The Paleolithic Paradox: Why AI Is Not Like Us

The more I chat with large language models like Grok and ChatGPT—my go-to conversational partners these days—the less I fear a Skynet-style AI uprising.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.stevehargadon.com/2025/05/the-paleolithic-paradox-why-ai-is-not.html

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

As a new type of artificial intelligence, ChatGPT is becoming widely used in learning. However, academic consensus regarding its efficacy remains elusive.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-025-04787-y

https://www.anthropic.com/news/anthropic-education-report-how-university-students-use-claude?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.anthropic.com/news/anthropic-education-report-how-university-students-use-claude?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

A Judge Accepted AI Video Testimony From a Dead Man

An AI avatar made to look and sound like the likeness of a man who was killed in a road rage incident addressed the court and the man who killed him: “To Gabriel Horcasitas, the man who shot me, it is a shame we encountered each other that day in those circumstances,” the AI avatar of Christophe

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.404media.co/email/0cb70eb4-c805-4e4e-9428-7ae90657205c/

Anthropic CEO Admits We Don't Understand How AI Works

In a rare and striking moment of candor, Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic—one of the world’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) research labs—has publicly admitted that even the foremost experts do not fully understand how their own AI models work.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://aisecret.us/anthropic-ceo-admits-we-dont-understand-how-ai-works/

Could AI Really Replace Teachers? Not So Fast, Experts Say

As dissatisfied American parents look for education alternatives in the wake of pandemic-era frustrations with the status quo, the role of the teacher is rapidly evolving, with some private schools redefining the human element inside tech-laden classrooms.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.newsweek.com/evolving-role-teachers-ai-classrooms-alpha-school-2067309

US federal judge on Meta's AI copyright fair use argument : 'You are dramatically changing, you might even say obliterating, the market for that person's work'

Comedian Sarah Silverman and two other authors filed copyright infringement lawsuits against Meta Platforms and OpenAI back in 2023, alleging pirated versions of their works were used without permission to train AI language models.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.pcgamer.com/software/ai/us-federal-judge-on-metas-ai-copyright-fair-use-argument-you-are-dramatically-changing-you-might-even-say-obliterating-the-market-for-that-persons-work/

Tech Companies Are Seeking To Develop AI That Excels at Flattering and Manipulating Us

A disturbing new use of AI—to understand and manipulate our intentions through flattery and false friendship—has been identified in new research from the University of Cambridge.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://thedebrief.org/tech-companies-are-seeking-to-develop-ai-that-excels-at-flattering-and-manipulating-us/

These Startups Are Building Advanced AI Models Without Data Centers

Researchers have trained a new kind of large language model (LLM) using GPUs dotted across the world and fed private as well as public data—a move that suggests that the dominant way of building artificial intelligence could be disrupted.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.wired.com/story/these-startups-are-building-advanced-ai-models-over-the-internet-with-untapped-data/

One of Earth's greatest mysteries is partially solved by Artificial Intelligence

The sun-baked flats of southern Peru hold a secret bigger than any signpost. From a low ridge, the landscape looks plain enough – just ocher earth and scattered stones.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.earth.com/news/enduring-earth-mystery-partially-solved-artificial-intelligence-nazca-geoglyphs/

DeepSeek-Prover-V2: A New Era in Automated Mathematical Reasoning

In the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, the ability to automate formal mathematical reasoning stands as a formidable challenge.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://aisecret.us/deepseek-prover-v2-a-new-era-in-automated-mathematical-reasoning/

When an AI tells you you’re perfect

OpenAI released a model that tells users they’re right — no matter what. That’s more dangerous than it seems. A version of this story originally appeared in the Future Perfect newsletter. Sign up here!

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/411318/openai-chatgpt-4o-artificial-intelligence-sam-altman-chatbot-personality

Reddit bans researchers who used AI bots to manipulate commenters

Commenters on the popular subreddit r/changemymind found out last weekend that they’ve been majorly duped for months.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/657978/reddit-ai-experiment-banned

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/news-anthropic-ceo-ai-interoperability/

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/news-anthropic-ceo-ai-interoperability/

Consumers make their voices heard as Microsoft's huge venture flatlines in popularity

In January 2024, we saw Microsoft begin to change gears. After sitting on the sidelines in the AI war, the company began to slowly, but surely, develop its Copilot assistant into an artificial intelligence using LLM technology.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.xda-developers.com/microsofts-huge-venture-flatlines/

The Jobs That Will Fall First As AI Takes Over The Workplace

Senior Contributor. Artificial intelligence (AI) is advancing at breakneck speed. The big question is how long it will take until technology dominates the job market. You should start thinking about your own career. Will you be caught up in the change? With the U.S.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2025/04/25/the-jobs-that-will-fall-first-as-ai-takes-over-the-workplace/

AI is Reshaping Psychotherapy. We Have Two Years to Get Ready.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.jordanthecounselor.com/so/e2PO-LnqC?languageTag=en

Is an Emergent Synthetic Intelligence Already Here?

The more I engage with large language models (LLMs), the more I’m convinced they’re doing something beyond statistical pattern-matching. These systems feel intelligent.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.stevehargadon.com/2025/04/is-emergent-synthetic-intelligence.html

Demis Hassabis Is Preparing for AI’s Endgame

This story is part of the 2025 TIME100. Read Jennifer Doudna’s tribute to Demis Hassabis here. Demis Hassabis learned he had won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry just 20 minutes before the world did.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://time.com/7277608/demis-hassabis-interview-time100-2025/

When Will AI Be Smarter Than Humans? Don’t Ask

If you’ve heard the term artificial general intelligence, or AGI, it probably makes you think of a humanish intelligence, like the honey-voiced AI love interest in the movie Her, or a superhuman one, like Skynet from The Terminator. At any rate, something science-fictional and far off.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/features/2025-04-13/when-will-ai-be-smarter-than-humans-don-t-ask

DeepMind’s 145-page paper on AGI safety may not convince skeptics

Google DeepMind on Wednesday published an exhaustive paper on its safety approach to AGI, roughly defined as AI that can accomplish any task a human can. AGI is a bit of a controversial subject in the AI field, with naysayers suggesting that it’s little more than a pipe dream.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/02/deepminds-145-page-paper-on-agi-safety-may-not-convince-skeptics/

An AI Model Has Officially Passed the Turing Test

One of the industry's leading large language models has passed a Turing test, a longstanding barometer for human-like intelligence.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://futurism.com/ai-model-turing-test

The New Student in Class: Generative AI

For three McGill professors in the Faculty of Arts, the conversation around artificial intelligence (AI) in teaching took off in 2023. ChatGPT, an AI chatbot built on OpenAI’s foundational large language models (LLMs), had become popular one year earlier.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.mcgilldaily.com/2025/03/the-new-student-in-class-generative-ai/

AI and the Paradox of Education: Generative Teaching, Agentic Learning, and Education's Singularity

"It’s true - @stevehargadon is a national treasure." @markjotter "Steve is an amazing facilitator. He brings this wonderful combination of humility, hospitality and insight to conversations that matter in education.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.stevehargadon.com/2025/03/ai-and-paradox-of-education-generative.html

https://www.anthropic.com/research/tracing-thoughts-language-model?utm_source=www.therundown.ai&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=openai-nears-record-funding-round&_bhlid=4c0bce5ba4bff771ed63a8fe44a5527656a6548e

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.anthropic.com/research/tracing-thoughts-language-model?utm_source=www.therundown.ai&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=openai-nears-record-funding-round&_bhlid=4c0bce5ba4bff771ed63a8fe44a5527656a6548e

A New Old Way: Learning in Conversation with AI

There is a line in Charles Handy’s The Age of Unreason where he quotes an anonymous Irishman: “How do I know what I think until I hear what I say?” (Others have said similar things.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.stevehargadon.com/2025/03/a-new-old-way-learning-in-conversation.html

Session 123: "AI and Libraries: with Lib2.0"

Steve Hargadon joins as host of the 56,000-member Library 2.0 online community, for a discussion on the evolving role of artificial intelligence in libraries. Drawing from two years of hosting free large-scale mini-conferences on AI and libraries as well as paid webinars and workshops. Steve will

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZl17i1kuoE&t=177s

You’ll Laugh at This Simple Task AI Still Can’t Do

Most human children learn how to tell time around ages six and seven — but artificial intelligence still, apparently, can't parse a clock face.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://futurism.com/ai-simple-task-fail-clock

Your A.I. Lover Will Change You

A future where many humans are in love with bots may not be far off. Should we regard them as training grounds for healthy relationships or as nihilistic traps?

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/your-ai-lover-will-change-you

https://www.perplexity.ai/page/notebooklm-introduces-interact-AG6Ijc1IT0mzAyXGj8aBiw

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.perplexity.ai/page/notebooklm-introduces-interact-AG6Ijc1IT0mzAyXGj8aBiw

Webinar: "How to Read a Book (and More) With AI"

"It’s true - @stevehargadon is a national treasure." @markjotter "Steve is an amazing facilitator. He brings this wonderful combination of humility, hospitality and insight to conversations that matter in education.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.stevehargadon.com/2025/03/webinar-how-to-read-book-and-more-with.html

https://www.axios.com/2025/03/18/enterprise-ai-tension-workers-execs

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.axios.com/2025/03/18/enterprise-ai-tension-workers-execs

AI and the "Cliff Clavin Problem"

On the TV show Cheers, Cliff Clavin was the character who worked very hard to say sophisticated sounding things but who most of the time was just making up facts. AI, specifically large language models (LLMs), have a Cliff Clavin problem.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.stevehargadon.com/2025/03/ai-and-cliff-clavin-problem.html

https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/chatgpt-ai-cheating-students-97075d3c

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/chatgpt-ai-cheating-students-97075d3c

Alibaba Releases AI Model That Reads Emotions to Take On OpenAI

In two demonstrations, Alibaba’s Tongyi Lab researchers showed their new open source R1-Omni inferring the emotional state of a person in a video while also offering descriptions of their clothes and environment.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/alibaba-releases-emotional-intelligence-model-102013293.html

A DeepSeek Ban is Absolutely Coming

The existence of DeepSeek AI makes absolutely no sense. The entire United States government, and most recently the Supreme Court, have worked themselves into a tizzy over concerns about TikTok.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://medium.com/the-generator/a-deepseek-ban-is-absolutely-coming-2167119732f2

The AI Image Generation Mistake 99% of People Make (5-Minute Fix!)

Imagine trying to be a good carpenter, but you only know how to use a hammer and a screwdriver. It would be impossible!

ORIGINAL LINK: https://ai.plainenglish.io/the-ai-image-generation-mistake-99-of-people-make-5-minute-fix-05b80830ebf4

I Tried Google’s Generative Search. It Will Change Blogging Forever.

This week, I finally got an invitation to beta test Google’s new generative AI-powered search experience, dubbed Search Generative Experience (SGE). It's a total game-changer.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://medium.com/the-generator/i-tried-googles-generative-search-it-will-change-blogging-forever-e95bdf753106

Google just confirmed the AI reality many programmers are desperately trying to deny

Now Google’s Chief Scientist just made a telling revelation: AI now generates at least 25% of their code. Can you see — it’s happening now at top software companies with billions of active lines of code.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://medium.com/coding-beauty/ai-writes-google-codebase-00e6ad35ac7c

How Gen AI Could Change the Value of Expertise

As the deployment of generative AI automates away elements of some jobs and augments workers’ abilities in others, the skills, experiences, and credentials that employers use to evaluate job candidates will change rapidly.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://hbr.org/2025/03/how-gen-ai-could-change-the-value-of-expertise

The Fate of the Lawyer Who Cited Fake Cases from ChatGPT

It says a lot about how society (and the law) will treat AI's mistakes

ORIGINAL LINK: https://ai-in-real-life.beehiiv.com/p/the-fate-of-the-lawyer-who-cited-fake-cases-from-chatgpt

I tried the most realistic AI voice companion ever created - if ChatGPT or Gemini ever gets this good, reality is in trouble

I have spent a lot of time talking to AI. I’ve tested every voice assistant, every chatbot, and every “next-generation” conversational AI that tech companies love to hype up. But I’ve never encountered anything quite like Sesame.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.techradar.com/computing/artificial-intelligence/i-tried-the-most-realistic-ai-voice-companion-ever-created-if-chatgpt-or-gemini-ever-gets-this-good-reality-is-in-trouble

Fiverr’s New Suite Of AI Tools Could Reshape The Freelance Economy

, Contributor. Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about the economics of AI.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kolawolesamueladebayo/2025/03/07/fiverrs-new-suite-of-ai-tools-could-reshape-the-freelance-economy/

ChatGPT gets ‘anxiety’ from violent user inputs, so researchers are teaching the chatbot mindfulness techniques to ‘soothe’ it

BYResearchers are working to find ways to apply AI to mental health interventions.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://fortune.com/2025/03/09/openai-chatgpt-anxiety-mindfulness-mental-health-intervention/

AI tools are spotting errors in research papers: inside a growing movement

Late last year, media outlets worldwide warned that black plastic cooking utensils contained worrying levels of cancer-linked flame retardants.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00648-5

AI is creating 'overly compliant helpers,' not revolutionaries, said the top scientist at Hugging Face

AI excels at following instructions — but it's not pushing the boundaries of knowledge, said Thomas Wolf. The chief science officer and cofounder of Hugging Face, an open-source AI company backed by Amazon and Nvidia, analyzed the limits of large language models in a Thursday post on X.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-not-revolutionaries-thomas-wolf-science-breakthrough-agent-hugging-face-2025-3

https://phys.org/news/2025-03-generative-ai-upending-freelance-safe.html

ORIGINAL LINK: https://phys.org/news/2025-03-generative-ai-upending-freelance-safe.html

China’s Autonomous Agent, Manus, Changes Everything

, Contributor. Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Craig S. Smith, Eye on AI host and former NYT writer, covers AI.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.forbes.com/sites/craigsmith/2025/03/08/chinas-autonomous-agent-manus-changes-everything/

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt sounds the alarm over a ‘Manhattan Project’ for superintelligent AI

BYEric Schmidt, Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang, and Center for AI Safety Director Dan Hendrycks are sounding the alarm about the global race to build superintelligent AI.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://fortune.com/2025/03/06/eric-schmidt-warning-manhattan-project-superintelligent-ai/

AI and the Public

As artificial intelligence becomes more embedded in work, creative pursuits, and the generation of online misinformation, public libraries have a major new role to play in digital literacy. “Make your photos pop with Magic Editor” reads the landing page for Google’s new Pixel 9 smartphone.

ORIGINAL LINK: https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/ai-and-the-public