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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- 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 […]
- Introducing: The world's fastest Conversational Video Interface for developers - Julia Szatar, TavusAt Tavus, our mission is to make digital experiences as immersive as human face-to-face interactions by empowering people to leverage their likeness at scale online. Back in March, we launched our breakthrough Digital Replica model, Phoenix, and Video Generation on our developer platform. Today, we’re thrilled to announce: the Conversational Video Interface. Developers can now […]
- "The Industry Reacts to o3 and o4!" - Matthew Berman, YouTubeThe video discusses the industry's reaction to the release of O3 and O4 AI models:O3's High Intelligence: O3 is highlighted for achieving a near-genius level IQ score (136), surpassing competitors like Gemini 2.5 Pro. It shows strong capabilities in iterative tool use and discovering new information [00:09, 01:05].O4 Mini's Tool Use: O4 mini demonstrates advanced […]
- Southeast Minnesota colleges are contending with a new kind of fraud: Ghost students - Matthew Stolle, Post BulletinLast year, officials at Minnesota State College Southeast were heartened by a gratifying trend. Spring enrollment numbers were up — way up. It was a mirage. Many of the students weren’t real. They were “ghost students.” In all, the college ended up dropping 84 fake students — all believed to be part of a scam […]
Other Curated News:
News from UPCEA:
Department Announces Final Rule on State Authorization
On December 19th, the U.S. Department of Education released final regulations to improve oversight and protect more than 5.5 million distance education students at degree-granting institutions including nearly 3 million exclusively online students by clarifying the state authorization requirements for postsecondary distance education. To ensure…
The Effect of Autonomous Vehicles on Education
The evolution of autonomous vehicles (AVs) is a major innovation that will have a profound impact on the economy, contributing to both the loss of existing jobs and the creation of new ones. With each level of innovation and adoption of these vehicles, there will…
A Model for New Program Development
Competition among higher education institutions is increasing both nationally and internationally, often driven by cultural shifts, globalization, advancements in technology, and decreases in state funding among other factors. Many universities have responded to these pressures by becoming more entrepreneurial. The future success of universities will…
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