Tuesday, March 24, 2026

When Harvey Met Elle: How AI Tutors Transformed Learning in My Law Class - Wayland Chau, Faculty Focus

This past fall, I taught a business law course to all second year students in the Bachelor of Commerce program at Dalhousie University. I had 343 students across three sections of 109 to 120 students in each. The course covers foundational areas of Canadian business law and requires students to apply that law with a structured legal analysis. Even with active learning approaches in class and clear instructional structures, it was apparent that students needed individualized, on-demand support that traditional office hours and T.A. tutorials could not fully satisfy. To address this, I created and deployed two custom AI tutors, Harvey and Elle, built as custom GPTs in the ChatGPT platform. The aim was to offer scalable, digital learning companions that aligned directly with course learning outcomes and pedagogical needs. What emerged was an effective model for AI-supported instruction that helped students better understand legal concepts, improve their analytical skills, and engage more confidently with course material. 

Online learning gains momentum as students reconsider studying abroad - JB, The St.Kitts/Nevis Observer

A regional educator is of the opinion that online learning is becoming an increasingly attractive option for Caribbean students, as uncertainty surrounding overseas study — particularly in the United States — leads more people to pursue higher education from home. According Wendy Williams,  the Deputy Dean of Academic Affairs at Academix School of Learning,  an educational institution here, many students are now reconsidering traditional study-abroad routes due to concerns about student visa approvals and the risk of investing time and money without certainty of being able to travel. “We have always had our eyes on the United States as a pathway to higher education,” Williams said. “But the reality now is that students are worried about whether their visas will be approved and whether they will be able to travel after investing so much in the process.”

See which jobs are most threatened by AI, and who may be able to adapt - Kevin Schaul and Shira Ovide, Washington Post

No one has a perfect road map to the future, but researchers at GovAI, which studies technology policy, and the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, used a novel approach to estimate which workers may be most and least able to adapt to AI. They concluded that many people most at risk if AI transforms work are also the best placed to find new jobs. You can use the search box and interactive chart above to explore which occupations may have bright prospects and which may not. But history shows that economists and researchers have been terrible at predicting the effects of new technologies on work and workers, so take forecasts like this one seriously but not literally. Even researchers cranking out studies of AI in workplaces caution that they’re making useful but fallible best guesses. “All the important questions about AI’s effects on the labor market are still unanswered,” Jed Kolko, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, recently concluded. Economists at Anthropic, the AI start-up behind the Claude chatbot, stressed the need for “humility” in their analysis of AI seeping into occupations. (Humility is uncommon in Silicon Valley.)

Monday, March 23, 2026

Virginia Tech Libraries embrace AI - Lindsey Kudriavetz, Collegiate Times

Virginia Tech Libraries are working to be an artificial intelligence global model for higher education despite research and ethical concerns. “The old tag line for Virginia Tech is to invent the future,” said Tyler Walters, dean of University Libraries. “I think that attitude is still very imbued in the university … so we are looking at how we take this technology and incorporate it.” Virginia Tech Libraries’ digital archives have been implementing AI for approximately five years, according to Walters. The primary use of AI in the physical library is as a consolidation and organization tool. Generative AI is also being used as a tool for summarization of articles and papers. “(AI) saves us months and months of time just sitting there and manually reading and typing,” Walters said.

https://www.collegiatetimes.com/news/virginia-tech-libraries-embrace-ai/article_720de91f-801f-47bc-924a-4166897f4668.html

Why learning AI skills is no longer optional for job seekers | Opinion - Kimberly K. Estep, the Leaf

Proficiency in AI is no longer just an optional skill for job seekers. My organization recently surveyed over 3,000 employers around the country and found that more than half are testing new applicants for AI skills, and 25% are prioritizing candidates with some measure of AI fluency. And as time goes on, this seems to be only the beginning of the trend. AI has made a significant impact on the business world and has cooled the job market for many looking to find careers. It is a time of uncertainty.

https://www.theleafchronicle.com/story/opinion/contributors/2026/03/16/artificial-intelligence-what-employers-want-education/89150107007/

OpenAI rolls out new ChatGPT workspace analytics for Enterprise and Edu users - ETIH

OpenAI has introduced an upgraded Workspace Analytics experience for ChatGPT Enterprise and ChatGPT Edu, giving administrators and organizational leaders new tools to track adoption, engagement, and usage trends across their AI deployments. The company announced the update on LinkedIn, saying the new analytics dashboard is designed to help organizations understand how ChatGPT usage is developing across teams and identify where additional training or enablement may be needed. The rollout reflects growing demand from schools, universities, and enterprises for clearer data on how generative AI tools are being used inside organizations.

Sunday, March 22, 2026

AI has exposed age-old problems with university coursework - Nafisa Baba-Ahmed, the Guardian

The frustration many academics are expressing about artificial intelligence and critical thinking is understandable (‘I wish I could push ChatGPT off a cliff’: professors scramble to save critical thinking in an age of AI, 10 March). But from my experience working with students on academic writing, blaming AI risks masking a problem that universities have lived with for years. In my work with students, I have long seen the ways in which thinking can be outsourced when assessment allows it: essay mills, shared past papers, model essays passed between cohorts, or heavy reliance on tutors and friends to structure assignments. Artificial intelligence did not invent this behaviour. It has simply industrialised a shortcut that already existed. 

Supersonic Tsunami: The Next 6 Months: What's Coming, What It Means, and What You Need to Do - Peter H. Diamandis, Metatrends

If You’re an Entrepreneur: Stop designing for 2024 scarcity. Design for 2030 Abundance. Assume intelligence is free, energy is unlimited, robotic labor costs pennies. What becomes possible that’s impossible today? Your competitive advantage isn’t better execution, it’s imagination about tomorrow’s possibilities. If You’re an Investor: Own the infrastructure. AI chips, fusion energy, launch vehicles, robotics platforms. When the industry deploys a trillion dollars in AI infrastructure, that’s where generational wealth gets made. Jensen Huang just put $40 billion into Anthropic and OpenAI – follow the smart money. Position yourself before the inflection point becomes obvious to everyone. If You’re a CEO: Your industry is about to be stress-tested. Ask: What would our business look like if compute was free, energy unlimited, robotic labor scalable? If You’re a Student: Don’t compete with AI – collaborate with it. 

Daniel Priestley: AI Will Make Plumbers Earn More Than Lawyers! (2029 PREDICTION) - The Diary Of A CEO and Daniel Priestley

In this conversation, Daniel Priestley explores the transformative impact of AI on the global economy, predicting a major financial crisis by 2029 due to the unsustainable costs of maintaining data center infrastructure. He argues that while AI will commoditize intelligence and traditional professional roles like law, it will simultaneously elevate blue-collar trades and "irreplaceably human" skills. The "Jevons Paradox" suggests that as AI makes business creation cheaper and faster, we will see an explosion of niche, community-driven "lifestyle businesses" that prioritize personal connection and human experience over massive scale. Priestley emphasizes that the most defensible assets in an AI-driven world are personal branding, entrepreneurial thinking, and lived experience—elements that cannot be replicated by algorithms. He advises individuals to focus on "founder-opportunity fit," leveraging AI tools to prototype ideas quickly while staying anchored in real-world human relationships. The discussion also touches on broader societal shifts, including the risks of government over-involvement in the economy and the vital importance of family and meaningful struggle as the true sources of long-term fulfillment. [Gemini 3 provided assistance with the summary]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpETS6q1Hww

Saturday, March 21, 2026

History tells us a golden age can come after the AI apocalypse- Jo-An Occhipinti, Ante Prodan and Roy Green, Financial Review

Societies must channel technological potential toward broad-based growth rather than allowing the gains to concentrate among the winners of the speculative phase. The market grasped this before the accountants did. Since early this year, the S&P 500 Software and Services Index has shed nearly $1 trillion. Salesforce is down 30 per cent year-to-date. Adobe’s forward price-earnings ratio has compressed from 30 to 12. Software price-to-sales ratios fell from nine to six within weeks, levels not seen since the mid-2010s. Australian superannuation funds, with hundreds of billions invested in international equities heavily weighted to US technology, are exposed to every dollar of this repricing. But software is only where the destruction is most visible. It is not where it ends. AI is beginning to erode the value of a broader category of accumulated capital: the knowledge, processes, organisational structures and professional expertise that the advanced economies spent half a century building.

AI could leave many college grads unemployed, says ServiceNow CEO - EdScoop

Bill McDermott, the chief executive of ServiceNow, an American cloud computing firm, told reporters recently that the advancement of artificial intelligence could push the unemployment level of recent college graduates into the almost 40%. McDermott told CNBC that “so much of the work is going to be done by agents,” highlighting the challenge that college graduates will likely face. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York put the unemployment rate of recent college graduates, at the end of last year, at 5.7%, while underemployment for the same group reached 42.5%. Layoffs at large companies, particularly in Big Tech, continue. The fintech firm Block, recently announced it would lay off about 4,000 employees, roughly half of its workforce.

AI literacy mediates AI assisted diagnosis participation and critical thinking among medical students under supervision - Yang Xin, Deng Yan, Luo Shuren, Luo Minyang & Lu Liuheng, Nature, Digital Medicine

This longitudinal study followed 372 medical students across 12 months of supervised rotations using an AI-assisted diagnosis system. AI-assisted diagnosis participation, AI literacy and medical critical thinking were assessed at baseline, 6 months and 12 months. Cross-lagged panel models examined prospective associations, statistical mediation by AI literacy and moderation by prior technological experience and learning goal orientation. Higher participation was associated with increases in AI literacy and critical thinking, and AI literacy statistically mediated the participation-to-critical thinking association. Indirect effects were stronger among students with greater technological experience and mastery-oriented goals and weaker among performance-oriented peers. Findings indicate that, within supervised clinical training, engagement with AI systems is associated with critical thinking development partly through enhanced AI literacy, supporting AI tools as educational resources under faculty guidance.

Friday, March 20, 2026

Why multilingual community college students struggle—and what schools can do - Michelle Centamore, University Business

A new report from the Community College Research Center, Supporting Multilingual Learners in Community Colleges: Lessons from City Colleges of Chicago, examines policies and practices across the seven-campus City Colleges of Chicago system. The three-year mixed-methods study included interviews, surveys and analysis of administrative data. It defines multilingual learners as students developing English proficiency while pursuing education or training. “Community colleges serve a diverse student population in terms of age, racial and ethnic background, and education level,” the report notes, but “relatively little is known about those who are in the process of developing English language proficiency and what motivates them to enroll.” Multilingual learners enroll in community colleges for many reasons, including improving communication skills, preparing for careers and earning college degrees.

https://universitybusiness.com/why-multilingual-community-college-students-struggle-and-what-schools-can-do/

Online education isn’t a technology problem – it’s a systems challenge - the PIE

Over the past decade, universities have quietly crossed an important threshold. Online degrees are no longer experimental, peripheral, or niche. They are becoming part of the core program offering at leading institutions. Across the UK alone, thousands of postgraduate programs are now delivered online, and hundreds of thousands of undergraduate learners study through distance or digital modes. What was once treated as an alternative pathway to obtaining a degree is increasingly a mainstream form of provision. But the most important question for universities is no longer whether they should move to online provision. The real question is how that migration actually happens inside institutions.

Best Online Learning Courses (2026): Coursera Named Leading Platform for Career-Focused Education - PR Newswire

Learners can pursue skills in high-demand areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, Cybersecurity, Project Management, Python, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Power BI. The platform also features recognized programs such as the Google Cybersecurity Certificate, Google Data Analytics Certificate, IBM Data Science Certificate, and the Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst Certificate. This breadth allows learners at different stages of their careers to find programs tailored to specific goals, whether building foundational knowledge or preparing for specialized roles.

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Key findings about how Americans view artificial intelligence - Michelle Faverio and Emma Kikuchi, Pew Research

Drawing on five years of Pew Research Center surveys, here are 13 findings about how Americans use and view AI, and where they see promise and risk. Americans continue to be wary of AI’s impact on daily life. Half of U.S. adults say the increased use of AI in daily life makes them feel more concerned than excited, according to a June 2025 survey. Just 10% say they are more excited than concerned. Another 38% say they are equally concerned and excited. More Americans are concerned today than they were when we first asked this question in 2021. Back then, 37% said they were more concerned than excited. In contrast, concern is lower in many of the 24 other countries we’ve polled about AI.

CUNY Awards $3 Million to Support More Than 100 Artificial Intelligence Initiatives - City University of New York

The City University of New York this week announced that it awarded $3 million to 113 campus-led initiatives as part of its new AI Innovation Fund, a one-year, systemwide grant program funded as part of Governor Hochul’s ongoing commitment to position New York as a leader in artificial intelligence. Designed to leverage AI to advance teaching, research and student success, the program initiatives include micro-credentials and certificates as well as efforts to combat food insecurity and enhance career readiness. “The CUNY AI Innovation Fund will harness artificial intelligence to support learning while safeguarding academic integrity and equity,” said CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez.

URI professors aiding state’s push to become national leader in artificial intelligence - Rhody Today

Now, the AI Task Force, which includes two University of Rhode Island faculty members, has unveiled a blueprint to help Rhode Island become a national AI leader, calling for cooperation and collaboration between government and private industry to responsibly implement the technology. The report analyzed how AI is being applied to six core local sectors—education, defense industries and maritime technologies, finance, health, government and small businesses/startups/nonprofits—and provided steps to further the local economy while safeguarding it against risk. With that, URI is taking significant steps to address the state’s AI needs, particularly workforce development.

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

What 3 Leading AI Models Say Are the Most Vulnerable Jobs in Higher Ed - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higther Ed

I asked artificial intelligence to tell me what jobs in higher education are most vulnerable to replacement in the near term. Sonnet is very honest in its replies, painting a difficult picture for those who seek to find new jobs in higher ed. For those already in the field, Sonnet suggests becoming the most adept user of AI in your office. Seek to transfer to the unit or office where AI is a top priority. It adds, “Consider whether your institution is viable. Smaller, tuition-dependent institutions without strong endowments are in structural decline. Loyalty to a sinking ship is not a career strategy.” Across all career stages in higher education, Gemini recommends, “To remain relevant, higher education professionals must pivot toward AI Orchestration. Success is no longer measured by how well you perform a task, but by how well you direct the agents performing them.”



HE needs academically aligned, citation-traceable AI systems - Wagdy Sawahel, University World News

“Despite the growing body of research on artificial intelligence and Large Language Models in education, several gaps persist, including a lack of structured conceptual frameworks that integrate academic data governance and pedagogical requirements. “Thus, there is a need for conceptual models that can guide the development, governance and pedagogical integration of Large Language Models in higher education, particularly in under-represented regions and contexts,” Abanga said. “The most important contribution of my study is the proposed Academic-LLM Framework that integrates data quality, pedagogy, governance and continuous feedback,” she noted.

Holistic, human-centered approach to AI puts U of A in class of its own - Craig Reck, University of Arizona

The University of Arizona is defining a new standard for how artificial intelligence integrates into higher education and society. By prioritizing ethics, personal responsibility and societal impact over just technical speed, the U of A is building an ecosystem where integrity and human creativity remain the primary drivers of progress. This holistic, human-centered approach positions the university as a national example in the responsible adoption of AI technology at a modern research university. The architect of this strategic effort to integrate AI across research, instruction and operations is David Ebert, the U of A’s inaugural chief AI and data science officer – one of only a few such positions in higher education nationally.