Given the rapid adoption of generative AI and its potential to impact a wide range of tasks, understanding the effects of AI on the economy is one of society’s most important questions. In this work, we take a step toward that goal by analyzing the work activities people do with AI, how successfully and broadly those activities are done, and combine that with data on what occupations do those activities. We analyze a dataset of 200k anonymized and privacy-scrubbed conversations between users and Microsoft Bing Copilot, a publicly available generative AI system. We find the most common work activities people seek AI assistance for involve gathering information and writing, while the most common activities that AI itself is performing are providing information and assistance, writing, teaching, and advising.
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
AI Can Raise the Floor for Higher Ed Policymaking - Jacob B. Gross, Inside Higher Ed
Monday, February 09, 2026
Evaluating AI-powered learning assistants in engineering higher education with implications for student engagement, ethics, and policy - Ramteja Sajja, et al, Nature
How custom AI bots are changing the classroom:Faculty share cutting-edge AI tools enhancing student learning at the business school. - Molly Loonam, WP Carey ASU
Sunday, February 08, 2026
Artificial Intelligence panel demonstrates breadth of teaching, research, and industry collaboration across the Universities of Wisconsin - University of Wisconsin
The Universities of Wisconsin underscored their growing leadership in artificial intelligence (AI) innovation today as representatives from all 13 public universities convened for a panel discussion before the Board of Regents. The conversation highlighted the universities’ shared commitment to shaping the future of AI in education, research, and workforce development. “As AI reshapes our world, the Universities of Wisconsin are not standing on the sidelines. We are helping define what responsible and innovative use of AI looks like for higher education,” said Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman. “This panel today demonstrated how the Universities of Wisconsin are embracing AI in strategic, collaborative, and responsible ways.”
What generative AI reveals about assessment reform in higher educatio - Higher Education Policy Institute
Assessment is fast becoming a central focus in the higher education debate as we move into an era of generative AI, but too often institutions are responding through compliance and risk-management actions rather than fundamental pedagogical reform. Tightened regulations, expanded scrutiny and mechanistic controls may reassure quality assurance systems, but they run the risk of diluting genuine transformation and placing unsustainable pressure on staff and students alike. Assessment is not simply a procedural hurdle; it is a pivotal experience that shapes what students learn, how they engage with content and what universities and employers prioritise as valuable knowledge and skills. If reform is driven through compliance, we will miss opportunities to align assessments with the learning needs of a graduate entering the gen-AI era.
Saturday, February 07, 2026
An Agent Revolt: Moltbook Is Not A Good Idea - Amir Husain, Forbes
Stand Out in the Job Hunt With These No-Cost Certificates - UC Denver
While Leo Dixon was working on his doctoral degree, he thought he might need a way to stand out. So, he decided to earn an artificial intelligence (AI) credential on top of his diploma. It gave him an edge over other candidates vying for the same positions as him. “As soon as I got that, doors started flying open, because it was something more than what someone else had,” Dixon said. Now, as an instructor in the Department of Information Systems at the CU Denver Business School, he wants his students to have the same advantage. He requires them to earn Coursera or Grow with Google certificates as part of his classes. These two platforms are both self-paced, online learning programs that help users build industry-relevant skills. Their courses cover topics ranging from working with AI to cybersecurity, project management, marketing, ecommerce, and more. Dixon encourages students to log on, poke around, and see what they think would help them—and their future careers. “
https://news.ucdenver.edu/stand-out-in-the-job-hunt-with-these-no-cost-certificates/
Friday, February 06, 2026
The Skills Mismatch Economy: Insights from the Wharton-Accenture Skills Index - Knowledge at Wharton
Thursday, February 05, 2026
How Can I Protect Myself From Job Obsolescence Caused by AI? - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed
We do not know just how, and how quickly, AI will roll out. However, a Gallup Poll released last week showed nearly one-quarter of American workers use AI at least a few times each week. We know that Agentic AI is different from Generative AI. Generative AI is the transactional, commonly chatbot mounted, question and answer form that we saw first in ChatGPT by OpenAI a couple of years ago. That remains a powerful tool. Agentic AI enables AI to reason, research, plan, control other digital tools, conduct actions on your behalf, and complete multiple smart steps. It is capable of taking on a role delivering outcomes. That’s much like what a person is hired to do. In our jobs, we often are expected not to merely respond to individual questions, but to accomplish outcomes and results, and then, when possible, to revise our methods to do the job better.
Differences and Trends of Artificial Intelligence in Medical Education: A Comparative Bibliometric Analysis Between China and the International Community - Songhua Ma, et al; Dove press Open access to scientific and medical research
To save entry-level jobs from AI, look to the medical residency model - Molly Kinder, Brookings
Wednesday, February 04, 2026
Measuring US workers’ capacity to adapt to AI-driven job displacement - Sam Manning, Tomás Aguirre, Mark Muro, and Shriya Methkupally; Brookings
Existing measures of AI “exposure” overlook workers’ adaptive capacity—i.e., their varied ability to navigate job displacement. Accounting for these factors, around 70% of highly AI-exposed workers (26.5 million out of 37.1 million) are employed in jobs with a high average capacity to manage job transitions if necessary. At the same time, 6.1 million workers, primarily in clerical and administrative roles, lack adaptive capacity due to limited savings, advanced age, scarce local opportunities, and/or narrow skill sets. Of these workers, 86% are women. Geographically, highly AI-exposed occupations with low adaptive capacity make up a larger share of total employment in college towns and state capitals, particularly in the Mountain West and Midwest.
McKinsey Quarterly: Digital Edition - Growth
According to McKinsey research, nearly eight in ten organizations now use generative AI—but most have yet to see a meaningful impact on their bottom line. By combining autonomy, planning, memory, and integration, agentic AI has the potential to achieve what many hoped generative AI would: true business transformation through automation of complex processes. This issue’s cover package explores how leaders can capture that potential by rethinking workflows from the ground up—with agents at the center of value creation.
Tuesday, February 03, 2026
Project Genie: Experimenting with infinite, winteractiveorlds - the Keyword, Google
In August, we previewed Genie 3, a general-purpose world model capable of generating diverse, interactive environments. Even in this early form, trusted testers were able to create an impressive range of fascinating worlds and experiences, and uncovered entirely new ways to use it. The next step is to broaden access through a dedicated, interactive prototype focused on immersive world creation. Starting today, we're rolling out access to Project Genie for Google AI Ultra subscribers in the U.S (18+). This experimental research prototype lets users create, explore and remix their own interactive worlds.
https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/google-deepmind/project-genie/
AI Can Raise the Floor for Higher Ed Policymaking - Jacob B. Gross, Inside Higher Ed
On my campus, discussions about artificial intelligence tend to focus on how students should be allowed to use it and what tools the university should invest in. In my own work, I’ve seen both the promise and the pitfalls: AI that speeds up my coding, tidies my writing, and helps me synthesize complex documents, and the occasional student submission that is clearly machine-generated. As I’ve started integrating these tools into my work, I’ve begun asking a different question: How is AI reshaping policymaking in colleges and universities, and how might it influence the way we design, implement and analyze university policy in the future?
The Biggest Trends in Online Learning for 2026 - Busines NewsWire
Monday, February 02, 2026
Gemini 4: 100+ Trillion Parameters, Autonomous AI, Real-Time Perception & the Future of Work - BitBiasedAI
Gemini 4 marks a significant transition in artificial intelligence, moving from models that simply reason through problems to systems capable of autonomous action [02:30]. Unlike previous versions that were primarily reactive, Gemini 4 utilizes "Parallel Hypothesis Exploration" to test multiple solutions simultaneously, allowing it to be proactive rather than just responding to prompts [03:11]. This evolution is supported by Project Astra, which provides real-time multimodal perception—seeing and hearing the user's environment—and Project Mariner, a web-browsing agent that can navigate websites, fill out forms, and complete multi-step tasks like booking travel or managing finances entirely on its own [05:37]. The broader ecosystem is built on robust security and hardware, featuring the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) to ensure secure, cryptographically signed transactions [08:03]. This infrastructure is powered by the seventh-generation Ironwood TPU, which provides the massive compute power needed for real-time background processing and persistent contextual memory [12:02]. As AI moves toward an "agentic" economy, the primary skill for users will shift from simple prompting to complex orchestration, where individuals act as managers of multiple specialized agents [22:19]. (summary assisted by Gemini 3)
Professional learning in higher education: trends, gaps, and correlations - Ekaterina Pechenkina, T and F Online
Sunday, February 01, 2026
Prism is a ChatGPT-powered text editor that automates much of the work involved in writing scientific papers - Will Douglas, MIT Technology Review
OpenAI just revealed what its new in-house team, OpenAI for Science, has been up to. The firm has released a free LLM-powered tool for scientists called Prism, which embeds ChatGPT in a text editor for writing scientific papers. The idea is to put ChatGPT front and center inside software that scientists use to write up their work in much the same way that chatbots are now embedded into popular programming editors. It’s vibe coding, but for science.
Report: University diplomas losing value to GenAI - Alan Wooten, Rocky Mount Telegraph
GenAI, as it is colloquially known, isn’t being universally rejected by the 1,057 college and university faculty members sampled nationwide by Elon University’s Imagining the Digital Future Center and the American Association of Colleges and Universities Oct. 29-Nov. 26. It is, however, placing higher education at an inflection point. “When more than 9 in 10 faculty warn that generative AI may weaken critical thinking and increase student overreliance, it is clear that higher education is at an inflection point,” said Eddie Watson, vice president for Digital Innovation at the AAC&U. “These findings do not call for abandoning AI, but for intentional leadership — rethinking teaching models, assessment practices and academic integrity so that human judgment, inquiry and learning remain central.
Saturday, January 31, 2026
How the best CEOs are meeting the AI moment - McKinsey Podcast
How Americans are using AI at work, according to a new Gallup poll - MATT O’BRIEN and LINLEY SANDERS, AP News
Friday, January 30, 2026
How can boards best help guide companies through the competitive dynamics unleashed by AI? - Aamer Baig, Ashka Dave, Celia Huber, and Hrishika Vuppalac, McKinsey
What You MUST Study Now to Stay Relevant in the AI Era - Jensen Huang, Future AI
The video emphasizes that to remain relevant in the AI era, individuals must shift their focus from mastering specific tools to developing high-level human judgment and domain depth. Because AI commoditizes technical skills and general knowledge, the value shifts to those who can navigate the "what" and the "why" rather than just the "how" [02:30]. The speaker suggests a four-layer strategy for staying indispensable: achieving deep domain mastery where your judgment becomes rare, grounding yourself in "evergreen" fundamentals like systems thinking and physics, mastering the art of asking high-quality questions, and maintaining the emotional resilience to pivot quickly when outdated practices fail [04:52]. Ultimately, the goal is to become a "learning system" rather than just a holder of a specific job title [17:14]. As AI moves from digital screens into the physical world—impacting fields like robotics and logistics—there is a growing demand for people who understand physical constraints and can use AI as an amplifier for real-world problem-solving [13:21]. The speaker encourages viewers to move with urgency, using AI as a "sparring partner" to tackle unsolved, high-stakes problems that require human character and first-principles thinking to resolve [07:11]. (Gemini 3 contributed to the summary)
Thursday, January 29, 2026
Claude’s Constitution: Our vision for Claude's character - Anthropic
Claude’s constitution is a detailed description of Anthropic’s intentions for Claude’s values and behavior. It plays a crucial role in our training process, and its content directly shapes Claude’s behavior. It’s also the final authority on our vision for Claude, and our aim is for all our other guidance and training to be consistent with it. The document is written with Claude as its primary audience, so it might read differently than you’d expect. For example, it’s optimized for precision over accessibility, and it covers various topics that may be of less interest to human readers. We also discuss Claude in terms normally reserved for humans (e.g. “virtue,” “wisdom”). We do this because we expect Claude’s reasoning to draw on human concepts by default, given the role of human text in Claude’s training; and we think encouraging Claude to embrace certain human-like qualities may be actively desirable.
Why AI Disclosure Matters at Every Level - Cornelia Walther, Knowledge at Wharton
When a marketing executive uses AI to draft a client proposal, should they disclose it? What about a doctor using AI to analyze medical images, or a teacher generating discussion questions? As artificial intelligence weaves itself into the fabric of professional life, the question of disclosure has evolved from a philosophical curiosity into a pressing business imperative, one that reverberates through every level of human society. At the individual level, AI disclosure touches something that we tend to take for granted: our relationship with authenticity. When we present AI-generated work as entirely our own, we navigate a complex terrain of aspirations, emotions, thoughts, and sensations that make up the human experience. We may aspire to appear competent, fear judgement, try to rationalize what “counts” as our work, or experience discomfort with potential deception.
https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/why-ai-disclosure-matters-at-every-level/
Wednesday, January 28, 2026
Up to 25 percent of U.S. colleges may close soon, Brandeis president warns - The College Fix, University Business
Higher education is approaching a period of profound disruption, and many colleges may not survive, Arthur Levine, the newly appointed president of Brandeis University, said during a recent event. Levine estimated that between 20 and 25 percent of colleges will close in the coming years, while community colleges and regional universities move increasingly online. He made these remarks during a recent American Enterprise Institute event titled “Tackling Higher Education’s Challenges: A Conversation with Frederick M. Hess and Brandeis University President Arthur Levine.”
Designing the 2026 Classroom: Emerging Learning Trends in an AI-Powered Education System - Grace Goldstone, Faculty Focus
Tuesday, January 27, 2026
Using ChatGPT isn't an AI strategy - Daphne Kohler, Big Think
https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/p/using-chatgpt-isnt-an-ai-strategy-d83
AI's Impact on Future Education - Jensen Huang, YouTube
In this video, the future of education is described as a fundamental platform shift where traditional universities must evolve or risk becoming obsolete. Huang argues that because the cost of intelligence is dropping, institutions can no longer rely on their old business model of bundling knowledge, networking, and credentials [02:09]. AI is transforming learning from a slow, expensive "knowledge distribution" process into an "intelligence factory" that is adaptive, personalized, and available 24/7 [02:42]. This shift moves the educational barrier from a student's ability to "do" a task to their ability to know "what" to do and why it matters, prioritizing judgment and curiosity over rote memorization [01:32]. As AI becomes a "force multiplier," the traditional four-year degree is being challenged by a model of continuous, project-based learning. Instead of "front-loading" education before starting a career, learners will use AI as a life-long thought partner to maintain "learning velocity" in an exponentially changing world [17:10]. The universities that survive will move away from being content providers and instead become "crucibles" for high-stakes practice, ethics, and character building—areas where human mentorship and social proof remain irreplaceable [08:19]. Ultimately, the video suggests that the rarest and most valuable skills in the AI era are not information retrieval, but "taste," "direction," and the courage to frame and solve complex, real-world problems [24:04]. (Gemini 3 assisted with summary)
Monday, January 26, 2026
Ads Are Coming to ChatGPT. Here’s How They’ll Work - Maxwell Zeff, Wired
OpenAI plans to start testing ads inside ChatGPT in the coming weeks, marking a significant shift for one of the world’s most widely used AI products. The company announced Friday that initial ad tests will roll out in the United States before expanding globally. OpenAI says ads will not influence ChatGPT’s responses, and that all ads will appear in separate, clearly labeled boxes directly below the chatbot’s answer. For instance, if a user asks ChatGPT for help planning a trip to New York City, they will still get a standard answer from the chatbot, and then they also might see an ad for a hotel in the area.
Agents, robots, and us: Skill partnerships in the age of AI - Lareina Yee, et al; McKinsey Global Institute
AI is expanding the productivity frontier. Realizing its benefits requires new skills and rethinking how people work together with intelligent machines. Work in the future will be a partnership between people, agents, and robots—all powered by AI. Today’s technologies could theoretically automate more than half of current US work hours. This reflects how profoundly work may change, but it is not a forecast of job losses. Adoption will take time. As it unfolds, some roles will shrink, others grow or shift, while new ones emerge—with work increasingly centered on collaboration between humans and intelligent machines.
https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/agents-robots-and-us-skill-partnerships-in-the-age-of-ai
Sunday, January 25, 2026
AI Won't Replace You: This will - There's an AI for That, YouTube
This video explores the idea that AI won't replace you by becoming "smarter," but rather by making execution and output so cheap and abundant that hiring a human for simple tasks no longer makes financial sense [00:00]. The narrator argues that the biggest mistake people make is trying to stay relevant by becoming faster at producing tasks or learning more tools [01:24]. Since tools eventually become mainstream and lose their leverage, the video suggests that true security in the AI era comes from shifting your focus from "output value" (the things you make) to "outcome value" (the results you deliver and the responsibility you take) [04:58]. To remain irreplaceable by 2026, the video identifies three critical human advantages: choosing the right problems to solve, making decisions under uncertainty, and owning accountability [05:34]. Instead of being a "task machine," you should aim to be an "operator" who uses AI as leverage to manage systems and drive real-world business goals like revenue and growth [06:40]. Ultimately, value will shift away from technical execution and toward high-level judgment, taste, and the ability to turn AI-generated outputs into meaningful outcomes [07:57]. (assistance provided by Gemini 3)
Reimagining the value proposition of tech services for agentic AI - McKinsey
After more than two years of navigating the transformative landscape of gen AI, technology services providers are now facing the emergence of a newer, more disruptive force to their business. Enterprises that have traditionally relied on these providers to manage their IT initiatives are now making significant investments in agentic AI, the next evolutionary stage of artificial intelligence. These organizations are cautiously optimistic that agentic AI will deliver the top- and bottom-line growth that gen AI has, to date, struggled to achieve. In response, most tech service players have started exploring use cases internally, such as agent-assisted software development, delivery management, and operations, as well as externally, including customer service, IT ticket resolution, and financial planning and analysis (FP&A) use cases.
Saturday, January 24, 2026
AI has moved into universities’ engine room, but no one is at the controls - Tom Smith, Times Higher Ed
By now, most universities have an artificial intelligence policy. It probably mentions ChatGPT, urges students not to cheat, offers a few examples of “appropriate use” and promises that staff will get guidance and training. All of that is fine. But it misses the real story. Walk through a typical UK university today. A prospective student may first encounter you via a targeted digital ad whose audience was defined by an algorithm. They apply through an online system that may already include automated filters and scoring. When they arrive, a chatbot answers their questions at 11pm. Their classes are scheduled by algorithms matching student numbers with lecture theatre availability, and their essays are screened by automated text-matching and, increasingly, other AI-detection tools. Learning analytics dashboards quietly classify them as low, medium or high risk. An early-warning system may nudge a tutor to intervene.
Harnessing AI to expand scientific discovery - Hongliang Xin, Times Higher Ed
Friday, January 23, 2026
AI and the Art of Judgment - Art Carden, EconLib
A New York magazine article titled “Everyone Is Cheating Their Way Through College” made the rounds in mid-2025. I think about it often, and especially when I get targeted ads that are basically variations on “if you use our AI tool, you’ll be able to cheat without getting caught.” Suffice it to say it’s dispiriting. But the problem is not that students are “using AI.” I “use AI,” and it’s something everyone needs to learn how to do. The problem arises when students represent AI’s work as their own. At a fundamental level, the question of academic integrity and the use of artificial intelligence in higher education is not technological. It’s ethical. I love generative artificial intelligence and use it for many, many things.
FETC 2026: How CTE and AI Are Defining the Future of Learning - Amy Mcintosh, Ed Tech
Thursday, January 22, 2026
Four ways artificial intelligence (AI) takes shape at CWRU—and across higher education - Brianna Smith, Case Western News
A new direction for students in an AI world: Prosper, prepare, protect - Mary Burns, Rebecca Winthrop, Natasha Luther, Emma Venetis, and Rida Karim, AP
Since the debut of ChatGPT and with the public’s growing familiarity with generative artificial intelligence (AI), the education community has been debating its promises and perils. Rather than wait for a decade to conduct a postmortem on the failures and opportunities of AI, the Brookings Institution’s Center for Universal Education embarked on a yearlong global study—a premortem—to understand the potential negative risks that generative AI poses to students, and what we can do now to prevent these risks, while maximizing the potential benefits of AI.
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Affective Intelligence in Artificial Intelligence - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed
As we look at artificial intelligence in teaching and learning, we must look beyond facts, figures and formulas to ensure that the skills of perceiving and managing feelings, emotions and personalization are engaged in the process. Some might believe that AI, as a computer-based system, merely addresses the facts, formulas and figures of quantitative learning rather than emotionally intelligent engagement with the learner. In its initial development that may have been true, however, AI has developed the ability to recognize and respond to emotional aspects of the learner’s responses.
Here are 4 ways AI will impact higher ed in the new year - Alcino Donadel, University Business
Tuesday, January 20, 2026
Agents, robots, and us: Skill partnerships in the age of AI - Lareina Yee, et al; McKinsey Global Institute
AI is expanding the productivity frontier. Realizing its benefits requires new skills and rethinking how people work together with intelligent machines. Work in the future will be a partnership between people, agents, and robots—all powered by AI. Today’s technologies could theoretically automate more than half of current US work hours. This reflects how profoundly work may change, but it is not a forecast of job losses. Adoption will take time. As it unfolds, some roles will shrink, others grow or shift, while new ones emerge—with work increasingly centered on collaboration between humans and intelligent machines.
https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/agents-robots-and-us-skill-partnerships-in-the-age-of-ai
AI’s benefits need to be distributed across all disciplines - Libing Wang and Tianchong Wang, University World News
AI stands at the forefront of discussions on the future of higher education, igniting both anticipation and concern. Universities are exploring how AI could reshape research, redefine disciplines and transform academic practices. While its impact is most evident in the sciences and engineering, AI is also challenging core concepts in the humanities and social sciences, such as interpretation, authorship and human understanding. AI’s influence is paradoxical. In science and engineering, it enhances traditional methods of measurement and prediction. Yet in the humanities and social sciences, AI’s ability to generate text and automate interpretation disrupts fundamental ideas about meaning, creativity and human knowledge.
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20260114091832715
Monday, January 19, 2026
Howard Updates AI Curriculum to Align With Workforce - Government Technology
Howard University is redesigning its Intro to Artificial Intelligence course, teaching the fundamentals of AI-assisted software development that are proving necessary for entry-level roles. The course introduces AI directly into instruction through hands-on, industry-aligned training, according to a news release Tuesday. Developed in partnership with CodePath, the course draws on curriculum originally designed by the industry-aligned education nonprofit and is co-taught by Howard faculty alongside an instructor from CodePath’s faculty network. CodePath shapes its courses around employer needs, which its surveys indicate are internship experience, technical interview performance, and side projects or portfolios
https://www.govtech.com/education/higher-ed/howard-updates-ai-curriculum-to-align-with-workforce
AI on Campus: Rethinking the Core Goals of Higher Education - Abby Sourwine, GovTech
Sunday, January 18, 2026
AI Agents in Higher Education: Transforming Student Services and Support - Tom Mangan, EdTech
Evaluating Recent Advances in Affective Intelligent Tutoring Systems: A Scoping Review of Educational Impacts and Future Prospects - Jorge Fernández-Herrero, Journal of Education Sciences, MDPI
Saturday, January 17, 2026
Here are 4 ways AI will impact higher ed in the new year - Alcino Donadel, University Business
1. Emotionally intelligent AI
The Limits of Artificial Intelligence in Professional Military Education - Matthew Woessner, Real Clear Defense
Friday, January 16, 2026
Artificial Intelligence in Education Market Growing at a CAGR of 37.68% During 2025 - 2035 - IT, New Media & Software, Market Reasearch Future (MRFR)
AI technologies, including machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision, are no longer futuristic concept they are becoming integral to classrooms, online platforms, and administrative systems worldwide. The integration of AI in education enhances personalization, efficiency, and accessibility, creating opportunities for a more inclusive and effective learning experience. The Artificial Intelligence in Education market was valued at USD 34.7 billion in 2024 and is projected to experience significant growth in the coming decade. The market is expected to reach USD 47.78 billion in 2025 and surge to USD 1,169.44 billion by 2035, representing a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 37.68% during the forecast period from 2025 to 2035.
After being falsely branded an AI plagiarist, how can I accuse students? - David Mingay, Times Higher Ed
The executive editor emailed back to say that the article aligned with the scope of the journal but that some formatting amendments were required. Also, it lacked a statement on whether AI had been used in its production. I duly made the amendments and included the factually correct line: “No generative AI or AI-supported technologies were used at any stage of this research.” I was surprised, then, to get a reply from the editor saying an AI detection program had judged our paper to have been mainly written using AI. Even more oddly – and ironically – he referred to the paper by the title of an entirely unrelated study examining chatbots’ very limited ability to pass scientific tests.
Thursday, January 15, 2026
Using Machine Learning to Understand College Closures - Abby Sourwine, GovTech
The ChatGPT Generation: How AI Is quietly rewriting the global student search experience - Tim O'Brien, ICEF Monitor
In September 2025, we conducted a cross-institution survey of over 1,600 newly enrolled international students in the US and UK. Our goal was simple: to understand how students are using AI in the crucial, early part of their journey – identifying and applying to university – long before they ever step into a lecture hall. Approximately one in six respondents (17%) indicated they used AI (Chat GPT etc) as part of their initial search, but that varies significantly by home country. The most critical finding however appears to deliver a clear message on the value students ascribe to Large Learning Models (LLMs): 96% of AI users found the guidance they received from AI tools (ChatGPT, etc.) either met or exceeded the quality of information provided by traditional sources (websites, brochures, agents).
Wednesday, January 14, 2026
Enhancing creative writing through AI-powered co-creation with cognitive and emotional outcomes - Xinqiao Cen & Goodarz Shakibaei, Nature
Opinion: From Lecture Halls to Virtual Classes, AI Is Rewriting the Rules - Oleg Vilchinski, GovTech
Tuesday, January 13, 2026
Artificial intelligence is here ... and it is already rewriting the rules of education - Susan Galavan, Irish Times
Campus Forecast 2026: How Agentic AI Could Transform University Operations - Education Today, Times of India
Artificial intelligence (AI) has long served universities as a helpful junior colleague—fast, eager, and dependent on detailed instructions. But according to the UPCEA report, Predictions 2026: Insights for Online & Professional Education, this era is coming to an end. The next phase, agentic AI, is framed not as smarter assistance but as autonomous execution, a shift that could fundamentally change how universities operate. Ray Schroeder, Senior Fellow at UPCEA, predicts a second wave of AI approaching 2026. Unlike current AI, which responds to requests, agentic AI acts independently: “…agentic AI becomes a 24/7 project manager. It can understand a high-level goal, create a multi-step plan, execute that plan across different software systems, and learn from its mistakes without human prompting. This will save time and money for universities and accomplish work that would have been too expensive or time consuming in the past.” The shift is one of agency, not intelligence.
Monday, January 12, 2026
I was wrong. Universities don’t fear AI. They fear self-reflection - Ian Richardson, Times Higher Ed
Google Gemini Is Taking Control of Humanoid Robots on Auto Factory Floors - Will Knight, Wired
Google DeepMind is teaming up with Boston Dynamics to give its humanoid robots the intelligence required to navigate unfamiliar environments and identify and manipulate objects—precisely the kinds of capabilities needed to perform manual labor. The collaboration, announced at CES in Las Vegas, will see Google’s Gemini Robotics model deployed on various Boston Dynamics’ robots, including a humanoid called Atlas and a robot dog called Spot. The companies plan to test Gemini-powered Atlas robots at auto factories belonging to Hyundai, Boston Dynamics’ parent company, in the coming months. The move is an early look at a future where humanoids are able to quickly master a wide range of tasks.
https://www.wired.com/story/google-boston-dynamics-gemini-powered-robot-atlas/
Sunday, January 11, 2026
True agentic AI is years away - here's why and how we get there - Tiernan Ray, ZDnet
Today's AI agents don't meet the definition of true agents. Key missing elements are reinforcement learning and complex memory. It will take at least five years to get AI agents where they need to be. While they may bring benefits, these agents are not the agents we really want. They are simple automations and don't live up to the true definition of an agent. As a result, enterprise hopes for agents are likely to meet with bitter disappointment in the near term. Key technology is missing from agents, and it may take another generation of AI evolution to bring the expected benefits.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/ai-agents-primitive-reinforcement-learning-complex-memory/
What Actually Makes You Valuable in an AI World - joshbersin
AI adoption is accelerating and it feels harder and harder to keep up. I know many senior leaders feel confused by the rapid pace and college grads are worried about their careers. What skills do we need to stay relevant in this new “All-AI” world? Well there’s an answer to all this change, and it gets back to the five fundamental principles of your own professional learning. In this episode, I unpack the five fundamental things to “learn” as the AI world accelerates at a quickening pace.
https://joshbersin.com/podcast/what-actually-makes-you-valuable-in-an-ai-world/
Saturday, January 10, 2026
AI Risk Expert: By 2027, We LOSE Control—The Hidden Dangers of Building Superintelligence - Jack Neel and Roman Yampolskiy, YouTube
How CSUMB faculty and students view AI one semester into a system-wide ChatGPT roll-out - Dolores Haidee Marquez, KAZU
While some faculty warn about the risks artificial intelligence poses to critical thinking, others argue the greater risk is failing to engage with the technology at all. Education professor Erin Ramirez received a grant to develop ways to train future teachers to use AI in middle and high school classrooms.
Friday, January 09, 2026
Artificial intelligence reshapes learning as KU works to adapt - Abigail Moore, University Dailly Kansan
AI use explodes on Minnesota college, university campuses - Erin Adler, Star Tribune
Artificial intelligence is dramatically changing higher education as professors adapt to its use, despite fears and hand-wringing that college students are using it as a cheating free-for-all. As higher education wrestles with unprecedented challenges— including shrinking budgets due to federal cuts and fundamental doubts about its value — AI’s growth is prompting instructors to have frank classroom discussions about key skills students must master before they graduate and the ethical use of tech tools. While professors and students at Minnesota colleges and universities have varying perspectives on AI’s usefulness, many faculty are rethinking their assignments and tests. Skeptical professors are going old-school with physical test booklets and oral exams, while early adopters are boosting students’ AI use through creative projects that were impossible four years ago.
Thursday, January 08, 2026
If Anthropic Succeeds, a Nation of Benevolent AI Geniuses Could Be Born - Steven Levy, Wired
Higher education at a point of no return: How 2025 rewired the university system - Shauba Chauhan, Economic Times
The year 2025 will be remembered as the moment higher education stopped preparing for change and began living inside it. For decades, universities were assessed on expansion, that is, more campuses, higher enrolments, global rankings and physical infrastructure. That era is now decisively over.In 2025, outcomes overtook optics. Institutions were judged not by intent, but by impact - graduate readiness, research relevance, interdisciplinary thinking, and the ability to operate within a volatile global environment shaped by artificial intelligence, geopolitical flux and rapid labour market shifts.Globally, this pressure is undeniable. The World Economic Forum estimates that 44% of core job skills will change by 2030, while the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) projects that today’s learners will reskill repeatedly across their careers.
Wednesday, January 07, 2026
The Rise of the Agentic AI University in 2026 - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed
Agents, robots, and us: Skill partnerships in the age of AI - Lareina Yee, McKinsey
Tuesday, January 06, 2026
OpenAI Sells Over 700,000 ChatGPT Licenses to 35 U.S. Universities - Bogdana Zujic, Technobezz
OpenAI has secured more than 700,000 ChatGPT licenses across 35 public U.S. universities, according to purchase orders reviewed by Bloomberg. The deals position ChatGPT as the dominant AI assistant on campuses where Microsoft's Copilot and Google's Gemini have seen more measured adoption rates. Students and faculty used ChatGPT over 14 million times in September 2025 alone, data from 20 campuses shows. Each user averaged 176 interactions that month for writing, research, and data analysis tasks. Globally, OpenAI has sold "well over a million" college licenses, according to a company spokesperson.Bulk pricing drives the adoption gap. Universities pay a few dollars per user monthly for ChatGPT access, a sharp discount from the $20 individual educational rate. Microsoft originally quoted schools $30 monthly for Copilot before cutting academic pricing to $18 this year.
Agents, robots, and us: Skill partnerships in the age of AI - Lareina Yee, McKinsey Global Institute
Monday, January 05, 2026
How lifetime pathways will build the university of the future - Alcino Donadel, University Business
Two years into his tenure at Fairleigh Dickinson University, President Michael Avaltroni is building a statewide network that spans a learner’s journey from K12 to higher ed to the workplace. Avaltroni is building a coalition of New Jersey higher education institutions and organizations to better integrate human and machine learning in healthcare. Fairleigh Dickinson University also recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Rowan University to expand the state’s supply of healthcare professionals. Avaltroni intends to cement the four-year university’s relevance as the economy and student demographics shift.
How home exams and peers affect college grades in unprecedented times - Tinna Laufey Ásgeirsdóttir, et al: European Economic Review
Leveraging administrative data from the University of Iceland, which cover more than 60% of the undergraduate population in the country, we examine how home exams and peer networks shape grades around the COVID-19 crisis. Using difference-in-difference models with a rich set of fixed effects, we find that home exams taken during university closures raised grades by about 0.5 points relative to invigilated in-person exams outside the pandemic period. Using rich administrative data from the University of Iceland, covering most of the undergraduate population in the country, this paper shows that unproctored home exams during COVID-19 increased student grades by about half a point, a roughly 7% premium, on top of the usual positive return to take-home exams already present off-pandemic. Despite widespread disruption, student performance did not deteriorate during the pandemic.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0014292125002909
Sunday, January 04, 2026
Stanford Grads Struggle to Find Work in AI-Enabled Job Market - Nilesh Christopher, Los Angeles Times
Copilot+ PCs Offer Fast, Powerful AI to Boost Faculty Members’ Productivity - Amy Burroughs, EdTechMagazine
On-device artificial intelligence and custom applications drive efficiency in teaching, research and administrative work. “All of us are being asked to do more with less,” says Dale Perrigo, the director of Windows in the Education for the U.S. and Canada for Microsoft. “And in higher ed, research is important. There’s often that element of competing with other universities. Being able to address this productivity challenge is key.” The NPU on a Copilot+ PC can handle upward of 40 trillion operations per second, the base requirement for on-device AI workloads, says Rob McGilvrey, Microsoft’s Americas director for Windows Commercial. Another differentiator is Windows AI Foundry, a built-in framework that supports both local and hybrid AI applications. Together, the NPU and Windows AI Foundry allow new, out-of-the-box capabilities, McGilvrey says.
Saturday, January 03, 2026
Ethical AI in higher education: boosting learning, retention and progression - Isabelle Bambury, Higher Education Policy Institute
OpenAI Inks Deals With Colleges, Seizing Early Lead in Education Market - Brody Ford & Liam Knox, Bloomberg
OpenAI has sold more than 700,000 ChatGPT licenses to about 35 public universities for use by students and faculty. Students and faculty used ChatGPT more than 14 million times in September, with each user calling on it 176 times that month for help with tasks such as writing, research and data analysis. OpenAI has sold “well over a million” licenses to colleges globally, with schools willing to purchase bulk access to ChatGPT paying a few dollars per user per month.
Friday, January 02, 2026
Energy Department Announces Collaboration Agreements with 24 Organizations to Advance the Genesis Mission - US Dept of Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced agreements with 24 organizations interested in collaborating to advance the Genesis Mission, a historic national effort that will use the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate discovery science, strengthen national security, and drive energy innovation. The announcement builds on President Trump’s Executive Order Removing Barriers to American Leadership In Artificial Intelligence and advances his America’s AI Action Plan released earlier this year—a directive to remove barriers to innovation, reduce dependence on foreign adversaries, and unleash the full strength of America’s scientific enterprise.
You can now verify Google AI-generated videos in the Gemini app. - Google Keyword Blog
We’re expanding our content transparency tools to help you more easily identify AI-generated content. You can now check if a video was edited or created with Google AI directly in the Gemini app. Simply upload a video and ask something like, "Was this generated using Google AI?" Gemini will scan for the imperceptible SynthID watermark across both the audio and visual tracks and use its own reasoning to return a response that gives you context and specifies which segments contain elements generated using Google AI. For example, it might say: “SynthID detected within the audio between 10-20 secs. No SynthID detected in the visuals.”Uploaded files can be up to 100 MB and 90 seconds long.Both image and video verification are now available in all languages and countries supported by the Gemini app.
https://blog.google/technology/ai/verify-google-ai-videos-gemini-app/
Thursday, January 01, 2026
Leading growth through transformation - McKinsey
Companies are embracing a new model of performance—one where leaders approach volatility and uncertainty with the discipline of an elite athlete. In this shifting order, transformation becomes a new way of working, enabling companies to adapt rapidly to constant change. And growth is possible only through bold strategic choices and rigorous execution. Today’s most successful leaders unite digital innovation with the best of human potential to build resilient organizations and create sustainable value at scale.