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. 

https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/columns/online-trending-now/2026/01/21/affective-intelligence-artificial-intelligence

Here are 4 ways AI will impact higher ed in the new year - Alcino Donadel, University Business

AI has shed its novelty and become a pillar of student success, operational management and program competitiveness, according to the latest research by WGU Labs. The research arm of Western Governors University predicts these advancements will shape office and classroom culture in 2026—and even spawn new academic providers that will compete for enrollment. WGU Labs’ report builds on AI frameworks and models the university developed in 2025 to bolster student guidance, course creation and teacher development. Last November, it introduced a 24/7 student assistant. WGU Labs also conducted over a dozen tests and surveys to collect student feedback on AI.

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

For many professors, teaching has always been about more than delivering subject-specific content. Derek Bruff, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Teaching Excellence, said the core mission of college is to help students develop critical thinking, problem-solving and judgment skills that prepare them for life beyond the classroom. But with artificial intelligence offering such a convenient tool to offload those skills, professors are re-evaluating how they approach their goals, sending ripple effects to instruction, assessments and student interactions. “I can’t recall another technology in my career that has had such a transformative effect on higher-ed teaching and learning,” he said.

Sunday, January 18, 2026

AI Agents in Higher Education: Transforming Student Services and Support - Tom Mangan, EdTech

Similarly, researchers have noted a host of ways that agentic AI tools can potentially drive improvements in higher education. Agents will be able to gather data from multiple sources to assess a student’s progress across multiple courses. If the student starts falling behind, processes could kick in to help them catch up. Agents can relieve teachers and administrators from time-consuming chores such as grading multiple-choice tests and monitoring attendance. The idea is catching on. Andrew Ng, co-founder of Coursera, launched a startup called Kira Learning to ease burdens on overworked teachers. “Kira’s AI tutor works alongside teachers as an intelligent co-educator, adapting in real-time to each student’s learning style and emotional state,” Andrea Pasinetti, Kira Learning’s CEO, says in an interview with The Observer.

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

Affective intelligent tutoring systems (ATSs) are gaining recognition for their role in personalized learning through adaptive automated education based on students’ affective states. This scoping review evaluates recent advancements and the educational impact of ATSs, following PRISMA guidelines for article selection and analysis. A structured search of the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases resulted in 30 studies covering 27 distinct ATSs. These studies assess the effectiveness of ATSs in meeting learners’ emotional and cognitive needs. This review examines the technical and pedagogical aspects of ATSs, focusing on how emotional recognition technologies are used to customize educational content and feedback, enhancing learning experiences. 

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

Institutions will use technology to drive deeper human connection amid the rapid rise of AI assistants, chatbots and algorithmically tailored content, Researchers from MIT, the University of Pittsburgh and other institutions found that AI use in the classroom lowered brain activity and led to student anxiety and confusion. Teachers also feared losing instructional autonomy and human connections. One student panel demanded that institutions and industry place the campus community at the heart of technological innovation. “In 2026, the push for ethically designed, emotionally aware tech will gain momentum,” said Betheny Gross, director of research at WGU Labs. “The next generation of technology will aim to rebuild what the last era of digital tools too often eroded.”

The Limits of Artificial Intelligence in Professional Military Education - Matthew Woessner, Real Clear Defense

The purpose of this paper is not to prescribe how to incorporate AI into specific courses, but rather to highlight potential student vulnerabilities and offer suggestions for how they can be managed within a broad curricular framework across PME. Even as AI is incorporated into PME, faculty must ensure that the technology does not supplant student progress in reading, writing, and critical thinking. In his “All AI—All the Time” rebuttal, Jim Lacey takes issue with my general framework, arguing that PME is not “grade school.” He maintains that students entering PME already know how to read and write. He further expresses doubt that “there is a PME student alive who does not know that AI systems are fallible and often make things up.”

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

As financial pressures mount across higher education, researchers are turning to machine learning to better predict which colleges are at risk of closing. In recent work, higher education researchers collaborated with the Federal Reserve to develop a predictive model that combines hundreds of institutional characteristics to estimate the likelihood a college might close. The model outperforms financial monitoring systems currently used by the federal government, offering a more nuanced understanding of financial distress in higher ed.

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

Qualitative insights revealed that students in the High-AI Support Group demonstrated increased engagement and creativity, attributed to tailored AI feedback that alleviated cognitive load by addressing technical aspects like grammatical accuracy. In contrast, members of the Low-AI Support Group appreciated the collaborative interaction between AI and instructor feedback, which enhanced their confidence, independence, and skills in grammar and writing conventions. In summary, this study emphasizes the importance of AI in enhancing both intellectual and emotional growth for EFL learners, advocating for its incorporation as a valuable resource in educational settings.

Opinion: From Lecture Halls to Virtual Classes, AI Is Rewriting the Rules - Oleg Vilchinski, GovTech

Modernizing education with artificial intelligence is less about buying this or that new tool than about new processes, new applications for data analytics, and reorganizing instructional priorities around new norms. For generations, education has revolved around classrooms, textbooks and static curricula. But today’s learners are rewriting the rules. By August 2024, over 86 percent of collegiate, master’s and doctoral students were using artificial intelligence in their studies, and more than half were using AI tools weekly, according to a study by the Digital Education Council, a global community of college and university stakeholders that formed that year. Gen Z and younger learners increasingly expect education to look and feel like the digital experiences they already use: short, visual, interactive and on demand. For government leaders and educational institutions, that shift brings both urgency and opportunity. The question isn’t whether AI will reshape learning, it’s how quickly schools, agencies and public programs can adapt to meet these new expectations.

Tuesday, January 13, 2026

Artificial intelligence is here ... and it is already rewriting the rules of education - Susan Galavan, Irish Times

‘As educators, our job is not to shield students from AI, but to prepare them for the reality of the working world’ - Artificial intelligence is everywhere. When I open Microsoft Word to draft this piece, a Copilot icon pops up, asking if I want help. One click, one prompt, and a passable first draft would be on the screen in seconds. Every Google search begins with an AI overview, serving up neatly packaged answers-no need to scroll, no need to think. AI is now integrated into almost every digital tool we use and the message is loud and clear: AI has arrived, and it’s not going anywhere. For students, AI isn’t just a novelty; it’s a tool and they’re using it more and more. A recent UK study found that 64 per cent of students now use the application to generate text, up from 30 per cent in 2024.

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. 

https://www.educationtoday.co/news/daily-news/campus-forecast-2026-how-agentic-ai-could-transform-university-operations

Monday, January 12, 2026

I was wrong. Universities don’t fear AI. They fear self-reflection - Ian Richardson, Times Higher Ed

Reaction online to my recent opinion piece in Times Higher Education on universities’ failure to strategically engage with artificial intelligence (AI) has been both fierce and illuminating. Some criticisms were measured and thoughtful; others were reflexive, polemical or rooted in deeply held convictions about what universities are – and what they must never become. Together, however, they inadvertently reinforce the point that I was making: that resistance to change in the sector is so entrenched that it has become part of its identity. To restate: the greatest threat to higher education is not AI. It is institutional inertia supported by reflexive criticism that mistakes resistance for virtue. AI did not create this problem, but it is exposing dysfunctionalities and contradictions that have accumulated over decades. Whether universities engage with AI enthusiastically or reluctantly is ultimately less important than whether they do so strategically, imaginatively and with a willingness to question their own design. Because if they don’t, others will.

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

In this podcast, AI safety expert Dr. Roman Yampolskiy joins host Jack Neel to discuss his alarming thesis that humanity faces a 99.99% chance of extinction following the creation of Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI). Yampolskiy argues that it is fundamentally impossible for a lower intelligence to indefinitely control or predict a system millions of times smarter than itself [00:08]. He critiques the current "arms race" between tech giants like OpenAI and Google, suggesting that they are prioritizing speed over safety and are essentially "growing" dangerous models rather than engineering them with explicit guardrails [04:22]. The conversation also explores deeper philosophical and existential risks, including the simulation hypothesis—the idea that our reality is a digital construct—and the potential for "suffering risks" where an uncontrolled AI could perpetually torture sentient beings [42:57]. Yampolskiy details how AI is already impacting human behavior by making us more dependent and potentially less intelligent [13:50]. Despite the bleak outlook, he emphasizes the importance of stopping the development of general super intelligence while continuing to benefit from narrow AI tools that solve specific human problems like disease and aging [02:11:05]. (Assistance in summarizing this podcast by Gemini 3)

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.

As part of the CSU systemwide AI rollout, faculty were able to apply for research grants, a move that reflects the university’s decision to study and shape AI use, rather than avoid it. Education professor Erin Ramirez, who trains future teachers, says schools have a responsibility to confront the technology directly.  “The more you tell a student they can’t use it, the more they wanna use it,” Ramirez said.

Friday, January 09, 2026

Artificial intelligence reshapes learning as KU works to adapt - Abigail Moore, University Dailly Kansan

“From my perspective, AI is here to stay, and it is very apparent from my classes,” Max Biundo, a senior studying computer science at the University of Kansas, said. “It's almost like a calculator for code now, a lot of my professors have updated their syllabus to allow the use of AI with proper documentation, similar to how people allowed use of calculators in math with proper work shown to prove you understand the material.” For many students like Biundo, AI has become a companion rather than a shortcut and while universities weigh their next move, students aren’t waiting to learn the ins and outs of AI.  

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

“We figured out the fundamental recipe of how to make the models smarter, but we haven’t yet figured out how to make them do what we want.” The deadline might be closer than even the Anthros think. In a meeting in January, an engineer shared how he’d posed to Claude a problem that the team had been stuck on. The answer was uninspiring. Then the engineer told Claude to pretend that it was an AGI and was designing itself—how would that upgraded entity answer the question? The reply was astonishingly better. “AGI!” shouted several people in the room. It’s here! They were joking, of course. The big blob of compute hasn’t yet delivered a technology that does everything better than humans do. Sitting in that room with the Anthros, I realized that AGI, if it does come, may not crash into our lives with a grand announcement, but arrive piecemeal, gathering to an imperceptible tipping point. Amodei welcomes it. “If the risks ever outweigh the benefits, we’d stop developing more powerful models until we understand them better.” In short, that’s Anthropic’s promise. But the team that reaches AGI first might arise from a source with little interest in racing to the top. It might even come from China. And that would be a constitutional challenge.

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

Agentic AI is no longer merely an interactive tool we talk to; it is a colleague that acts for us. The use of generative AI continues to expand in new ways. Meanwhile, the development of AI agents is driving the expansion and efficiency of AI. In the agentic AI models, we have tools that are capable of reasoned assessment of what is needed to accomplish a goal, aligning a series of stacked tasks and completing those tasks without direct supervision in an efficient way, much like a human assistant would perform a series of tasks to achieve desired outcomes. For example, this often includes data collection, analysis of the data, identifying and implementing ways in which to accomplish the goals, documenting the findings, and finding better ways to accomplish the outcomes.

Agents, robots, and us: Skill partnerships in the age of AI - Lareina Yee, McKinsey

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.
Most human skills will endure, though they will be applied differently. More than 70 percent of the skills sought by employers today are used in both automatable and non-automatable work. This overlap means most skills remain relevant, but how and where they are used will evolve. Our new Skill Change Index shows which skills will be most and least exposed to automation in the next five years. Digital and information-processing skills could be most affected; those related to assisting and caring are likely to change the least.

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

Work in the future will be a partnership between people, agents, and robots—all powered by artificial intelligence. While much of the current public debate revolves around whether AI will lead to sweeping job losses, our focus is on how it will change the very building blocks of work—the skills that underpin productivity and growth. Our research suggests that although people may be shifted out of some work activities, many of their skills will remain essential. They will also be central in guiding and collaborating with AI, a change that is already redefining many roles across the economy.

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

Stanford students describe a suddenly skewed job market, where just a small slice of graduates who already have thick resumes are getting the few good jobs, leaving everyone else to fight for scraps. Top tech companies just don't need as many fresh graduates. "Stanford computer science graduates are struggling to find entry-level jobs" with the most prominent tech brands, said Jan Liphardt, associate professor of bioengineering at Stanford University. "I think that's crazy." While the rapidly advancing coding capabilities of generative AI have made experienced engineers more productive, they have also hobbled the job prospects of early-career software engineers.

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.

https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2025/12/copilot-pcs-offer-fast-powerful-ai-boost-faculty-members-productivity

Saturday, January 03, 2026

Ethical AI in higher education: boosting learning, retention and progression - Isabelle Bambury, Higher Education Policy Institute

New research highlights a vital policy window: deploying Artificial Intelligence (AI) not as a policing tool but as a powerful mechanism to support student learning and academic persistence. Evidence from independent researcher Dr Rebecca Mace, drawing on data generated by a mix of high, middle and low-tariff UK universities, suggests a compelling, positive correlation between the use of ethically embedded ‘AI for Learning’ tools and student retention, academic skill development and confidence. The findings challenge the predominant narrative that focuses solely on AI detection and academic misconduct, advocating instead for a clear and supportive policy framework to harness AI’s educational benefits.

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.


Here are 3 qualities that make graduates better job candidates - Alcino Donadel, University Business

Higher education is fulfilling its mission of cultivating a civilized and workforce-ready society, according to a new employer survey from AAC&U, or the American Association of Colleges and Universities. At least 70% of executives and hiring managers have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher education and believe colleges and universities are adequately preparing students for the workforce. Furthermore, nearly three-quarters of employers (73%) believe a degree is worth the financial investment. These findings contrast with public and political concerns about the cost of college, said Lynn Pasquerella, president of AAC&U.