The vast majority of today's college students — 93% — believe generative AI training should be included in degree programs, according to a recent Coursera report. What's more, 86% of students consider gen AI the most crucial technical skill for career preparation, prioritizing it above in-demand skills such as data strategy and software development. And 94% agree that microcredentials help build the essential skills they need to achieve career success. For its Microcredentials Impact Report 2025, Coursera surveyed more than 1,200 learners and 1,000 employers around the globe to better understand the demand for microcredentials and their impact on workforce readiness and hiring trends.
Saturday, May 31, 2025
The 3-Year Race to Quantum-Safe Security - Simon Pamplin, IOT World Today
Quantum computing is not a distant threat. It is a clear and present danger to enterprise data security and one that will materialize far sooner than many business leaders expect. While conventional wisdom suggests that quantum computers capable of breaking today's encryption are at least a decade away, the reality is far more urgent. Enterprises have just three to four years to prepare, not the ten or more years many seem to think. The clock is ticking and the stakes could not be higher.
Friday, May 30, 2025
Google just leapfrogged every competitor with mind-blowing AI that can think deeper, shop smarter, and create videos with dialogue - Michael Nuñez, Venture Beat
Google announced a sweeping set of artificial intelligence advancements Tuesday at its annual I/O developer conference, introducing more powerful AI models, expanding its search capabilities, and launching new creative tools that push the boundaries of what its technology can accomplish. The Mountain View-based company unveiled Gemini 2.5 enhancements, rolled out AI Mode in Search to all U.S. users, introduced new generative media models, and launched a premium $249.99 monthly subscription tier called Google AI Ultra for power users — all reflecting Google’s accelerating AI momentum across its product ecosystem.
Controlling Agent Swarms is your ONLY job... - Wes Roth, YouTube
Wes Roth discusses the "Age of the Agent Orchestrator" article by Shyamal from OpenAI, which explores the future of work with advanced AI agents [00:00]. The article posits that the ability to manage and optimize these AI agents will become a critical skill [00:19]. This involves strategically allocating resources like computing power and human expertise to create efficient workflows [03:23]. Roth highlights that while AI can execute tasks, human input remains essential for setting strategy, managing complex situations, and optimizing AI performance [08:12]. The video also addresses the current limitations of AI in long-term projects, emphasizing the need for human oversight in conjunction with AI capabilities [13:45]. The main point is that managing and optimizing AI agents will be a vital and highly valued skill in the near future [20:40].
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnCDM1IdGFE
Thursday, May 29, 2025
The AI Revolution Is Underhyped - Eric Schmidt, TED
The arrival of non-human intelligence is a very big deal, says former Google CEO and chairman Eric Schmidt. In a wide-ranging interview with technologist Bilawal Sidhu, Schmidt makes the case that AI is wildly underhyped, as near-constant breakthroughs give rise to systems capable of doing even the most complex tasks on their own. He explores the staggering opportunities, sobering challenges and urgent risks of AI, showing why everyone will need to engage with this technology in order to remain relevant.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet | The All-In Interview - David Friedberg, YouTube
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, discusses Google's AI-first approach and how AI is improving search, highlighting new AI-powered search experiences and the increasing usage of AI overviews [04:06] [05:53] [05:19]. He also addresses the competitive landscape, mentioning companies like OpenAI, Meta, and Microsoft, and the emergence of strong AI models from China [30:34] [33:43]. Pichai emphasizes Google's infrastructure advantage, particularly its investment in TPUs for AI, which contributes to cost-effectiveness and performance [17:03] [16:18]. The podcast also touches on the future of human-computer interaction, envisioning seamless and adaptive computing, and reflects on Google's culture, emphasizing employee empowerment and innovation [27:04] [48:44]. (summary provided in part by Gemini 2.0)
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
Why agentic AI is the next wave of innovation, Mike Hulme, Venture Beat
In just one year, AI and machine learning has soared to new heights with the emergence of advanced large language models, and domain specific small language models that can be deployed both on the cloud and the edge. While this kind of intelligence is the new baseline for what we expect in our applications, the future of enterprise AI lies in complex, multi-agent workflows that combine powerful models, intelligent agents and human guided decision-making. This market is moving fast. According to recent Deloitte research, 50% of companies using generative AI will launch agentic AI pilots or proofs of concept by 2027.
https://venturebeat.com/ai/why-agentic-ai-is-the-next-wave-of-innovation
ChatGPT in 2025: The Biggest Updates, Features, and What’s Coming Next - Davonte Lee, 9 Meters
Anticipated to be a unifying leap forward, GPT-5 will reportedly integrate OpenAI’s “o3” reasoning engine to enable stronger contextual memory and logical processing. This release is expected to take ChatGPT closer to AGI territory by improving its ability to chain thoughts together, hold long-term context, and handle complex tasks with minimal prompting. Early testing suggests significant upgrades in multi-modal performance (text, vision, and possibly audio). Microsoft is preparing for GPT-5 integration across Azure, Bing, and Office products—hinting at a wider AI-driven transformation of everyday tools like Word, Excel, and Outlook.
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Courses Are Dead? Google Gemini 2.5 Changes Everything for Online Educators - AI Learning Communities, YouTube
The host discusses Google's Gemini 2.5 Pro experimental and how it can create interactive web apps from simple prompts [00:09]. These web apps can visually represent information and require user interaction, potentially replacing traditional courses [00:30]. The host demonstrates how to create a web app that teaches how to make coffee [05:55] and a sequencing application [07:38]. He also shows examples of web apps for personal skills like photo editing [09:38] and cooking scrambled eggs [10:06], as well as for small business tasks [10:33]. The host emphasizes that these web apps are simple HTML pages that can be easily deployed [21:13]. He encourages viewers to consider using web apps instead of traditional courses for teaching processes and skills [21:03]. (note this summary is provided in part by Gemini 2.0 Flash)
A new AI model: The Human Guided Learning Ecosystem - Lee Lambert and Keith Rocci, CC Daily
What if the future of higher education doesn’t just survive AI, but thrives because of it? Imagine a system where AI doesn’t diminish human connection but powerfully amplifies it. This is the vision behind the Human Guided Learning Ecosystem. This is a model where artificial intelligence serves as a dynamic assistant to both students and educators, not a replacement for either. This approach reframes AI not as an existential threat, but as a transformative opportunity. It’s a future where AI enables colleges to scale student support, deepen personalized learning pathways, and, crucially, liberate educators to concentrate on the uniquely human aspects of teaching that matter most.
Monday, May 26, 2025
New "Absolute Zero" Model Learns with NO DATA - Matthew Berman, YouTube
This video discusses a new AI paradigm called "Absolute Zero" [
He died in 2021. He spoke in court in 2025 - Matt V, MindStream
For the first time, AI was used during a sentencing hearing to recreate the voice and image of a murder victim. Christopher Pelkey, a 37-year-old Army veteran, was killed in a road rage incident in 2021. At his killer’s sentencing, Peley’s family used AI to create a video impact statement. It featured his real video clips, a photo with an old-age filter, and a voice trained to reflect his tone and personality. In the video, the AI version of Pelkey spoke directly to the court and to the man who shot him, mentioning forgiveness and reflecting on what it might have been like to grow old.
Sunday, May 25, 2025
China's Baidu looks to patent AI system to decipher animal sounds - Liam Mo and Brenda Goh, Reuters
Ever wished you could understand what your cat is trying to tell you? A Chinese tech company is exploring whether it's possible to translate those mysterious meows into human language using artificial intelligence. Baidu (9888.HK), opens new tab, owner of China's largest search engine, has filed a patent with China National Intellectual Property Administration proposing a system to convert animal vocalisations into human language, according to a patent document published this week.
Elon University publishes new AI guide for students - EdScoop
Elon University and the American Association of Colleges and Universities on Tuesday announced the publication of their second Student Guide to Artificial Intelligence, a series of guides intended to help students integrate AI into their studies. According to a press release, the new guide offers practical advice about preparing for careers that require AI skills and was developed with help from consulting scholars and students in 14 countries. “By providing a free resource written in a way all students can access, we hope to increase AI literacy and support students as they adapt to these rapidly changing technologies,” Elon University President Connie Book said in a press release. “From the outset, we knew that a second publication would be necessary, with rapid advances in AI changing the learning landscape. This current version will be especially useful as colleges and universities prepare for the upcoming academic year.”
Saturday, May 24, 2025
Opinion: How Students Are Already Using AI to Write - Jeanne Beatrix Law, The Conversation, Fast Company
I’m a writing professor who sees artificial intelligence as more of an opportunity for students, rather than a threat. That sets me apart from some of my colleagues, who fear that AI is accelerating a glut of superficial content, impeding critical thinking and hindering creative expression. They worry that students are simply using it out of sheer laziness or, worse, to cheat. Perhaps that’s why so many students are afraid to admit that they use ChatGPT.
This Founder Just Launched an AI Clone of Himself. Should You? - Ben Sherry, Inc.
Entrepreneurs are in a constant, never-ending battle with time. Between managing direct reports, training new employees, and growing the business, it can feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. But what if you could offload some of that work to someone you trust implicitly: a version of yourself? Tyler Denk, founder of fast-growing newsletter startup Beehiiv, recently released his own Delphi-created AI clone, and made it free for subscribers of his personal newsletter, Big Desk Energy (BDE). Denk wrote in his blog that the AI clone, which he named DenkBot, can converse via text and speech, and “has been trained on everything I’ve ever written, all of my social media posts, every podcast interview I’ve ever done, and a handful of other resources (like Beehiiv support docs).” BDE subscribers could use DenkBot to get advice sourced from Denk’s newsletter without needing to sift through dozens of posts.
Friday, May 23, 2025
AI Is Reshaping the Workplace, but Entry-Level Hires Are Way Ahead of the Game - Kit Eaton, Inc.
In a fascinating fireside chat at the recent SXSW Conference in Austin, two experts dug right into the details of how generative AI is impacting workplaces globally. The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania just published a useful summary of the main points tackled by Neil Hoyne, Google’s chief measurement strategist and a Wharton senior fellow, and Wharton marketing professor Stefano Puntoni. College kids are way ahead of them. The thinkers’ insights are interesting, and may change your own thinking about allowing your staff to use AI at the office, but a separate report from New York magazine might have even more of an impact on your company. It’s a useful look at the emerging workforce, particularly new staff fresh out of college, because it shows exactly how deeply reliant on AI tech today’s students have already become.
5 easy Gemini settings tweaks to protect your privacy from AI - Jack Wallen, ZDnet
If you're an Android user, you are familiar with Gemini, as it has replaced Google Assistant as the default. Although Gemini is a powerful and helpful tool, some worry that it invades their privacy. If you use the default settings, that concern is not too far from the truth. If you happen to share that mindset, I have five tips to help you maximize your privacy when using Gemini on your Android device. Fortunately, these tips aren't challenging, so anyone can use them. Are you ready? Let's get private.
Thursday, May 22, 2025
I tested ChatGPT's Deep Research against Gemini, Perplexity, and Grok AI to see which is best - Lance Whitney, ZDnet
More AI chatbots now offer a deep research option, through which they can investigate a topic for you. Acting as autonomous AI agents, the bots will surf the web on your behalf, find the right online sources, and then present you with a detailed report based on their findings. The goal is to save you the time of checking out dozens or hundreds of websites yourself. Deep Research is quickly becoming a powerful feature among a host of AIs. You'll find it with OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity AI, and even xAI's Grok (which calls it DeepSearch). Microsoft introduced a type of deep research with two AI agents, Researcher and Analyst; however, they require a Microsoft 365 Copilot license with an Enterprise or Business subscription, so they're not yet available to the average Copilot user.
Build rich, interactive web apps with an updated Gemini 2.5 Pro -T Tulsee Doshi, Google Keyword
Today we're releasing early access to Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview (I/O edition), an updated version of 2.5 Pro that has significantly improved capabilities for coding, especially building compelling interactive web apps. We were going to release this update at Google I/O in a couple weeks, but based on the overwhelming enthusiasm for this model, we wanted to get it in your hands sooner so people can start building. This builds on the overwhelmingly positive feedback to Gemini 2.5 Pro’s coding and multimodal reasoning capabilities. Beyond UI-focused development, these improvements extend to other coding tasks such as code transformation, code editing and developing complex agentic workflows.
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Introducing OpenAI for Countries - OpenAI
Our Stargate project, an unprecedented investment in America’s AI infrastructure announced in January with President Trump and our partners Oracle and SoftBank, is now underway with our first supercomputing campus in Abilene, Texas, and more sites to come. We’ve heard from many countries asking for help in building out similar AI infrastructure—that they want their own Stargates and similar projects. It’s clear to everyone now that this kind of infrastructure is going to be the backbone of future economic growth and national development. Technological innovation has always driven growth by helping people do more than they otherwise could—AI will scale human ingenuity itself and drive more prosperity by scaling our freedoms to learn, think, create and produce all at once.
Medium Is the New Large - Mistral
Mistral Medium 3 delivers frontier performance while being an order of magnitude less expensive. For instance, the model performs at or above 90% of Claude Sonnet 3.7 on benchmarks across the board at a significantly lower cost ($0.4 input / $2 output per M token). On performance, Mistral Medium 3 also surpasses leading open models such as Llama 4 Maverick and enterprise models such as Cohere Command A. On pricing, the model beats cost leaders such as DeepSeek v3, both in API and self-deployed systems. Additionally, Mistral Medium 3 can also be deployed on any cloud, including self-hosted environments of four GPUs and above.
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Five Ways Gen AI Is Changing Workplace Identity - Stefano Puntoni, Knowledge at Wharton
AI is often framed as a technological advancement, but Puntoni believes its real impact is in how humans adapt to it. The conversation needs to move beyond Silicon Valley and into the domains of business schools, social sciences, and workforce development to understand AI’s role in shaping the future of work. AI is unlikely to fully replace most jobs; instead, it will redefine them. Just as photography evolved with digital tools, professions will adapt by integrating AI into workflows. Understanding which aspects of work are identity-driven versus utilitarian can help individuals navigate this shift without feeling threatened.
Quantum computing: Game on - McKinsey
New advances suggest quantum may finally be at an inflection point. Here’s what leaders need to know to become quantum-ready. Quantum computing has long been technology’s white whale. But in recent months, new developments suggest practical applications for this elusive technology could finally be within reach. “Quantum has been five to ten years away from fruition for many, many decades,” says McKinsey Partner Michael Bogobowicz. “Now it feels three to five years away.” In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Bogobowicz joins McKinsey Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly to discuss how quantum differs from conventional computing, what its potential use cases are likely to be, and how to prepare for the highs and lows of a world that could move exponentially faster than it does today.
Monday, May 19, 2025
How To Pick The Right AI Agent - Aytekin Tank, Forbes
If generative AI was the first frontier in artificial intelligence, AI agents are the next. We’ve reached a point where startups are posting job listings—not for humans, but for AI agents (or those who build them). It might be a clever PR move, but it’s not a gimmick. AI agents are becoming integral to forward-thinking organizations. But what exactly is an AI agent? Put simply, it’s software that autonomously makes decisions, takes actions, and interacts with others—without human input. It executes multi-step goals, adapting along the way.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/aytekintank/2025/02/27/the-top-150-ai-agents/
AI-powered learning is a story about people, not machines - Patrick Blessinger, Abhilasha Singh and James Brown; University World News
AI-powered learning is not a story about machines. It is about people. It is about how we use technology to foster human agency, to promote inclusion and to cultivate a more capable learning ecosystem. It will continue to reshape how knowledge is produced and consumed and it will continue to reshape teaching and learning processes. We have to embrace new concepts while remaining committed to those core values that make education the driving engine of progress: advancing inquiry, expanding knowledge, fostering creativity and enhancing the quality of life for all. We are not simply training the workers of today – we are nurturing the citizens, artists, scientists and leaders of tomorrow. And in doing so, we are called to ask not just what AI can do for education but what education can do for humanity.
Sunday, May 18, 2025
Google’s NotebookLM Android and iOS apps are available for preorder - Aisha Malik, Tech Crunch
Since its launch in 2023, the AI-based note-taking and research assistant has only been accessible via desktop. Google is now gearing up to make the service available on the go. NotebookLM is designed to help students, professionals, and researchers better understand complex information through features like smart summaries and the ability to ask questions about documents and other materials. The research assistant also lets you generate AI podcasts, called Audio Overviews, to make it easier to digest complex topics. According to screenshots on the app listings, the dedicated apps will allow users to create new notebooks and view the ones they have already created. They can also upload new sources from their device and view the ones they have already uploaded in each of the notebooks. Plus, the apps will allow you to listen to the Audio Overviews you have generated on the go.
I tried out a bunch of the AI assistants. Here’s what you need to know about each one - Jared Newman, Fast Company
Does it feel to you like there are way too many AI assistants to keep track of? Between ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude, DeepSeek, and others, it’s hard to remember what each one excels at—if anything. Beyond just the underlying differences in large language models, each AI assistant has its own features, integrations, premium features, and peculiarities. I’m writing this guide both for myself and for anyone who wants to stay informed about generative [and agenic] AI. While I have some reservations, I also think it’s worth keeping an eye on what’s available. Rather than getting into the technical details of how these AI assistants work, I’ll focus on what they can actually do.
Saturday, May 17, 2025
Meet The FIRST WATER POWERED Biomimetic AI Humanoid - Synthetic Humans Are Coming! - Six Digits, YouTube
Clone Alpha isn’t just another human-like bot built with bolts and screws. It is groundbreaking AI that can seamlessly replicate biological functions of humans, from the flexibility in our fingers to the distinct gait of a human walking on uneven terrain. The complex ways in which our muscles contract, and tendons and joints interact took millions of years for evolution to perfect, and now we have the same power to replicate that in AI. Clone Robotics is working on a project that could change how we view robots and close the gap between humans and machines. These robots have a synthetic organ system capable of mimicking the biological systems and processes of plants and animals. In other words, that’s just a fancy way of saying the robot learns by observation from living organisms to become better at its tasks.
AI-Powered Simulation Targets Engineering Transformation: AWS Summit London - Berenice Baker, AI Business
Deeptech startup PhysicsX is developing an AI-driven simulation platform that could transform industrial engineering by accelerating complex physics calculations by up to a million times. In an exclusive interview at the recent AWS Summit London, CEO and co-founder Jacomo Corbo explained how the company's innovative approach, powered by AWS's high-performance computing capabilities, is enabling unprecedented optimization across aerospace, defense, automotive and semiconductor manufacturing.
Friday, May 16, 2025
Why AI companies keep raising the specter of sentience - Chris Stokel-Walker, Wired
In their blog post explaining what went wrong, OpenAI described “ChatGPT’s default personality” and its “behavior”—terms typically reserved for humans, suggesting a degree of anthropomorphization. OpenAI isn’t alone in this: humans often describe AI as “understanding” or “knowing” things, largely because media coverage has consistently framed it that way—incorrectly. AI doesn’t possess knowledge or a brain, and some argue it never will (though that view is disputed). Still, talk of sentience, personality, and humanlike qualities in AI appears to be growing. Last month, OpenAI competitor Anthropic—founded by former OpenAI employees—published a blog post expressing concern about developing AI that benefits human welfare. “But as we build those AI systems, and as they begin to approximate or surpass many human qualities, another question arises,” the firm wrote. “Should we also be concerned about the potential consciousness and experiences of the models themselves? Should we be concerned about model welfare, too?”
The Future of Education with AI Agents: How Conversational Agents Will Replace Classrooms - Thomas Frey, Futurist Speaker
What we’re witnessing isn’t just a better form of education—it’s the emergence of a new learning paradigm altogether. AI agents are dissolving the rigid structures of grade levels, semesters, and standardized tests. In their place, we see flexible, lifelong learning partnerships that evolve with us, helping us adapt to new roles, industries, and technologies throughout our lives. The promise is staggering: a world where anyone, anywhere, can unlock their full potential without being limited by geography, socioeconomic status, or outdated institutions. Education becomes a continuous journey, not a stage of life. A conversation, not a lecture. And for the first time, it’s a system designed around the learner—not the institution. As AI continues to evolve, so too does our understanding of human capability. The future of education isn’t just digital—it’s dynamic, personalized, and relentlessly practical. And it’s already here.
Thursday, May 15, 2025
Visa and Mastercard unveil AI-powered shopping - Mary Ann Azevedo, Tech Crunch
Artificial intelligence is not just infiltrating the startup world. Now credit card giants Visa and Mastercard are getting into the AI game. Visa announced on Wednesday “Intelligent Commerce,” which it says enables AI “to find and buy.” AI agents will be able to shop and make purchases on behalf of consumers, based on preselected preferences. In a statement, Visa chief product and strategy officer Jack Forestell said: “Each consumer sets the limits, and Visa helps manage the rest.” Visa says that it is collaborating with a mix of tech giants and startups to develop AI-powered shopping experiences that are “more personal, more secure, and more convenient.” Those companies include Anthropic, IBM, Microsoft, Mistral AI, OpenAI, Perplexity, Samsung, and Stripe, among others.
Former Google CEO-Backed Startup Builds AI Agents for Science - Scarlett Evans, AI Business
FutureHouse, a nonprofit backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, has launched a new AI platform to help scientists navigate vast amounts of data and accelerate new discoveries. The platform uses what FutureHouse calls the first “superintelligent scientific agents,” outperforming human workers in tasks such as reviewing literature and distinguishing between reliable and unreliable sources. Agents for hypothesis generation and experimental planning are also set for launch. Four of these specialized AI agents are being included in the platform’s launch, each designed to target a different element of scientific discovery.
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
Want a job at Duolingo? Better know how to use AI - Tech Crunch
Duolingo has announced it’s becoming an AI-first company. In a message shared with staff and later posted online, CEO Luis von Ahn said the shift will change how the business runs, from hiring to content creation. While it’s not about cutting jobs, von Ahn made it clear that new roles will only be added when automation genuinely can’t do the work. Rather than tweaking what’s already in place, Duolingo is rethinking how things are done, with AI built in from the ground up. Contractors will be phased out where AI tools are a better fit, and employees are being encouraged to use AI to work smarter. The idea is to remove the repetitive tasks and give people more space to focus on creative, high-impact work.
https://www.theverge.com/news/657594/duolingo-ai-first-replace-contract-workers
Google’s AI Mode gets expanded access and additional functionality - Aisha Malik, Tech Crunch
Google is expanding access to AI Mode, its experimental feature that allows users to ask complex, multi-part questions and follow-ups to dig deeper on a topic directly within Search. The tech giant is also adding more functionality to the feature, including the ability to pick up where you left off on a search. Google launched AI Mode back in March as a way to take on popular services like Perplexity AI and OpenAI’s ChatGPT Search. The updates announced today are designed to allow AI Mode to better compete with the aforementioned services.
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
A New Quantum Algorithm Speeds Up Solving a Huge Class of Problems - Stephen Ornes, Wired
For computer scientists, solving problems is a bit like mountaineering. First they must choose a problem to solve—akin to identifying a peak to climb—and then they must develop a strategy to solve it. Classical and quantum researchers compete using different strategies, with a healthy rivalry between the two. Quantum researchers report a fast way to solve a problem—often by scaling a peak that no one thought worth climbing—then classical teams race to see if they can find a better way.
Meta launches a stand-alone AI app to compete with ChatGPT - Amanda Silberling, Tech Crunch
After integrating Meta AI into WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger, Meta is rolling out a stand-alone AI app. Unveiled at Meta’s LlamaCon event on Tuesday, this app allows users to access Meta AI in an app, similar to the ChatGPT app and other AI assistant apps. To win over users, Meta is trying to leverage what makes it different from companies like OpenAI and Anthropic — Meta already has a sense of who you are, what you like, and who you hang out with based on years of data that you’ve likely shared on Facebook or Instagram.
Monday, May 12, 2025
‘This is what employers need within their organization,’ Coursera exec says after new finding on micro-credentials - Lucy Buchholz, Unleash
Coursera, which generated a total revenue of $179.2 million in 2024, has recently released its Micro-Credentials Impact Report 2025. The report unearths the key micro-credentials needed within today’s workplace, while highlighting why these should be a focus for hiring managers. Nikolaz Foucaud, Managing Director EMEA at Coursera, spoke exclusively to UNLEASH to share which micro-credential should be at the top of HR leaders’ radar.
Something Alarming Is Happening to the Job Market: A new sign that AI is competing with college grads - Derek Thompson, the Atlantic
Something strange, and potentially alarming, is happening to the job market for young, educated workers. According to the New York Federal Reserve, labor conditions for recent college graduates have “deteriorated noticeably” in the past few months, and the unemployment rate now stands at an unusually high 5.8 percent. Even newly minted M.B.A.s from elite programs are struggling to find work. Meanwhile, law-school applications are surging—an ominous echo of when young people used graduate school to bunker down during the great financial crisis.
https://www.theatlantic.com/economy/archive/2025/04/job-market-youth/682641/
Sunday, May 11, 2025
Alibaba unveils Qwen3, a family of ‘hybrid’ AI reasoning models - Kyle Wiggers, Tech Crunch
of AI models that the company claims can match and, in some cases, outperform the best models available from Google and OpenAI. Most of the models are — or soon will be — available for download under an “open” license on AI dev platform Hugging Face and GitHub. They range in size from 0.6 billion parameters to 235 billion parameters. (Parameters roughly correspond to a model’s problem-solving skills, and models with more parameters generally perform better than those with fewer parameters.)
Microsoft CEO: "Agents Will Replace ALL Software” - Matthew Berman, YouTube
This podcast discusses the potential decline of the traditional Software as a Service (SaaS) model, as predicted by Microsoft's CEO [00:16]. The future may involve agents that handle application logic, interacting directly with databases and various APIs, effectively abstracting away the underlying technologies for the user [02:26, 04:18]. This shift could significantly impact hiring, with a focus on the agents and workflows individuals have created, similar to how data analysts use spreadsheets [08:22, 09:06]. The rise of these agents, predicted to gain prominence around 2025 [10:41], presents challenges like agent onboarding within organizations [09:30]. These agents, including potential "super agents" from OpenAI [11:41], are expected to tackle complex problems by synthesizing information [12:56]. This technological evolution might enhance productivity for software engineers or potentially lead to job displacement, as suggested by trends like Salesforce's hiring freeze following AI-driven productivity gains [13:32, 14:09]. [Summary provided in part by Gemini 2.5 Pro]
Saturday, May 10, 2025
AI in Education - Ethan Mollick, LinkedIn
One way to make AI do good things in areas like education is to actively experiment in creating good things and share the results (whether they work or not) so others can build on those. Mitigating bad outcomes are important, but good outcomes are not automatic either, and will take collective work. Just waiting for the AI labs to develop their own ideas is not enough. Mollick goes on to share a paper titled "AI Tutoring Outperforms Active Learning" authored by Harvard faculty.
An AI-generated radio host in Australia went unnoticed for months - Emma Roth, the Verge
For months, a popular Australian radio station has used an AI-generated DJ to host one of its segments — and no one seemed to notice, as reported by the Australian Financial Review and The Sydney Morning Herald. The show, called Workdays with Thy, offers a four-hour mix of hip hop, R&B, and pop, with no indication that the voice of its host, Thy, is AI-generated. Workdays with Thy is broadcast on the Sydney radio station CADA. Its owner, ARN Media, confirmed to the Financial Review that while Thy is AI-generated, the host’s voice and likeness are modeled after an actual employee in the company’s financial department. Thy’s voice was created with the AI voice generator ElevenLabs, as first reported by the newsletter The Carpet.
Friday, May 09, 2025
IBM Uses Agentic AI for Autonomous Security Operations: RSAC 2025 - Liz Hughes, AI Business
IBM plans to use agentic AI and automation to help customers with autonomous security operations and predict potential threats. IBM made the announcement at this week’s RSAC 2025 Conference in San Francisco. The company is launching an Autonomous Threat Operations Machine, which uses agentic AI to provide “autonomous threat triage, investigation and remediation with minimal human intervention.”
How the U.S. Public and AI Experts View Artificial Intelligence - Colleen McClean, et al; Pew Research
Experts are far more positive and enthusiastic about AI than the public. For example, the AI experts we surveyed are far more likely than Americans overall to believe AI will have a very or somewhat positive impact on the United States over the next 20 years (56% vs. 17%). And while 47% of experts surveyed say they are more excited than concerned about the increased use of AI in daily life, that share drops to 11% among the public. By contrast, U.S. adults as a whole – whose concerns over AI have grown since 2021 – are more inclined than experts to say they’re more concerned than excited (51% vs. 15% among experts).
Thursday, May 08, 2025
The world’s nicest chatbot is eating up energy - Matt V, Mindstream
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently shared that using polite language with Chatgpt, like saying “please” and “thank you”, actually costs the company tens of millions in electricity. That’s because tools like ChatGPT rely on massive data centres powered by energy-hungry GPUs. Even a single AI response, like a short message, can use around 0.14 kWh of electricity, the same as keeping 14 LED bulbs on for an hour.
A 2024 survey found:
67% of Americans regularly use polite language with chatbots
55% think it’s simply the right thing to do
12% say it’s just in case AI takes over one day
Quantum computing gears up for its 'ChatGPT Moment' — and a potential talent shortage - Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert, Tech Insider
The AI field faces a significant talent shortage, with too few skilled workers to fuel the industry. Quantum computing startups have noticed and are trying to avoid the same problem. Some quantum companies are funding certificate programs and university courses to train new talent. Quantum computing companies are learning from missteps made during the artificial intelligence boom and are investing heavily in training programs to ensure the fledgling industry maintains its momentum.
Wednesday, May 07, 2025
AI in Higher Education Expert University of Pennsylvania Professor Ethan Mollick's Wisdom - LinkedIn Posting
I don’t mean to be a broken record but AI development could stop at the o3/Gemini 2.5 level and we would have a decade of major changes across entire professions & industries (medicine, law, education, coding…) as we figure out how to actually use it & adapt our systems and organizations to what it can do.
AI disruption is baked in.
Sleep Time Compute - AI That "Thinks" 24/7 (Breakthrough) - Matthew Berman, YouTube
This podcast discusses a research paper introducing "sleeptime compute," a concept aimed at allowing AI to anticipate and answer questions more efficiently [00:05, 00:41]. It contrasts this with current "test time compute" methods, where AI processes information only after receiving a prompt, leading to higher latency and cost [01:09, 02:12]. Sleeptime compute involves pre-processing context and generating potential inferences during idle periods, making the AI ready to answer anticipated questions quickly [05:07, 07:22]. The key benefit of sleeptime compute is its potential to match or exceed the quality of test time compute while using fewer resources and reducing costs, especially when multiple questions relate to the same context [08:16, 09:02]. The research shows performance gains, particularly with lower test time budgets, and highlights its effectiveness when future questions are predictable based on the initial context [09:29, 16:55]. Future work might explore dynamically allocating resources between these two compute methods [18:25]. (summary provided by Gemini 2.5 Pro)
Tuesday, May 06, 2025
OpenAI seeks to make its upcoming ‘open’ AI model best-in-class - Kyle Wiggers, Tech Crunch
OpenAI is exploring a highly permissive license for the model with few usage or commercial restrictions, the sources said. Open models like Llama and Google’s Gemma have been criticized by some in the community for imposing onerous requirements — criticisms that OpenAI is seemingly seeking to avoid. The ChatGPT maker is facing increasing pressure from rivals, such as Chinese AI lab DeepSeek, that have adopted an open approach to launching models. In contrast to OpenAI’s strategy, these “open” competitors make their models available to the AI community for experimentation and, in some cases, commercialization.
https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/23/openai-seeks-to-make-its-upcoming-open-ai-model-best-in-class/
Boston Consulting Group Unveils AI Science Institute to Drive Research - Scarlett Evans, AI Business
BCG X, the tech division of Boston Consulting Group, has launched an AI Science Institute to help companies develop and commercialize scientific innovations. The institute is supported by a team of more than 3,000 people and is designed to work collaboratively with universities, industry experts and research and development teams from across industries. In a press release, BCG said the institute will be a “groundbreaking hub” that brings together advancements in AI with the latest scientific innovations.
Monday, May 05, 2025
Microsoft thinks AI colleagues are coming soon - Jessica Bursztynsky, Fast Company
These so-called Frontier Firms will be built around “on-demand intelligence and powered by ‘hybrid’ teams of humans + agents, these companies scale rapidly, operate with agility, and generate value faster,” according to the report. Microsoft argued that within the next two to five years, every company will be on the journey to becoming one. Microsoft said that 82% of leaders responded that this is a “pivotal” year to rethink key strategy and operations, while 81% said they expect agents to be “moderately or extensively” integrated into their AI strategies in the next 12 to 18 months. The results are a culmination of survey data from 31,000 workers across 31 countries, LinkedIn hiring and labor market trends, trillions of Microsoft 365 productivity signals, and conversations with experts, and AI-native startups.
Ethically trained AI startup Pleias releases new small reasoning models optimized for RAG with built-in citations - Carl Franzen, Venture Beat
French AI startup Pleias made waves late last year with the launch of its ethically trained Pleias 1.0 family of small language models — among the first and only to date to be built entirely on scraping “open” data, that is, data explicitly labeled as public domain, open source, or unlicensed and not copyrighted. Now the company has announced the release of two open source small-scale reasoning models designed specifically for retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), citation synthesis, and structured multilingual output. The launch includes two core models — Pleias-RAG-350M and Pleias-RAG-1B — each also available in CPU-optimized GGUF format, making a total of four deployment-ready variants. They are all based on Pleias 1.0, and can be used independently or in conjunction with other LLMs that the organization may already or plan to deploy. All appear to be available under a permissive Apache 2.0 open source license, meaning they are eligible for organizations to take, modify and deploy for commercial use cases.
Sunday, May 04, 2025
Exploring model welfare - Anthropic
Human welfare is at the heart of our work at Anthropic: our mission is to make sure that increasingly capable and sophisticated AI systems remain beneficial to humanity. But as we build those AI systems, and as they begin to approximate or surpass many human qualities, another question arises. Should we also be concerned about the potential consciousness and experiences of the models themselves? Should we be concerned about model welfare, too? This is an open question, and one that’s both philosophically and scientifically difficult. But now that models can communicate, relate, plan, problem-solve, and pursue goals—along with very many more characteristics we associate with people—we think it’s time to address it.
Bot Traffic Surpasses Humans Online—Driven by AI and Criminal Innovation - Kevin Townsend, Security Week
AI is helping internet bot herders with greater scale, lower costs, and more sophisticated evasion techniques. Bots on the internet now surpass human activity, with 51% of all internet traffic being automated (bot) traffic. Thirty-seven percent of this is malicious (bad bots), while only 14% are good bots. Much of the current expansion is fueled by criminal use of AI, which is likely to increase. Within the bad bots there has been a noticeable growth in simple, but high volume bot attacks. This again shows the influence of AI, allowing less sophisticated actors to generate new bots, and use AI power to launch them. This follows the common trajectory of criminal use of AI: simple as the actors learn how to use their new capability, followed by more sophisticated use as their AI skills evolve. This shows the likely future of the bot threat: advanced bots being produced at the speed and delivery of simple bots. The bad bot threat will likely increase.
Saturday, May 03, 2025
I Tested 5 AI Assistants—and What I Found Was Surprising - Carmine Gallo, Inc.
In total, the panel of judges evaluated 150 emails. While one AI tool was the clear winner, the experiment highlighted the benefits of AI writing and communication assistants—and one big limitation. “On average, Claude’s emails felt more human than the others,” Fowler noted. Another judge, Erica Dhawan, said, “Claude uses precise, respectful language without being overly corporate or impersonal.” DeepSeek came in second place, followed by Gemini, ChatGPT and, in last place, Copilot. Although Copilot is widely available in Windows, Word, and Outlook, the judges agreed that its emails sounded too much like AI. “Copilot began messages with some variation of the super-generic ‘hope you’re well’ on three of our five tests,” said Fowler.
Agentic AI Adoption Blueprint Released by Salesforce - Scarlett Evans, AI Business
Salesforce has released what it calls a blueprint for businesses operating in the agentic AI era.The Agentic Maturity Model highlights four key areas for advancement, helping companies move from early deployment of AI tools such as chatbots, to truly autonomous agents that can work collaboratively with humans. The four levels of agentic maturity outlined in the report include chatbots and co-pilots, information retrieval agents, simple orchestration and single domain, complex orchestration and multiple domain, and multi-agent orchestration.
Friday, May 02, 2025
Using AI to predict student success in higher education - Denisa Gándara and Hadis Anahideh, Brookings
As AI becomes more accessible, higher education is increasingly turning to prediction algorithms to inform decisions and target support services. Prediction algorithms can underestimate success for Black and Hispanic students, disproportionately predicting failure erroneously, even when those students ultimately graduate. Bias-mitigation techniques built into model training are more effective than those applied to the data beforehand, but no single method eliminates disparities.
OpenAI says newest AI model can ‘think with images,’ understanding diagrams and sketches - Hayden Field, CNBC
OpenAI released its newest AI model that it said can understand uploaded images like whiteboards, sketches and diagrams, even if they’re low quality. The company called o3 its most advanced model yet and also released a smaller model called o4-mini. OpenAI is racing to stay ahead in generative AI as competitors including Google, Anthropic and Elon Musk’s xAI ramp up development.
Thursday, May 01, 2025
Introducing: The world's fastest Conversational Video Interface for developers - Julia Szatar, Tavus
At Tavus, our mission is to make digital experiences as immersive as human face-to-face interactions by empowering people to leverage their likeness at scale online. Back in March, we launched our breakthrough Digital Replica model, Phoenix, and Video Generation on our developer platform. Today, we’re thrilled to announce: the Conversational Video Interface. Developers can now build rich, realistic, real-time conversational experiences with digital twins on the Tavus platform. Try talking to Carter in our live demo on our homepage.
"The Industry Reacts to o3 and o4!" - Matthew Berman, YouTube
The video discusses the industry's reaction to the release of O3 and O4 AI models:
- O3's High Intelligence: O3 is highlighted for achieving a near-genius level IQ score (136), surpassing competitors like Gemini 2.5 Pro. It shows strong capabilities in iterative tool use and discovering new information [00:09, 01:05].
- O4 Mini's Tool Use: O4 mini demonstrates advanced reasoning by incorporating tool calls (like writing and executing Python code) directly into its problem-solving process [02:58].
- Significant Innovation: O3 is considered a major advancement in AI, comparable in impact to ChatGPT, especially regarding its utility and ability to handle complex tasks [03:37].
- Overall: The release represents a significant step forward in AI, showcasing impressive reasoning, tool use, and problem-solving skills, although some limitations remain [15:03].
(summary provided in part by Gemni 2.5 Pro)
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