CEOs are confronting a make-or-break test of their leadership. Here’s what successful leaders are doing to get AI right. AI has yet to deliver the ROI many leaders expected. What are they getting wrong? “This is probably the biggest, most complex transformation we’ve seen—but it’s 80 percent business transformation and 20 percent tech transformation,” according to McKinsey’s North America Chair Eric Kutcher. “That’s different from how most people have thought about it.” On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Eric speaks with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly about how CEOs can deliver on AI’s revolutionary potential—and meet this “legacy moment” successfully.
Saturday, January 31, 2026
How Americans are using AI at work, according to a new Gallup poll - MATT O’BRIEN and LINLEY SANDERS, AP News
American workers adopted artificial intelligence into their work lives at a remarkable pace over the past few years, according to a new poll. Some 12% of employed adults say they use AI daily in their job, according to a Gallup Workforce survey conducted this fall of more than 22,000 U.S. workers. The survey found roughly one-quarter say they use AI at least frequently, which is defined as at least a few times a week, and nearly half say they use it at least a few times a year. That compares with 21% who were using AI at least occasionally in 2023, when Gallup began asking the question, and points to the impact of the widespread commercial boom that ChatGPT sparked for generative AI tools that can write emails and computer code, summarize long documents, create images or help answer questions.
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
Artificial intelligence—including its many offspring, from machine learning models to AI agents—is much more than the latest wave of technology. It is a general-purpose capability that is poised to touch almost every sector, function, and role, with the power to reshape how companies compete, operate, and grow. With trillions of dollars potentially at play and implications that could be existential to companies, AI is closer to a reckoning than a trend. And that is why AI is a board-level priority. More than 88 percent of organizations report using AI in at least one business function1; however, board governance has not matched that pace. While interest in AI seems to have spiked after the introduction of ChatGPT, as of 2024, only 39 percent of Fortune 100 companies disclosed any form of board oversight of AI—whether through a committee, a director with AI expertise, or an ethics board.2
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
Across educational organizations, AI is moving from experimentation to impact. Each year, more institutions increasingly accelerate their use of AI. The global AI education market reached $7.57 billion USD in 2025, and is projected to exceed $112 billion USD by 2034. Looking forward to the classrooms of 2026, AI will expand its stance as a powerful service for learners and teachers alike. From the earliest stages of education, AI-driven platforms are helping provide real-time personalized English instruction, helping level the playing field for young learners in developing countries.
Tuesday, January 27, 2026
Using ChatGPT isn't an AI strategy - Daphne Kohler, Big Think
You’ve probably heard that artificial intelligence has untapped potential in today’s workplaces. And sure, many organizations have signed enterprise contracts and deployed different AI tools across all business units. But as insitro CEO and AI expert Daphne Koller stresses, making a tool available is not the same as intentionally leveraging it to transform your organization.
Learning objectives:
Envision ways AI can support innovative work.
Establish realistic expectations for physical AI.
Develop and evaluate AI use cases.
Choose AI tools based on pragmatics, not promises.
Cultivate risk-resilient AI practices.
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
From drug design to climate modelling, artificial intelligence can process data at scales far beyond human capacity. Hongliang Xin argues that the future of research lies in harnessing agentic AI through human-guided discovery, When it comes to generative artificial intelligence, or GenAI for short, I am an optimist. Sure, universities need to be cautious. The technology is powerful, fast-moving and, in the wrong hands, potentially risky. AI – especially the emerging class of agentic AI, systems that can assist with complex tasks such as setting goals and making decisions – is not a threat to scholarship if meaningful human oversight and control over important decisions is maintained. In fact, it is an opportunity to extend it far beyond what we humans could achieve alone.
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
Rather than treating vocational programs and college prep as separate tracks, career and technical education (CTE) should be seen as a flexible route to debt-free postsecondary options and in-demand roles across technology, trades and emerging AI-enabled fields. Available funding should be used strategically to ensure these programs can hold up in the long term, according to Corey Gordon, education strategist for CDW Education. “Ultimately, it comes down to the school knowing what they want to do and making sure people are bought in,” he said. “There are a lot of funding sources, so just make sure it's sustainable after that grant is gone, or it’s something that can be repeatable after you get the kids’ interest.” Technology should close opportunity gaps, not widen them. James Riley, CEO and co-founder of itopia, said that in one Brooklyn high school, he saw students going out of their way to get access to and teach themselves how to use professional-grade technologies. In a design class, he saw students asking for access to applications outside their course of study, such as Autodesk.
Thursday, January 22, 2026
Four ways artificial intelligence (AI) takes shape at CWRU—and across higher education - Brianna Smith, Case Western News
Across higher education, conversations around artificial intelligence (AI) have shifted rapidly throughout the years. What began as debates over whether AI tools should be allowed in classrooms has evolved into a more nuanced question: how can universities use AI responsibly, ethically and effectively to enhance learning and research? At Case Western Reserve University, Sumon Biswas, PhD, assistant professor at the Department of Computer and Data Sciences, noted how institutions nationwide are moving away from blanket restrictions and toward intentional integration, increasing the need for campuswide guidance on acceptable AI use and disclosure, practical literacy and AI-enabled research workflows with stronger attention to verification and ethics.
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
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.
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.
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.
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