Differing Approaches to AI by the US & China

The United States is behaving as though frontier A.I. models could be the equivalent of nuclear weapons, offering an immensely destructive form of power that requires a careful and jealous watch. Meanwhile, China treats the models that its companies produce as the equivalent of nuclear energy, a lower-risk technology to be shared and commercialized to win friends and influence the world and undermine the advantages of the American A.I. giants. - Ross Douthat writing in The New York Times

25 Webinars this week about AI, Journalism & Media

Mon, July 20 - Marketing Trends Nonprofits Need to Know (and Embrace)

What: Join us to discuss the marketing trends that’ll shape your nonprofit’s future and grow your impact.

Who: Kiersten Hill, Director of Nonprofit Solutions.

When: 9 am, Eastern 

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free                                                   

Sponsor: Firespring

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Mon, July 20 - Is Ethical AI Possible?

What: How nonprofits can adapt to the technology landscape while staying true to their mission and vision. You'll walk away with the context and knowledge of AI pros and cons, and a toolkit to support your decision on AI adoption that's right for you. 

Who: Trisha Neogi, Senior Consultant, Bright + Early; Stephanie Bergman, Director, Workplace Design, Bright + Early.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free                                                   

Sponsor: TechSoup

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Tue, July 21 - How Journalism Works 

What: A practical educational session designed to explain how independent environmental journalism operates and how sources can engage with journalists more effectively.  Participants will learn how to share story ideas, evidence, and context in ways that help journalists assess information clearly, responsibly, and safely.

Who: Alejandro Prescott-Cornejo, a Senior Marketing Associate, Mongabay; Holly Jonas, oversees Mongabay’s fellowship and professional development.

When: 7 am, Easten

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free                                                   

Sponsor: Mongabay

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Tue, July 21 - Expanding Global Perspectives with Trusted Journalism: A Tour of PressReader

What: What you’ll learn:  How to bring trusted global journalism into teaching and learning; How access to international and local publications supports global perspectives and connection to home; How libraries can provide simple, unlimited access to thousands of publications.   

Who: Oghenevwoke Ighure (Vwoke), Senior Territory Manager, Libraries, North America, PressReader;  Lisa Wilson, Senior Director, Product Management, Clarivate; Christie Freyre, Product Marketing Manager, Clarivate.

When: 11 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free                                                   

Sponsor: Clarivate

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Tue, July 21 - Codex for Creative Building

What: We'll explore how people are using Codex to build games, interactive experiences, creative tools, and other projects driven by your imagination.

Who: Aaron

 Wilkowitz, Solutions Engineer, OpenAI.

When: 11:30 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free                                                   

Sponsor: OpenAI Academy

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Tue, July 21 - Public Health Journalism: Covering mental health as a public health issue

What: We will explore where to find relevant datasets for mental health reporting, and offer advice for covering high-level clinical studies. She’ll also share her best tips for finding expert sources when covering public health. 

Who: Katie O’Connor, Senior Staff Writer for Psychiatric News, where she covers mental health policy and research.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free                                                   

Sponsor: The National Press Club Journalism Institute

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Tue, July 21 - Not Just Another AI Session: Practical Applications in Academic Libraries

What: Our panel brings together library leaders who are actively integrating AI into their services, collections, and institutional contexts. An expert in experiential learning and academic engagement will share insights from their library’s role in a campus-wide rollout of a general-purpose AI tool, including governance considerations and strategies for aligning licensed library resources within AI-enabled environments.

Who: Evan Simpson, Associate Dean, Experiential Learning & Academic Engagement Northeastern University; Emily Singley, Vice President, Global Library Relations & Partnerships Elsevier; Andrew White, Director, Library Information Services Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free                                                   

Sponsor: Elsevier

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Wed, July 22 - Read the Fine Print: AI Ethics, Responsible Research, and Open Access Alternatives

What: Rather than debate whether AI belongs in research, we’ll examine what the public policies of popular AI tools actually say about copyright, data use, and attribution—and how you can help steer patrons toward more transparent alternatives.

Who: Maryska Connolly, MLIS, CloudSource Director of Partnerships & Communications, SirsiDynix; Rick Branham, Senior Vice President, Sales Support, Academic & Content Solutions, SirsiDynix.

When: 11 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free                                                   

Sponsors: SirsiDynix & Library Journal

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Wed, July 22 - AI Communications Virtual Conference

What: Join this half-day virtual event to upskill in AI and create higher-impact results for your organization. You’ll learn how to harness AI in ways that strengthen, not replace, your expertise, how to use the top LLMs and their latest features, build custom GPTs and agents to accelerate research and sharpen your content strategy, help drive governance and show true AI ROI.

Who: More than a dozen speakers.

When: 11 am – 3:30 pm

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free                                                   

Sponsor: Ragan Communications

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Wed, July 22 - Realizing the Potential of AI in Government

What: Three-hour long sessions: 1-From Exploration to Execution: Bringing AI Into Practice; 2- Data, Governance, and Trust: Building the Foundations for AI; People & Process: Preparing the Workforce for AI.

Who: 11 experts.

When: 12 pm - 3 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free                                                 

Sponsor: govloop

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Wed, July 22 - Byline to Plotline: How Novelists Use News

What: Explore how authors use news content to spark ideas, build settings, develop characters, and bring historical and contemporary stories to life. You’ll gain new ways to introduce patrons, writers, students, faculty, and book lovers to the power of news research.

Who: Richard Noble, author of “King Cotton”; DG Schulman, author of Under the Dragon's Shadow.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free                                                   

Sponsor: NewsBank

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Wed, July 22 - Reaching Gen Z: Formats, Platforms, and Building Trust

What: How journalists, editors, and creators can effectively engage Gen Z audiences across platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, podcasts, and beyond.

Who: independent journalist Aaron Parnas,

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: $40                                                    

Sponsor: The Knight Center

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Wed, July 22 - Applied AI workflows for legal aid

What: The session will emphasize practical use, thoughtful boundaries, and the role of human review when using AI in legal services contexts.

Who: Lina Coss, AI Adoption, Content, and Community, OpenAI.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free                                                   

Sponsor: OpenAI Academy

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Wed, July 22 - NSPM-7: A threat to press freedom

What: The panel will discuss how NSPM-7 silences free speech and how it could be used to target freedom of the press. The national security presidential memorandum known as NSPM-7, titled “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,” has been widely criticized by civil liberties groups for authorizing the government to investigate individuals and organizations using the vague and overbroad labels like “anti-fascism” and “domestic terrorism.” But relatively little attention has been paid to the way the policy could be used against news outlets, journalists, and their confidential sources.

Who: Chip Gibbons, Policy Director at Defending Rights and Dissent; Faiza Patel, Senior Director of the Brennan Center’s Liberty & National Security Program; Daniel Boguslaw, Investigative reporter - Moderator: FPF Senior Advocacy Adviser Caitlin Vogus.

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free                                                   

Sponsor: Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ)

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Wed, July 22 - Avatars, Agents, & AI, Oh My!

What: Learn how to use HeyGen’s AI tools to open up a whole new creative world: build your own digital twin, or choose from HeyGen's library of ready-made avatars, to expand your creativity and bring your boldest ideas to life.

Who: Mark itskowitch, HeyGen Ambassador and Adobe Certified Instructor.

When: 3 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free                                                 

Sponsor: Training Magazine Network

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Thu, July 23 - AI Tools for Writing and Research 

What: This session will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) and its applications in the world of research and writing.

Who: David Peralta, Editor in Chief, Wiley.

When: 9 am, Eastern

Where: GoToWebinar

Cost: Free                                                   

Sponsor: Wiley

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Thu, July 23 - Builder Bootcamp: Production & Optimization

What: You’ll learn how to evaluate and optimize AI systems for production tradeoffs like quality, latency, and cost. We’ll cover how to benchmark model performance, compare baselines, and use evaluation results to make practical decisions about model selection and optimization.

Who: Sean Lubbers, Technical Success, OpenAI.

When: 12 pm, Eastern  

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free                                                   

Sponsor: OpenAI Academy

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Thu, July 23 - Are You Ready for Agentic AI? A Human First Readiness Check for Nonprofits

What: We will break down what “agentic AI” really means, why readiness matters, and how to move forward with confidence and care. Expect clear definitions, practical guidance, and a candid, experience-based perspective that keeps people (and trust) at the center.

Who: Matt Connell, a Blackbaud University instructor and nonprofit practitioner.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free                                                   

Sponsor: Blackbaud

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Thu, July 23 - YouTube Advertising Strategies for the Creator Era

What: We will share where the platform is heading, why its role in the media mix keeps expanding, and how to position your agency or brand ahead of that curve.

Who: Theresa Go, VP, Creator Economy Solutions & Partnerships, Pixability; Andrew Burke, Director, Digital Analytics & Operations; Kirsty King, SVP, MEDIA, IW Group; Oliver Williams, Head of Digital Performance, MediaPlus UK.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free                                                 

Sponsor: Pixability

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Thu, July 23 - Will AI Transform Campus Work?

What: How leading institutions are moving past experimentation to real transformation — rethinking what work looks like in admissions, advising, financial aid, and beyond.

Who: Ian Wilhelm, Deputy Managing Editor, The Chronicle of Higher Education; Vince Kellen, Chief Information Officer, Texas A&M University System; Pablo Molina, Chief Information Security Officer, Drexel University; Jenay Robert, Research Manager EDUCAUSE.

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free                                                   

Sponsor: Chronicle of Higher Ed

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Thu, July 23 - How AI Generates Inbound Leads While You Sleep

What: Learn how Answer Engine Optimization helps your company become the answer AI surfaces to potential buyers.

Who: Kendra Lee, President and Founder, KLA Group; Samantha Hager Senior Marketing Manager, KLA Group.

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free                                                 

Sponsor: Training Magazine Network

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Thu, July 23 - Creating vertical video to reach new audiences

What: You'll learn how to script videos, master the basics of shooting content on your phone, and pick up exclusive tips and tricks for making concise, digestible videos for social media. By the end of the session, you'll be ready to create your own short-form videos that engage and grow new audiences.

Who: Creator-journalist Rahim Jessani, The Creator Translator.

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: EventBrite

Cost: $49.87                                               

Sponsor: National Press Club Journalism Institute

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Thu, July 23 - The Psychology of AI: Understanding Trust, Influence, and Human Decision-Making

What: Explore the psychological principles shaping how people interact with, trust, and are influenced by AI. We will share what communicators need to know as these technologies become increasingly integrated into daily life.

Who: Matt Isaac, Ph.D., Seattle University.

When: 3 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free to IPR members                          

Sponsor: Institute for Public Relations

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Fri, July 24 – Meet Kimbriell Kelly

What: IRE is holding free ongoing webinars aimed at helping professionals connect.  Kimbriell Kelly is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism executive and a 25-year veteran investigative editor and reporter. She has overseen multiple award-winning projects in some of the nation’s largest newsrooms, including The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.

Who: Kimbriell Kelly, Editor-in-Chief of Chicago Public Media, the nation’s largest local nonprofit newsroom.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free                                                   

Sponsor: Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE)

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Fri, July 24 – Technical Writing in the AI Era

What: We'll be discussing how technical writers can create more impact, take greater ownership, adopt a Docs-as-Product mindset, use AI to improve their workflows, and continue growing as the profession evolves. Most importantly, we want you to leave with practical ideas you can start applying in your own role.

Who: Gareth Brinn, Documentation Manager, creator of the Find, Scan, Read Framework; Deborah Emeni, Senior Technical Writer & Developer Marketer, Northflank.

When: 1:30 pm, Eastern

Where: YouTube

Cost: Free                                                 

Sponsor: Northflank

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19 Articles about Using AI

Job Search Tips 2026

Based on recent research:

·       Apply directly on the company’s website rather than through LinkedIn, Indeed, etc.

·       Make your resume computer readable and easy to for software to ingest.

·       Avoid including your address, especially if you don’t live near the company. Just contact info.

·       Write short declarative sentences in your submission materials.

·       Quantify achievements with specifics.

·       Include a special skills section, especially soft skills.

·       Active verbs.

·       Make sure the resume includes most but not all the keywords in the job description.

·       Resume headings: Summary, experience, education, skills, certifications, special skills.

·       Avoid breaks in job employment (especially more than six months).

·       Don’t use prompt injections.  

Based on material from Hilke Schellmann, Associate Professor of Journalism at New York University and author of the book The Algorithm

The Work Product is Judgment

We are not watching the death of programming. We are watching programming stop being a job title and become a capability, the same way "typist" stopped being a job title when it became a thing everyone was expected to know. The jobs disappearing are the ones where the work product is code written to spec. The jobs growing are the ones where the work product is judgment about what code should exist. - Laurie Voss writing in Seldo.com

21 Recent Articles about the Dangers of AI

One of sci-fi’s most difficult questions about AI is becoming real – Washington Post

How AI Advice Is Undermining Eating-Disorder Therapy – Wall Street Journal
Who decides when AI is too dangerous? – The Verge

Age bias discovered in AI – Phys.org

AI Data Centers Use Far More Water Than Most Tech Giants Report - Wall Street Journal

AI’s impact on cognitive ability: MIT study reveals more troubling data – MIT

AI is eroding science’s foundations—we must act – Research Professional News

Medical students are using a popular research tool (aided by AI) to pump out misleading studies – Science.org

The Five Eyes intelligence alliance (a group of spy agencies) has issued a rare joint warning that frontier AI is close to being capable of crippling governments and businesses. -The Guardian

The Cloud Has Sound: The Unrelenting and Unseen Cost of A.I. Data Centers - The New York Times

Nvidia says AI's water challenge is largely solved – Axios

AI models have a troubling knack for discovering legal loopholes - Science.org

AI Supercharges Deepfake Nudes—Unleashing a New Form of Bullying Among Kids – Wall Street Journal

Was This the Moment That AI Psychosis Began? – Futurism

The Data-Center Panic Is Overblown – The Atlantic

Scientists Find Way to Supercharge Dangerous Computer ‘Worms’ With A.I. - The New York Times

Disparate privacy risks from medical AI – Nature

Are ChatGPT and other AI chatbots politically biased? We tested them. - Washington Post

AI Changes Its Feedback on Students’ Writing When It Knows Their Race, Gender – EdWeek

New York Times Publisher’s A.I. Warnings - The New York Times

Cop Accused of Using AI to Fake Evidence – Futurism

The first grand surprise of LLMs

The first grand surprise of LLMs is that the intelligence we experience in AI derives from the intelligence we have inadvertently coded into human text, rather than from any explicit software code. There appears to be a seminal, fundamental relationship between language and thinking. Human writing is thus not only a reflection of the structure of language, but to some degree also a reflection of human thinking. Distill the patterns in human writing at scale, and you also get some patterns of human thinking. Imitate human writing and conversation, and you can imitate human intelligence — at least in part. -Kevin Kelly

28 Articles about using LinkedIn

3 Brilliant LinkedIn Summaries That Will Inspire You to Update Yours Right Now - The Muse

4 Tips for Reaching out to Someone you admire on LinkedIn - The Muse

4 ways you should be using LinkedIn to take the next step in your career - Fast Company

Before you use the 'Open to Work' badge on LinkedIn, read this - Fast Company

Finding Freelance writing on LinkedIn - Twitter

How to Craft the Perfect LinkedIn Profile - (infographic)

How to Make Your LinkedIn Profile Stand Out - Entrepreneur

How to Promote Yourself on LinkedIn as a Writer: 7 Tips and Tools - MakeUseOf

How to use LinkedIn after being laid off - The Washington Post

How To Write A Bio For LinkedIn: Introduce Yourself With A Story - Forbers

How to Write an SEO-Enhanced LinkedIn Profile - SHRM

Job seekers: A 50-year-old social theory could be the key to your success on LinkedIn - Fast Company

LinkedIn Author Has Strategic Advice To Improve Your Profile - Forbes

LinkedIn expands its generative AI assistant to recruitment ads and writing profiles – Tech Crunch

The LinkedIn job scam is global. The hook is local - Rest of World

The LinkedIn Makeovers That Actually Get People Hired - Wall Street Journal

LinkedIn Profiles Vs. Resumes: What You Need To Know - Forbes

LinkedIn taps AI to make it easier for firms to find job candidates – Reuters

LinkedIn’s ‘career break’ feature - Washington Post

LinkedIn’s job-matching AI was biased. The company’s solution? More AI - MIT Tech Review

LinkedIn's new feature offers people 13 ways to explain their career gap - Business Insider

A Massive LinkedIn Study Reveals Who Actually Helps You Get That Job - Scientific American

The Perfect Professional Headshot is worth $1000, and maybe even a job - WSJ

This is what an A+ LinkedIn Summary Looks like - GirlBoss

What Really Works On LinkedIn? Answers From The Experts - Buffer

Why are women gender-swapping on LinkedIn? - The Washington Post

Your LinkedIn network’s huge! Here’s why that’s a red flag - SmartBrief

Your LinkedIn Profile Probably Features These 5 Mistakes - Entrepreneur

Increasing Motivation

People feel motivated when they are put in situations that give them autonomy (I’m in control of my choices), competence (I’m developing my skills), and relatedness (people here care about me). In my experience, motivation increases with admiration, such as when students are confronted with great people or great works of art. Motivation also increases with apprenticeships, such as when a mentor not only teaches a person how to engineer, but also how to be the kind of person who loves engineering. -David Brooks writing in The Atlantic

AI Definitions: Neural Networks

Neural Networks (or artificial neural networks, ANNs) A computer system modeled loosely on the human brain, inspired by brain cells (neurons). The artificial network finds complex associations, identifying patterns in text, images and sounds. In this type of machine learning, which underpins deep learning, scientists can train systems to “learn” human tasks by analyzing training examples. It processes information in layers, with the deepest layers doing the most complex work. Most recent developments in artificial intelligence have centered around neural networks (such as voice recognition, autonomous navigation, and drug discovery), though symbolic artificial intelligence was the dominant area of research for most of AI’s history.  

Critics say our physical embodiment may be difficult if not impossible for symbolic processing systems to capture. If understanding is inseparable from physical experience, then the usefulness of neural networks will hit a limit.

 Neural networks were first proposed in 1944 by two University of Chicago researchers (Warren McCullough and Walter Pitts). They moved to MIT in 1952 as founding members of what has been  referred to as the first cognitive science department. Neural nets remained a major research area of neuroscience and computer science until 1969. A decade later, it enjoyed a resurgence, fell out of favor again in the first decade of the new century, and has since returned in the second decade, fueled by the increased processing power of graphics chips (or GPUs— graphical processing hardware) because of their use in video games.

More AI Definitions

Not Enough

To me, and for many of us, our first waking thought of the day is “I didn't get enough sleep.” And the next one is “I don't have enough time.” Whether true or not, the thought of not enough occurs to us automatically before we even think to question or examine it. We spend most of the hours and the days of our lives hearing, explaining, complaining, or worrying about what we don't have enough of ... Before we even set up in bed, before our feet touch the floor, we're already inadequate, already behind, already losing, already lacking something. And by the time we go to bed at night, our minds are racing with a litany of what we didn't get, or didn't get done, that day. We go to sleep burdened by those thoughts and wake up to that revelry of lack ... This internal condition of scarcity, this mindset of scarcity, lives at the very heart of our jealousies, our greed, our prejudices, and our arguments with life.

Lynne Twist, The Soul of Money

What it means to be an Expert in an AI World

Generative AI will redefine what we mean by expertise.  

Much as Google devalued the steel-trap memory, electronic calculators speeded up complex calculations, Wikipedia displaced the printed encyclopedia and online databases diminished the importance of a vast physical library, so, too, platforms like ChatGPT will profoundly alter the most prized skills.

According to Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, an organizational psychologist and professor of business psychology at University College London and Columbia, the skills that will be most in demand (in an AI world) will be the ability to:   

1. Know what questions to ask. The quality and value of AI-powered tools’ responses hinge on the prompts it is asked. Better prompts elicit richer and more robust responses. 

2. Go beyond crowdsourced knowledge. Advanced and specialized domain and subject matter expertise will become more valuable, since AI-produced responses will inevitably contain errors or oversimplifications. The capacity to spot inaccuracies, miscalculations, mistakes in coding and other boo-boos and correct errors or complicate understanding will be highly valued.

3. Leverage AI-generated insights into decisions and actions. Information becomes most valuable when it is actually applied in real-world contexts: when we solve problems or translate ideas into tangible products and services. The ability to implement solutions is, of course, well beyond AI’s current capabilities.  

As Chamorro-Premuzic puts it succinctly, “If we want to retain an edge over machines, it is advisable that we avoid acting like one.” In other words, if a program can do a job as well as a person, then humans shouldn’t duplicate those abilities; they must surpass them.  

Michael Patrick Rutter and Steven Mintz writing in Inside Higher Ed

AI Can’t Fix the Student-Motivation Problem

Only about one in three students is highly engaged in school, according to U.S. census data—a share that has remained stable over the past decade. Even among the driven few, only a fraction of kids use ed-tech tools. About 5 percent of students use education technology as intended, thus reaping the learning benefits. That means that instead of democratizing access to affordable tutors, these tools could very well widen inequality by supercharging students who are already motivated to get ahead. - Jenny Anderson and Mike Goldstein writing in The Atlantic

"We’re using the wrong pronoun"

“We’re using the wrong pronoun. It’s not it. It’s them. Picture a single intelligence and you naturally fret about control, about the off switch and the leash and the one point where everything might fail. Picture a great many of them and the questions turn ecological. Imagine ‘a whole ecosystem of different species of AI’, each carving out its niche, each held in check by the others, the balance between them doing quietly what no central authority ever could.” -Matt Ridley