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.
Monday, March 23, 2026
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.
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]
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.
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 RodrÃguez.
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.
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Generative AI can play a role uplifting family and community in early childhood education - Andres Bustamante & Aria Gastón-Panthaki, the Conversation
Use of generative artificial intelligence technology is already widespread in K-12 schools and higher education. Now, AI technologies such as conversational agents and tablet-based assessments are starting to make their way toward early childhood education. One concern with AI in a prekindergarten setting is that the technology will replace or disrupt the rich interactions and deep relational bonds between children and their caregivers. Another worry is that AI systems will reproduce discrimination related to race, gender and socioeconomic status, which could reinforce stereotypes and biases. What if, instead, this technology was used to uplift marginalized voices rather than silence them?
ASU professor analyzing how artificial intelligence could cause businesses to lose their knowledge - Ignacio Ventura, KJZZ
A professor from Arizona State University is analyzing how artificial intelligence could cause businesses to lose their knowledge. ASU management and entrepreneurship professor Don Lange collaborated with another professor from the University of Passau in Germany. Their article says companies that choose to use AI systems run the risk of their models becoming outdated. For example, a bank that uses machine learning to detect fraud may eventually encounter problems if the system does not adapt to changing techniques of fraudsters.
College leaders reflect on the future of higher education - Stanford Report
The panel included UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons, Brown University President Christina Paxson, and University of Oregon President John Karl Scholz. The discussion was moderated by former Stanford President and Chairman of the Board of Alphabet John Hennessy. The Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) Economic Summit is an annual campus event that brings experts together to discuss the global economy, domestic competitiveness, the future of universities, and other critical issues shaping the future. Public trust in universities has declined in recent years, with some Americans questioning both the education they provide and campus culture. Scholz cited data showing fewer than half of Americans now believe universities are playing a positive role in society – what he called an “existential challenge.” Paxson pointed to a recent Gallup-Lumina poll showing that about 2% of college students feel unwelcome on campus because of their political views. She also said students increasingly choose schools with peers who share their politics. But data alone won’t solve the problem. “Trust doesn’t get built through facts,” she said. “It’s feelings-based.”
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