Why Not?
/Some men see things as they are and say, "Why?" I dream of things that never were and say, "Why not?" -George Bernard Shaw, born July 26, 1856
Smart is
/Smart is not something that you just are, smart is something that you can get. -Jeff Howard
Some problems
/Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them.
24 Articles about AI & Writing
/The Most Famous AI Writing Tic Is Also the Most Mysterious – The Atlantic
AI Writing Strips Mystery and Complexity From Stories – Neuroscience News
‘Humanizer’ tool can erase signs of AI-written text — alarming scientists – Nature
Pastors Using AI to Help Write Sermons Grapple With Where to Draw the Line – Wall Street Journal
Pentagon boasts of using AI to write reports mandated by Congress – Ars Technica
Student Cheating Is Becoming Impossible to Detect in an A.I. Era – New York Times
A Meta-Epistemological Reason for Rejecting AI-Written Philosophy – Daily Nous
What AI’s Style Tells Us About It – The Atlantic
AI can write SEO content, but it can’t replace real experience – Search Engine Land
Could a Machine Write This Column? – The Free Press
What 370,000 College Essays Tell Us About A.I.’s Effects on Creativity - New York Times
How AI is changing language – The Guardian
The Biggest Tell That Something Was Written by AI - The Atlantic
When AI Does the Writing, Who's the Author? – Psychology Today
Best practices for GEO: Strategies for AI search visibility – MuckRack
How To Make Sure Human Writing Stands Out In The AI Era - Forbes
How AI citations have changed in the last 6 months: New insights from ‘What is AI Reading?’ - MuckRack
Can A.I. Produce Writing That We Actually Want to Read? – New Yorker
We Asked the Future of Truth Author to Explain How He Used AI. It Didn’t Go Well – Wired
AI fiction is the new fast food – Washington Post
AI Changes Its Feedback on Students’ Writing When It Knows Their Race, Gender – EdWeek
Someone Used A.I. to Write an Unauthorized Biography of Me. I Don’t Recommend Reading It.- New York Times
Writing with and without AI - The Berkshire Edge
Study finds nearly half of all LinkedIn long posts are AI-generated, and that's only the start – Tech Radar
Shrink it
/Shrink the change. Break it down so it's not so scary.
Show up
/Show up in your life everyday.
15 Articles about AI & the Creative Arts
/What AI Will Do to Art – The Atlantic
1,273 designers tell all: Their rates, real pay, and how they really feel about AI – Fast Company
Taste cannot be delegated The death of design by committee in the age of AI – UX Design
A.I. Chatbot Helps a $100 Thrift Store Painting Sell for Over $250,000 – New York Times
The Four Design Jobs AI Created (So Far) – NN Group
The 80/20 problem: Will AI ever create great art? – Technical.ly
How AI Will Make Art Worse – TIME
A look inside Dataland in Los Angeles, dedicated entirely to A.I.-generated art - New York Times
I Work in Hollywood. Everyone Who Used to Make TV Is Now Secretly Training AI. – Substack
The state of generative AI in the creator economy – Digiday
Landmark New Report Warns That A Flawed AI Content Market is Accelerating ‘Content Cannibalization’ – Open Market Institute
Aesthetics of AI - AColorBright
Craft is Untouchable: AI doesn't threaten craft—the temptation to skip iteration does – A Color Bright
Take my job, AI! - Jeff Zych
AI Art Is Human Art An interview with a cognitive scientist about creativity and pleasure – Nautilus
18 Articles about the Business of Running an AI Company
/Google Is Building an A.I. Fence Around the Internet It Once Championed – New York Times
These AI-Native Companies Have Tiny Staffs and Fewer Bosses - Wall Street Journal
The hottest AI models in Silicon Valley face a powerful source of competition – Washington Post
A.I. Is Running on Borrowed Money - New York Times
Alibaba’s A.I. Is a Hit, but Hard to Turn Into a Moneymaker – New York Times
New York bans data center construction for a year, rattling AI industry – Arstechnica
China’s Moonshot AI Releases Model to Challenge Top U.S. Systems - Wall Street Journal
New York becomes first state to impose one-year pause on new AI datacenters – The Guardian
Start-ups are paying white-collar professionals to teach their jobs to artificial intelligence models – New York Times
Apple Sues OpenAI, Accusing It of Stealing Company Secrets – New York Times
What AI companies want for the millions they’re spending on elections – CNBC
Distillation Challenges AI Giants, Threatens Profit Margins - Business Insider
American A.I. Companies complain that competitors in China are unfairly copying their A.I. systems using a technique that has been around for years. – New York Times
Databricks Releases General AI Agents for Businesses – Wall Street Journal
Silicon Valley backed Trump to kill AI regulation, now the industry is begging for rules – The Next Web
The semiconductor industry that has become a major choke point in the global contest for artificial intelligence leadership – New York Times
Chinese Supercomputer Overtakes U.S. as World’s Fastest – Wall Street Journal
The Constant is Change
/We cling to our identity, our relationships, and our ideologies as if they are fixed forever. We make ridged life plans and feel guilty when they break. We hold grudges against people who no longer exist, and we feel betrayed when someone else changes. But if everything is flex, then change isn’t a failure, it’s natural. Change and transformation are normal. You, me, and everyone will move on. We will all become someone new. So, stop trying to freeze the river. Stop demanding that things stay the same because everything and everyone will change. -Jonny Thomson
What is distinctively human about writing
/What is distinctively human about writing: Moments in the narrative that are unexpected, seem imperfect, incomplete or controversial. From those moments, stories truly unfold. The flaw, the uncomfortable, the anomaly are markers of originality, authenticity and sources of growth. -Andrea Larson, Duke University
AI Definitions: The Illusion of Competence
/The Illusion of Competence – This cognitive bias takes place when individuals mistakenly believe they have mastered a subject or skill when they have not. Studies have shown that AI users can develop this overconfidence when they outsource their thinking to generative AI, avoiding the deep mental engagement and friction required for learning and aptitude. Delegating the heavy lifting to AI is sometimes referred to as “cognitive offloading.”
21 Recent Articles about AI & Academic Scholarship
/AI reviewers make it easier to get research published. US study calls it paper-laundering – The Print
Doctored data sets could trick AI agents - Nature
Award-winning Korea studies scholar accused of using AI-fabricated citations – NK News
AI tools meant to vet science are surprisingly easy to fool – Science News
‘Humanizer’ tool can erase signs of AI-written text — alarming scientists – Nature
AI-assisted reviews will result in ordinary, uncontroversial research – The Times Higher Ed
AI Slop Is a Tenure Problem, Not Just a Tech Problem – Inside Higher Ed
In the AI era, the human struggle can no longer be the point of research - The Times Higher Ed
Artificial intelligence in scientific review and writing: What should we be doing? – Oxford Acamdemic
Research integrity in the age of AI (podcast) - The Lancet
University launches investigation into its faculty member's paper allegedly containing AI watermarks in graphics – Global Times
Scientists decry conference’s use of hidden prompts to snare AI peer reviews – The Transmitter
New AI Agents Pose ‘Existential Threat’ to How Grants Are Awarded – Inside Higher Ed
Publication fraud in the era of generative artificial intelligence – British Pharmacological Society
Anyone can fake a scientific image with AI, tricking even academic journals – and undermining trust in science – The Conversation
AI promised to democratise academic publishing – the evidence says otherwise – The London School of Economics
Journal investigating paper on cognitive impact of generative AI – Retraction Watch
Did AI write this article? Perish the thought. But we tracked how artificial intelligence is changing five creative fields – The Economist
Scientists want you to read their research papers—so they’re using gen AI to turn them into TikTok videos – Fast Company
A little spark of madness
/You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it. -Robin Williams (born July 21, 1951)
22 Articles about Job Negotiation
/5 Questions Veterans Should Ask When Negotiating a Starting Salary - Military.com
7 Ways To Win At Salary Negotiation In A Tough Job Market -Forbes
8 Reasons you should turn down that job offer - Salary.com
Ask For Too Much And You Might Lose The Offer: New Rules Of Salary Negotiation - Forbes
Don’t Accept A Job Offer Without Doing These 3 Things - Forbes
Don’t Waste Your Money: How to negotiate your salary/raise - ABC 27
The era of salary negotiation is ending - The Hill
Gen Z is using ChatGPT to practice salary negotiations and tough conversations before they happen – Fortune
How AI can help you negotiate better deals on rent, salary and more - FOX-10 News
How Salary Negotiations Uncover A Company’s True Priorities - Forbes
How to negotiate your salary to help with inflation - Fast Company
How to negotiate your salary: A 5 W's approach - ZDNet
How to Negotiate Your Salary When You Don't Have Any Work Experience - LifeHacker
How to use a new job offer to re-negotiate your current salary - Glassdoor Blog
I'm a salary negotiator. Here are 6 things I'd never do - Business Insider ($)
The million-dollar mistake: Women fall short when negotiating salaries - bizwomen
Not So Fast! Ask These 5 Questions Before Signing Any Job Offer In 2026 - Metro News
This simple phrase can get you up to 20% more in compensation, according to a negotiation coach - Business Insider
Tired of unpaid internships? Here's how to negotiate pay - MSNBC
Why employees don’t negotiate compensation, according to researchers - HR Dive
Why I Teach Negotiation Skills to Undergrads - Inside Higher Ed
AI Definitions: AI Design
/AI Design – While this term typically means using AI as a tool in a design workflow (prompt literacy and workflow integration), it can also reference designing AI products, designing AI agents (how they interact with products, content, and data), or design as it relates to language models (model evaluation and collaboration with ML engineers).
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
White Space
/Schedule “white space” in your day, and keep it off-limits from the tyrannical urgencies of your work. -Arthur Brooks
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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)
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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)
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
Shame & Lament
/Shame drives me to hide in my room. Lament pulls me into tomorrow. -Ryan Shoemaker
19 Articles about Using AI
/I Gave an AI Agent Access to My Passwords. Here’s What Happened. – Wall Street Journal
Prioritize routing over model choice. Most AI work runs on cheap local models. - Tomasz Tunguz
The 5 types of AI queries and what they mean for your GEO strategy – MuckRack
Marketers grappled with how to influence A.I. chatbots. – New York Times
I added one sentence to every ChatGPT prompt I write — and the results were immediately better – Tom’s Guide
Google Answers Question About SEO For AI Agents – Search Engine Journal
In the age of AI, knowing what not to build might be the most important skill of all. - Jakub Krehel
1.5M people use GenAI.mil, the Defense Department’s enterprise generative AI platform – Defense Scoop
Can Your AI Pass the Accessibility Test? – Aaron Gustafson
When Americans choose Chinese AI – Rest of World
Loop Engineering & AI - Addy Osmani
A.I. doubles is the new productivity hack for CEOs and Harvard profs - New York Times
How AI citations have changed in the last 6 months: New insights from ‘What is AI Reading?’ – MuckRack
These AI models are free, private, and will never say 'no' – NPR
Since chatbots hallucinate their own facts, it’s useful (and easy) to have a second, nitpicking AI that can audit the results for errors - Wall Street Journal
How to retain your humanity and embrace AI - Axios
Teaching AI models to say “I’m not sure” – MIT
Stop asking ChatGPT to rewrite your drafts. Try this prompt instead – PC World