In January of this year, the Digital Education Council (DEC), in collaboration with Tecnológico de Monterrey, published a study it conducted with the participation of professors and students from 29 Latin American universities on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education. The results confirm a growing student adoption of AI, rising from 86% to 92%, while among teachers the growth was much greater: from 61% to 79%, an increase of 18 percentage points, compared to the 2025 global survey. Students express mature opinions on the use of AI. Although two-thirds of the students surveyed view it positively, 65% fear that its use will lead to superficial learning and discourage both critical thinking and creativity. The study indicates that students also understand the impact of this technology in the workplace: 73% expect to continue using AI in their future jobs, and their mastery of it makes them confident in their performance after graduation.
Sunday, March 29, 2026
US universities pivot to AI degrees as campuses race to match the machine age - Times of India Education
Artificial intelligence has moved decisively from research corridors into the core of undergraduate education across the United States, forcing universities to redraw academic priorities with unusual speed.In the latest move, Northwestern University has announced a standalone undergraduate major in artificial intelligence, scheduled to roll out in the fall of 2026. The decision places the institution squarely within a rapidly expanding cohort of universities formalising AI as a primary field of study rather than a peripheral specialisation as reported by USA Today.The shift is not cosmetic. It signals a structural reorientation of higher education towards a technology that is already reshaping labour markets, governance frameworks, and industrial systems.
Exploring the connections between integrated sustainable curricula, generative AI tools, and perceived climate change capabilities across the global south and north using multi-analytics - Javed Iqbal, et al; Nature
These results highlight the potential of integrated sustainable curricula and climate change sensitivity to enhance climate change capabilities. Although ANN performed comparably with multiple linear regression, fsQCA showed that the presence of any single condition (integrated sustainable curricula, climate change sensitivity, or generative AI tool usage) was sufficient to explain high levels of climate change capabilities. To the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to measure the moderated mediation among integrated sustainable curricula, generative AI tools, and climate change sensitivity in relation to climate change capabilities within Global South and North contexts, using PLS-SEM, fsQCA, and ANN analytics. Our study also provides implications for practitioners, such as university management, curriculum policymakers and teachers, along with future research directions.
Saturday, March 28, 2026
All Jobs Gone within 18 Months: Microsoft’s AI Chief Terrifying Prediction Explained - AIGrid
This podcast discusses the imminent impact of AI on the white-collar workforce, highlighting predictions from Microsoft’s AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman and Anthropic's Dario Amodei that most professional tasks could be automated within the next 12 to 18 months [00:00]. It explores the "quiet" nature of current job displacement, where data shows a significant drop in white-collar job openings since 2015 [03:22], and notes a 16% fall in employment among workers aged 22 to 25 in AI-exposed fields [11:18]. The video also covers legislative efforts to protect professions like law and medicine by banning AI from providing substantive professional advice [06:30]. The discussion further details a "chaotic" transition period predicted by Gartner, where companies may prematurely replace staff with AI only to rehire humans later due to service quality collapses [13:18]. As AI literacy becomes a formal credential, the labor market is expected to shift toward requiring "AI-free" skills assessments to verify human critical thinking [14:53]. While some firms like Klarna have already moved toward AI-first models, the podcast suggests the displacement will not be a straight line but a messy cycle of experimentation and correction [14:25]. [Summary facilitated by Gemini 3 Fast]
Report Outlines Framework for University’s Engagement with AI - Alec Gallimore & Ricardo Henao, Duke Today
Following the inaugural Duke AI Summit in 2024, Provost Alec D. Gallimore launched the AI at Duke initiative and charged its steering committee with identifying opportunities for elevating the university’s leadership in AI’s development, application and responsible oversight. The committee was co-chaired by Joseph Salem, Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway University Librarian and vice provost for library affairs; Tracy Futhey, vice president and chief information officer; and Ricardo Henao, associate professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics. Deliberating from June 2025 to January 2026, the steering committee worked closely with faculty-led advisory committees focused on four pillars – Life with AI, Advancing Discovery in the Age of AI, Sustainability in AI, and Trustworthy & Responsible AI – to develop the report. The recommendations aim to support Duke’s core missions of research and teaching by building technical capacity for AI development while advancing applications of AI that keep humans at the forefront of innovation.
How Cal State Became Ground Zero for the Fight over AI in Higher Education - Chris Mills Rodrigo, TechPolicy
In a statement emailed to Tech Policy Policy, CSU director of media relations and public affairs Amy Bentley-Smith said the system “is focused on ensuring our universities have the tools and resources to meet this moment and lead in the educational application, preparation, and ethical and responsible use of AI.” Bentley-Smith added that access to “relevant technologies” allows faculty and staff “to work together on solutions for the benefit of our students’ education and the broader academic community.” OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment. But according to some professors, integrating AI into classrooms has not been as seamless as Cal State may have hoped for.
Friday, March 27, 2026
Measuring progress toward AGI: A cognitive framework - Ryan Burnell & Oran Kelly, the Keyword, Google
Our framework draws on decades of research from psychology, neuroscience and cognitive science to develop a cognitive taxonomy. It identifies 10 key cognitive abilities that we hypothesize will be important for general intelligence in AI systems:
Perception: extracting and processing sensory information from the environment
Generation: producing outputs such as text, speech and actions
Attention: focusing cognitive resources on what matters
Learning: acquiring new knowledge through experience and instruction
Memory: storing and retrieving information over time
Reasoning: drawing valid conclusions through logical inference
Metacognition: knowledge and monitoring of one's own cognitive processes
Executive functions: planning, inhibition and cognitive flexibility
Problem solving: finding effective solutions to domain-specific problems
Social cognition: processing and interpreting social information and responding appropriately in social situations
Faster, thinner: Colleges are swiftly trimming a B.A. degree to three years - Jon Marcus, Hechinger Report
Quinn McDonald planned to spend the typical four years working toward a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. Then he heard about a place where he could get the same degree in three. “It was the idea of being able to save a year” that grabbed his attention, said McDonald — a savings of not only time, but tuition. And he could start earning a salary faster than if he spent four years in college. So, last fall, McDonald joined the inaugural class of one of the nation’s first in-person programs approved to award bachelor’s degrees with fewer than the usual 120 credits, at Johnson & Wales University. He’ll need only 90 credits, putting him on track to graduate in 2028, after three years instead of the usual four or more.
Sovereign AI: Building ecosystems for strategic resilience and impact - McKinsey
Sovereign AI is achievable only through an ecosystem effort that connects energy, compute, data, models, platforms, and applications across multiple actors. Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s or organization’s ability to develop and control its own AI capabilities to ensure strategic independence and alignment with domestic values and laws. That said, sovereign AI does not have a single definition; rather, it is the result of the interaction between four distinct components:
territorial: where data and compute physically reside
operational: who manages and secures data and compute
technological: who owns the underlying stack and intellectual property
legal: which jurisdiction governs access and compliance
Thursday, March 26, 2026
The next act for robotics: Human–machine collaboration - McKinsey
Mikell Taylor, director of robotics strategy at General Motors, discusses next-generation robots and dispels some common myths. Advances in AI, sensing, and manipulation are pushing robotics beyond isolated automation toward something fundamentally different. As manufacturers face reshoring pressures, fragile supply chains, and rising demands for flexibility, the question is no longer what robots can do alone, but how effectively people and machines can work together to create lasting value. The next generation of robots may look quite different from the systems showcased in today’s lab demos and videos—but the real shift will be less about appearance than about collaboration.
Did anybody do the reading? Colleges grapple with a generational shift in learning — plus AI - Associated Press
Johnson’s concerns about waning participation and declining reading are shared by professors and teachers in liberal arts programs, including in Pittsburgh. Teachers at four universities interviewed for this story had a variety of theories about the cause, including:
1. Inequitable educational opportunity that leaves some college students unable to comprehend difficult material
2. Federal policies that encourage teaching to the test rather than critical thinking
3. Increasing student use of artificial intelligence (AI) to draft papers and write summaries, which some instructors worry will only worsen the trend.
Robot dogs are protecting data centers. Operators are seeing payoffs. - Lloyd Lee, Business Insider
AI is driving a historic buildout of massive data centers spanning dozens of acres. Boston Dynamics and Ghost Robotics see an opportunity to provide mobile security with robot dogs. Boston Dynamics said customers can see a payoff within 2 years. It's not just humans. The robots are Robot dogs have already been deployed by first responders, the military, and in other industrial sectors such as oil and mining. But the rapid pace of data center buildouts is creating another niche for the mechanical quadrupeds. for dogs, too and they could enter the red-hot space of securing AI data centers.
Wednesday, March 25, 2026
16-Week Online Certificate Program in Agentic AI for Students - Hans India
Bengaluru: Great Learning has announced the launch of a new Certificate Program in Agentic AI in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering. The 16-week online program is designed to equip professionals with the skills required to build autonomous, goal-driven AI systems capable of perceiving, reasoning, and acting independently in dynamic environments. Targeted at STEM professionals, data scientists, AI practitioners, product managers, and technical leaders, the program is delivered by Johns Hopkins faculty alongside industry experts. It focuses on preparing learners to design and deploy next-generation AI agents that can handle complex, real-world challenges.
Why universities should anchor state quantum computing initiatives - Nate Gemelke, University Business
The universities that helped shape the AI revolution did not wait for the technology to mature. They built programs, recruited faculty, and secured funding while the field was still taking shape. Quantum computing is entering a similar inflection point. While the underlying physics is unfamiliar to many, the institutional question is one universities have faced before: how to position themselves, and their regions, during the early stages of a major technological transition. For much of the past decade, quantum computing has been discussed primarily as a long-term research prospect. That framing is now changing. Early systems are operating today, federal agencies are funding large-scale programs, and private companies are beginning to integrate quantum resources into broader high-performance computing environments.
Microcredentials get first-ever endorsement from accreditor - Alcino Donadel, University Business
The Higher Learning Commission has endorsed four organizations that offer short-term credentials to colleges and universities, marking the first time the accreditor has formally verified the quality of a third-party provider focused on certificates, digital badges and microcredentials, according to a press release. There are now over a million microcredential offerings on the market, offering to quickly teach students skills demanded by today’s workforce. Often dubbed “micropathways,” these credentials also serve to complement traditional degrees by signaling specific job-ready competencies to employers.
Women in tech and AI in Europe: Can the region close its gender gap? - Anna Lieser, et al; McKinsey
he tech industry around the world is in transition, with AI reshaping both organizations and the very nature of tech work. For Europe, the implications extend beyond productivity and innovation and touch economic growth, competitiveness, and inclusion. McKinsey analysis estimates that sovereign AI could add more than €480 billion in annual value to Europe’s economy by 2030. Yet the region continues to trail the United States, which is defining the pace and scale of global AI innovation.1
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.
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.
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