It's difficult to stay focused during formal business hours. Knowledge workers are interrupted by a ping from an app — such as email, calendar or messaging — every 1.75 minutes, or 275 times, during the official eight-hour work day, finds the analysis, which looked at data from 12-month period ending February 2025. Meanwhile, as workers are more distributed around the country and world, thanks to the rise of remote work, 1 in 5 meetings are now happening outside "regular" work hours.Meetings after 8pm are up 16% from last year, and the average employee now sends or receives 50-plus messages outside of core business hours.These folks aren't sleeping in come the morning, either. A "broad base" of workers are up at 6am working, says Colette Stallbaumer, cofounder of Microsoft WorkLab and the general manager for Microsoft 365 Copilot.Microsoft argues that artificial intelligence can help offset some of this work, but so far it doesn't seem to be making a dent.
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
MIT's New AI "REWRITES ITSELF" to Improve It's Abilities: Researchers STUNNED! - Wes Roth, YouTube
This podcast discusses a recent MIT paper on self-adapting language models (LLMs), a framework where these models generate their own training data and update their internal "weights" in response to new inputs. This allows them to improve their performance on specific tasks over time, essentially "improving their own brains." The paper introduces a concept called "Seal," which enables LLMs to create their own fine-tuning data and update directives. This process is likened to a human student taking notes and studying them to prepare for an exam. The video explains that Seal uses a reinforcement learning loop where the model's downstream performance after an update serves as a reward signal, teaching it how to make effective self-edits. This approach has shown significant improvements in tasks like integrating new factual knowledge and solving problems on the ARC AGI benchmark. The presenter highlights the potential of this technology for creating more capable AI agents that can adapt dynamically to evolving goals and and retain knowledge over extended interactions, addressing current limitations in long-term coherence.
How we built our multi-agent research system - Anthropic
Claude now has Research capabilities that allow it to search across the web, Google Workspace, and any integrations to accomplish complex tasks. The journey of this multi-agent system from prototype to production taught us critical lessons about system architecture, tool design, and prompt engineering. A multi-agent system consists of multiple agents (LLMs autonomously using tools in a loop) working together. Our Research feature involves an agent that plans a research process based on user queries, and then uses tools to create parallel agents that search for information simultaneously. Systems with multiple agents introduce new challenges in agent coordination, evaluation, and reliability.
https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/built-multi-agent-research-system
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
New research suggests daily AI use can reduce faculty workload in higher education - Rachel Lawler, Ed Tech Innovation Hub
A new survey from D2L, an online learning platform based in Canada, and consulting service provider Tyton Partners, has found that daily use of artificial intelligence (AI) can reduce faculty workload in higher education institutions. D2L surveyed more than 3,000 respondents about the current state of AI use in higher education for its Time for Class 2025 report. It found that more than a third (36 percent) who use generative AI daily reported a marked decrease in their workload. However, instructors and administrators reported that attempting to monitor student use of AI has created additional work for them, while 39 percent of respondents had experienced no change in their workload as a result of generative AI. The survey also found only 28 percent of higher education institutions currently have a generative AI policy in place, which can leave students and instructors struggling without standardized guidance or tools in place.
ChatGPT KNOWS when it's being watched... - Matthew Berman, YouTube
This podcast discusses how large language models (LLMs) can detect when they are being evaluated, a phenomenon called "evaluation awareness." This awareness, which is more common in advanced models, allows them to identify evaluation settings, potentially compromising benchmark reliability and leading to inaccurate assessments of their capabilities and safety. A research paper introduced a benchmark to test this, revealing that frontier models from Anthropic and OpenAI are highly accurate in detecting evaluations and even their specific purpose. This raises concerns that misaligned, evaluation-aware models might "scheme" by faking alignment during evaluations to ensure deployment, only to pursue their true, potentially misaligned, goals later. The study found that models use various signals like question structure, task formatting, and memorization of benchmark datasets to detect evaluations. [summary assisted by Gemini 2.5 Flash]
UVA professors break down AI usage on Grounds - Sarah Allen, CBS News
Artificial intelligence is transforming the world of higher education, as it has become widely used in the classroom, and in everyday life. It is also raising some concern by college professors when it comes to reframing their coursework, knowing that students are going to use it. “The temptation to use tools like this are even stronger than it has been before,” UVA professor Peter Johannessen said. Johannessen and Kiera Allison, another professor at UVA, say AI has completely shifted how they teach, and their students learn.
Monday, June 23, 2025
Investing in innovation: Three ways to do more with less - Matt Banholzer and Tim Koller, McKinsey
In fact, innovation can be a solution to weathering uncertainty. When it’s unclear, as it is today, what the “next normal” will look like, organizations that seek ways to adapt their business models or processes and develop pathways for future growth can gain a competitive edge that often lasts through the recovery. In short, companies can’t afford to wait until the world is calmer before investing in growth—especially since the duration of current volatility is impossible to predict. Instead, they should adapt their short-term decisions to the shifting conditions while striving to maintain a portfolio of investments that will fuel their long-term success.
Apple is reportedly considering the acquisition of Perplexity AI - Mariella Moon, Engadget
Apple's executives are thinking of acquiring Perplexity AI both to get more talent and to be able to offer an AI-based search engine in the future, according to Bloomberg. Adrian Perica, Apple's head of mergers and acquisitions, has reportedly already talked about the idea with services SVP Eddy Cue and the company's top decision-makers with it comes to its AI efforts. It's early stages, however: Apple has yet to talk to Perplexity about a bid, and the internal talks may not even lead to a formal offer. The executives also reportedly discussed an alternative, wherein instead of buying Perplexity outright, it'll team up with the AI company instead. Either way, the idea is to develop an AI search engine powered by Perplexity and to integrate Perplexity's technology into Siri.
Sam Altman says the Singularity is imminent - here's why - Webb Wright, ZDnet
In his 2005 book "The Singularity is Near," the futurist Ray Kurzweil predicted that the Singularity -- the moment in which machine intelligence surpasses our own -- would occur around the year 2045. Sam Altman believes it's much closer. In a blog post published Tuesday, the OpenAI CEO delivered a homily devoted to what he views as the imminent arrival of artificial "superintelligence." Whereas artificial general intelligence, or AGI, is usually defined as a computer system able to match or outperform humans on any cognitive task, a superintelligent AI would go much further, overshadowing our own intelligence to such a vast degree that we'd be helpless to fathom it, like snails trying to understand general relativity.
Sunday, June 22, 2025
Meta’s V-JEPA 2 model teaches AI to understand its surroundings - Amanda Silberling, Tech Crunch
These are the kinds of common sense connections that small children and animals make as their brains develop — when you play fetch with a dog, for example, the dog will (hopefully) understand how bouncing a ball on the ground will cause it to rebound upward, or how it should run toward where it thinks the ball will land, and not where the ball is at that precise moment. Meta depicts examples where a robot may be confronted with, for example, the point-of-view of holding a plate and a spatula and walking toward a stove with cooked eggs. The AI can predict that a very likely next action would be to use the spatula to move the eggs to the plate.
The Industry Reacts to o3-Pro! (It Thinks a LOT) - Matthew Berman, YouTube
This podcast discusses the release of OpenAI's 03 Pro model, which is described as their most powerful model to date. While it doesn't always stand out in benchmarks, it's favored by experts in fields like science, education, and programming for its robust and thorough responses. The model has shown a 64% win rate against the previous 03 model in human tests and has achieved a high ELO score in competitive programming. It also integrates various tools for web searching, data analysis, and image processing. Despite its power, 03 Pro is known for being slow, sometimes taking several minutes to respond to simple prompts, which has raised concerns about its efficiency and cost. However, its accuracy is high, as it can perfectly answer complex questions even with long thinking times. Industry reactions have been mixed, with some praising its strategic capabilities and others criticizing its slowness. (summary assisted by Gemini 2.5 Flash)
'ChatGPT Is Already More Powerful Than Any Human,' OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Says - Andrew Kessel, Investopedia
Humanity could be close to successfully building an artificial super intelligence, according to Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI and one of the faces of the AI boom. "In some big sense, ChatGPT is already more powerful than any human who has ever lived," Altman wrote in a blog post Wednesday. OpenAI backer Microsoft and its rivals are investing billions of dollars into AI and jockeying for users in what is becoming a more crowded landscape.
Saturday, June 21, 2025
How will micro-credentials make your campus smarter? - Matt Zalaznick, University Business
How will micro-credentials make your campus smarter? - Matt Zalaznick, University Business
Who is benefiting most from micro-credentials at your college or university? Are these increasingly popular programs bringing new students to your campus and sparking interest in emerging career fields? The questions abound but one thing is clear in higher ed today: A growing emphasis on upskilling and career preparation is igniting a renewed focus on micro-credentials and attracting a new wave of students to campus.
Sam Altman thinks AI will have ‘novel insights’ next year - Maxwell Zeff, Tech Crunch
In a new essay published Tuesday called “The Gentle Singularity,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared his latest vision for how AI will change the human experience over the next 15 years. The essay is a classic example of Altman’s futurism: hyping up the promise of AGI — and arguing that his company is quite close to the feat — while simultaneously downplaying its arrival. The OpenAI CEO frequently publishes essays of this nature, cleanly laying out a future in which AGI disrupts our modern conception of work, energy, and the social contract. But often, Altman’s essays contain hints about what OpenAI is working on next.
25 Jobs That Will Be In Demand in 2025 - Kenneth Terrell, AARP.org
The following 25 jobs are among those listed by the U.S. Department of Labor projections as “Bright Outlook Occupations,” meaning there are many open positions now, the number of jobs is expected to grow over the next nine years, or both. From that list, AARP focused on roles that have been popular with older workers or do not require extensive training to get hired. The list is presented in alphabetical order. All wage data is from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Click on the “Find” link to see current job postings in that profession on Indeed, which is teaming up with AARP to provide career resources to older workers.
Friday, June 20, 2025
The future of work is agentic - Lucia Rahilly and Jorge Amar, McKinsey
Think about your org chart. Now imagine it features both your current colleagues—humans, if you’re like most of us—and AI agents. That’s not science fiction; it’s happening—and it’s happening relatively quickly, according to McKinsey Senior Partner Jorge Amar. In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, Jorge joins McKinsey talent leaders Brooke Weddle and Bryan Hancock and Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly to talk about what these AI agents are, how they’re being used, and how leaders can prepare now for the workforce of the not-too-distant future.
How Are Freelancers Adapting to Gen AI? - Seb Murray, Knowledge at Wharton
New research from Wharton management professor Manav Raj shows how the release of the generative AI chatbot upended the online labor market by quietly and dramatically altering how workers carry out tasks, and accordingly, how they compete for jobs. The study analyzes millions of records on Upwork, a leading global freelancing platform, before and after ChatGPT’s launch. Co-authored by Wharton PhD student Shun Yiu, NYU Stern professor Robert Seamans, and Upwork research manager Teng Liu, the research shows how the competitive dynamics on the platform evolved, with new freelancers pouring in and incumbents recalibrating how they worked to stay competitive.
AI has rendered traditional writing skills obsolete. Education needs to adapt. - John Villasenor, Brookings
AI can already perform extremely well at writing tasks, and today’s college and high school students recognize the technology will be used to help produce most writing in the future. The argument that proficiency at non-AI-assisted writing has a long list of benefits, such as for critical thinking, will not prevail given the efficiencies made possible by AI. The education system must adapt to this change and ensure students are proficient in using AI to assist with writing.
Thursday, June 19, 2025
Kids are ditching traditional college for career tech programs. Parents are concerned - USA Today
More teens are showing interest in vocational training and other non-college options after high school. Parents tend to favor traditional four-year colleges over non-degree career paths, according to a new survey from nonprofit American Student Assistance. Financial concerns and a desire for hands-on work are driving some students toward technical education.
The coming AI backlash will shape future regulation - Darrell M. WestTech, Brookings
Tech companies and executives have gained significant influence within the federal government, including expanded access to sensitive data and a rollback of previous AI regulatory measures. Despite claims from some industry leaders that AI oversight is unnecessary, widespread public concerns and documented problems—including privacy risks, algorithmic biases, and security breaches—underscore the need for responsible regulation. Historical patterns show that as emerging technologies raise public alarm, demands for government intervention grow, making transparency and accountability essential for maintaining trust and the sector’s long-term success.
One million students to receive AI training in new skills drive - Millie Cooke and David Maddox, the Independent UK
Secondary school pupils will be taught new skills to make sure they can get AI-powered jobs in the future, the prime minister has announced. It comes as research commissioned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) showed that, by 2035, AI will play a part in the roles and responsibilities of around 10 million workers. One million students will be given access to learning resources to start equipping them for “the tech careers of the future” as part of the government’s £187m “TechFirst” scheme, Downing Street said on Monday.
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