Willow quantum chip achieved "verifiable quantum advantage" by solving a problem that would take classical supercomputers longer than the age of the universe. More critically, the achievement is described as "breaking physics" because researchers demonstrated that quantum systems could exceed the limits set by the 200-year-old Carnot principle of thermodynamics, even converting quantum correlations into usable energy, which opens the door for molecular motors and medical nanobots. The chip's practical application, using a "quantum echoes algorithm" to analyze complex molecular structures, is expected to exponentially accelerate drug discovery and material science, leading the speaker to conclude that 2025 is the year quantum computing transitions from a scientific experiment into a foundational technology that will reshape every industry and necessitate a global race to adapt to this new era of computation [03:21]. [Summary assistance from Gemini 2.5 Flash]
Sunday, November 02, 2025
AI and Education: 10 ways to support or erode future skills resilience - Michael D. Watkins, IMD
AI can boost critical thinking or undermine it. Educators and talent leaders must learn to navigate this fine line. The use of generative AI among learners has increased by 66% over the last 12 months. More than 90% of young people in higher education are now using ChatGPT and other tools to research, summarize, and complete their work, while educators are increasingly leveraging the same tools to create and assess assignments. AI poses both genuine benefits and very real hazards to the education and development of our future talent. Key to its responsible use is designing AI integration that enhances – without substituting – the development of relevant core and emerging skills; human skills that will be critical to organizations in our AI-powered future.
Bridging the Skills Gap: How Online Training Is Reshaping Workforce Readiness - Stuart Gentle, OnRec
Employers are struggling to find candidates equipped with the practical and technical skills required for modern roles. At the same time, professionals are seeking ways to remain competitive and relevant in evolving job markets. That’s where digital learning platforms come into play, providing flexible, accessible, and industry-aligned training opportunities. For instance, many aspiring professionals turn to AtHomePrep license exam help to prepare for certification exams and career advancement. These programs not only make education more accessible but also help bridge the gap between education and employability in today’s rapidly changing economy.
Saturday, November 01, 2025
AI is a test higher education can’t afford to fail - Sam Dreyfus, University Business
\At its best, AI has the potential to:
Act as a tutor, adapting to each learner’s pace
Support educators by freeing them from routine tasks
Uncover inefficiencies that redirect resources toward students
Prepare graduates for a workforce where AI literacy will be as essential as computer literacy was a generation ago
But potential does not fulfill itself. If we have technology that can increase engagement, strengthen retention and give students a clearer path to success, we have a responsibility to use it.
A generative artificial intelligence-enhanced multiagent approach to empowering collaborative problem solving across different learning domains - Lanqin Zheng, Zhe Shi, Lei Gao -Science Direct
Collaborative problem-solving skills are among the most important skills in the 21st century. However, learners exhibit significant deficiencies in terms of their collaborative problem-solving skills. Emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have given rise to transformative opportunities to facilitate collaborative problem solving through the introduction of adaptive learning mechanisms in educational settings. The results indicated that compared with chatbot-based and traditional approaches, the GenAI-enhanced multiagent approach had more significant effects on learning achievements, knowledge elaboration, and collaborative problem-solving performance and skills. The implications of these findings are discussed in depth with the goal of advancing the use of GenAI to empower collaborative problem solving.
Friday, October 31, 2025
The Big Rethink: An agenda for thriving in the agentic age - Quantum Black by McKinsey
Has there been a technology innovation in recent memory that has engendered more wildly divergent thinking than agentic AI? We’re hard-pressed to think of one. Depending on who you talk to or what you read, AI agents—systems based on gen AI foundation models that can act in the world and execute multistep processes—will lead to a utopia of productivity. Or displace huge swaths of the labor force. Or lead to robots running the world. Or provide everyone with a superpower. Or all of the above. To prepare for this uncertain future, executives will need to strip away the emotion from the conversation. Promises are everywhere; critical thinking, however, is in short supply. The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier: The potential of agentic AI certainly appears significant, especially as the technology continues its torrid pace of improvement. It is poised to transform knowledge work and reshape the nature of competition.
AI-powered teaching and learning for all Microsoft 365 education customers - MikeTholfsen, Microsoft TechCommunity
In our main Microsoft Education blog this morning, we announced the details of how Microsoft Education is bringing even more value to all EDU customers with Microsoft 365, including a new set of capabilities designed for relevant and powerful use by educators and students. These features will be included in all of the academic SKUs (A SKUs) at no additional cost, and many will be rolling out starting today, while others will be rolling out later this year and into early next year.
Topics:
AI for educators at no additional cost
AI for learners at no additional cost
Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat
Microsoft 365 LTI (LMS integration updates)
Microsoft 365 Copilot (add-on required)
Learning Accelerator updates
Learning Zone on the Copilot+ PC – public preview now available
Minecraft EU updates
We’re also introducing an academic offering for Microsoft 365 Copilot in education at $18 (USD) per user per month for educators, staff, and students ages 13 and older starting in December 2025.
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Universities at a turning point in an era of AI insecurity - Amber Wang, University World News
As artificial intelligence and global insecurity challenge university leaders worldwide, it is more important than ever for universities to remain true to their fundamental principles, according to the President of the American Council on Education (ACE), Ted Mitchell. “Independence, intellectual inquiry and academic excellence, inclusion, [and] the expectation that education is a good to be consumed by all of our citizens – these are things that we can’t compromise [on],” he said via video link to a conference of global university leaders of the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP) this week in Seoul, South Korea.
7 skills Harvard says will keep you employed in the age of ChatGPT - Times of India
Generative AI is transforming workplaces. Harvard research highlights seven key human skills that will keep workers valuable. These include critical thinking, AI fluency, complex problem-solving, communication, lifelong learning, ethical judgment and experimentation. Mastering these abilities will allow individuals to effectively leverage AI tools and navigate the evolving job market. Employers will prioritise these durable human capabilities.
Wednesday, October 29, 2025
Universities Teaching Wisdom Skills 2030 - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed
Virtually all aspects and positions at universities will be touched by the AI transformation. The changes will come more rapidly than many of us in higher education are accustomed to or with which we are comfortable. In large part, the speed will be demanded by employers of our learners and by competition among universities. Change will also strike directly at the nature of what and how we teach. The higher-level skills humans will need as described by the Global Skills Development Council are different from many of the career-specific skills that universities now provide in short form certificates and certification programs. Rather, I suggest that these broad, deep skills are ones that we might best describe as “wisdom” skills. They are not vocational, but instead, deeper skills related to overall maturity and sophistication in leadership, vision and insight. They include thinking critically, thinking creatively, applying ethical reasoning, and adaptive collaboration with both humans and agentic AI.
What’s Your AI-dentity? - Bloomberg
The momentous decisions the world faces about AI’s role in our lives offer outcomes that seemingly range from universal enlightenment to mass extinction. How do you see AI shaping our future? More importantly, how do you want it to shape our future? Are you an Accelerationist? A Pragmatist? A Doomer? Take our quiz to find out which one of six different AI-dentities most closely resembles your views, how your answers affected your result and who your real-life fellow travelers might be.
Tuesday, October 28, 2025
EDUCAUSE Action Plan Looks 10 Years Ahead at GenAI for Education - Abby Sourwine, GovTech
In a new action plan, EDUCAUSE outlines skills, ethics and collaboration strategies to guide effective use and implementation of generative artificial intelligence on college campuses for the next decade. With artificial intelligence advancing at breakneck speed, a new document from the nonprofit EDUCAUSE aims to give colleges and universities proactive steps to meet an uncertain future of teaching and learning with generative AI, rather than simply reacting to technological change. The report, 2025 EDUCAUSE Horizon Action Plan: Building Skills and Literacy for Teaching with Generative AI, is the latest in EDUCAUSE’s long-running Horizon series and outlines how educators and administrators can build skills and literacy to teach with generative AI now and in the future.
‘Urgent need’ for more AI literacy in higher education, report says - Anna McKie, Research Professional News
There is an “urgent need” to improve AI literacy among both staff and students at British universities, according to a report from the Higher Education Policy Institute. The report takes a broad view on how AI is reshaping higher education, including institutional strategy, teaching and assessment, research, and professional services. Wendy Hall, an internet pioneer and director of the Web Science Institute at the University of Southampton, and Giles Carden, chief strategy officer at Southampton, state in the report’s foreword that “simply acknowledging AI’s presence is insufficient”. “Active, informed engagement and a structured approach to skill development are paramount to ensure universities remain relevant and effective,” they say.
Monday, October 27, 2025
Realizing the full potential of AI agents - McKinsey
The story of agentic AI is still unfolding. The majority of CEOs have yet to see bottom-line value from AI agents. But there’s no question that the pace and potential scope of change are breathtaking. While we’re waiting for the technology to fully mature, CEOs can take advantage of this “trough of disillusionment” to understand the implications for how their companies operate, make some essential decisions, and get a jump on their competitors. A year into the agentic AI revolution, one lesson is clear: It takes hard work to do it well. We recently dug into more than 50 agentic AI builds we’ve supported, as well as dozens of others in the marketplace. Six lessons have emerged. Here’s one that may surprise you: Agents aren’t always the answer.
https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/email/shortlist/272/2025-10-17b.html
Concern and excitement about AI - Jacob Poushter, Moira Fagan and Manolo Corichi, Pew Research Center
A median of 34% of adults across 25 countries are more concerned than excited about the increased use of artificial intelligence in daily life. A median of 42% are equally concerned and excited, and 16% are more excited than concerned. Older adults, women, people with less education and those who use the internet less often are particularly likely to be more concerned than excited. Roughly half of adults in the U.S., Italy, Australia, Brazil and Greece say they are more concerned than excited about the increased use of AI in daily life. But in 15 of the 25 countries polled, the largest share of people are equally concerned and excited. In no country surveyed is the largest share more excited than concerned about the increasing use of AI in daily life.
Sunday, October 26, 2025
Sharing Resources, Best Practices in AI - Ashley Mowreader, Inside Higher Ed
While generative artificial intelligence tools have proliferated in education and workplace settings, not all tools are free or accessible to students and staff, which can create equity gaps regarding who is able to participate and learn new skills. To address this gap, San Diego State University leaders created an equitable AI alliance in partnership with the University of California, San Diego, and the San Diego Community College District. Together, the institutions work to address affordability and accessibility concerns for AI solutions, as well as share best practices, resources and expertise. In the latest episode of Voices of Student Success, host Ashley Mowreader speaks with James Frazee, San Diego State University’s chief information officer, about the alliance and SDSU’s approach to teaching AI skills to students.
3 Leadership Micro-Credentials Are Redefining The Modern Career Path -Cheryl Robinson, Forbes
Traditional degrees are yielding to skills-based hiring, making micro-credentials crucial for professionals. These short, focused programs, offered by universities and tech platforms, efficiently equip leaders with vital skills like digital fluency and strategic agility. They address the urgent need for reskilling by 2030, enabling continuous learning and proving capabilities without lengthy academic commitments, though standardization is still evolving.
Saturday, October 25, 2025
About 1 in 5 U.S. workers now use AI in their job, up since last year - Luona Lin, Pew Research
As the abilities of artificial intelligence (AI) tools advance rapidly, a growing share of Americans say they are using the technology in their jobs. Today, 21% of U.S. workers say at least some of their work is done with AI, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in September. That share is up from 16% roughly a year ago. Most American workers (65%) still say they don’t use AI much or at all in their job.
Friday, October 24, 2025
Quantum record smashed as scientists build mammoth 6,000-qubit system — and it works at room temperature - Tristan Greene, Live Science
Scientists at Caltech have conducted a record-breaking experiment in which they synchronized 6,100 atoms in a quantum array. This research could lead to more robust, fault-tolerant quantum computers. In the experiment, they used paired neutral atoms as the quantum bits (qubits) in a system and held them in a state of “superposition” to conduct quantum computations. To achieve this, the scientists split a laser beam into 12,000 "laser tweezers" which together held the 6,100 qubits. As described in a new study published Sept. 24 in the journal Nature, the scientists not only set a new record for the number of atomic qubits placed in a single array — they also extended the length of "superposition" coherency.
https://share.google/
Google shares a massive list of 1,000+ generative AI use cases - Aditya Tiwari, Neowin
Generative AI will continue to expand its reach whether you want it or not. While the race was unofficially started by OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google has become one of the leaders in the space with its Gemini-branded products and services. For some, generative AI exposure might still be limited to a chatbot or a tool that converts their image into a video. But the tech has many possibilities, ranging from AI pharmacists, vacation planners, coding agents, and autonomous driving, to AI that can browse the web for you. Google has published a lengthy list of 1001 use cases of generative AI across different sectors like Automotive, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Business, Hospitality, Travel, and Media.
Thursday, October 23, 2025
A systematic review on AI-enhanced pedagogies in higher education in the Global SouthProvisionally accepted - Gloria KhozaNomfundo and Freda Van Der Walt, Frontiers in Education
Artificial intelligence is gaining traction in higher education for its ability to simulate human intelligence and support learning processes. This systematic review investigates how artificial intelligence-enhanced teaching approaches are being applied in higher education institutions across the Global South. The study draws on peer-reviewed literature identified through a structured search of SCOPUS and Web of Science databases, using clearly defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The findings reveal that most applications focus on improving technical efficiency and administrative functions, while pedagogical integration remains limited. Key barriers include inadequate infrastructure, unequal access to digital tools, limited faculty preparedness, and ethical considerations.
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2025.1667884/abstract
Universities need AI sovereignty to protect free thought - Peter Salden, University World News
The question of digital sovereignty is becoming more urgent for universities in the age of artificial intelligence. AI-based applications are not only critical from the perspective of data protection and functional transparency, but also pose a threat to independent thinking. AI literacy, an independent AI infrastructure and a clearly defined strategic framework are fundamental for defending academic freedom. Since the beginning of digitalisation, universities worldwide have been preoccupied with the question of digital sovereignty. This involves issues such as ensuring that IT applications comply with data protection regulations and reducing technical and financial dependencies. However, artificial intelligence is challenging digital sovereignty in new ways that go beyond these classic aspects.
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20251007143251841
Wednesday, October 22, 2025
How to Teach Critical Thinking When AI Does the Thinking - Timothy Cook, Psychology Today
Students who've learned dialogic engagement with AI behave completely differently. They ask follow-up questions during class discussions. They can explain their reasoning when challenged. They challenge each other's arguments using evidence they personally evaluated. They identify limitations in their own conclusions. They want to keep investigating beyond the assignment requirements. The difference is how they used it. This means approaching every AI interaction as a sustained interrogation. Instead of "write an analysis of symbolism in The Great Gatsby," students must "generate an AI analysis first, then critique what it missed with their own interpretations of the symbolism. “What assumptions does the AI make in its interpretation and how could it be wrong?" “What would a 20th-century historian say about this approach?” “Can you see these themes present in The Great Gatsby in your own life?”
The end of AI and the future of higher education - James Yoonil Auh, University World News
We now live in what I call the atmosphere of cognition: not the disappearance of AI, but its absorption into the invisible architectures of institutional life. Like Wi-Fi, AI is no longer a tool at the margins but the infrastructure of thought. Algorithms now shape admissions. Predictive models determine financial aid. Recommendation engines curate research. Plagiarism detectors and manuscript filters run silently in the background. To speak of ‘using AI’ in 2025 is like debating whether universities should install electricity. This is not simply a technical evolution. It is civilisational. The printing press multiplied texts, but students still thought alone. The internet digitised knowledge, but students still wrote in their own words. MOOCs disrupted delivery but not learning itself. AI is different. It entwines itself with cognition.
Tuesday, October 21, 2025
‘The Future of Teaching in the AI Age’ Draws Hundreds of Educators to Iona University - Iona University
“At Iona, we are choosing to engage with AI not because it is fashionable, but because it is necessary. Our students, and of course us as educators as well, are entering a world where AI will shape – or has begun to shape already – nearly every profession, from health care to business to education itself,” said Tricia Mulligan, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at Iona. “AI can provide outputs in seconds, but it cannot help us discern whether those outputs are true, fair, ethical, or good. That work remains profoundly human. Our role as educators is to guide students in cultivating this habit of discernment, so that they graduate not just knowing how to use the latest tool, but how to direct it toward the service of humanity.”
AI in higher education: Experts discuss changes to be seen - Stephen Kenney, Phys.org
While students are flocking to AI tools, many universities have failed to keep up with the dramatic shift. A January 2025 report from the Digital Education Council revealed that though 61% of college faculty have used AI in teaching, 88% of them have only incorporated it in minimal to moderate amounts. The University of Cincinnati is at the forefront of shaping AI policy and equipping faculty and students with AI literacy skills. MidwestCon, one of the region's premier tech conferences, recently hosted its 2025 event at UC's 1819 Innovation Hub and discussed the role of AI in higher education. Below are some takeaways from the session titled "Brains, Bots and the Battle for Creativity."
Monday, October 20, 2025
‘It would almost be stupid not to use ChatGPT’ - Hoger Onderwijs Persbureau, Resource Online Netherlands
Amid widespread concern among lecturers about students’ use of AI tools, public philosopher Bas Haring mostly sees opportunities: ‘Outsourcing part of the thinking process to AI shouldn’t be prohibited.’ Bas Haring annoyed a lot of people with a provocative recent experiment. For one of his students last year, the philosopher and professor of public understanding of science delegated his responsibilities as a thesis supervisor to AI. The student discussed her progress not with Haring, but with ChatGPT – and the results were surprisingly positive. While Haring may be excited about the outcome of his experiment, not everyone shares his enthusiasm. Some have called it unethical, irresponsible, unimaginative and even disgusting. It has also been suggested that this could provide populists with an excuse to further slash education budgets.
C-RAC Releases Statement on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) - MSCHE
C-RAC Releases Statement on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) - MSCHE
On October 6, 2025, the Council of Regional Accrediting Commissions (C-RAC) released a Statement on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Advance Learning Evaluation and Recognition. C-RAC stated:
Put simply, the use of AI in learning evaluation does not conflict with accreditation standards, policies, or practices. Accreditation is never a reason to not implement technology solutions that leverage AI for learning evaluation. Since innovating to advance student success is a central tenet of accreditation expectations, C-RAC supports the exploration and application of transparent, accountable, and unbiased AI solutions within the practice of learning evaluation and credit transfer.
Sunday, October 19, 2025
OpenAI Wants ChatGPT to Be Your Future Operating System - Laren Goode and Will Knight, Wired
OpenAI unveiled a new way to embed third-party apps directly into ChatGPT. At the company’s annual developer conference in San Francisco, CEO Sam Altman said the move would “enable a new generation of apps that are adaptive, interactive, and personalized, that you can chat with.” Starting today, some developers will be able to use a preview version of a new apps software development kit (SDK) to build apps within ChatGPT using open standards. The ability to distribute these apps is currently limited to a handful of big partners. Altman showed off several examples of how these apps would ultimately work within ChatGPT. The demo featured Spotify, Canva, and Zillow apps appearing inside a chat and responding to typed commands.
The future of the CLO: Leading in a world of merged work and learning - Bryan Hancock and Heather Stefanski with Lisa Christensen, McKinsey
Rapid technological advancements, shifting market dynamics, and a complex regulatory landscape are reshaping industries at a breakneck pace. To respond, employees will need new skills, mindsets, and ways of operating. Yet, at a time when development is critical to organizational success, some companies are moving in the opposite direction. They are dissolving senior learning roles or pushing learning deeper into human resources, further separating learning leaders from where strategic decisions are being made. It’s a time of both tremendous opportunity and risk. For chief learning officers (CLOs), the stakes have never been higher. Learning leaders have dreamed about delivering personalized development at scale for decades. The best learning functions have made the most of the tools available to become partners in strategy, experts in development, and fluent in technology. With the advent of AI, CLOs and their organizations are ready for the next evolution: a fundamental transformation in the way organizational learning is delivered.
Saturday, October 18, 2025
Beyond learning design: supporting pedagogical innovation in response to AI - Charlotte von Essen, Times Higher Education
To avoid an unwinnable game of catch-up with technology, universities must rethink pedagogical improvement that goes beyond scaling online learning. Now artificial intelligence is accelerating these tensions. Used well, AI could give faculty and designers more space to experiment, reflect and take risks. But if it is simply used to produce more content, faster, universities risk deepening a content conveyor belt mentality. If higher education wants genuine teaching innovation, it must recognise that pedagogy is the real driver of educational quality. This means making pedagogical improvement a strategic goal. Institutions can anchor innovation in values, build authentic communities of practice and invest explicitly in pedagogical leadership.
As we celebrate teachers, AI is redefining the classroom - Hani Shehada, CGTN
Hani Shehada, a special commentator for CGTN, is a regional manager at Education Above All Foundation's Al Fakhoora Program. He works on global interventions that provide access to higher education for young people whose futures have been disrupted by war and injustice. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.
Artificial intelligence is not knocking politely on the door of higher education; it is kicking it wide open. What we thought would take decades is happening in just a few years. In some cases, in months. Universities that stood for centuries as the ultimate gatekeepers of knowledge are now watching that monopoly evaporate in real time. Here lies the irony: the very institutions that claim to prepare us for the future are themselves unprepared for the speed at which the future is arriving. And that forces us to ask a deeper question: What were universities for in the first place?
Friday, October 17, 2025
Universities can turn AI from a threat to an opportunity by teaching critical thinking - Anitia Lubbe, the Conversation
But focusing only on policing misses a bigger issue: whether students are really learning. As an education researcher, I’m interested in the topic of how students learn. My colleagues and I recently explored the role AI could play in learning – if universities tried a new way of assessing students. We found that many traditional forms of assessment in universities remain focused on memorisation and rote learning. These are exactly the tasks that AI performs best. We argue that it’s time to reconsider what students should be learning. This should include the ability to evaluate and analyse AI-created text. That’s a skill which is essential for critical thinking.
Emerging and established readers’ cognitive and metacognitive strategies during online evaluation - Julie A. Corrigan, Elena Forzani - Computers in Human Behavior
•This study describes a range of cognitive and metacognitive strategies involving qualitatively more complex and varied strategies used to critically evaluate online information.
•Cognitive and metacognitive evaluation strategies were compared and contrasted within and between groups of emerging and established evaluators, which demonstrated that experts use more varied and greater instances of metacognition and relied more heavily on corroboration (with self, expert, and other) strategies.
•Overall, this study represents a holistic synthesis of the cognitive and metacognitive strategies necessary to evaluate online information credibility.
Thursday, October 16, 2025
AI Boom Drives Surge in Demand for Tech Skills in 2025 - Victor Dey, GovTech
Artificial intelligence is doing more than just automating workflows in 2025: It’s dismantling the very idea of education. Once seen as one-time achievements, a bachelor’s degree, a professional certificate, or an annual corporate training session, are no longer guarantees of relevance in a world where knowledge ages almost as quickly as technology itself. Nearly half of talent development leaders surveyed in LinkedIn’s 2025 Workplace Learning Report say they see a skills crisis, with organizations under pressure to equip employees for both present and future roles through dynamic skill-building, particularly in AI and generative AI.
https://www.govtech.com/education/ai-boom-drives-surge-in-demand-for-tech-skills-in-2025
New data show no AI jobs apocalypse—for now - Molly Kinder, et al; Brookings
Every day brings new breakthroughs in artificial intelligence—and new fears about the technology’s potential to trigger mass unemployment. CEOs predict white collar “bloodbaths.” Headlines warn of widespread job losses. With public anxiety growing, it can feel like the economy is already hemorrhaging jobs to AI. But what if, at least for now, the data are telling a different story? To find out, we measured how the labor market has changed since ChatGPT’s launch in November 2022. Specifically, we analyzed the change in the occupational mix across the labor market over the past 33 months. If generative AI technologies such as ChatGPT were automating jobs at scale, we would expect to see fewer workers employed in jobs at greatest risk of automation. Our data found the opposite.
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Higher Education AI Transformation 2030 - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed
We have begun a transformation in higher education that will make us more responsive, efficient and effective at achieving our multiple missions. This will not be easy or without trauma, but it is necessary. To build this new future, we must first rethink the very foundations of our institutions. This is not about adding a few new apps to the learning management system. Rather, it’s about a fundamental re-architecture of how we operate, how we teach and how we define the work of our faculty and students. Key factors include institutional strategy, pedagogy and the future of work.
From Detection to Development: How Universities Are Ethically Embedding AI for Learning - Isabelle Bambury, Higher Education Policy Institute
The Universities UK Annual Conference always serves as a vital barometer for the higher education sector, and this year, few topics were as prominent as the role of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI). A packed session, Ethical AI in Higher Education for improving learning outcomes: A policy and leadership discussion, provided a refreshing and pragmatic perspective, moving the conversation beyond academic integrity fears and towards genuine educational innovation. Based on early findings from new independent research commissioned by Studiosity, the session’s panellists offered crucial insights and a clear path forward.
Tuesday, October 14, 2025
Research, curriculum and grading: new data sheds light on how professors are using AI - Lee V. Gaines, NPR
New research from Anthropic — the company behind the AI chatbot Claude — suggests professors around the world are using AI for curriculum development, designing lessons, conducting research, writing grant proposals, managing budgets, grading student work and designing their own interactive learning tools, among other uses. "When we looked into the data late last year, we saw that of all the ways people were using Claude, education made up two out of the top four use cases," says Drew Bent, education lead at Anthropic and one of the researchers who led the study.
William & Mary launches ChatGPT Edu pilot - Laren Weber, William and Mary
The initiative is a collaboration between the School of Computing, Data Sciences & Physics (CDSP), Information Technology, W&M Libraries and the Mason School of Business and is part of a broader push to embed advanced AI into everyday academic life. The pilot will explore how AI can enhance teaching, research and university operations, while also gathering feedback to guide the responsible and effective use of AI across campus. The results will help shape how W&M leverages AI to advance our world-class academics and research. Additionally, faculty and staff outside of the pilot who are interested in purchasing an Edu license can visit the W&M ChatGPT Edu site for more information.
https://news.wm.edu/2025/10/01/william-mary-launches-chatgpt-edu-pilot/
Monday, October 13, 2025
UMass Students Showcase AI Tools Built for State Agencies - Government Technology
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey invited University of Massachusetts, Amherst students to create AI tools to assist public agencies. The students traveled to Boston last week to share their work. Government leaders in Massachusetts are looking to university students as partners in delivering AI services to their constituents, and a recent showcase highlighted how these collaborations have simplified user experiences with state technology.
AI Grading: Revolutionizing Feedback in Higher Education - Bioengineer
In the era of educational innovation, artificial intelligence has emerged as a transformative force, redefining the dynamics of assessment in universities. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not merely a tool used for automating tasks, but an advanced system that can analyze vast amounts of data, predict outcomes, and personalize experiences. The application of AI in grading and providing tailored feedback holds the promise of revolutionizing traditional educational practices, enhancing the learning experience for diverse student populations. The concept of AI-powered grading has evolved significantly, transitioning from rudimentary algorithms that merely evaluate student outputs to sophisticated systems capable of understanding context, nuance, and individual learning trajectories.
Sunday, October 12, 2025
AI Isn't a Curse. It's a Gift for College Learning. - Samuel J. Abrams, Real Clear Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education recently ran a piece that offers a beautiful and evocative snapshot of intellectual life at its best. Its authors, Khafiz Kerimov and Nicholas Bellinson of St. John’s College, describe students gathered around a blackboard in a campus coffee shop, each wielding a different color of chalk as they work through Euclid and Lobachevsky together. This is admirable, and more institutions could learn from St. John’s commitment to dialogue. But from this unique experience, the authors make a sweeping claim: that artificial intelligence - specifically tools like ChatGPT’s “study mode”- will steal our ability to think and work together. They worry that students will abandon collaborative learning for solitary interactions with machines, and that the vibrant hum of campus life will fade into silence. It’s a poetic warning. It’s also profoundly mistaken.
Is Artificial Intelligence Reshaping Higher Education? - Amy Dittmar, et al; Baker Institute
What does the acceleration of artificial intelligence mean for higher education, from the admissions process to students’ academic and intellectual development? How can students learn to engage responsibly with AI, and what does it mean for the early graduate labor market? Baker Institute fellow and guest host Michael O. Emerson sat down with Rice University Provost Amy Dittmar, University of Houston Associate Provost Jeff Morgan, and Burke Nixon, a senior lecturer in Rice’s writing and communication program, to discuss the advent of AI and its implications for colleges and universities.
Saturday, October 11, 2025
Sora 2 is here - OpenAI
Our latest video generation model is more physically accurate, realistic, and more controllable than prior systems. It also features synchronized dialogue and sound effects. Create with it in the new Sora app. The original Sora model from February 2024 was in many ways the GPT‑1 moment for video—the first time video generation started to seem like it was working, and simple behaviors like object permanence emerged from scaling up pre-training compute. Since then, the Sora team has been focused on training models with more advanced world simulation capabilities. We believe such systems will be critical for training AI models that deeply understand the physical world. A major milestone for this is mastering pre-training and post-training on large-scale video data, which are in their infancy compared to language.
The agentic organization: Contours of the next paradigm for the AI era - Alexander Sukharevsky, et al; McKinsey
AI is bringing the largest organizational paradigm shift since the industrial and digital revolutions (see sidebar, “The evolution of operating models”). This new paradigm unites humans and AI agents—both virtual and physical—to work side by side at scale at near-zero marginal cost. We call it the agentic organization. McKinsey’s experience working with early adopters indicates that AI agents can unlock significant value. Organizations are beginning to deploy virtual AI agents along a spectrum of increasing complexity: from simple tools that augment existing activities to end-to-end workflow automation to entire “AI-first” agentic systems. In parallel, physical AI agents are emerging. Companies are making strides in developing “bodies” for AI, such as smart devices, drones, self-driving vehicles, and early attempts at humanoid robots. These machines allow AI to interface with the physical world.
Friday, October 10, 2025
OpEd: Adapting Higher Ed To New AI World - Alfonzo Berumen, LA Business Journal
Job prospects, even with a degree in hand, aren’t the only aspect of higher education being affected. GenAI has demonstrated the ability to solve mathematical problems and respond to case study questions which are designed to develop critical thinking in students. In a sense, it has replaced the idea of there being only one expert in the room, the professor. This has come at a time when universities are under fire with questions around value for the cost from the student side and diminishing contributions to innovation on the industry side.
ChatGPT Study Mode - Explained By A Learning Coach - Justin Sung, YouTube
The main issue is that the interaction remains very user-led, as Study Mode struggles to dynamically adjust its teaching to a beginner's exact level or pinpoint the root cause of confusion without specific, targeted input from the student [10:10]. The coach found that a passive learner could be stuck in confusion for 30 minutes, whereas an active, metacognitive learner was able to break through the same confusion in just two minutes by asking the right questions [16:15]. Ultimately, the host recommends using Study Mode for targeted study with specific questions, advising that users must embrace active, effortful thinking because effective learning cannot be made easy [19:18]. [summary provided in part by Gemini 2.5 Flash]
Thursday, October 09, 2025
Governor Newsom signs SB 53, advancing California’s world-leading artificial intelligence industry - Governor Gavin Newsom
Governor Newsom today signed into law Senate Bill 53, the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act (TFAIA), authored by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) – legislation carefully designed to enhance online safety by installing commonsense guardrails on the development of frontier artificial intelligence models, helping build public trust while also continuing to spur innovation in these new technologies. The new law builds on recommendations from California’s first-in-the-nation report, called for by Governor Newsom and published earlier this year — and helps advance California’s position as a national leader in responsible and ethical AI, the world’s fourth-largest economy, the birthplace of new technology, and the top pipeline for tech talent.
Udemy Banks on Artificial Intelligence to Power Online Learning - Bloomberg Businessweek
Udemy is in the midst of pivoting from a leading online learning platform to an AI-powered skills acceleration platform built for individuals and organizations. The company says it has expanded its focus from learning to "reskilling," which includes assessment, role plays, and new learning experiences. The company runs what it calls a "two-sided" business: a marketplace for consumers as well as Udemy Business for enterprises, which is designed to help businesses become more competitive.
Wednesday, October 08, 2025
50 AI agents get their first annual performance review - 6 lessons learned - Joe McKendrick, ZDnet
"Agentic AI efforts that focus on fundamentally reimagining entire workflows -- that is, the steps that involve people, processes, and technology -- are more likely to deliver a positive outcome," according to the review. Start with addressing key user pain points, the co-authors suggest. Organizations with document-intensive workflows, such as insurance companies or legal firms, for example, benefit from having agents handle tedious steps. There will always be a need for human workers to "oversee model accuracy, ensure compliance, use judgment, and handle edge cases," the co-authors emphasized. Redesign work "so that people and agents can collaborate well together. Without that focus, even the most advanced agentic programs risk silent failures, compounding errors, and user rejection."
The future of work is agentic - McKinsey
Think about your org chart. Now imagine it features both your current colleagues—humans, if you’re like most of us—and AI agents. That’s not science fiction; it’s happening—and it’s happening relatively quickly, according to McKinsey Senior Partner Jorge Amar. In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, Jorge joins McKinsey talent leaders Brooke Weddle and Bryan Hancock and Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly to talk about what these AI agents are, how they’re being used, and how leaders can prepare now for the workforce of the not-too-distant future.
Tuesday, October 07, 2025
Factors influencing undergraduates’ ethical use of ChatGPT: a reasoned goal pursuit approach - Radu BogdanToma & Iraya Yánez-Pérez, Interactive Learning Environments
The widespread use of large language models, such as ChatGPT, has changed the learning behaviours of undergraduate students, raising issues of academic dishonesty. This study investigates the factors that influence the ethical use of ChatGPT among undergraduates using the recently proposed Theory of Reasoned Goal Pursuit. Through a qualitative elicitation procedure, 26 salient beliefs were identified, representing procurement and approval goals, advantages and disadvantages, the social influence, and factors facilitating and hindering ethical use of ChatGPT. A subsequent, two-wave quantitative survey provided promising evidence for the theory, revealing that positive attitudes and subjective norms emerged as key antecedents of motivation to use ChatGPT ethically.
Linking digital competence, self-efficacy, and digital stress to perceived interactivity in AI-supported learning contexts - Jiaxin Ren, Juncheng Guo & Huanxi Li, Nature
As artificial intelligence technologies become more integrated into educational contexts, understanding how learners perceive and interact with such systems remains an important area of inquiry. This study investigated associations between digital competence and learners’ perceived interactivity with artificial intelligence, considering the potential mediating roles of information retrieval self-efficacy and self-efficacy for human–robot interaction, as well as the potential moderating role of digital stress. Drawing on constructivist learning theory, the technology acceptance model, cognitive load theory, the identical elements theory, and the control–value theory of achievement emotions, a moderated serial mediation model was tested using data from 921 Chinese university students. The results indicated that digital competence was positively associated with perceived interactivity, both directly and indirectly through a sequential pathway involving the two forms of self-efficacy.
Monday, October 06, 2025
Sans Safeguards, AI in Education Risks Deepening Inequality - Government Technology
A new UNESCO report cautions that artificial intelligence has the potential to threaten students’ access to quality education. The organization calls for a focus on people, to ensure digital tools enhance education. While AI and other digital technology hold enormous potential to improve education, a new UNESCO report warns they also risk eroding human rights and worsening inequality if deployed without deliberately robust safeguards. Digitalization and AI in education must be anchored in human rights, UNESCO argued in the report, AI and Education: Protecting the Rights of Learners, and the organization urged governments and international organizations to focus on people, not technology, to ensure digital tools enhance rather than endanger the right to education.
https://www.govtech.com/education/k-12/sans-safeguards-ai-in-education-risks-deepening-inequality
What's your college's AI policy? Find out here. - Chase DiBenedetto, Mashable
Part of ChatGPT for Education, OpenAI has announced educational partnerships with Harvard Business School, University of Pennsylvania's Wharton College, Duke, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), UC San Diego, UC Davis, Indiana University, Arizona State University, Mount Sinai's Ichan School of Medicine, and the entire California State University (CSU) System — OpenAI's collaboration with CSU schools is the largest ChatGPT deployment yet. But there are dozens more, an OpenAI spokesperson told Mashable, that haven't made their ChatGPT partnerships public. Ed Clark, chief information officer for CSU, told Mashable that the decision to partner with OpenAI came from a survey of students that showed many were already signing up for AI accounts using their student emails — faculty and staff were too.
Sunday, October 05, 2025
Linking digital competence, self-efficacy, and digital stress to perceived interactivity in AI-supported learning contexts - Jiaxin Ren, Nature
As artificial intelligence technologies become more integrated into educational contexts, understanding how learners perceive and interact with such systems remains an important area of inquiry. This study investigated associations between digital competence and learners’ perceived interactivity with artificial intelligence, considering the potential mediating roles of information retrieval self-efficacy and self-efficacy for human–robot interaction, as well as the potential moderating role of digital stress. Drawing on constructivist learning theory, the technology acceptance model, cognitive load theory, the identical elements theory, and the control–value theory of achievement emotions, a moderated serial mediation model was tested using data from 921 Chinese university students. The results indicated that digital competence was positively associated with perceived interactivity, both directly and indirectly through a sequential pathway involving the two forms of self-efficacy.
What your students are thinking about artificial intelligence - Florencia Moore & Agostina Arbia, Time Higher Eduction
Students have been quick to adopt and integrate GenAI into their study practices, using it as a virtual assistant to enhance and enrich their learning. At the same time, they sometimes rely on it as a substitute for their own ideas and thinking, since GenAI can complete academic tasks in a matter of seconds. While the first or even second iteration may yield a hallucinated or biased response, with prompt refinement and guidance, it can produce results very close to our expectations almost instantly.
Saturday, October 04, 2025
Syracuse University adopts Claude for Education - EdScoop
yracuse University, the private research institution in New York, this week announced that it’s formed a partnership with Anthropic, the company behind the popular Claude chatbot, to provide students, faculty and staff with a version of the software designed for use in higher education. “Expanding access to Claude for all members of our community is another step in making Syracuse University the most digitally connected campus in America,” Jeff Rubin, senior vice president and chief digital officer, said in a press release. “By equipping every student, faculty member and staff member with Claude, we’re not only fueling innovation, but also preparing our community to navigate, critique and co-create with AI in real-world contexts.”
Colleges are giving students ChatGPT. Is it safe? - Rebecca Ruiz and Chase DiBenedetto - Mashable
This fall, hundreds of thousands of students will get free access to ChatGPT, thanks to a licensing agreement between their school or university and the chatbot's maker, OpenAI. When the partnerships in higher education became public earlier this year, they were lauded as a way for universities to help their students familiarize themselves with an AI tool that experts say will define their future careers. At California State University (CSU), a system of 23 campuses with 460,000 students, administrators were eager to team up with OpenAI for the 2025-2026 school year. Their deal provides students and faculty access to a variety of OpenAI tools and models, making it the largest deployment of ChatGPT for Education, or ChatGPT Edu, in the country.
Friday, October 03, 2025
We’re introducing GDPval, a new evaluation that measures model performance on economically valuable, real-world tasks across 44 occupations. - OpenAI
We found that today’s best frontier models are already approaching the quality of work produced by industry experts. To test this, we ran blind evaluations where industry experts compared deliverables from several leading models—GPT‑4o, o4-mini, OpenAI o3, GPT‑5, Claude Opus 4.1, Gemini 2.5 Pro, and Grok 4—against human-produced work. Across 220 tasks in the GDPval gold set, we recorded when model outputs were rated as better than (“wins”) or on par with (“ties”) the deliverables from industry experts, as shown in the bar chart below.... We also see clear progress over time on these tasks. Performance has more than doubled from GPT‑4o (released spring 2024) to GPT‑5 (released summer 2025), following a clear linear trend. In addition, we found that frontier models can complete GDPval tasks roughly 100x faster and 100x cheaper than industry experts.
The AI Institute for Adult Learning and Online Education - Georgia Tech
(AI-ALOE), led by Georgia Tech and funded by the National Science Foundation, is a multi-institutional research initiative advancing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to transform adult learning and online education. Through collaborative research and innovation, AI-ALOE develops AI technologies and strategies to enhance teaching, personalize learning, and expand educational opportunities at scale. Since its launch, AI-ALOE has developed seven innovative AI technologies, deployed across more than 360 classes at multiple institutions, reaching over 30,000 students. Recent research news indicated that Jill Watson, our virtual teaching assistant, outperforms ChatGPT in real classrooms. In addition, our collaborative teams have produced about 160 peer-reviewed publications, advancing both research and practice in AI-augmented learning. We invite you to join us for our upcoming virtual research showcase and discover the latest innovations and breakthroughs in AI for education.
Thursday, October 02, 2025
Operationalize AI Accountability: A Leadership Playbook - Kevin Werbach, Knowledge at Wharton
Goal
Deploy AI systems with confidence by ensuring they are fair, transparent, and accountable — minimizing risk and maximizing long-term value.
Nano Tool
As organizations accelerate their use of AI, the pressure is on leaders to ensure these systems are not only effective but also responsible. A misstep can result in regulatory penalties, reputational damage, and loss of trust. Accountability must be designed in from the start — not bolted on after deployment.
Strengthening our Frontier Safety Framework - Four Flynn, Helen King, Anca Dragan, Google Deepmind
AI breakthroughs are transforming our everyday lives, from advancing mathematics, biology and astronomy to realizing the potential of personalized education. As we build increasingly powerful AI models, we’re committed to responsibly developing our technologies and taking an evidence-based approach to staying ahead of emerging risks. Today, we’re publishing the third iteration of our Frontier Safety Framework (FSF) — our most comprehensive approach yet to identifying and mitigating severe risks from advanced AI models. This update builds upon our ongoing collaborations with experts across industry, academia and government. We’ve also incorporated lessons learned from implementing previous versions and evolving best practices in frontier AI safety.
We urgently call for international red lines to prevent unacceptable AI risks. - AI Red Lines
Some advanced AI systems have already exhibited deceptive and harmful behavior, and yet these systems are being given more autonomy to take actions and make decisions in the world. Left unchecked, many experts, including those at the forefront of development, warn that it will become increasingly difficult to exert meaningful human control in the coming years. Governments must act decisively before the window for meaningful intervention closes. An international agreement on clear and verifiable red lines is necessary for preventing universally unacceptable risks. These red lines should build upon and enforce existing global frameworks and voluntary corporate commitments, ensuring that all advanced AI providers are accountable to shared thresholds. We urge governments to reach an international agreement on red lines for AI — ensuring they are operational, with robust enforcement mechanisms — by the end of 2026.
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