[Report] Generative AI Top 150: The World’s Most Used AI Tools (Feb 2024) — from flexos.work by Daan van Rossum
FlexOS.work surveyed Generative AI platforms to reveal which get used most. While ChatGPT reigns supreme, countless AI platforms are used by millions.

As the FlexOS research study “Generative AI at Work” concluded based on a survey amongst knowledge workers, ChatGPT reigns supreme.

2. AI Tool Usage is Way Higher Than People Expect – Beating Netflix, Pinterest, Twitch.
As measured by data analysis platform Similarweb based on global web traffic tracking, the AI tools in this list generate over 3 billion monthly visits.

With 1.67 billion visits, ChatGPT represents over half of this traffic and is already bigger than Netflix, Microsoft, Pinterest, Twitch, and The New York Times.

.


Artificial Intelligence Act: MEPs adopt landmark law — from europarl.europa.eu

  • Safeguards on general purpose artificial intelligence
  • Limits on the use of biometric identification systems by law enforcement
  • Bans on social scoring and AI used to manipulate or exploit user vulnerabilities
  • Right of consumers to launch complaints and receive meaningful explanations


The untargeted scraping of facial images from CCTV footage to create facial recognition databases will be banned © Alexander / Adobe Stock


A New Surge in Power Use Is Threatening U.S. Climate Goals — from nytimes.com by Brad Plumer and Nadja Popovich
A boom in data centers and factories is straining electric grids and propping up fossil fuels.

Something unusual is happening in America. Demand for electricity, which has stayed largely flat for two decades, has begun to surge.

Over the past year, electric utilities have nearly doubled their forecasts of how much additional power they’ll need by 2028 as they confront an unexpected explosion in the number of data centers, an abrupt resurgence in manufacturing driven by new federal laws, and millions of electric vehicles being plugged in.


OpenAI and the Fierce AI Industry Debate Over Open Source — from bloomberg.com by Rachel Metz

The tumult could seem like a distraction from the startup’s seemingly unending march toward AI advancement. But the tension, and the latest debate with Musk, illuminates a central question for OpenAI, along with the tech world at large as it’s increasingly consumed by artificial intelligence: Just how open should an AI company be?

The meaning of the word “open” in “OpenAI” seems to be a particular sticking point for both sides — something that you might think sounds, on the surface, pretty clear. But actual definitions are both complex and controversial.


Researchers develop AI-driven tool for near real-time cancer surveillance — from medicalxpress.com by Mark Alewine; via The Rundown AI
Artificial intelligence has delivered a major win for pathologists and researchers in the fight for improved cancer treatments and diagnoses.

In partnership with the National Cancer Institute, or NCI, researchers from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Louisiana State University developed a long-sequenced AI transformer capable of processing millions of pathology reports to provide experts researching cancer diagnoses and management with exponentially more accurate information on cancer reporting.


 
 

Regarding this Tweet on X/Twitter:


To Unleash Legal Tech, Lawyers And Engineers Need To Talk — from forbes.com by Tanguy Chau

Here, I’ll explore some ways that engineers and lawyers see the world differently based on their strengths and experiences, and I’ll explain how they can better communicate to build better software products, especially in AI, for attorneys. Ideally, this will lead to happier lawyers and more satisfied clients.


Zuputo: Africa’s first women-led legal tech startup launches — from myjoyonline.com

A groundbreaking legal tech startup, Zuputo, is set to reshape the legal landscape across Africa by making legal services more accessible, affordable, and user-friendly.

Founded by Jessie Abugre and Nana Adwoa Amponsah-Mensah, this women-led venture has become synonymous with simplicity and efficiency in legal solutions.


 

Southern New Hampshire University President Paul LeBlanc to Step Down after Transformative 20 Years of Leadership — from snhu.edu by Siobhan Lopez
LeBlanc will step down from his role as president in summer of 2024

Under LeBlanc’s direction, SNHU has transformed from a small regional university to an internationally known leader in higher education, having grown from 2,500 students to more than 225,000 learners, making SNHU the largest nonprofit provider of higher education in the country. With his vision to make higher education more accessible, more than 200,000 students have earned their degrees during LeBlanc’s tenure at SNHU. The university also ranks among the most innovative universities in the country and as a top employer nationwide.


One more item re: higher education for tonight:

The Review: Course evaluations are garbage science. — from chronicle.com by Len Gutkin

When the concept of student evaluations was first developed in the 1920s, by the psychologists Herman H. Remmers, at Purdue University, and Edwin R. Guthrie, at the University of Washington, administrators were never meant to have access to them. Remmers and Guthrie saw evaluations as modest tools for pedagogical improvement, not criteria of administrative judgment. In the 1950s, Guthrie warned about the misuse of evaluations. But no one listened. Instead, as Stroebe writes, they “soon became valued sources of information for university administrators, who used them as a basis for decisions about merit increases and promotion.” Is it too late to return to Remmers and Guthrie’s original conception?

 

34 Big Ideas that will change our world in 2024 — from linkedin.com

34 Big Ideas that will change our world in 2024 -- from linkedin.com 

Excerpts:

6. ChatGPT’s hype will fade, as a new generation of tailor-made bots rises up
11. We’ll finally turn the corner on teacher pay in 2024
21. Employers will combat job applicants’ use of AI with…more AI
31. Universities will view the creator economy as a viable career path

 

60+ Ideas for ChatGPT Assignments — from stars.library.ucf.edu by Kevin Yee, Kirby Whittington, Erin Doggette, and Laurie Uttich

60+ ideas for using ChatGPT in your assignments today


Artificial intelligence is disrupting higher education — from itweb.co.za by Rennie Naidoo; via GSV
Traditional contact universities need to adapt faster and find creative ways of exploring and exploiting AI, or lose their dominant position.

Higher education professionals have a responsibility to shape AI as a force for good.


Introducing Canva’s biggest education launch — from canva.com
We’re thrilled to unveil our biggest education product launch ever. Today, we’re introducing a whole new suite of products that turn Canva into the all-in-one classroom tool educators have been waiting for.

Also see Canva for Education.
Create and personalize lesson plans, infographics,
posters, video, and more. 
100% free for
teachers and students at eligible schools.


ChatGPT and generative AI: 25 applications to support student engagement — from timeshighereducation.com by Seb Dianati and Suman Laudari
In the fourth part of their series looking at 100 ways to use ChatGPT in higher education, Seb Dianati and Suman Laudari share 25 prompts for the AI tool to boost student engagement


There are two ways to use ChatGPT — from theneurondaily.com

  1. Type to it.
  2. Talk to it (new).


Since then, we’ve looked to it for a variety of real-world business advice. For example, Prof Ethan Mollick posted a great guide using ChatGPT-4 with voice as a negotiation instructor.

In a similar fashion, you can consult ChatGPT with voice for feedback on:

  • Job interviews.
  • Team meetings.
  • Business presentations.



Via The Rundown: Google is using AI to analyze the company’s Maps data and suggest adjustments to traffic light timing — aiming to cut driver waits, stops, and emissions.


Google Pixel’s face-altering photo tool sparks AI manipulation debate — from bbc.com by Darren Waters

The camera never lies. Except, of course, it does – and seemingly more often with each passing day.
In the age of the smartphone, digital edits on the fly to improve photos have become commonplace, from boosting colours to tweaking light levels.

Now, a new breed of smartphone tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI) are adding to the debate about what it means to photograph reality.

Google’s latest smartphones released last week, the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, go a step further than devices from other companies. They are using AI to help alter people’s expressions in photographs.



From Digital Native to AI-Empowered: Learning in the Age of Artificial Intelligence — from campustechnology.com by Kim Round
The upcoming generation of learners will enter higher education empowered by AI. How can institutions best serve these learners and prepare them for the workplace of the future?

Dr. Chris Dede, of Harvard University and Co-PI of the National AI Institute for Adult Learning and Online Education, spoke about the differences between knowledge and wisdom in AI-human interactions in a keynote address at the 2022 Empowering Learners for the Age of AI conference. He drew a parallel between Star Trek: The Next Generation characters Data and Picard during complex problem-solving: While Data offers the knowledge and information, Captain Picard offers the wisdom and context from on a leadership mantle, and determines its relevance, timing, and application.


The Near-term Impact of Generative AI on Education, in One Sentence — from opencontent.org by David Wiley

This “decreasing obstacles” framing turned out to be helpful in thinking about generative AI. When the time came, my answer to the panel question, “how would you summarize the impact generative AI is going to have on education?” was this:

“Generative AI greatly reduces the degree to which access to expertise is an obstacle to education.”

We haven’t even started to unpack the implications of this notion yet, but hopefully just naming it will give the conversation focus, give people something to disagree with, and help the conversation progress more quickly.


How to Make an AI-Generated Film — from heatherbcooper.substack.com by Heather Cooper
Plus, Midjourney finally has a new upscale tool!


Eureka! NVIDIA Research Breakthrough Puts New Spin on Robot Learning — from blogs.nvidia.com by Angie Lee
AI agent uses LLMs to automatically generate reward algorithms to train robots to accomplish complex tasks.

From DSC:
I’m not excited about this, as I can’t help but wonder…how long before the militaries of the world introduce this into their warfare schemes and strategies?


The 93 Questions Schools Should Ask About AI — from edweek.org by Alyson Klein

The toolkit recommends schools consider:

  • Purpose: How can AI help achieve educational goals?
  • Compliance: How does AI fit with existing policies?
  • Knowledge: How can schools advance AI Literacy?
  • Balance: What are the benefits and risks of AI?
  • Integrity: How does AI fit into policies on things like cheating?
  • Agency: How can humans stay in the loop on AI?
  • Evaluation: How can schools regularly assess the impact of AI?
 

In Iowa, a “Billy Madison Project” Yields a Different Way to do School — from by Sam Chaltain
A great flood reveals a new path . . .

The idea was simple: ask sixty community leaders to fan across the city’s public schools, follow in the footsteps of its youngest citizens, and report back on what they saw.

Fifty-nine said yes. What they found, Pickering says, “were kids with dead eyes. Kids not engaged. And kids who knew that school was a game – and the game was rigged.”

So the Billy Madison team used its findings to design a prospective high school that would actually produce what its participants said they wanted to see: 

Let kids pursue their passions. Give them real work to do.  And get them out of the school building, and in the community. 

Passion. Projects. People.


How 9 of the World’s Most Innovative Schools Ignite Children’s Love for Learning — from learntrepreneurs.com by Eva Keffenheim
And equip the next generation to become changemakers.


This thought-provoking discussion delves into the topic of system replacement in education. Is school transformation possible without replacing the existing education system? Joining [Michael] to discuss the question are Thomas Arnett of the Christensen Institute and Kelly Young of Education Reimagined.

In an educational landscape that constantly seeks marginal improvements, [Michael’s] guests speak to the importance of embracing new value networks that support innovative approaches to learning. They bring to light the issue of programs that remain niche solutions, rather than robust, learner-centered alternatives. In exploring the concept of value networks, [Michael’s] guests challenge the notion of transforming individual schools or districts alone. They argue for the creation of a new value network to truly revolutionize the education system. Of course, they admit that achieving this is no small feat, as it requires a paradigm shift in mindset and a careful balance between innovation and existing structures. In this conversation, we wrestle with the full implications of their findings and more.

From DSC:
This reminds me of the importance of TrimTab Groups who invent or test out something new apart from the mothership.


Technology in education — from unesco.org by ; via Eva Keffenheim
A tool on whose terms?

The 2023 GEM Report on technology and education explores these debates, examining education challenges to which appropriate use of technology can offer solutions (access, equity and inclusion; quality; technology advancement; system management), while recognizing that many solutions proposed may also be detrimental.

The report also explores three system-wide conditions (access to technology, governance regulation, and teacher preparation) that need to be met for any technology in education to reach its full potential.



Campus Road Trip Diary: 8 Things We Learned This Year About America’s Most Innovative High Schools — from the74million.org by Greg Toppo & Emmeline Zhao

Since last spring, journalists at The 74 have been crossing the U.S. as part of our 2023 High School Road Trip. It has embraced both emerging and established high school models, taking us to 13 schools from Rhode Island to California, Arizona to South Carolina, and in between.

It has brought us face-to-face with innovation, with programs that promote everything from nursing to aerospace to maritime-themed careers.

At each school, educators seem to be asking one key question: What if we could start over and try something totally new?

What we’ve found represents just a small sample of the incredible diversity that U.S. high schools now offer, but we’re noticing a few striking similarities that educators in these schools, free to experiment with new models, now share. Here are the top eight:
.

Campus Road Trip Diary: 8 Things We Learned This Year About America’s Most Innovative High Schools

.


.

Learners need: More voice. More choice. More control. -- this image was created by Daniel Christian

.


Empowering Parents: School Choice and Technology — from obviouslythefuture.substack.com
Ep 2 | Joe Connor, Odyssey Education, ESAs, Streamlined Technology Platform, Informed Choices

What does it take to empower parents and decentralize schooling? Why is a diversity of school models important to parents? Are we at a tipping point?
.


PROOF POINTS: Lowering test anxiety in the classroom — from hechingerreport.org/ by Jill Barshay
Review of 24 studies finds quizzes boost achievement and alleviate stress over exams

Several meta-analyses, which summarize the evidence from many studies, have found higher achievement when students take quizzes instead of, say, reviewing notes or rereading a book chapter. “There’s decades and decades of research showing that taking practice tests will actually improve your learning,” said David Shanks, a professor of psychology and deputy dean of the Faculty of Brain Sciences at University College London.

Still, many students get overwhelmed during tests. Shanks and a team of four researchers wanted to find out whether quizzes exacerbate test anxiety.  The team collected 24 studies that measured students’ test anxiety and found that, on average, practice tests and quizzes not only improved academic achievement, but also ended up reducing test anxiety. Their meta-analysis was published in Educational Psychology Review in August 2023.


The End of Scantron Tests — from theatlantic.com by Matteo Wong
Machine-graded bubble sheets are the defining feature of American schools. Today’s kindergartners may never have to fill one out.


Benefits of Pretesting in the Classroom — from learningscientists.org by Cindy Nebel

There are several possible reasons why pretesting worked in this study.

  1. Students paid more attention to the pretested material during the lecture.
  2. The pretest activated prior knowledge (some of them are clearly doing a lot of prework), and allowed them to encode the new information more deeply.
  3. They were doing a lot of studying of the pretested information outside of class.
  4. There are some great spaced retrieval effects going on. That is, students saw the material before lecture, they took a quiz on it during the pretest, then later they reviewed or quizzed themselves on that same material again during self-study.

 


From DSC:
Which reminds me of some graphics:

The pace has changed -- don't come onto the track in a Model T

 

Partnership with American Journalism Project to support local news — from openai.com; via The Rundown AI
A new $5+ million partnership aims to explore ways the development of artificial intelligence (AI) can support a thriving, innovative local news field, and ensure local news organizations shape the future of this emerging technology.


SEC’s Gensler Warns AI Risks Financial Stability — from bloomberg.com by Lydia Beyoud; via The Brainyacts
SEC on lookout for fraud, conflicts of interest, chair says | Gensler cautions companies touting AI in corporate docs


Per a recent Brainyacts posting:

The recent petition from Kenyan workers who engage in content moderation for OpenAI’s ChatGPT, via the intermediary company Sama, has opened a new discussion in the global legal market. This dialogue surrounds the concept of “harmful and dangerous technology work” and its implications for laws and regulations within the expansive field of AI development and deployment.

The petition, asking for investigations into the working conditions and operations of big tech companies outsourcing services in Kenya, is notable not just for its immediate context but also for the broader legal issues it raises. Central among these is the notion of “harmful and dangerous technology work,” a term that encapsulates the uniquely modern form of labor involved in developing and ensuring the safety of AI systems.

The most junior data labelers, or agents, earned a basic salary of 21,000 Kenyan shillings ($170) per month, with monthly bonuses and commissions for meeting performance targets that could elevate their hourly rate to just $1.44 – a far cry from the $12.50 hourly rate that OpenAI paid Sama for their work. This discrepancy raises crucial questions about the fair distribution of economic benefits in the AI value chain.


How ChatGPT Code Interpreter (And Four Other AI Initiatives) Might Revolutionize Education — from edtechinsiders.substack.com by Phuong Do, Alex Sarlin, and Sarah Morin
And more on Meta’s Llama, education LLMs, the Supreme Court affirmative action ruling, and Byju’s continued unraveling

Let’s put it all together for emphasis. With Code Interpreter by ChatGPT, you can:

  1. Upload any file
  2. Tell ChatGPT what you want to do with it
  3. Receive your instructions translated into Python
  4. Execute the code
  5. Transform the output back into readable language (or visuals, charts, graphs, tables, etc.)
  6. Provide the results (and the underlying Python code)


AI Tools and Links — from Wally Boston

It’s become so difficult to track AI tools as they are revealed. I’ve decided to create a running list of tools as I find out about them.  The list is in alphabetical order even though there are classification systems that I’ve seen others use. Although it’s not good in blogging land to update posts, I’ll change the date every time that I update this list. Please feel free to respond to me with your comments about any of these as well as AI tools that you use that I do not have on the list. I’ll post your comments next to a tool when appropriate. Thanks.


Meet Claude — A helpful new AI assistant — from wondertools.substack.com by Jeremy Caplan
How to make the most of ChatGPT’s new alternative

Claude has surprising capabilities, including a couple you won’t find in the free version of ChatGPT.

Since this new AI bot launched on July 11, I’ve found Claude useful for summarizing long transcripts, clarifying complex writings, and generating lists of ideas and questions. It also helps me put unstructured notes into orderly tables. For some things, I prefer Claude to ChatGPT. Read on for Claude’s strengths and limitations, and ideas for using it creatively.

Claude’s free version allows you to attach documents for analysis. ChatGPT’s doesn’t.


The Next Frontier For Large Language Models Is Biology — from forbes.com by Rob Toews

Large language models like GPT-4 have taken the world by storm thanks to their astonishing command of natural language. Yet the most significant long-term opportunity for LLMs will entail an entirely different type of language: the language of biology.

In the near term, the most compelling opportunity to apply large language models in the life sciences is to design novel proteins.



Seven AI companies agree to safeguards in the US — from bbc.com by Shiona McCallum; via Tom Barrett

Seven leading companies in artificial intelligence have committed to managing risks posed by the tech, the White House has said.

This will include testing the security of AI, and making the results of those tests public.

Representatives from Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI joined US President Joe Biden to make the announcement.

 

Coursera’s Global Skills Report for 2023 — from coursera.org
Benchmark talent and transform your workforce with skill development and career readiness insights drawn from 124M+ learners.

Excerpt:

Uncover global skill trends
See how millions of registered learners in 100 countries are strengthening critical business, technology, and data science skills.

 

101 creative ideas to use AI in education, A crowdsourced collection — from zenodo.org by Chrissi Nerantzi, Sandra Abegglen, Marianna Karatsiori, & Antonio Martínez-Arboleda (Eds.); with thanks to George Veletsianos for this resource

101 creative ideas to use AI in education, A crowdsourced collection

As an example, here’s one of the ideas from the crowdsourced collection:

Chat with anyone in the past

Chatting with Napoleon Bonaparte

 


On a somewhat related note, also see:

Merlyn Mind launches education-focused LLMs for classroom integration of generative AI — from venturebeat.com by Victor Dey

Excerpt:

Merlyn Mind, an AI-powered digital assistant platform, announced the launch of a suite of large language models (LLMs) specifically tailored for the education sector under an open-source license.

Designing courses in an age of AI — from teachinginhighered.com by Maria Andersen
Maria Andersen shares about designing courses in an age of artificial intelligence (AI) on episode 469 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.

With generative AI, we have an incredible acceleration of change happening.

Maria Andersen

 

The 2023 Global Sentiment Survey — from donaldhtaylor.co.uk by Don Taylor

Excerpt:

This year’s Global Sentiment Survey – the tenth – paints a picture that is both familiar and unusual. In our 2020 survey report, we noted that ‘Data dominates this year’s survey’. It does so again this year, with the near 4,000 respondents showing a strong interest in AI, Skills-based talent management and Learning analytics (in positions #2, #3 and #4), all of which rely on data. The table is topped by Reskilling/upskilling, in the #1 spot for the third year running.
.

Donald Taylor's GSS 2023

.

Also see Don’s report here >>

 

 
 

Fostering sustainable learning ecosystems — from linkedin.com by Patrick Blessinger

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Learning ecosystems
As today’s global knowledge society becomes increasingly interconnected and begins to morph into a global learning society, it is likely that formal, nonformal, and informal learning will become increasingly interconnected. For instance, there has been an explosion of new self-directed e-learning platforms such as Khan Academy, Open Courseware, and YouTube, among others, that help educate billions of people around the world.

A learning ecosystem includes all the elements that contribute to a learner’s overall learning experience. The components of a learning ecosystem are numerous, including people, technology platforms, knowledge bases, culture, governance, strategy, and other internal and external elements that have an impact on learning. Therefore, moving forward, it is crucial to integrate learning across formal, nonformal, and informal learning processes and activities in a more strategic way.

Learning ecosystems -- formal, informal, and nonformal sources of learning will become more tightly integrated in the future

 

These 20 jobs are the most “exposed” to AI, ChatGPT, researchers say — from cbsnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org

Excerpt:

New research examining the effects of language modeling AI like ChatGPT on different occupations and industries finds that certain jobs, like telemarketers and teachers, are more “exposed” to the technology than others, such as psychologists and counselors.

Also relevant/see:

Must read: the 100 most cited AI papers in 2022  — from zeta-alpha.com by Sergi Castella i Sapé; with titles, citation counts, and affiliations.

How will Language Modelers like ChatGPT Affect Occupations and Industries? — from papers.ssrn.com by Edward W. Felten, Manav Raj, and  Robert Seamans

 
© 2024 | Daniel Christian