Coasting
/Life only gets easier when you’re going downhill.
ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire
AI Definitions: Agentic AI
/Agentic AI – Able to operate more independently than AI Agents, Agentic AI can adjust its strategy and continuously learn as it encounters different situations. It’s not just following the rules as agents do, Agentic AI is supposed to be a colleague that can analyze a problem, propose a plan, and take action.
More AI definitions here.
24 Recent Articles about AI & Writing
/Independent says readers ‘often prefer’ stories provided by new AI service to human-written versions of those articles– Press Gazette
Why AI can’t take over creative writing – The Conversation
NaNoWriMo shut down after AI, content moderation scandals – TechCrunch
The best AI email writing assistant: We tested 5, and only one beats a human - The Washington Post
Researchers surprised to find less-educated areas adopting AI writing tools faster - Ars Technica
ChatGPT firm reveals AI model that is ‘good at creative writing’ – The Guardian
OpenAI’s ‘creative writing’ AI evokes that annoying kid from high school fiction club - TechCrunch
AI Search Has A Citation Problem – Columbia Journalism Review
Break through writer’s block with an AI-powered creativity hack – Mashable
What is interesting writing and can LLMs create it? – Stat Modeling
AI Anxiety Can writing at Harvard coexist with new technologies? – Harvard Magazine
Hollywood writers say AI is ripping off their work. They want studios to sue – LA Times
Is There A Place For AI In Creative Writing? – Caversham Writers
AI won't remove the need for human editing – Times Higher Ed
New AI tool could redefine book charts and bestseller lists – Jerusalem Post
Dow Jones negotiates AI usage agreements with nearly 4,000 news publishers – Harvard’s Nieman Lab
Springer Nature reveals AI-driven tool to 'automate some editorial quality checks' – The Bookseller
Low quality books that appear to be AI generated are making their way into public libraries – 404 Media
Every doctor is a writer: On the end of note-writing and meaning-making in medicine – Stat News
Meta Is Experimenting With AI-Generated Comments, for Some Reason – Life Hacker
Writers respond to the short story written by AI – The Guardian
People say they prefer stories written by humans over AI-generated works, yet new study suggests that’s not quite true – The Conversation
How Scottsdale police are using AI to help write crime reports – Arizona’s Family
Effectively Remixing Other People’s Materials
/According to Austin Kleon’s Steal Like An Artist, the so-called “original” thinkers and creators are simply people who effectively learned to remix other people’s materials.
Originality isn’t about doing what’s never been done in a strict sense, but it’s about the unique way in which each individual gives expression to his or her artistic influences. Quoting Jonathan Lethem, Kleon argues that “when people call something ‘original,’ nine out of ten times they just don’t know the references or the original sources involved.”
It’s a simple idea, but not as simple as “copy the people you like” and you’ll be an instant genius.
The kind of stealing Kleon refers to is not about pretending you came up with somebody else’s idea or just modifying a few details, but it’s about being strategic and selective with the process of choosing your influences, taking what resonates with you, making other people’s ideas your own, and being diverse enough to find unexplored points of intersection between your various influences.
TK Coleman, 5 Ways to Steal Like An Artist
AI Definitions: AI Agents
/AI Agents – These chatbots have the ability not only to answer questions and provide information, but to act on users' behalf in the background, autonomously. Users provide a goal (from researching competitors to virtual assistant functions like buying a car or planning a vacation), and the agent generates a task list and starting to work by breaking down the overall goal into smaller steps. The ability to understand complex instructions is crucial for agentic AI to be effective. Rather than passive processors of language, these proactive active agents can produce practical, real-world applications in uncertain but data-rich environments as it interacts with external tools and APIs. Agents are not the same as “AI copilots” which can collaborate with users but don’t make decisions on their own as agents can do. They are also not as powerful as Agentic AI, which can act more autonomously.
More AI definitions here.
Obsessed with Image
/As Americans, we're obsessed with images. Who we are isn't as important as how we appear. In fact, we spend so much time and effort on appearances, we lose the ability to recognize the true identity of another person, or even ourselves. We've become more familiar with the image than we are with the real thing.
Dating relationships are especially vulnerable to this problem. A person isn't evaluated on character or individuality, but on how close he or she measures up to the other's image of the ideal mate. Real people take second chair to the ideal; they measure up to the image or they don't.
Have you ever noticed the excitement at the beginning of a romance that later faded with growing familiarity? In the early stages of any new friendship, we're usually seeing more of the image than we are of the real person. We've seen enough of the surface to see similarities between the object of our affections and the ideal we seek, but not enough to show us that our ideal and the new friend are not the same person. In essence, we're falling in love with the image, with the idea that this one person might be "it." Sooner or later the real person is going to start breaking through that image, and disillusionment will set in.
The success of a marriage comes not in finding the "right" person, but in the ability of both partners to adjust to the real person they inevitably realize they married. Some people never make this adjustment, becoming trapped in an endless search for an image that does not exist.
John Fischer, Real Christians Don’t Dance!
29 Articles about the Impact of AI on Health Care
/Arguing the pros and cons of AI in healthcare - TechTarget
Randomized Trial of a Generative AI Chatbot for Mental Health Treatment – New England Journal of Medicine
Apple Readies Its Biggest Push Into Health Yet With New AI Doctor – Bloomberg
Adaptive deep brain stimulation uses AI to reduce Parkinson’s symptoms - The Washington Post
Retracted articles on cancer imaging are not only continuously cited by publications but also used by ChatGPT to answer questions – Science Direct
Open-Source AI Matches Top Proprietary LLM in Solving Tough Medical Cases – Harvard Medical School
Doctors Told Him He Was Going to Die. Then A.I. Saved His Life. – New York Times
AI-Powered Test Reveals Biological Age from Small Blood Sample – Inside Precision Medicine
AI failed to detect critical health conditions: study - Axios
Algorithm may reduce racial, ethnic inequalities in MS treatment: Study – Multiple Sclerosis News Today
The Hologram Doctor Will See You Now – Wall Street Journal
Machine learning outperforms deep learning in audiometry in a new study – Dev Discourse
Duke Health develops AI model that predicts mental health illness risks for adolescents – CBS17
Can AI predict the next pandemic? A new study says yes – News Medical
Train clinical AI to reason like a team of doctors – Nature
An AI-powered model that accurately predicts blood sugar levels in diabetes patients – Deccan Herald
An AI clinical assistant that automates pre-surgery assessments for cataract patients – BBC
How health insurers are using AI today – StatNews
A diagnostic tool that uses DNA sequencing and machine learning to detect multiple diseases from a single blood sample - Inside Precision Medicine
A Versatile AI System for Analyzing Series of Medical Images - Cornell Medicine
Cancer could be spotted early on thanks to new 'human-defying' AI-powered body scan – Daily Record
AI-based pregnancy analysis discovers previously unknown warning signs for stillbirth and newborn complications – University of Utah
Reid Hoffman Raises $24.6 Million for AI Cancer-Research Startup - Wall Street Journal
From Prediction To Practice: AI’s Role In Healthcare 2025 – Forbes
Assessing AI-Driven Approaches to Student Mental Health – Dartmouth
6 ways AI is transforming healthcare – World Economic Forum
Trump’s early actions imperil efforts to improve AI’s performance in medicine – Stat News
Medical students use AI to practice communication skills - Cornell Chronicle
Wearable AI to enhance patient safety and clinical decision-making – Nature
China to make AI education mandatory
/In a bold move to position itself as a global leader in artificial intelligence, China will mandate AI education for all primary and secondary school students beginning September 1, 2025. The new policy requires even 6-year-olds to begin learning about AI as part of the national curriculum. -Asaaseradio
AI Definitions: Quantum Computers
/Quantum Computers – The computers we use today operate on a traditional binary code, which represents information with 0s and 1s. Quantum machines, on the other hand, use quantum bits, or qubits. The unusual properties of qubits make quantum computers far more powerful for some kinds of calculations, including the mathematical problems that underpin much of modern encryption.
More AI definitions here.
Wonder and humility
/It seems reasonable to believe — and I do believe — that the more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us the less taste we shall have for the destruction of our race. Wonder and humility are wholesome emotions, and they do not exist side by side with a lust for destruction.
Rachel Carson acceptance speech for the John Burroughs Medal, April 7, 1952
17 Webinars This Week about AI, Journalism, & Media
/Mon, April 7 - Safeguarding your journalism against legal threats
What: An in-depth discussion on safeguarding journalism amidst escalating legal challenges. Get answers to your most pressing questions and identify the best practices from experts on the frontlines of journalism defense.
Who: David McCraw, Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at The New York Times; Victoria Baranetsky, General Counsel at the Center for Investigative Reporting.
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Poynter Institute
Mon, April 7 - Writing Compelling Stories
What: Some of the techniques journalists and nonfiction writers can use to make their work more cinematic and, in the process, more engaging to their readers.
Who: Author Lee Gutkind, the founding editor of Creative Nonfiction Magazine.
When: 6 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Society of Professional Journalists, DC Pro Chapter
Tue, April 8 - Why the UK Needs a Broad Text and Data Mining Exception to Support AI Innovation
What: A discussion on the potential consequences of the UK government’s proposed option and how creating a more permissive text and data mining exception would advance the UK’s goals of being competitive in AI without undermining the rights of creators.
Who: Ayesha Bhatti, Head of Digital Policy, UK & EU, Center for Data Innovation; Julia Garayo Willemyns, Founding Co-Director, UK Day One Project; Bertin Martens, Senior Fellow, Bruegel; Benjamin White, Founder, Knowledge Rights 21.
When: 9 am, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: The Center for Data Innovation
Tue, April 8 - The Formula for Social Media Success
What: Our simple but comprehensive social media workshop will help you learn how to prioritize things and give you a clear formula to be successful on social media. The topics will be covered are: Learn the key differences between social networks; Identify your target market; Set your social media goals; Build your content strategy; Create your Ad Strategy; Measure your results; Discover must-have social media tools; Leverage Social Media Marketing, start engaging with your customers, and increase your sales.
Who: Ray-Sidney Smith, Digital Marketing Strategist, Hootsuite Global Brand Ambassador, Google Small Business Advisor for Productivity, and Managing Director of W3C Web.
When: 10 am, Eastern (2 hours)
Where: Zoom
Cost: $45
Sponsor: Duquesne University Small Business Development Center
Tue, April 8 - AI for Older Adults: AI All Around
What: In this lecture, we’ll explore many of the digital platforms and websites generative AI is now available. We’ll discuss how the tools try to make tasks easier and go over privacy considerations to keep in mind when using them.
When: 12 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: OpenAI Academy, Senior Planet from AARP
Tue, April 8 - Teacher Perspectives on Media Literacy
What: A discussion with the researchers who published "ELA and Social Studies Teachers’ Perspectives on the Importance of Media Literacy for Student Learning" in the latest issue of the Journal of Media Literacy Education about how middle- and high-school teachers perceive the importance of media literacy in their classrooms and which aspects are most important to them.
Who: Hillary Gould, a PhD Candidate in Information Science and Learning Technologies at the University of Missouri, who primarily researches and designs educational video games; Sam von Gillern, an Assistant Professor of Literacy Education at the University of Missouri who researches digital literacies, digital citizenship, and game-based learning; Matthew Korona, a Research Assistant at George Mason University as well as a school-based instructional technology facilitator in a district in the suburbs of Wash, DC; Alicia Haywood is the founder and executive director of iSpeakMedia, a nonprofit organization that promotes media literacy as a lifestyle through student-centered curriculum and community education for parents of adolescents.
When: 4 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Journal of Media Literacy Education, Media Education Lab
Tue, April 8 - Generative AI Guidelines for Student Media Making: Centering Youth Voice, Ethics, and Productivity
What: We’ll explore the generative AI landscape through the lens of youth voice. We’ll unpack new guidelines developed by the Education Team at KQED and take a closer look at how to apply these guidelines across the curriculum in ways that are productive, ethical, and student focused. This session will examine ways to customize ChatGPT when your students are developing audio and video scripts and writing in other genres, including a common use case: how chatbots like ChatGPT can provide supportive and valuable feedback on students’ writing.
Who: Rachel Roberson, Senior Program Manager, Education Content, KQED; Rik Panganiban, Program Manager, Online Learning, KQED.
When: 5 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: KQED Education
Tue, April 8 - Don't Get Hacked: Essential Digital Security for Journalists
What: The dangers of password reuse and how to prevent account hijacking; Best practices for using password managers and creating strong master passwords; The importance of Two-Factor Authentication (2FA); Smartphone security tips and why system updates matter; A comparison of secure messaging apps: Signal, WhatsApp, iMessage, Slack, and more.
Who: David Huerta, senior digital security trainer, Freedom of the Press Foundation.
When: 5 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free to members ($25 for students to join)
Sponsor: National Association of Hispanic Journalists
Wed, April 9 - What the Heck is Coaching and Why Do Journalists Need It?
What: How coaching is transformative and a leading-edge resource for journalists.
Who: Aquiline Coaching’s Founder, Stephanie Cassidy.
When: 12 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: New England Newspaper & Press Association
Wed, April 9 - Getting Started with AI for Nonprofits
What: This informal session will introduce key concepts, share several useful demos, and introduce a basic framework to help you and your organization safely and ethically get immediate use from off-the-shelf AI tools like ChatGPT.
Who: Rich Leimsider AI for Nonprofits Sprint, Fund for the City of New York; Mohammed Husein Solutions Engineer, OpenAI.
When: 12 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: OpenAI
Wed, April 9 - The 2025 state of internal comms
What: A look at what's going right in work places, what's going wrong, and where organizations are headed next along with advice from some of the nation’s top communication minds.
Who: Axios HQ VP of Brand and Strategy Emily Inverso.
When: 12:30 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Axios
Wed, April 9 - How to meet Americans where they are: Communicating effectively about public health
What: A discussion about how to effectively communicate about public health to the American public.
Who: Katy Evans is a Senior Program Officer with the de Beaumont Foundation and will soon start a new role as Senior Director of the Health Justice Program at The FrameWorks Institute.
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom (and in person)
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Stanford Health Equity Media Fellowship and Harvard Chan School’s Health Communication Concentration
Wed, April 9 - Mini-Lab: Advanced Prompt Writing
What: We’ll design a no-code website using AI and use tools to test the code for any malware. You can choose the site topic you want to build (news, entertainment, promotional or business site). Participants get a handout with links to all the prompt templates.
Who: Mike Reilley Senior Lecturer, University of Illinois-Chicago.
When: 2 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Online News Association
Wed, April 9 - The First Amendment and Libraries
What: This webinar is about developing and updating library policies and offering spaces and services with the First Amendment in mind. Starting with the founding of the Bill of Rights, there will be a discussion of many of the rulings and legal cases that have molded the way the First Amendment affects libraries.
Who: Matt Beckstrom, the Systems Librarian at the Lewis & Clark Library in Helena, Montana.
When: 2 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Nitch Academy
Wed, April 9 - Harnessing Your Motivators to Thrive in the Age of AI Speaker
What: How to use the science-backed Motivators Assessment to navigate AI’s impact with confidence. By uncovering what truly fuels your work satisfaction and performance, you’ll learn how to align AI with your passions, curiosity, and ambitions—turning it into a career accelerator rather than a roadblock.
Who: Paul Yoachum Co-founder and Managing Partner, FindMojo.
When: 2 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: FindMojo
Wed, April 9 - Cracking the Code: How AI Shapes What We See (and What We Miss)
What: An in-depth conversation about the evolving role of AI and algorithms in news and social media. We’ll explore the rise of AI-generated content, machine learning systems that use data to shape our information bubbles, and the challenges posed by deepfakes. Throughout this edWebinar, we’ll equip you with strategies to help students develop a more critical approach to digital news consumption. By the end of the session, you’ll be armed with information about the ongoing evolution of AI, a deeper understanding of how we shape—and are shaped by—algorithms, and a toolbox of resources to support you in teaching your students.
Who: Mia Sato, Reporter, The Verge; Dr. Brittney Smith, Senior Manager of District Partnerships, East, The News Literacy Project.
When: 5 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: The News Literacy Project
Thu, April 10 - Understanding Global Events: A Q&A Session with GlobalPost Media
What: Understanding global events is crucial, but let's be real; sometimes the headlines leave you with more questions than answers. Here's Your Chance to Get the Inside Scoop. Hear from people with years of experience who can help you make sense of a complicated world. No filters, no scripts, just experienced journalists ready to break down.
Who: GlobalPost Media's editorial team.
When: 10 am, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: GlobalPost Media
Passing Through
/I shall pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness that I can show any human being, let me do it now. Let me not deter or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. -Stephen Grellett
Failure
/I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. -Thomas Edison
23 Recent Articles about the Business of Running an AI Company
/ChatGPT users have generated over 700M images since last week, OpenAI says - TechCrunch
Are LLM firewalls the future of AI security? – Computer Weekly
Google Gemini is shaking up its AI leadership ranks – Semafor
More pre-training data may not always lead to better large language models - VentureBeat
A Big Coal Plant Was Just Imploded to Make Way for an AI Data Center – Wall Street Journal
Open source devs are fighting AI crawlers with cleverness and vengeance – TechCrunch
The AI Data-Center Boom Is Coming to America’s Heartland - Wall Street Journal
We were promised “Star Trek,” so why did we settle for these lousy chatbots? – BigThink
Nvidia CEO Says AI Computing Needs to Surge 100-Fold - Wall Street Journal
The Quest for A.I. ‘Scientific Superintelligence’ – New York Times
Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, acquires a generative AI video startup – TechCrunch
OpenAI urges U.S. to allow AI models to train on copyrighted material – NBC
Delays cast a cloud over Apple Intelligence - Axios
The tiny chips behind Amazon’s big AI investment – Semafor
China tells its AI leaders to avoid US travel over security concerns, WSJ reports – Reuters
ChatGPT firm reveals AI model that is ‘good at creative writing’ – The Guardian
Google looks to give AI its arms and legs - Axios
New Chinese AI agent draws DeepSeek comparison - Axios
A.I. Is Changing How Silicon Valley Builds Start-Ups - New York Times
What the Dot-Com Bust Can Tell Us About Today’s AI Boom - Wall Street Journal
GenAI synthetic data create ethical challenges for scientists – PNAS
Turing Award Goes to 2 Pioneers of Artificial Intelligence – New York Times
Just how badly OpenAI and Perplexity are screwing over publishers - Forbes
The Designer as Conductor
/The emergence and impact of AI isn’t about replacing designers. It’s about repositioning them. The future designer won’t be the one who can code every micro-animation by hand. They’ll be the one who can see the big picture, communicate it crisply, and orchestrate a system toward that vision. They’ll be less like a craftsman and more like a director or editor. -Francesco Bertelli
18 Articles about How AI is Affecting Jobs
/5 tips for using AI at work – Axios
AI could affect 40% of jobs and widen inequality between nations, UN warns - CNBC
How to Tell If Your Job Candidate Is an AI Deepfake - INC
How the AI Talent Race Is Reshaping the Tech Job Market – Wall Street Journal
What Students Are Saying About A.I. and the Future of Work – New York Times
AI Job Hotspots - Axios
The New Leverage: AI and the Power of Small Teams – Jarango
How 7 ai-powered creative tools are democratizing the work of design and marketing – Ad Age
A Disney Worker Downloaded an AI Tool. It Led to a Hack That Ruined His Life - Wall Street Journal
American workers are skeptical AI will help them on the job – Washington Post
How many jobs will AI eliminate? Nobody really knows, and here’s why – Fortune
The AI Data-Center Boom Is a Job-Creation Bust - Wall Street Journal
11 Jobs AI Could Replace In 2025—And 15+ Jobs That Are Safe – Forbes
‘Gradually then suddenly’: Is AI job displacement following this pattern? – Venture Beat
Jobs you thought were AI-proof probably aren't – Business Insider
I’m starting to think AI can do my job after all – Boston Globe
AI agents are here. How afraid should workers be of losing their jobs? – Fortune
Job hunting and hiring in the age of AI: Where did all the humans go? - Washington Post
Hearing & Listening
/Hearing captures the words a person speaks; listening captures the meaning and the feeling beneath those words.
Is AI eroding our critical thinking?
/As AI has grown more commonplace in everyday life, psychologists theorize that it reduces users’ engagement in deep, reflective thinking, causing their critical thinking skills to atrophy over time. If individuals use the cognitive resources freed up by AI for innovative tasks, the promise holds. However, studies suggest that many users channel these resources into passive consumption, driven by AI-enhanced content curation. This trend aligns with findings on digital dependence, where the convenience of AI fosters a feedback loop that prioritizes entertainment over critical engagement. While it enhances efficiency and convenience, it inadvertently fosters dependence, which can compromise critical thinking skills over time. -Ross Pomeroy writing in BigThink
Going in Circles
/When people get lost, they really do tend to walk in circles. German researchers discovered that volunteers who could not see the sun or moon often walked for hours in circles, sometimes in circles as small as 20 yards across. Some participants didn’t believe the researchers until they were shown proof.
What makes the difference are external signposts. Landmarks like the sun or moon completely changed the result.
One of the researchers offers this advice: “Don’t trust your senses. You might think you are walking in a straight line when you’re not.”
Isn’t that how life is? We know people who trust their senses and have no external guideposts to keep their lives on track. They believe they are marching forward, but all the while, they are going nowhere. They repeat the same mistakes. The people who get somewhere in life carefully choose their landmarks and trust these life-anchors.
Stephen Goforth
15 Articles about AI’s impact on College Faculty & Administrators
/Introducing Claude for Education - Anthropic
Netflix Co-Founder Donates $50M to Launch AI and Humany Initiative at Bowdoin College – Hollywood Reporter
Business schools ease their resistance to AI – Financial Times
Schools use AI to monitor kids, hoping to prevent violence. Our investigation found security risks – Orange County Register
AI Surveillance Is Being Installed In Schools To Keep Kids Safe. But That’s Not All It’s Doing - MIC
Yale Suspends Scholar After A.I.-Powered News Site Accuses Her of Terrorist Link – New York Times
OpenAI Announces 'NextGenAI' Higher-Ed Consortium - GovTech
AI is changing college for good. Higher ed leaders have these concerns, NC survey says – Charlotte Observer
Community Colleges Join Forces to Expand Access to AI Training – Inside Higher Ed
College Leaders Are Divided on the Risks and Benefits of Generative AI – Chronicle of Higher Ed
UNC uses AI in admissions review process, documents show how – Daily Tar Heel
6 Policy Recommendations for School Administrators – Campus Technology
Unpacking the Role of AI in Physical Security – EdTech Magazine
Trump Administration Wants ‘AI Dominance’ But Lays Siege to Key Grant Agency - Chronicle of Higher Ed
AI influence on higher ed is growing, new survey shows - EdScoop