Online and Professional Continuing Education News
See below for a listing of curated news articles of the day brought to you by Ray Schroeder, Senior Fellow at UPCEA.
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- AI in Higher Education Expert University of Pennsylvania Professor Ethan Mollick's Wisdom - LinkedIn PostingI don’t mean to be a broken record but AI development could stop at the o3/Gemini 2.5 level and we would have a decade of major changes across entire professions & industries (medicine, law, education, coding…) as we figure out how to actually use it & adapt our systems and organizations to what it can […]
- The CEO’s guide: McKinsey’s latest insights on AI - McKinseyAs artificial intelligence is deployed across organizations, what steps can leaders take to drive bottom-line impact? In the latest McKinsey Global Survey on AI, Senior Partners Alex Singla, Alexander Sukharevsky, Lareina Yee, and coauthors share examples: mitigate gen-AI-related risks, redesign workflows, experiment with gen AI tools, and place senior leaders in critical AI governance roles. […]
- Quantum computing gears up for its 'ChatGPT Moment' — and a potential talent shortage - Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert, Tech InsiderThe AI field faces a significant talent shortage, with too few skilled workers to fuel the industry. Quantum computing startups have noticed and are trying to avoid the same problem. Some quantum companies are funding certificate programs and university courses to train new talent. Quantum computing companies are learning from missteps made during the artificial […]
- Boston Consulting Group Unveils AI Science Institute to Drive Research - Scarlett Evans, AI BusinessBCG X, the tech division of Boston Consulting Group, has launched an AI Science Institute to help companies develop and commercialize scientific innovations. The institute is supported by a team of more than 3,000 people and is designed to work collaboratively with universities, industry experts and research and development teams from across industries. In a […]
- Sleep Time Compute - AI That "Thinks" 24/7 (Breakthrough) - Matthew Berman, YouTubeThis podcast discusses a research paper introducing "sleeptime compute," a concept aimed at allowing AI to anticipate and answer questions more efficiently [00:05, 00:41]. It contrasts this with current "test time compute" methods, where AI processes information only after receiving a prompt, leading to higher latency and cost [01:09, 02:12]. Sleeptime compute involves pre-processing context […]
- Agentic AI Startup Beats O3, Gemini, Sonnet, on Cost, Accuracy - Scarlett Evans, AI BusinessAgentic AI startup Ema has released a report saying its small language model, EmaFusion, has outperformed other AI models in both cost and accuracy. Unlike typical models, which are single-strategy systems, EmaFusion uses a “cascading” judgment system that dynamically balances cost and accuracy. Users can also fine-tune the cost versus accuracy based on the demands […]
- ‘Inside Higher Ed’ Co-Founders Win Prestigious CASE Award - Susan H. Greenberg, Inside Higher EdThe Council for Advancement and Support of Education has awarded Inside Higher Ed co-founders Scott Jaschik and Doug Lederman the 2025 James L. Fisher Award for distinguished service to education. The award “highlights individuals whose influence on education extends beyond a single institution.” Jaschik and Lederman left The Chronicle of Higher Education to launch Inside […]
- Author Talks: How to lead in a polarized world - McKinzieIn this edition of Author Talks, McKinsey Global Publishing’s Rochelle Toplensky chats with Karthik Ramanna, professor of business and public policy at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government, about his new book, The Age of Outrage: How to Lead in a Polarized World (Harvard Business Review Press, Fall 2024). Ramanna provides a new […]
- US Bar Body Admits Using AI To Develop Exam Questions, Sparking Controversy - Abhinav Singh, NDTVThe State Bar of California has admitted to using artificial intelligence (AI) to develop a portion of multiple-choice questions on its February 2025 bar exam, leading to furore amongst the faculty members and exam takers. The admission by the state's legal licensing body comes after the prospective lawyers complained that the exam was plagued with […]
- Your boss is not okay: How manager burnout is dragging down the entire workplace - María José Gutierrez Chavez, Fast CompanyGallup’s most recent State of the Global Workplace report revealed that employee engagement fell to 21% in 2024, declining 2 points from the previous year. In the last 12 years, employee engagement has only fallen one other time, in 2020, due in part to COVID-19, the shift to working from home, and increased isolation. The […]
- Microsoft thinks AI colleagues are coming soon - Jessica Bursztynsky, Fast CompanyThese so-called Frontier Firms will be built around “on-demand intelligence and powered by ‘hybrid’ teams of humans + agents, these companies scale rapidly, operate with agility, and generate value faster,” according to the report. Microsoft argued that within the next two to five years, every company will be on the journey to becoming one. Microsoft […]
- Exploring model welfare - AnthropicHuman welfare is at the heart of our work at Anthropic: our mission is to make sure that increasingly capable and sophisticated AI systems remain beneficial to humanity. But as we build those AI systems, and as they begin to approximate or surpass many human qualities, another question arises. Should we also be concerned about […]
- Universities have a chance to lead in shaping AI’s future - Sevgi Kaya-Kasikci, Eglis Chacon Camero, Ekaterina Minaeva and Chris R Glass, University World NewsArtificial intelligence has become the new geopolitical fault line – and universities now sit squarely on it. Washington’s export-control regime blocks sales and technical support for advanced AI chips to China; Beijing, for its part, requires recommendation algorithms and generative-AI models to be filed with – and in some cases to be licensed by – […]
- I Tested 5 AI Assistants—and What I Found Was Surprising - Carmine Gallo, Inc.In total, the panel of judges evaluated 150 emails. While one AI tool was the clear winner, the experiment highlighted the benefits of AI writing and communication assistants—and one big limitation. “On average, Claude’s emails felt more human than the others,” Fowler noted. Another judge, Erica Dhawan, said, “Claude uses precise, respectful language without being […]
- Bot Traffic Surpasses Humans Online—Driven by AI and Criminal Innovation - Kevin Townsend, Security WeekAI is helping internet bot herders with greater scale, lower costs, and more sophisticated evasion techniques. Bots on the internet now surpass human activity, with 51% of all internet traffic being automated (bot) traffic. Thirty-seven percent of this is malicious (bad bots), while only 14% are good bots. Much of the current expansion is fueled […]
- How AI Can Be a Game Changer for Marketing - Angie Basiouny, Knowledge at WhartonAs the senior vice president for consumer experience at Mondelēz International, Jonathan Halvorson helps guide the marketing campaigns for some of the world’s most well-loved snacks. Cadbury, Toblerone, Oreo, and Ritz are just a few on the roster. These days, Halvorson and his team are turning toward generative AI to find new ways to work […]
- AI as an Educational Ally: Innovative Strategies for Classroom Integration - Lisa Delgado Brown, Faculty FocusLet’s confront the reality: students are using AI. According to a recent survey by Anthology (2023), 60% of students in the US have used AI tools, with 10% reporting weekly use 38% using them monthly. Instead of fearing AI, we should actively explore its potential in the classroom, emphasizing how it can enrich the learning […]
- Using AI to predict student success in higher education - Denisa Gándara and Hadis Anahideh, BrookingsAs AI becomes more accessible, higher education is increasingly turning to prediction algorithms to inform decisions and target support services. Prediction algorithms can underestimate success for Black and Hispanic students, disproportionately predicting failure erroneously, even when those students ultimately graduate. Bias-mitigation techniques built into model training are more effective than those applied to the data […]
- Urgent Need for AI Literacy - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher EdAs we approach May, alarm bells are ringing for all colleges and universities to ensure that AI literacy programs have been completed by learners who plan to enter the job market this year and in the future. The rapid advent of AI capabilities, coupled with the developing economic pressures worldwide, have led to a surge […]
- OpenAI says newest AI model can ‘think with images,’ understanding diagrams and sketches - Hayden Field, CNBCOpenAI released its newest AI model that it said can understand uploaded images like whiteboards, sketches and diagrams, even if they’re low quality. The company called o3 its most advanced model yet and also released a smaller model called o4-mini. OpenAI is racing to stay ahead in generative AI as competitors including Google, Anthropic and […]
Other Curated News:
News from UPCEA:
Department of Education Provides Year Round Pell and Increased Flexibility for Students
US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION – WASHINGTON—Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced Year Round Pell grants will be available to students beginning July 1, 2017. This policy change will ensure hundreds of thousands of college students have the resources needed to finish their coursework in…
Increasing Millennial Interest in Alternative Credentials
As Millennials continue taking over the workforce as the nation’s largest generation, it is important to take note of upcoming trends for this cohort of people — specifically with regards to the educational routes they each take. While it is clear that college enrollment rates…
UPCEA and Higher Education Groups Urge Congress to Continue Support for Student Aid, Research
UPCEA today co-signed a letter led by ACE and 32 other higher education associations to the leaders of the House and Senate budget and appropriations committees, asking them to maintain Congress’s “historic commitment” to student financial aid and scientific research as they begin work on funding the…
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