My good friend and colleague, University of Illinois Professor Emeritus of Economics, anny Arvan, recently authored an essay disucussing some of the issues surrounding the expected large scale loss of jobs due to AI.
Monday, April 6, 2026
Where can AI be used? Insights from a deep ontology of work activities = Alice Cai, et al; arXiv
Here we provide a comprehensive ontology of work activities that can help systematically analyze and predict uses of AI. To do this, we disaggregate and then substantially reorganize the approximately 20K activities in the US Department of Labor's widely used O*NET occupational database. Next, we use this framework to classify descriptions of 13,275 AI software applications and a worldwide tally of 20.8 million robotic systems. Finally, we use the data about both these kinds of AI to generate graphical displays of how the estimated units and market values of all worldwide AI systems used today are distributed across the work activities that these systems help perform. We find a highly uneven distribution of AI market value across activities, with the top 1.6% of activities accounting for over 60% of AI market value. Most of the market value is used in information-based activities (72%), especially creating information (36%), and only 12% is used in physical activities. Interactive activities include both information-based and physical activities and account for 48% of AI market value, much of which (26%) involves transferring information.
From UBI to UHI (in three steps) - Peter H. Diamandis, Metatrends
Displacement does not arrive as a statistic. It arrives as a young man who studied for four years and cannot find work. It arrives as a 45-year-old logistics manager whose position was eliminated when the warehouse automated. It arrives as a generation unable to afford a family and a household, build wealth, or participate in the social contract their parents took for granted. The economic literature on prolonged unemployment is unambiguous: it does not merely reduce income. It destroys identity, erodes mental health, and generates political radicalization. A generation without economic footing is a generation without a stake in the stability of the system. Governments facing mass unemployment reach for multiple tools: public works, retraining programs, trade protections. In a prior era, these worked because displacement was sectoral and adjacent categories existed.
https://metatrends.substack.com/p/from-ubi-to-uhi-in-3-steps
Sunday, April 5, 2026
Courageous conversations: How to lead with heart - Kurt Strovink, Meagan Hill, and Mike Carson; McKinsey
Leadership, at its best, is a matter of the heart. Courage, which underpins every act of leadership, is also a matter of the heart; it comes from the French word cœur—heart. As Winston Churchill observed, “Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities, because . . . it is the quality which guarantees all others.” The point is simple: Courage is both moral and practical. It is not sentiment or bravado. It is the willingness to face what is real, invite challenge, and repair trust. The story of every great leader—from business to the arts, from education to government to sport—is written in these moments of choice: Do I accept the comfortable, or do I ask for and embrace the truth? Do I protect myself, or do I serve the enterprise?
From insight to impact: Building a leadership factory - McKinsey
McKinsey research underscores a clear imperative: “CEOs and their teams should be laser focused on developing next-generation leaders with the unique skills and capabilities to perform and thrive in challenging times,” write McKinsey Global Managing Partner Bob Sternfels, Senior Partner Daniel Pacthod, and David H. Berger. This is the kind of thinking that inspired leaders at Campbell’s to bet big on talent. The company launched a comprehensive leadership development effort, in partnership with McKinsey, focused not just on top executives but on critical role transitions across the business. The programs were practical and specific: improving how leaders give feedback, coach teams, and manage day-to-day performance. The results were measurable—a 37-percentage-point increase in key leadership competencies. Read on to learn more about turning organizations into leadership factories.
The next phase of higher education will blend digital and human learning: Chancellor, Lingaya’s Vidyapeeth - ET Edge Insights
Artificial Intelligence is redefining how universities deliver and manage education. From personalized learning pathways to predictive analytics that identify student needs, AI is making education more responsive and efficient. It is also automating administrative functions, enabling institutions to focus on academic excellence and innovation. Online learning has moved beyond being an alternative to becoming an integral part of higher education. Its ability to provide flexibility and scale has made quality education more accessible than ever. Going forward, we will see a strong shift towards hybrid models that seamlessly blend digital and in-person learning experiences.
Saturday, April 4, 2026
Lilly Endowment Inc. gifts USI $150,000 grant to explore AI in education: The gift funds the university to expand AI fluency amongst the campus community - Cade Smithson, The Shield, University of Southern Indiana
USI announced Tuesday, March 24, that it had received a $150,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to explore how artificial intelligence fits into its classrooms. The award, part of Lilly Endowment’s Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education initiative, is not for immediate program expansion but for research and evaluation. The initiative will help USI take a closer look at student learning and prepare graduates for a workforce surrounded by AI. Provost Shelly Blunt also acknowledged the changing workforce. In a press release, Blunt said, “Artificial intelligence is transforming the way we work, learn and solve problems.” She said the grant will aid the university’s mission to integrate AI into programs and classes. The grant is expected to allow for an internal review of how AI tools are already being used in the classroom. USI will also participate in an external assessment to study whether employers and industry partners across southwestern Indiana utilize AI-related skills.
Faculty Push Back Against OpenAI Deals - Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Ed
More than a year after the California State University system spent $17 million to give all students, faculty and staff access to ChatGPT Edu in the name of workforce readiness, thousands don’t want the system to renew its contract with OpenAI. While they’re skeptical of the product’s ability to enhance teaching and learning and worried about its potential to worsen working conditions and student mental health, the CSU system’s ongoing financial troubles are driving the pushback. In January, faculty wrote a petition asking Chancellor Mildred García not to renew the CSU’s contract with OpenAI, which expires June 30, and instead “use the savings to protect jobs at CSU campuses facing layoffs.”
AI marking trial ‘not looking to replace humans’ - Juliette Roswell, Times Higher Education
A UK trial of artificial intelligence marking tools is not looking to replace academics, organisers have insisted, despite staff concerns. Jisc, a non-profit organisation that supports universities with their digital infrastructure, is midway through a year-long pilot that aims to assess how new software could be utilised by universities. Since last autumn, 10 universities have been trialling the Graide platform, which creates AI feedback and marks based on assessment rubrics and example essays, before it is confirmed by academics and returned to students.
Friday, April 3, 2026
The State of Organizations 2026: Three tectonic forces that are reshaping organizations - McKinsey
These are challenging times for organizations everywhere. Forces ranging from artificial intelligence, economic uncertainty, and geopolitical fragmentation to evolving workforce expectations, increasing customer demands, and tougher competitive dynamics are redefining how leaders create value and sustain performance. This report, the second edition of McKinsey’s State of Organizations research initiative, seeks to help leaders better understand these dynamics and address them effectively. Read the report here. It draws on a survey of more than 10,000 senior executives across 15 countries and 16 industries. While leaders remain focused on driving performance, as in the first edition in 2023, the emphasis has moved from short-term resilience to sustained productivity and long-term impact, powered by technology and AI at the core of organizational transformation.
New stackable micro-credentials bridge gap to workforce - University of Hawaii News
As higher education evolves, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is actively adapting to the rising demand for skill-based learning and flexible academic pathways. In fall 2026, UH Mānoa will officially launch its micro-credential programs to support modern learners. Offered through UH Mānoa’s Outreach College, micro-credentials provide a vital alternative and complement for degree and non-degree seeking students. “The expansion of our micro-credentials reflects our deep commitment to meeting learners where they are,” said UH President Wendy Hensel. “By providing flexible, skill-based pathways, we are empowering current students to gain the in-demand competencies they need to thrive in Hawaiʻi’s dynamic workforce.”
Building next-horizon AI experiences - Chris Smith and Kent Gryskiewicz, McKinsey
Organizations are investing billions in AI, and employees are increasingly using the technology. Yet only a small minority of companies are reporting meaningful or measurable gains from its use. It’s the gen AI paradox: The technology can be found nearly everywhere—except on the bottom line. This is not an AI capability problem. We’ve created systems that can reason, create, and even act. Instead, it’s an experience problem: We’re stuck using search bars and chat boxes bolted onto interaction paradigms designed for a pre-AI era. If organizations are to realize AI’s potential, they must learn to create new kinds of AI experiences that employees and customers will enthusiastically embrace. Doing so will require leaders to rethink a host of long-standing assumptions. For decades, software operated on a basic model: users specified structured inputs, and the system responded with structured outputs. Generative and agentic AI fundamentally breaks this model. Systems now interpret intent, generate novel outputs, and require user input to interact with and refine those outputs.
Thursday, April 2, 2026
Perfect homework, blank stares: Colleges are turning to oral exams to combat AI - Jocelyn Gecker, The Associated Press
Educators are no longer naively wondering if students will use generative AI to do their homework for them. A big question now is how to determine what students are actually learning. Instead, students in Chris Schaffer’s biomedical engineering class at Cornell University are required to speak directly to an instructor in what he calls an “oral defense.” It's a testing method as old as Socrates and making a comeback in the AI age. A growing number of college professors say they are turning to oral exams, and combining a variety of old-fashioned and cutting-edge techniques, to help address a crisis in higher education. “You won’t be able to AI your way through an oral exam,” says Schaffer, who introduced the oral defense last semester. Educators are no longer naively wondering if students will use generative AI to do their homework for them. A big question now is how to determine what students are actually learning.
College students are writing with AI – but a pilot study finds they’re not simply letting it write for them - Jeanne Beatrix Law, the Conversation
A pilot study I led of undergraduate writers at Kennesaw State University takes a different approach. Using think-aloud protocols – a method where participants verbalize their thoughts while performing – our research captures how students interact with generative AI tools during the writing process itself. This method helps us understand decision-making processes as they occur. Our preliminary findings suggest a more complex reality than the common narrative that students are simply having AI write their assignments. Instead, many students appear to be negotiating when and how AI belongs in their writing.
ChatGPT’s impact on student learning outcomes: a meta-analysis of 35 experimental studies - Xinning Wu, et al; Nature
The analysis included 35 studies published between 2022 and 2024, involving 4193 participants. The results indicated a moderately positive effect of ChatGPT on student learning outcomes (g = 0.670), significantly enhancing both cognitive and non-cognitive skills. In the analysis of moderating variables, the subject, experimental duration, and instructional mode had significant positive effects on student learning outcomes, whereas educational level and knowledge type did not show significant effects. Additionally, the publication bias test revealed no significant publication bias. This meta-analysis confirmed the effectiveness of ChatGPT in improving student learning outcomes and highlighted the roles of the subjects, experimental duration, and instructional mode as key moderating factors. Despite the risks of sample selection bias and limitations in fully covering the multidimensional moderating factors and higher-order thinking, the findings provided important empirical support for applying ChatGPT in education.
Wednesday, April 1, 2026
What Do We Teach Now? - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed
The question we must answer very soon is what can we teach that will prepare our learners to endure the huge changes that are upon us? We must not stay the course as it becomes abundantly clear that things are not going to be the same. Lest we say that these forecasts and claims are mere hyperbole, let’s examine the GDPval benchmark report “Measuring the performance of our models on real-world tasks,” indicating AI models are approaching or matching industry expert performance in complex tasks like spreadsheet modeling and document editing, with significantly higher speed and lower cost than human professionals in 44 professions.
How online learning is changing global education - Elizabeth Carter, MSN
Education is no longer classroom based or place based education. With the advent of the digital arena, learning has become flexible, personal and more accessible than at any previous time. Online education is opening up the closures that used to be regarded as closed to students in the remote villages and those professionals in need of updating their competencies. It allows one to learn at their own speed, become familiar with diverse subjects and interact with foreign educators. The trend of online learning is no longer just a choice since technology continues to evolve; in fact as an agent of change it is rapidly becoming an element of changing the way world learns and grows.
Cloning Myself with AI: Four Ways to Multiply Faculty Presence for Graduate and Adult Learners - Sherrie Myers Bartell, Faculty Focus
Have you ever wished you could clone yourself? I have. For many faculty in graduate and adult education that longing is more than a passing thought. Balancing the multifaceted needs of students who rely on your expertise, guidance, and presence often feels impossible. While teaching realities mean we can’t be everywhere at once, AI offers practical ways to extend our reach, enabling high-touch interactions even as responsibilities multiply. Thoughtfully leveraged, these tools help orchestrate a more responsive classroom by offering prompt feedback, facilitating richer discussions, and generating tailored resources, all while preserving the essential human connection at the heart of meaningful learning.
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
What Comes After an MBA? Why Leaders Are Turning to AI - Boston University Virtual
The MBA is the defining credential for a generation of business leaders. It builds financial acumen, strategic thinking, and cross-functional fluency — the toolkit for managing complexity and driving organizational performance. For decades, it was the answer to the question every ambitious professional eventually asked: What’s my next move? That question is back. And for a growing number of leaders, the answer looks different than it once did. AI is not just changing the tools organizations use. It is changing how decisions get made, how processes run, who is accountable for outcomes, and what it means to lead. Business leaders with MBAs are finding themselves navigating a new kind of gap — not a lack of strategic instinct, but a lack of structured fluency in an AI-driven operating environment. And a targeted, business-focused Master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence is increasingly the credential they’re turning to.
The Apprenticeship (R)Evolution - Sara Weissman and Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed
Located near the sprawling Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center, home to Tesla Gigafactory 1, Truckee Meadows Community College trains Tesla employees in advanced manufacturing skills year-round. And while Tesla itself may be polarizing, the growth of the program is undeniable: In 2023, TMCC trained 85 Tesla apprentices; today, completers number 1,000-plus and growing—quickly. “They choose the courses from our catalog à la carte, and we train their workers five days a week, all day long, in four-week increments,” TMCC president Jeffrey Alexander said of Tesla. Apprentices “come to us, usually 30 to 35 per cohort, and we train them in the basics of automated production, programmable logic control and electromechanical systems, so that they are able to get to work at the gigafactory and really be very capable from day one.”
Terafab: The World’s Next Generation Chip Factory - Thomas Frey, Futurist Speaker
On March 21st, Elon Musk introduced Terafab—a $25 billion chip facility, jointly owned by Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI—designed to produce one terawatt of compute per year. That’s fifty times the current annual output of the global AI chip industry. Terafab isn’t just about catching up with TSMC, Samsung, and Nvidia; it’s about leaping ahead—and, remarkably, off-planet. Here’s where it moves from bold to unprecedented: 80% of Terafab’s chip output isn’t meant for Earth. SpaceX plans to launch up to a million satellites, each a node in an orbital data center—powered by solar energy, cooled by space, and forming the largest computing network in history. Without Terafab’s radiation-hardened, space-optimized chips, this vision remains science fiction.
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