OpenAI says newest AI model can ‘think with images,’ understanding diagrams and sketches - Hayden Field, CNBC

OpenAI released its newest AI model that it said can understand uploaded images like whiteboards, sketches and diagrams, even if they’re low quality. The company called o3 its most advanced model yet and also released a smaller model called o4-mini. OpenAI is racing to stay ahead in generative AI as competitors including Google, Anthropic and Elon Musk’s xAI ramp up development.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/16/openai-releases-most-advanced-ai-model-yet-o3-o4-mini-reasoning-images.html

Southeast Minnesota colleges are contending with a new kind of fraud: Ghost students - Matthew Stolle, Post Bulletin

Last year, officials at Minnesota State College Southeast were heartened by a gratifying trend. Spring enrollment numbers were up — way up. It was a mirage. Many of the students weren’t real. They were “ghost students.” In all, the college ended up dropping 84 fake students — all believed to be part of a scam to access and abscond with financial aid money. The ploy represents a new kind of enrollment fraud that U.S. and area colleges are facing. The fraudsters, using stolen or fabricated identities, pose as online learners. Often targeting community and technical colleges, where digital learning comprises a significant portion of enrollment, these “learners” take advantage of the asynchronous nature of online learning.

https://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/southeast-minnesota-colleges-are-contending-with-a-new-kind-of-fraud-ghost-students

Many College Degrees Are Now Useless—Here’s What Is Worth Your Money - Cheryl Robinson, Forbes

 TikTok millionaires and AI tools make college look like an overpriced relic, so it’s fair to ask: are degrees even worth it anymore? The answer? Some absolutely are—and some absolutely are not. The key is relevance. If you invest four (or more) years of your life and tens of thousands of dollars, you better make sure you’re walking away with something more than just a piece of paper and a student loan the size of a mortgage. As the value of a four-year degree is increasingly questioned, public perception is shifting to match: nearly half of Americans believe it’s less important for securing a well-paying job than it was two decades ago according to a 2024 Pew Research Center survey. Major companies like Apple, IBM and Hilton have eliminated degree requirements for many roles, opting instead to evaluate candidates based on their experience and practical skills. A 2022 study by the Burning Glass Institute revealed that millions of job postings have dropped bachelor’s degree requirements, and a 2020 analysis found a similar trend for positions like production supervisors. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylrobinson/2025/04/15/many-college-degrees-are-now-useless-heres-whats-worth-your-money/

How Tech Giants Are Tackling AGI Safety Risks - Forward Future

In a world where the boundaries between human and artificial intelligence are becoming increasingly blurred, we are on the cusp of a technological revolution that could fundamentally change our lives. Artificial General Intelligence—AI systems that are at least as capable as humans in almost all cognitive areas or, depending on the definition, an autonomous AI agent that can generate $100b in profit—could become a reality in the coming years. According to Google DeepMind, “equipped with agentic capabilities, it could enable AI to understand, think, plan and act autonomously.

https://www.forwardfuture.ai/p/the-road-to-safe-agi-how-tech-giants-are-managing-the-risks-of-artificial-general-intelligence 

Workforce 2025: Power Shifts -The shifting dynamics between employer control and employee expectations are powering up the future of work - Korn Ferry

When companies need to cut labor costs, middle managers are often the first in line for layoffs. And that tactic seems to be affecting many workers this year. In our 2025 Korn Ferry Workforce survey, 41% of employees told us that their organization has slashed management layers. 43% of employees say their leaders aren't aligned, and 37% say the lack of managers has left them feeling directionless. The impact is more than just a slimmed-down organizational chart with fewer managers. Losing that management layer can quickly lead to employee confusion and dissatisfaction, ultimately affecting productivity. 43% of employees say their leaders aren't aligned, and 37% say the lack of managers has left them feeling directionless.

https://www.kornferry.com/insights/featured-topics/workforce-management/workforce-planning-insights

OpenAI launches o3 and o4-mini, AI models that ‘think with images’ and use tools autonomously - Michael Nuñez, Venture Beat

OpenAI launched two groundbreaking AI models today that can reason with images and use tools independently, representing what experts call a step change in artificial intelligence capabilities. The San Francisco-based company introduced o3 and o4-mini, the latest in its “o-series” of reasoning models, which it claims are its most intelligent and capable models to date. These systems can integrate images directly into their reasoning process, search the web, run code, analyze files, and even generate images within a single task flow.

https://venturebeat.com/ai/openai-launches-o3-and-o4-mini-ai-models-that-think-with-images-and-use-tools-autonomously/

Introducing OpenAI o3 and o4-mini: Our smartest and most capable models to date with full tool access - OpenAI

Today, we’re releasing OpenAI o3 and o4-mini, the latest in our o-series of models trained to think for longer before responding. These are the smartest models we’ve released to date, representing a step change in ChatGPT's capabilities for everyone from curious users to advanced researchers. For the first time, our reasoning models can agentically use and combine every tool within ChatGPT—this includes searching the web, analyzing uploaded files and other data with Python, reasoning deeply about visual inputs, and even generating images. Critically, these models are trained to reason about when and how to use tools to produce detailed and thoughtful answers in the right output formats, typically in under a minute, to solve more complex problems. 

https://openai.com/index/introducing-o3-and-o4-mini/

Sam Altman at TED 2025: Inside the most uncomfortable — and important — AI interview of the year - Michael Nuñez, Venture Beat

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed that his company has grown to 800 million weekly active users and is experiencing “unbelievable” growth rates, during a sometimes tense interview at the TED 2025 conference in Vancouver last week. “I have never seen growth in any company, one that I’ve been involved with or not, like this,” Altman told TED head Chris Anderson during their on-stage conversation. “The growth of ChatGPT — it is really fun. I feel deeply honored. But it is crazy to live through, and our teams are exhausted and stressed.” The interview, which closed out the final day of TED 2025: Humanity Reimagined, showcased not just OpenAI’s skyrocketing success but also the increasing scrutiny the company faces as its technology transforms society at a pace that alarms even some of its supporters.

https://venturebeat.com/ai/sam-altman-at-ted-2025-inside-the-most-uncomfortable-and-important-ai-interview-of-the-year/

How An AI Tutor Could Level The Playing Field For Students Worldwide - David Prosser, Forbes

A landmark study by educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom found “90% of tutored students ... attained the level of summative achievement reached by only the highest 20% of the control class”. The real-life impact of this gap is to exacerbate inequality. Well-off students able to access one-on-one tutoring will perform better than classmates who learn in large groups. It’s a problem in Western societies, with wealth inequality inhibiting social mobility. It also hits hundreds of millions of students in developing economies, who miss out on the educational advantages many of their counterparts in richer nations take for granted. Enter Karttikeya Mangalam, CEO and co-founder of SigIQ.ai, who believes artificial intelligence can begin to redress this balance. He and co-founder Kurt Keutzer have developed an AI tutor they claim can deliver one-to-one teaching of the same quality as a human educator, but at a fraction of the price. SigIQ, which is today announcing that it has raised $9.5 million of new funding, aims to offer this tutor to as many students who need it.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidprosser/2025/04/07/how-an-ai-tutor-could-level-the-playing-field-for-students-worldwide/

3 takeaways on higher education innovation from the ASU+GSV Summit - Natalie Schwartz, Higher Ed Dive

The higher education sector is facing an onslaught of challenges, including attacks from the Trump administration, fading public confidence and the demographic cliff. But higher education leaders didn’t shy away from these issues at the annual ASU+GSV Summit, an education and technology conference held this week in San Diego. “The moment is actually a productive moment for us, because we can and should and will use some of the chaos in order to build new kinds of institutions, new infrastructures, new ways of thinking,” said Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, during a discussion Wednesday. 

https://www.highereddive.com/news/higher-education-innovation-asu-gsv-summit/745201/

Kishwaukee College creates AI guidelines for use in higher education - Dekalb County Daily Chronicle

“The AI Implementation Playbook is a responsive and evolving resource that reflects Kishwaukee College’s commitment to innovation and excellence in education,” Kishwaukee College president Laurie Borowicz said in a news release. “This plan is very adaptable and will be updated to address changes in technology and the needs of our students,” The college developed the artificial intelligence playbook with industry leaders, organizations and colleges. Kishwaukee College outlined a four-step approach to implement artificial intelligence. The steps include tracking artificial intelligence-related activities; researching industry best practices; developing a technology integration and product development process; and fostering an experimentation, awareness, literacy and adoption culture.

https://www.shawlocal.com/daily-chronicle/2025/04/12/kishwaukee-college-creates-ai-guidelines-for-use-in-higher-education/

What Students Really Think of Technology and AI - EDUCAUSE

This podcast discusses how students are integrating technology and AI into their education [00:06, 00:12]. Students utilize interactive platforms, like live quiz software, finding them engaging and effective for demonstrating learning compared to traditional methods [01:13, 01:46]. However, challenges arise from outdated systems and faculty lacking training [02:15], and even good platforms can be difficult if not well-organized by instructors [02:24]. Some technologies are perceived as unhelpful, particularly if instructors are unfamiliar with them [02:38]. The role of AI in education is a major topic [02:50], though some students don't find it very useful in their classes [03:24]. Faculty opinions on AI are divided, with some viewing it as a helpful tool and others as a threat to academic honesty [03:30]. A lack of clear guidelines on the ethical use of AI in coursework is also noted [03:53]. Ultimately, the podcast emphasizes the importance for students to understand and effectively use evolving technology [04:28]. (summary by Gemini 2.5 Pro)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX-4Tn9ydsE

Morehouse College Unveils AI Teaching Assistants - Eric Glick, Ed Tech

In what is being hailed as a significant technological leap forward, Morehouse College is offering 3D avatars that can stand in for teaching assistants. These humanlike figures can answer student questions 24 hours a day. The school, regarded as a higher education innovator in immersive learning, notes that the artificial intelligence-powered instructors are trained from teachers’ lectures and course notes. They are designed to offer students a more personalized alternative to chatbots. AI has been hailed a potentially powerful tool in higher education’s arsenal, particularly when it comes to supplemental teaching aids. Morehouse’s latest implementation sets a new standard for education. Morehouse does not currently employ teaching assistants, so the avatars may represent a constructive addition to students' overall learning experience.

https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2025/04/morehouse-college-unveils-ai-teaching-assistants

The Ripple Effects of Draining the Ph.D. Pool - Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Ed

Deep cuts to federal research funding and crackdowns on international students could mean far fewer graduate students next fall and beyond. If that happens, undergraduates, faculty and research productivity would all suffer. Under mounting financial and political pressures, universities have paused or rescinded graduate student admissions on an unprecedented scale, which could create cross-campus ripple effects next fall and beyond. The extent of the cuts to the graduate student workforce remains unclear and will vary from institution to institution. But if and when those losses come to pass, experts say that employing fewer graduate students—particularly Ph.D. students, who typically hold years-long research and teaching assistantships—will undermine universities’ broader operations, including undergraduate education, faculty support and the future of academic research, which is reliant on training the next generation of scholars.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/students/graduate-students-and-postdocs/2025/04/11/how-drop-phd-students-could-affect-colleges

How apprenticeships can broaden access to education and quality jobs - Marieke Vandeweyer and Vlasis Korovilos, OECD Ed Today

In today’s economy, rapid changes such as the digital and green transition are creating a demand for specialised skills. But in many sectors, the demand for skills outpaces the supply of qualified professionals. This situation underscores the urgent need for accessible educational pathways – including in higher education. One promising option is the expansion of apprenticeships: giving people hands-on training, earning potential and career advancement opportunities. By taking on apprentices, businesses give themselves a sustainable method of recruiting and training employees to meet skills needs, helping them to stay competitive and foster employee loyalty and retention. At the recent joint OECD-CEDEFOP symposium ‘New fields for apprenticeship’, experts highlighted the potential of apprenticeship for different sectors of the economy and different types of learners. “Apprenticeships do work across different sectors and levels,” the Head of the OECD Centre for Skills El Iza Mohamedou told the audience. “(But) we still have to do a lot of work to further the case for apprenticeships.”

https://oecdedutoday.com/how-apprenticeships-can-broaden-access-to-education-and-quality-jobs/

Honing leadership excellence in the public sector - McKinsey

When asked what characterized the most outstanding leaders they had worked with, the respondents suggested that character is destiny: One of the most-cited traits was being respected for character, values, and integrity. As one interviewee put it, “Your integrity and ethics are the core of being in the public service.” This set the foundation for two other essential traits—clarity of purpose and the ability to deliver results despite ambiguity and change. In our survey and interviews, we asked leaders what differentiated the public sector from other sectors and what this meant for leadership (Exhibit 1). By far, the most significant difference was navigating the ever-changing political dynamics and complexities of cabinet government. As several leaders noted, when senior leaders join government from the private sector, they are often shocked at how little linear accountability there is.

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-sector/our-insights/honing-leadership-excellence-in-the-public-sector

Artificial intelligence in educational leadership: a comprehensive taxonomy and future directions - Martin Sposato, International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education

Through a systematic literature review and inductive analysis of publications from 2017 to 2024, the research synthesizes diverse AI applications into ten distinct domains: Administrative Efficiency, Personalized Learning, Enhancing Teaching Practices, Decision-Making and Policy Formulation, Student Support Services, Organizational Leadership and Strategic Planning, Governance and Compliance, Community Engagement and Communication, Ethical AI Leadership, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives. The resulting taxonomy, validated across various higher education contexts, provides educational leaders with a structured framework for understanding, evaluating, and implementing AI solutions in their institutions. This study contributes to the field by offering a common language and conceptual framework for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners, while also identifying critical areas for future research. 

https://educationaltechnologyjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41239-025-00517-1

Anthropic launches an AI chatbot plan for colleges and universities - Maxwell Zeff, TechCrunch

Anthropic announced on Wednesday that it’s launching a new Claude for Education tier, an answer to OpenAI’s ChatGPT Edu plan. The new tier is aimed at higher education, and gives students, faculty, and other staff access to Anthropic’s AI chatbot, Claude, with a few additional capabilities. One piece of Claude for Education is “Learning Mode,” a new feature within Claude Projects to help students develop their own critical thinking skills, rather than simply obtain answers to questions. With Learning Mode enabled, Claude will ask questions to test understanding, highlight fundamental principles behind specific problems, and provide potentially useful templates for research papers, outlines, and study guides.

https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/02/anthropic-launches-an-ai-chatbot-tier-for-colleges-and-universities/

If Anthropic Succeeds, a Nation of Benevolent AI Geniuses Could Be Born - Steve Levy, Wired

When Dario Amodei gets excited about AI—which is nearly always—he moves. The cofounder and CEO springs from a seat in a conference room and darts over to a whiteboard. He scrawls charts with swooping hockey-stick curves that show how machine intelligence is bending toward the infinite. His hand rises to his curly mop of hair, as if he’s caressing his neurons to forestall a system crash. You can almost feel his bones vibrate as he explains how his company, Anthropic, is unlike other AI model builders. He’s trying to create an artificial general intelligence—or as he calls it, “powerful AI”—that will never go rogue. It’ll be a good guy, an usher of utopia. And while Amodei is vital to Anthropic, he comes in second to the company’s most important contributor. Like other extraordinary beings (Beyoncé, Cher, Pelé), the latter goes by a single name, in this case a pedestrian one, reflecting its pliancy and comity. Oh, and it’s an AI model. Hi, Claude!

https://www.wired.com/story/anthropic-benevolent-artificial-intelligence/

AI Literacy in Higher Education: Preparing Students for the Future Workforce - Jaspreet Bindra, Best Colleges India

AI literacy is essential for students as industries embrace artificial intelligence, making its integration into higher education crucial for future job readiness. The rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) are transforming industries worldwide, making AI literacy an essential skill for students entering the workforce. As AI continues to disrupt traditional job roles, higher education institutions must integrate AI literacy into their curricula to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed for the evolving job market. This article explores the importance of AI literacy in higher education, key components of AI education, and strategies for preparing students for an AI-driven workforce.

 

https://bestcolleges.indiatoday.in/news-detail/ai-literacy-in-higher-education-preparing-students-for-the-future-workforce

First Therapy Chatbot Trial Yields Mental Health Benefits - Morgan Kelly, Dartmouth

Dartmouth researchers conducted the first-ever clinical trial of a generative AI-powered therapy chatbot and found that the software resulted in significant improvements in participants’ symptoms, according to results published March 27 in NEJM AI. People in the study also reported they could trust and communicate with the system, known as Therabot, to a degree that is comparable to working with a mental-health professional. The trial consisted of 106 people from across the United States diagnosed with major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, or an eating disorder. Participants interacted with Therabot through a smartphone app by typing out responses to prompts about how they were feeling or initiating conversations when they needed to talk. People diagnosed with depression experienced a 51% average reduction in symptoms, leading to clinically significant improvements in mood and overall well-being, the researchers report. Participants with generalized anxiety reported an average reduction in symptoms of 31%, with many shifting from moderate to mild anxiety, or from mild anxiety to below the clinical threshold for diagnosis.

https://home.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/03/first-therapy-chatbot-trial-yields-mental-health-benefits