Mathematics may shift to more closely resemble the humanities because of AI

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Perhaps mathematicians will spend most of their time trying to understand the proofs the AI system generates. Mark Kisin, a mathematician at Harvard University, foresees the field shifting to more closely resemble the humanities. “If you look at a typical English department at a university, it’s not usually staffed by people who write literature,” he said. “It’s staffed by people who critique literature.” Similarly, he said, mathematicians might assume the role of critics who closely analyze AI proofs and then teach them in seminars. Ronen Eldan, a mathematician who recently left the Weizmann Institute of Science for OpenAI, recalls a conversation in which another mathematician predicted that “mathematicians will be like pianists today,” he said. “They don’t play their own compositions, but people still come to hear them.” It will in some sense be the end of research mathematics as it’s currently practiced,” Daniel Litt of the University of Toronto said. “But that doesn’t mean it will be the end of mathematicians.” - Jordana Cepelewicz writing in Quanta Magazine

Straight A’s won’t matter in real life

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When I was in college, I obsessed over getting straight A’s, said Adam Grant. Now that I’m a professor, “I watch in dismay” when I see students joining the same “cult of perfectionism.” They think straight A’s will provide entrée to elite graduate schools and prestigious careers. The evidence, however, says otherwise. Research across industries shows that while there’s a modest correlation between grades and job performance the first year out of college, after a few years, the difference is “trivial.” Why? “Getting straight A’s requires conformity. Having an influential career demands originality.” While straight-A students are locked in their dorm rooms or library pursuing “meaningless perfection,” their peers are developing skills that aren’t captured by grades: “creativity, leadership, and teamwork skills and social, emotional, and political intelligence.” Real career success doesn’t come from “finding the right solution to a problem—it’s more about finding the right problem to solve.” In high school Steve Jobs pulled a 2.65 GPA, J.K. Rowling had a C average at Exeter, and Martin Luther King Jr. managed only one A in four years at Morehouse College. This tells us that “underachieving in school can prepare you to overachieve in life.”

Adam Grant writing in The New York Times (as quoted in The Week Magazine) 

29 Recent Articles about AI & Teaching

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Your Students Need an AI-Aware Professor - Chronicle of Higher Ed 

Will the Humanities Survive Artificial Intelligence? – The New Yorker

As ChatGPT scores B- in engineering, professors scramble to update courses – The Registrar

How Miami Schools Are Leading 100,000 Students Into the A.I. Future – New York Times

The effect of ChatGPT on students’ learning performance, learning perception, and higher-order thinking: insights from a meta-analysis – Nature  

Teaching journalism students generative AI: why I switched to an “AI diary” this semester – Online Journalism Blog

The Professors Are Using ChatGPT, and Some Students Aren’t Happy About It – New York Times

Everyone Is Cheating Their Way Through College – New York Magazine

AI-Aware Teaching Examples - Annette Vee Blog

I'd rather read the prompt – Clayton Ramsey  

Is AI Enhancing Education or Replacing It? – Chronicle of Higher Ed 

Draft executive order outlines plan to integrate AI into K-12 schools – Washington Post  

As ‘Bot’ Students Continue to Flood In, Community Colleges Struggle to Respond – Voice of San Diego  

Teachers warn AI is impacting students' critical thinking - Axios

Business schools ease their resistance to AI – Financial Times

A Shortcut or a Level Up? Harvard Faculty Debate Generative AI in Academia – The Crimson

AI-Powered Teaching: Practical Tools for Community College Faculty – Faculty Focus

California college professors have mixed views on AI in the classroom – Ed Source

Here's how AI has changed the way Penn faculty grade, teach courses – The Daily Pennsylvanian  

Here’s how Carolina faculty use AI – University of North Carolina  

Introducing Claude for Education – Anthropic

Teachers Worry About Students Using A.I. But They Love It for Themselves. – New York Times

Teachers warn AI is impacting students' critical thinking – Axios  

Preparing science educators to use and teach AI in the classroom – National Science Foundation

Educators seek to combat AI challenges in the classroom – The Hill 

AI works best in the classroom with professor guidance, researchers found – EdScoop 

What Can College Instructors Offer Their Students in the Age of AI? - Faculty Focus 

What's the Future for AI-Free Learning Spaces? - Jason Gulya Blog

What’s Your AI Policy? Communicate your guidelines clearly and talk about them with students  - Annette Vee Blog

Grammarly Offering Authorship Tool

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Grammarly has created a new authorship tool. It tracks the writing process, showing where text is typed into a document or pasted, as well as which parts of a document are created or modified with AI. When the paper is complete, a report is generated, which students can show teachers if there is any question about the source of their work. -Wall Street Journal 

22 Articles about AI & the Creative Arts

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A New Report Takes On the Future of News and Search: AI’s impact on platforms and publishers – Columbia Journalism Review

How generative AI is playing out in the media industry – Computer Weekly

Fake movie trailers were an art form. Then came the AI slop. – Washington Post

Oscars OK the Use of A.I., With Caveats – New York Times

An AI is going to art school — and might earn a diploma. Meet Flynn. – Washington Post  

YouTube rolls out a free AI music-making tool for creators – TechCrunch

Design for the AI age – Linear

The artifact isn’t the art: Rethinking creativity in the age of AI – Free Think

ChatGPT’s Studio Ghibli tool says goodbye to creativity - The Washington Post  

The world's first AI product creation platform – Arcade AI  

The Designer as Conductor in the Age of AI – Francesco Bertelli writing in Medium 

Controversial AI-generated art exhibition takes Oregon campus by storm – Daily Emerald  

An update to ChatGPT made it easy to simulate Hayao Miyazaki’s style of animation, which has flooded social media with memes. – New York Times

New York’s longest-running play offers AI-powered live translations to attract new audiences – Semafor 

Evaluating Co-Creativity Between LLMs and Humans in the Generation of Humor – Arxiv

10 Ways Generative AI is Redefining Creativity in 2025 – Analytics Insights

Celine Dion warns fans to beware of fake, AI-generated songs appearing online – CNN

Exploring how User Experience will evolve with the growth of Artificial Intelligence. – Shape of AI

We need to start focusing on AX or “agent experience” -  Jim Nielsen Blog

Sony is experimenting with AI-powered PlayStation characters – The Verge

AI's creative block – Axios

Approaching AI in Your Career

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Other than mastering AI, I suggest leaning into the parts of your job that involve your physical presence and human relationships and away from the parts that involve analysis of large datasets or bodies of text. While you’re using these news tools — figuring out what machines can do and what you can do that they can’t — you should stop to enjoy the new functions, rather than simply assessing the threat.  -Megan McArdle writing in the Washington Post

18 Webinars this Week about AI, Journalism & Media

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Mon, May 19 - Covering civil unrest

What: Learn tips on situational awareness, protective gear and positioning that can help you reduce the chances of arrest, assaults and injury on the job.  We'll discuss preparation before an event, how best to respond to active shooters and stampedes, and building solidarity among media groups and legal defenses. 

Who: Judith Matloff, senior adviser for safety training at the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free to members

Sponsor: Investigative Reporters & Editors

More Info

 

Mon, May 19 - Is AI the Cure for FOIA Frustration?

What: A discussion of AI and FOIA. The pros and cons of integrating  AI in the records requesting process and how journalists can use AI as a tool.

Who: Axel Ebermann, President New York Coalition for Open Government; Irwin McCullough, Co-Founder· FOIA Friend, James Mae, Moderator.

When: 6 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Society of Professional Journalists, Wash., D.C. Pro Chapter

More Info

 

Tue, May 20 - AI use now and the future of being human

Who: Lee Rainie, director of the Imagining the Digital Future Center at Elon University.  

When: 11 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy

More Info

 

Tue, May 20 - The SPLASH Method & How To Use It To Create World Class Content

What: So much content is painfully boring. We're on a mission to break the boring out of B2B content. It starts here, with the SPLASH Method. The way to check your content for stand out properties and promotion that will let it sing and dance.

Who: Ollie Whitfield Partner, Slingshot Content.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Training Magazine Network

More Info

 

Tue, May 20 - Disinformation in Society Report 

What: A new study by the IPR and Leger finds that concerns about disinformation in the US have returned to their highest levels since 2021, with 70% of Americans as a “major” problem, on par with issues like illegal drug use, hunger/poverty, and federal spending​.  The 5th edition of the Disinformation in Society Report surveyed 2,000 adults to assess what sources they trust the most, how Americans perceive false or misleading information, who they hold responsible for spreading it, and what actions they believe are necessary to combat it.

Who: Tima McCorkindale, President & CEO of the Institute for Public Relations; Dave Scholz, Chief Strategy Officer, Leger.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Institute for Public Relations

More Info

 

Tue, May 20 - Leveraging AI to Streamline Operations for Nonprofits

What: Explore how AI tools can enhance operational efficiency for nonprofits. Learn practical strategies for automating repetitive tasks, optimizing resource allocation, and driving organizational impact. Gain actionable insights into implementing AI solutions tailored to nonprofit needs.

Who: Kyle Barkins, Tapp Network Co-Founder; Zach Patton, Tapp Network, HubSpot Solutions Manager.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: TechSoup

More Info

 

Tue, May 20 - Technology and Evolving Research Practices in the Humanities

What: How can research tools like the MLA International Bibliography help academic researchers find not only credible and up-to-date sources but also materials that help push the boundaries of scholarship? Featuring teaching faculty, library instructors, and research service leaders, this webinar will examine how new technology and AI tools are influencing research practices in the humanities. Attendees can expect an overview of current technology impacts and strategies for how to guide patrons through this changing scholarly environment.

Who: Elizabeth Brookbank, Instruction Librarian and Professor, Western Oregon University; Ellen Carillo, Professor, English and Writing Coordinator, University of Connecticut; Leo Flores, Chair, English Department, Appalachian State University; Nhora Lucía, Serrano Director, Academic Technology, Teaching & Research Services Hamilton College; Angela Gibson, Senior Director, Operational Strategy Modern Language Association.

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: The Modern Language Association

More Info

 

Tue & Wed, May 20 & 21- Social Media Boot Camp

What: Practical tips and tools for extending your cause and mission via social media. We cover the basics of using social media for your nonprofit organization and give you handy tips for the most useful social media platforms for nonprofits.

Who: Kiersten Hill, the driving force behind Firespring’s nonprofit solutions and an inspiration to organizations nationwide.

When: 3 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Firespring

More Info

 

Wed, May 21 - AI Variety Pack: Perplexity, Claude & DeepSeek

What: Explore the rapidly evolving world of AI tools in this dynamic session featuring Perplexity, Claude, and DeepSeek. Whether you're a curious beginner or a seasoned tech enthusiast, this event will showcase the strengths, use cases, and unique capabilities of each platform. Join us for live demos, real-world applications, and a discussion on how these tools can boost productivity, creativity, and research.

Who: Tim Daniel Coach & Instructor Widener SBDC.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Small Business Development Center, Widener University

More Info

 

Wed, May 21 - Guiding AI Policy in Schools: An Ethical and Systems Thinking Approach 

What: This webinar offers a practical introduction to two essential frameworks: values-based ethical decision making and systems thinking. Attendees will explore a model for ethical reasoning grounded in school values such as equity, curiosity, and integrity—designed to support thoughtful decision making around AI use.

Who: Karen Rezach, Director of The Ethics Institute, Kent Place School (NJ); Lisa Yokana, Co-Founder and COO, Next World Learning Lab.

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: The Ethics Institute at Kent Place School

More Info

 

Wed, May 21 - AI for Nonprofits, Part 1: Unlock Generative AI and Microsoft 365 Copilot for Impact

What:  An engaging and insightful two-part webinar series, where we will dive into the essentials of generative AI, address key AI concerns, and demonstrate how nonprofits can benefit from using Microsoft’s AI assistant, Copilot, to achieve their goals.

Who: Joshua Peskay, RoundTable Technology; Kim Snyder RoundTable Technology, VP of Data Strategy.

When: 2:30 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: TechSoup

More Info

 

Wed, May 21 - Covering Mental Health Responsibly: Reducing the Risk of Suicide

What: This session will also explore an understanding of suicide and the unique mental health challenges faced by Latino/a/e communities, specifically their risk of suicide and the compounded stressors these individuals face. The experts will address best practices for journalists to effectively cover suicide with story elements and framing that are known to minimize the risk of suicide contagion.

Who: Maria de los Angeles Corral, Vice president of public relations at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention; Rebecca Ruiz, Senior reporter at Mashable.

When: 5 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free to members

Sponsor: National Association of Hispanic Journalists & the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

More Info

 

Wed, May 21 - Tech Tools for Journalists

What: Join us as we navigate AI in journalism. Our expert panelists will discuss the pros and cons, ethical standards in reporting, and much more!

When: 6:30 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Society of Professional Journalists

More Info

 

Thu, May 22 - The mental health impact of climate reporting

What: A presentation of the preliminary findings from research into the impact of climate change reporting on the wellbeing of journalists.  Then, a panel discussion will look at the implications of the research on newsrooms and reporters with two journalists and members of the Oxford Climate Journalism Network.

Who: Anthony Feinstein, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto; Sharon Chen is the Managing Editor for Bloomberg Green; Jhesset O. Enano, an independent environment and climate journalist from the Philippines; Diego Arguedas Ortiz, Associate Director at the Oxford Climate Journalism Network; Mitali Mukherjee is Director of the Reuters Institute.

When: 8 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: The Reuters Institute

More Info

 

Thu, May 22 - Intro to ChatGPT

What: An introduction to ChatGPT designed for beginners. Only a free ChatGPT account is required to follow along.  

Who: Mohammed Husain, Solutions Engineer, OpenAI; Lois Newman, Customer Enablement, OpenAI.

When: 10 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: OpenAI Academy

More Info

 

Thu, May 22 – Hands on Career Preparation

What: Learn how career-prep programs are shaping the future of employment around the world.  You’ll receive insight into programs like:  Study-abroad opportunities that allow students to immerse themselves in new cultures and experiences. Internships that allow students to practice the day-to-day tasks of their chosen careers. Employer tuition-reimbursement programs that allow employees to complete a college program chosen by their employer for free or at a discounted rate. Entrepreneurial programs that allow students to apply their business knowledge in real-world opportunities.

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Chronicle of Higher Ed

More Info

 

Thu, May 22 - Writing in the Age of AI: What Faculty Need to Know

What: A faculty-focused session exploring the evolving role of writing in higher education. As AI tools like ChatGPT become widespread, educators are asking: What does it mean to teach writing today? How do we uphold academic integrity while encouraging student creativity?

Who: Siya Raj Purohit Education, OpenAI; Jay Dixit, Head of Community for Writers, OpenAI.

When: 4 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: OpenAI Academy

More Info

 

Fri, May 23 - Trust Busters: Building Newsroom Credibility

What: A hands-on workshop on building stronger relationships between newsrooms and communities. In an era of mistrust, this session will equip journalists with actionable strategies to demonstrate credibility and actively earn audience trust. 

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Sunlight Research Center & Trusting News

More Info

AI Definitions: Causal AI

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Causal AI – This is where the principles of causal inference is applied to AI so that it uncovers connections between data points and looks for the cause-and-effect relationships to understand why things happen. Instead of predicting an outcome and its value as in predictive interference, causal inference looks at how an outcome changes if a particular factor is manipulated. While predictive AI is ideal for anticipating what a user is most likely to be interested in based on past behavior and user characteristics (such as when making purchase recommendations), causal AI will gauge the impact of changes to user behavior (such as A/B testing).

More AI definitions here.

Stealing from Yourself

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There once was a thief, a man named Emanuel Ninger. The year is 1887. The scene is a small neighborhood grocery store. Mr. Ninger is buying some turnip greens. He gives the clerk a $20 bill. As the clerk begins to put the money in the cash drawer to give Nr. Ninger his change, she notices some of the ink from the $20 bill is coming off on her fingers which are damp from the turnip greens. She looks at Mr. Ninger, a man she has known for years. She looks at the smudged bill. This man is a trusted friend; she has known him all her life; he can't be a counterfeiter. She gives Mr. Ninger his change, and he leaves the store.     

But $20 is a lot of money in 1887, and eventually the clerk calls the police. They verify the bill as counterfeit and get a search warrant to look through Mr. Ninger's home. In the attic they find where he is reproducing money. He is a master artist and is painting $20 bills with brushes and paint! But also in the attic they find three portraits Ninger had painted. They seized these and eventually sold them at auction for $16,000 (in 1887 currency, remember) or a little more than $5,000 per painting. The irony is that it took Ninger almost as long to paint a $20 bill as it did for him to paint a $5,000 portrait! It's true that Emmanuel Ninger was a thief, but the person from whom he stole the most was himself. He was another in the endless list of thieves who steal from themselves when they try to steal from others. 

Zig Ziglar

14 Recent Articles about AI & Robotics

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A Journalist’s AI 'Go Bag'

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"What should be in a journalist’s AI go bag? For starters, the one basic thing that should be in everyone’s bag, the AI prepper’s equivalent of a flashlight and bottled water: skill at using AI tools. It is not enough to use it as a slightly better Google; you need to keep abreast of the latest releases and spend time every week pushing both its capabilities and your own. Trying to make it do your job is table stakes. Try making it write a children’s book, or invent a new game, or solve cold fusion. As with any learning process, the outcome is less important than the effort, because the effort is how you learn not just what it can do, but what you could do with it." -Megan McArdle writing in The Washington Post

The advantages of flexibility

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Flexibility is valuable in almost any aspect of life – in school, on the job, in intimate relations with other people, and even in dealing with oneself. Just think of how much more effective teachers could be if they accommodated themselves to the varied styles of thinking in their classrooms, or how easy it would be to work for people who allowed us to be ourselves and to get our work done in ways that are effective for us, or how enjoyable it would be to be in a relationship with someone who fully appreciated us for ourselves – for our own likes and dislikes – rather than for what they would like us to be. The advantages of flexibility are so overwhelming that one wonders why we don’t emphasize it much more than we do in our teaching of our children, our students, and our employees. 

Robert Sternberg, Thinking Styles

22 Articles about What AI can do now

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NBC will use Jim Fagan’s AI-generated voice for NBA coverage –The Verge 

Eldercare robot helps people sit and stand, and catches them if they fall – MIT

4 ways I use AI as an accessibility specialist – Scott Vinkle Blog 

AI Helped Heal My Chronic Pain – Wall Street Journal 

AI headphones translate multiple speakers at once, cloning their voices in 3D sound – Univ of Washington  

New Lego-building AI creates models that actually stand up in real life - Ars Technica  

An AI-created video of a murdered man is used to deliver a victim's statement at a killer's sentencing – BBC

World biometric identity network launches in U.S. with iris-scanning stores - The Washington

Visa and Mastercard unveil AI-powered shopping – Tech Crunch 

The Evolution of AI Products – LukeW

Researchers Secretly Ran a Massive, Unauthorized AI Persuasion Experiment on Reddit Users – 404 Media   

I Recorded Everything I Said for Three Months. AI Has Replaced My Memory. – Wall Street Journal

An AI-generated radio host in Australia went unnoticed for months – The Verge

These autistic people struggled to make sense of others. Then they found AI. – Washington Post

Mother feeling lonely? Pay for an AI app to give her a call – The Times

Google created a new AI model for talking to dolphins - Ars Technica  

Wearable AI system helps blind people navigate – Techxplore  

An AI model that learns to predict how quantum systems evolve – The Quantum Insider  

Google AI masters Minecraft - Semafor 

Philly’s new Vision Zero dashboard shows where and how crashes happen – Technical.ly

Invasion of the Home Humanoid Robots – New York Times

Walgreens doubles down on prescription-filling robots to cut costs, free up pharmacists amid turnaround – CNBC

Bot Trained to Provide Students Feedback on Assignments

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A communication professor at the University of Washington, developed a custom A.I. chatbot by training it on versions of old assignments that she had graded. It can now give students feedback on their writing that mimics her own at any time, day or night. It has been beneficial for students who are otherwise hesitant to ask for help, she said.  “Is there going to be a point in the foreseeable future that much of what graduate student teaching assistants do can be done by A.I.?” she said. “Yeah, absolutely.” - New York Times

The Importance of Leisure

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German philosopher Josef Pieper wrote, “We mistake leisure for idleness, and work for creativity." 

In a world of “total work,” there is no space for contemplation or rest. There is no need for people to be in “harmony with themselves” as long as they are employed. To “know thyself” is a secondary concern, and any sort of break from work is merely in the service of doing more work. 

As Pieper put it:

The simple ”break” from work — the kind that lasts an hour, or the kind that lasts a week or longer — is part and parcel of daily working life. It is something that has been built into the whole working process, a part of the schedule. The ”break” is there for the sake of work. It is supposed to provide ”new strength” for ”new work,” as the word ”refreshment” indicates: one is refreshed for work through being refreshed from work. 

Paul Millerd writing in Quartz

22 Articles about the Business of Running an AI Company

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AI Startup Perplexity’s Valuation Surges to $14 Billion in New Funding Round – Wall Street Journal  

Google AI Overviews leads to dramatic reduction in clickthroughs for Mail Online – Press Gazette

How China’s Biggest Chipmaker, SMIC, Could Threaten U.S. AI Dominance - Wall Street Journal

AI Is Not Your Friend How the “opinionated” chatbots destroyed AI’s potential, and how we can fix it – The Atlantic

Reports: US losing edge in AI talent pool - Semafor

Google Plans to Roll Out Its A.I. Chatbot to Children Under 13 – New York Times

Researchers Find Easy Way to Jailbreak Every Major AI, From ChatGPT to Claude -Futurism 

Advanced AI gets more unpredictable - Axios 

Here’s How Big the AI Revolution Really Is, in Four Charts - Wall Street Journal

Sam Altman Admits That Saying "Please" and "Thank You" to ChatGPT Is Wasting Millions of Dollars in Computing Power -Futurism

Immigrant founders are the norm in key U.S. AI firms: study - Axios

Reasoning models don't always say what they think - Anthropic

Nvidia reveals plans to manufacture some AI chips in the U.S. – NBC News 

Oracle to provide cloud computing, AI services to Singapore military – Reuters  

Nvidia to Make AI Supercomputers Entirely in U.S. - Wall Street Journal

AI startup is reportedly aiming for a massive $2B seed round – Tech Crunch

Google unveils Ironwood, its most powerful AI processor yet – ArsTechnica

Meta got caught gaming AI benchmarks to make it appear its new AI model is better than the competition  - The Verge  

Google is in trouble... but this could change everything - and no, it's not AI - ZDnet 

OpenAI and Anthropic are fighting over college students with free AI – The Verge 

Why the AI Revolution Will Require Massive Energy Resources - AEI

Perplexity partners with PayPal for in-chat shopping as AI race heats up – CNBC