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The Tutoring Revolution [Korbey]

On 10/11/2024, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, digital learning, education, education technology, emerging technologies, future, game-changing environment, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, K-12 related, languages and translation, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, online learning, online media, personalized/customized learning, platforms, ubiquitous learning, United States, user experience (UX), vendors, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, youth, by Daniel Christian

The Tutoring Revolution — from educationnext.org by Holly Korbey
More families are seeking one-on-one help for their kids. What does that tell us about 21st-century education?

Recent research suggests that the number of students seeking help with academics is growing, and that over the last couple of decades, more families have been turning to tutoring for that help.
…

What the Future Holds
Digital tech has made private tutoring more accessible, more efficient, and more affordable. Students whose families can’t afford to pay $75 an hour at an in-person center can now log on from home to access a variety of online tutors, including Outschool, Wyzant, and Anchorbridge, and often find someone who can cater to their specific skills and needs—someone who can offer help in French to a student with ADHD, for example. Online tutoring is less expensive than in-person programs. Khan Academy’s Khanmigo chatbot can be a student’s virtual AI tutor, no Zoom meeting required, for $4 a month, and nonprofits like Learn to Be work with homeless shelters and community centers to give virtual reading and math tutoring free to kids who can’t afford it and often might need it the most.

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How far should we go in allowing technology to aid our decision-making processes? [Schlegel] + other legaltech-related items

On 10/11/2024, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, future, game-changing environment, Google, innovation, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, Open AI, platforms, podcasting, by Daniel Christian

The Future of Umpiring in Baseball: Balancing Tradition and Technology — from judgeschlegel.com by Judge Scott Schlegel
This article is not about baseball.

As we look to the future of umpiring in baseball, a balanced approach may offer the best solution. Rather than an all-or-nothing choice between human umpires and full automation, a hybrid system could potentially offer the benefits of both worlds. For instance, automated tracking systems could be used to assist human umpires, providing them with real-time data to inform their calls. This would maintain the human element and authority on the field while significantly enhancing accuracy and consistency.

Such a system would allow umpires to focus more on game management, player interactions, and the myriad other responsibilities that require human judgment and experience. It would preserve the traditional aspects of the umpire’s role that fans and players value, while leveraging technology to address concerns about accuracy and fairness.

Navigating the Intersection of Tradition and AI: The Future of Judicial Decision-Making — from judgeschlegel.com by Judge Scott Schlegel

Introduction
Continuing with our baseball analogy, we now turn our focus to the courtroom.

The intersection of technology and the justice system is a complex and often contentious space, much like the debate over automated umpires in baseball. As Major League Baseball considers whether automated systems should replace the human element in calling balls and strikes, the legal world faces similar questions: How far should we go in allowing technology to aid our decision-making processes, and what is the right balance between innovation and the traditions that define the courtroom?

AI and the rise of the Niche Lawyer — from jordanfurlong.substack.com by Jordan Furlong
A new legal market will create a new type of lawyer: Specialized, flexible, customized, fractional, home-based and online, exclusive, balanced and focused. This could be your future legal career.

Think of a new picture. A lawyer dressed in Professional Casual, or Business Comfortable, an outfit that looks sharp but feels relaxed. A lawyer inside their own apartment, in an extra bedroom, or in a shared workspace on a nearby bus route, taking an Uber to visit some clients and using Zoom to meet with others. A lawyer with a laptop and a tablet and a smartphone and no other capital expenditures. A lawyer whose overhead is only what’s literally over their head.

This lawyer starts work when they feel like it (maybe 7 am, maybe 10; maybe Monday, maybe not) and they stop working when they feel like it (maybe 4 pm, maybe 9). They have as many clients as they need, for whom they provide very specific, very personalized services. They provide some services that aren’t even “legal” to people who aren’t “clients” as we understand both terms. They have essential knowledge and skills that all lawyers share but unique knowledge and skills that hardly any others possess. They make as much money as they need in order to meet the rent and pay down their debts and afford a life with the people they love. They’re in complete charge of their career and their destiny, something they find terrifying and stressful and wonderful and fulfilling.

While We Were Distracted with the New ChatGPT Model, Google Quietly Dropped an AI Bombshell —  from judgeschlegel.com by Judge Scott Schlegel

While the latest ChatGPT model is dominating tech headlines, I was unexpectedly blown away by Google’s recent release of a new NotebookLM feature: Audio Overview. This tool, which transforms written content into simulated conversations, caught me off guard with its capabilities. I uploaded some of my blog posts on AI and the justice system, and what it produced left me speechless. The AI generated podcast-like discussions felt remarkably authentic, complete with nuanced interpretations and even slight misunderstandings of my ideas. This mirrors real-life discussions perfectly – after all, how often do we hear our own thoughts expressed by others and think, “That’s not quite what I meant”?

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Workera’s CEO was mentored by Andrew Ng. Now he wants an AI agent to mentor you. [Zeff]

On 10/05/2024, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, career development, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, curriculum, Daniel S. Christian, emerging technologies, future, game-changing environment, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, platforms, reinvent, skills, staying relevant, tools, training / L&D, United States, vendors, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Workera’s CEO was mentored by Andrew Ng. Now he wants an AI agent to mentor you. — from techcrunch.com by Maxwell Zeff; via Claire Zau

On Tuesday, Workera announced Sage, an AI agent you can talk with that’s designed to assess an employee’s skill level, goals, and needs. After taking some short tests, Workera claims Sage will accurately gauge how proficient someone is at a certain skill. Then, Sage can recommend the appropriate online courses through Coursera, Workday, or other learning platform partners. Through chatting with Sage, Workera is designed to meet employees where they are, testing their skills in writing, machine learning, or math, and giving them a path to improve.

From DSC:
This is very much akin to what I’ve been trying to get at with my Learning from the Living [AI-Based Class] Room vision. And as learning agents come onto the scene, this type of vision should take off!

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“185 real-world gen AI use cases from the world’s leading organizations” [Google], a professional network for AI agents [Shah] + other items re: AI in general

On 10/01/2024, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, communications, computer science, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, creativity, data related items, design, digital audio, digital video, emerging technologies, engineering, ethics, future, game-changing environment, Google, graphics, health, innovation, languages and translation, learning agents, Microsoft, morals/values, NVIDIA, online learning, online media, Open AI, platforms, podcasting, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, programming, robotics, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, tools, training / L&D, United States, vendors, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, workplace, by Daniel Christian

AI’s Trillion-Dollar Opportunity — from bain.com by David Crawford, Jue Wang, and Roy Singh
The market for AI products and services could reach between $780 billion and $990 billion by 2027.

At a Glance

  • The big cloud providers are the largest concentration of R&D, talent, and innovation today, pushing the boundaries of large models and advanced infrastructure.
  • Innovation with smaller models (open-source and proprietary), edge infrastructure, and commercial software is reaching enterprises, sovereigns, and research institutions.
  • Commercial software vendors are rapidly expanding their feature sets to provide the best use cases and leverage their data assets.

Accelerated market growth. Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, summed up the potential in the company’s Q3 2024 earnings call: “Generative AI is the largest TAM [total addressable market] expansion of software and hardware that we’ve seen in several decades.”

And on a somewhat related note (i.e., emerging technologies), also see the following two postings:

Surgical Robots: Current Uses and Future Expectations — from medicalfuturist.com by Pranavsingh Dhunnoo
As the term implies, a surgical robot is an assistive tool for performing surgical procedures. Such manoeuvres, also called robotic surgeries or robot-assisted surgery, usually involve a human surgeon controlling mechanical arms from a control centre.

Key Takeaways

  • Robots’ potentials have been a fascination for humans and have even led to a booming field of robot-assisted surgery.
  • Surgical robots assist surgeons in performing accurate, minimally invasive procedures that are beneficial for patients’ recovery.
  • The assistance of robots extend beyond incisions and includes laparoscopies, radiosurgeries and, in the future, a combination of artificial intelligence technologies to assist surgeons in their craft.

Proto hologram tech allows cancer patients to receive specialist care without traveling large distances — from inavateonthenet.net

“Working with the team from Proto to bring to life, what several years ago would have seemed impossible, is now going to allow West Cancer Center & Research Institute to pioneer options for patients to get highly specialized care without having to travel to large metro areas,” said West Cancer’s CEO, Mitch Graves.

Clone your voice in minutes: The AI trick 95% don’t know about — from aidisruptor.ai by Alex McFarland
Warning: May cause unexpected bouts of talking to yourself

Now that you’ve got your voice clone, what can you do with it?

  1. Content Creation:
    • Podcast Production: Record episodes in half the time. Your listeners won’t know the difference, but your schedule will thank you.
    • Audiobook Narration: Always wanted to narrate your own book? Now you can, without spending weeks in a recording studio.
    • YouTube Videos: Create voiceovers for your videos in multiple languages. World domination, here you come!
  2. Business Brilliance:
    • Customer Service: Personalized automated responses that actually sound personal.
    • Training Materials: Create engaging e-learning content in your own voice, minus the hours of recording.
    • Presentations: Never worry about losing your voice before a big presentation again. Your clone’s got your back.

185 real-world gen AI use cases from the world’s leading organizations — from blog.google by Brian Hall; via Daniel Nest’s Why Try AI

In a matter of months, organizations have gone from AI helping answer questions, to AI making predictions, to generative AI agents. What makes AI agents unique is that they can take actions to achieve specific goals, whether that’s guiding a shopper to the perfect pair of shoes, helping an employee looking for the right health benefits, or supporting nursing staff with smoother patient hand-offs during shifts changes.

In our work with customers, we keep hearing that their teams are increasingly focused on improving productivity, automating processes, and modernizing the customer experience. These aims are now being achieved through the AI agents they’re developing in six key areas: customer service; employee empowerment; code creation; data analysis; cybersecurity; and creative ideation and production.
…
Here’s a snapshot of how 185 of these industry leaders are putting AI to use today, creating real-world use cases that will transform tomorrow.

AI Data Drop: 3 Key Insights from Real-World Research on AI Usage — from microsoft.com; via Daniel Nest’s Why Try AI
One of the largest studies of Copilot usage—at nearly 60 companies—reveals how AI is changing the way we work.

  1. AI is starting to liberate people from email
  2. Meetings are becoming more about value creation
  3. People are co-creating more with AI—and with one another

*** Dharmesh has been working on creating agent.ai — a professional network for AI agents.***

Speaking of agents, also see:

Onboarding the AI workforce: How digital agents will redefine work itself — from venturebeat.com by Gary Grossman

AI in 2030: A transformative force

  1. AI agents are integral team members
  2. The emergence of digital humans
  3. AI-driven speech and conversational interfaces
  4. AI-enhanced decision-making and leadership
  5. Innovation and research powered by AI
  6. The changing nature of job roles and skills

AI Video Tools You Can Use Today — from heatherbcooper.substack.com by Heather Cooper
The latest AI video models that deliver results

AI video models are improving so quickly, I can barely keep up! I wrote about unreleased Adobe Firefly Video in the last issue, and we are no closer to public access to Sora.

No worries – we do have plenty of generative AI video tools we can use right now.

  • Kling AI launched its updated v1.5 and the quality of image or text to video is impressive.
  • Hailuo MiniMax text to video remains free to use for now, and it produces natural and photorealistic results (with watermarks).
  • Runway added the option to upload portrait aspect ratio images to generate vertical videos in Gen-3 Alpha & Turbo modes.
  • …plus several more

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Should we be concerned about what’s happening at OpenAI? What does this say about the leader of arguably 1 of the most powerful co’s in the world today?

On 09/27/2024, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, change, changing business models, corporate / business world, Daniel S. Christian, future, game-changing environment, generational differences, global / globalization, leadership, new business models, Open AI, society, strategy, the downsides of how people use tech, United States, vendors, by Daniel Christian

One left
byu/jim_andr inOpenAI

 

From DSC:
I’m not trying to gossip here. I post this because Sam Altman is the head of arguably one of the most powerful companies in the world today — at least in terms of introducing change to a variety of societies throughout the globe (both positive and negative). So when we’ve now seen almost the entire leadership team head out the door, this certainly gives me major pause. I don’t like it. Items like the ones below begin to capture some of why I’m troubled and suspicious about these troubling moves.

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“AI, Humans and Work: 10 Thoughts.” [Tobaccowala] + other items re: AI in general

On 09/23/2024, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, change, creativity, emerging technologies, engineering, experimentation, future, game-changing environment, generational differences, media/film, Open AI, platforms, robotics, society, tools, United States, vendors, workplace, by Daniel Christian

AI researcher Jim Fan has had a charmed career. He was OpenAI’s first intern before he did his PhD at Stanford with “godmother of AI,” Fei-Fei Li. He graduated into a research scientist position at Nvidia and now leads its Embodied AI “GEAR” group. The lab’s current work spans foundation models for humanoid robots to agents for virtual worlds. Jim describes a three-pronged data strategy for robotics, combining internet-scale data, simulation data and real world robot data. He believes that in the next few years it will be possible to create a “foundation agent” that can generalize across skills, embodiments and realities—both physical and virtual. He also supports Jensen Huang’s idea that “Everything that moves will eventually be autonomous.”

Runway Partners with Lionsgate — from runwayml.com via The Rundown AI
Runway and Lionsgate are partnering to explore the use of AI in film production.

Lionsgate and Runway have entered into a first-of-its-kind partnership centered around the creation and training of a new AI model, customized on Lionsgate’s proprietary catalog. Fundamentally designed to help Lionsgate Studios, its filmmakers, directors and other creative talent augment their work, the model generates cinematic video that can be further iterated using Runway’s suite of controllable tools.

Per The Rundown: Lionsgate, the film company behind The Hunger Games, John Wick, and Saw, teamed up with AI video generation company Runway to create a custom AI model trained on Lionsgate’s film catalogue.

The details:

  • The partnership will develop an AI model specifically trained on Lionsgate’s proprietary content library, designed to generate cinematic video that filmmakers can further manipulate using Runway’s tools.
  • Lionsgate sees AI as a tool to augment and enhance its current operations, streamlining both pre-production and post-production processes.
  • Runway is considering ways to offer similar custom-trained models as templates for individual creators, expanding access to AI-powered filmmaking tools beyond major studios.

Why it matters: As many writers, actors, and filmmakers strike against ChatGPT, Lionsgate is diving head-first into the world of generative AI through its partnership with Runway. This is one of the first major collabs between an AI startup and a major Hollywood company — and its success or failure could set precedent for years to come.

A bottle of water per email: the hidden environmental costs of using AI chatbots — from washingtonpost.com by Pranshu Verma and Shelly Tan (behind paywall)
AI bots generate a lot of heat, and keeping their computer servers running exacts a toll.

Each prompt on ChatGPT flows through a server that runs thousands of calculations to determine the best words to use in a response.

In completing those calculations, these servers, typically housed in data centers, generate heat. Often, water systems are used to cool the equipment and keep it functioning. Water transports the heat generated in the data centers into cooling towers to help it escape the building, similar to how the human body uses sweat to keep cool, according to Shaolei Ren, an associate professor at UC Riverside.

Where electricity is cheaper, or water comparatively scarce, electricity is often used to cool these warehouses with large units resembling air-conditioners, he said. That means the amount of water and electricity an individual query requires can depend on a data center’s location and vary widely.

AI, Humans and Work: 10 Thoughts. — from rishad.substack.com by Rishad Tobaccowala
The Future Does Not Fit in the Containers of the Past. Edition 215.

10 thoughts about AI, Humans and Work in 10 minutes:

  1. AI is still Under-hyped.
  2. AI itself will be like electricity and is unlikely to be a differentiator for most firms.
  3. AI is not alive but can be thought of as a new species.
  4. Knowledge will be free and every knowledge workers job will change in 2025.
  5. The key about AI is not to ask what AI will do to us but what AI can do for us.
  6. Plus 5 other thoughts

 

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How might we build the nation’s new learning ecosystem together? [Getting Smart]

On 09/17/2024, in change, education, education reform, experimentation, future, ideas, innovation, K-12 related, leadership, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, strategy, student-related, teachers, United States, vision/possibilities, youth, by Daniel Christian

Horizon Three Learning — from gettingsmart.com
How might we build the nation’s new learning ecosystem together?

America’s education system was a groundbreaking effort to help a growing nation thrive in the 19th century. Now, 200 years later, the world has changed; the horizon looks drastically different. Collectively, we need to redesign our education system to enable all of our children — and, by extension, our nation —  to thrive today and tomorrow.

“Horizon Three” or “H3” names the future-ready system we need, one that is grounded in equity serving learners’ individual strengths and needs as well as the common good. This series provides a glimpse of where H3 is already being designed and built. It also includes provocations about how we might fundamentally reimagine learning for the future ahead.

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AI agents are the future, and a lot is at stake [Sanzeri]

On 08/28/2024, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, change, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, education, education technology, emerging technologies, engineering, entrepreneurship, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, health, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, K-12 related, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, personalized/customized learning, the downsides of how people use tech, workplace, by Daniel Christian

AI agents are the future, and a lot is at stake — from forbes.com by Skip Sanzeri

What An Agent Is
Agents are computer programs that can autonomously perform tasks, make decisions and interact with humans or other computers. There are many different types of agents, and they are designed to achieve specific goals spanning our lives and nearly every industry, making them an integral and unstoppable part of our future.

Learning: AI agents will transform education by providing personalized learning experiences such as one-to-one tutoring. ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs) are providing access to all digital knowledge now. An “agent” would act as a more personalized version of an LLM.

The hacking and control of an AI agent could lead to disastrous consequences, affecting privacy, security, the economy and societal stability. Proactive and comprehensive security strategies are essential to mitigate these risks in the future.

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The future of legal services + other items re: legaltech

On 08/26/2024, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), cost of getting a degree, Cost of legal services - including access, future, game-changing environment, ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, platforms, research, society, sociology, trends, UK, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

ILTACON 2024: Selling legal tech’s monorail — from abajournal.com by Nicole Black

The bottom line: The promise of GenAI for our profession is great, but all signs point to the realization of its potential being six months out or more. So the question remains: Will generative AI change the legal landscape, ushering in an era of frictionless, seamless legal work? Or have we reached the pinnacle of its development, left only with empty promises? I think it’s the former since there is so much potential, and many companies are investing significantly in AI development, but only time will tell.

From LegalZoom to AI-Powered Platforms: The Rise of Smart Legal Services — from tmcnet.com by Artem Vialykh

In today’s digital age, almost every industry is undergoing a transformation driven by technological innovation, and the legal field is no exception. Traditional legal services, often characterized by high fees, time-consuming processes, and complex paperwork, are increasingly being challenged by more accessible, efficient, and cost-effective alternatives.

LegalZoom, one of the pioneers in offering online legal services, revolutionized the way individuals and small businesses accessed legal assistance. However, with the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) and smart technologies, we are witnessing the rise of even more sophisticated platforms that are poised to reshape the legal landscape further.

The Rise of AI-Powered Legal Platforms
AI-powered legal platforms represent the next frontier in legal services. These platforms leverage the power of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing to provide legal services that are not only more efficient but also more accurate and tailored to the needs of the user.

AI-powered platforms offer many advantages, with one of them being their ability to rapidly process and analyze large amounts of data quickly. This capability allows them to provide users with precise legal advice and document generation in a fraction of the time it would take a human attorney. For example, AI-driven platforms can review and analyze contracts, identify potential legal risks, and even suggest revisions, all in real-time. This level of automation significantly reduces the time and cost associated with traditional legal services.

AI, Market Dynamics, and the Future of Legal Services with Harbor’s Zena Applebaum — from geeklawblog.com by Greg Lambert

Zena talks about the integration of generative AI (Gen AI) into legal research tools, particularly at Thomson Reuters, where she previously worked. She emphasizes the challenges in managing expectations around AI’s capabilities while ensuring that the products deliver on their promises. The legal industry has high expectations for AI to simplify the time-consuming and complex nature of legal research. However, Applebaum highlights the need for balance, as legal research remains inherently challenging, and overpromising on AI’s potential could lead to dissatisfaction among users.

Zena shares her outlook on the future of the legal industry, particularly the growing sophistication of in-house legal departments and the increasing competition for legal talent. She predicts that as AI continues to enhance efficiency and drive changes in the industry, the demand for skilled legal professionals will rise. Law firms will need to adapt to these shifts by embracing new technologies and rethinking their strategies to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving market.

Future of the Delivery of Legal Services — from americanbar.org
The legal profession is in the midst of unprecedented change. Learn what might be next for the industry and your bar.

What. Just. Happened? (Post-ILTACon Emails Week of 08-19-2024) — from geeklawblog.com by Greg Lambert

Here’s this week’s edition of What. Just. Happened? Remember, you can track these daily with the AI Lawyer Talking Tech podcast (Spotify or Apple) which covers legal tech news and summarizes stories.

From DSC:
And although this next one is not necessarily legaltech-related, I wanted to include it here anyway — as I’m always looking to reduce the costs of obtaining a degree.

Improve the Diversity of the Profession By Addressing the Costs of Becoming a Lawyer — from lssse.indiana.edu by Joan Howarth

Not surprisingly, then, research shows that economic assets are a significant factor in bar passage. And LSSSE research shows us the connections between the excessive expense of becoming a lawyer and the persistent racial and ethnic disparities in bar passage rate.

The racial and ethnic bar passage disparities are extreme. For example, the national ABA statistics for first time passers in 2023-24 show White candidates passing at 83%, compared to Black candidates (57%) with Asians and Hispanics in the middle (75% and 69%, respectively).

These disturbing figures are very related to the expense of becoming a lawyer.

Finally, though, after decades of stability — or stagnation — in attorney licensing, change is here. And some of the changes, such as the new pathway to licensure in Oregon based on supervised practice instead of a traditional bar exam, or the Nevada Plan in which most of the requirements can be satisfied during law school, should significantly decrease the costs of licensure and add flexibility for candidates with responsibilities beyond studying for a bar exam.  These reforms are long overdue.

Thomson Reuters acquires Safe Sign Technologies — from legaltechnology.com by Caroline Hill

Thomson Reuters today (21 August) announced it has acquired Safe Sign Technologies (SST), a UK-based startup that is developing legal-specific large language models (LLMs) and as of just eight months ago was operating in stealth mode.

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“As we enter the Age of Accessible Law” [Furlong] + other legaltech-related items

On 08/15/2024, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Access to Justice (A2J), Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Canada, emerging technologies, future, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, tools, United States, vendors, by Daniel Christian

How Generative AI will change what lawyers do — from jordanfurlong.substack.com by Jordan Furlong
As we enter the Age of Accessible Law, a wave of new demand is coming our way — but AI will meet most of the surge. What will be left for lawyers? Just the most valuable and irreplaceable role in law.

AI can already provide actionable professional advice; within the next ten years, if it takes that long, I believe it will offer acceptable legal advice. No one really wants “AI courts,” but soon enough, we’ll have AI-enabled mediation and arbitration, which will have a much greater impact on everyday dispute resolution.

I think it’s dangerous to assume that AI will never be able to do something that lawyers now do. “Never” is a very long time. And AI doesn’t need to replicate the complete arsenal of the most gifted lawyer out there. If a Legal AI can replicate 80% of what a middling lawyer can do, for 10% of the cost, in 1% of the time, that’s all the revolution you’ll need.

From DSC:
It is my sincere hope that AI will open up the floodgates to FAR great Access to Justice (A2J) in the future.

It’s the Battle of the AI Legal Assistants, As LexisNexis Unveils Its New Protégé and Thomson Reuters Rolls Out CoCounsel 2.0 — from lawnext.com by Bob Ambrogi

It’s not quite BattleBots, but competitors LexisNexis and Thomson Reuters both made significant announcements today involving the development of generative AI legal assistants within their products.

Thomson Reuters, which last year acquired the CoCounsel legal assistant originally developed by Casetext, and which later announced plans to deploy it throughout its product lines, today unveiled what it says is the “supercharged” CoCounsel 2.0.

Meanwhile, LexisNexis said today it is rolling out the commercial preview version of its Protégé Legal AI Assistant, which it describes as a “substantial leap forward in personalized generative AI that will transform legal work.” It is part of the launch of the third generation of Lexis+ AI, the AI-driven legal research platform the company launched last year.

Thomson Reuters Launches CoCounsel 2.0 — from abovethelaw.com by Joe Patrice
New release promises results three times faster than the last version.

It seems like just last year we were talking about CoCounsel 1.0, the generative AI product launched by Casetext and then swiftly acquired by Thomson Reuters. That’s because it was just last year. Since then, Thomson Reuters has worked to marry Casetext’s tool with TR’s treasure trove of data.

It’s not an easy task. A lot of the legal AI conversation glosses over how constructing these tools requires a radical confrontation with the lawyers’ mind. Why do attorneys do what they do every day? Are there seemingly “inefficient” steps that actually serve a purpose? Does an AI “answer” advance the workflow or hinder the research alchemy? As recently as April, Thomson Reuters was busy hyping the fruits of its efforts to get ahead of these challenges.

Though this next item is not necessarily related to legaltech, it’s still relevant to the legal realm:

A Law Degree Is No Sure Thing— from cew.georgetown.edu
Some Law School Graduates Earn Top Dollar, but Many Do Not

Summary
Is law school worth it? A Juris Doctor (JD) offers high median earnings and a substantial earnings boost relative to a bachelor’s degree in the humanities or social sciences—two of the more common fields of study that lawyers pursue as undergraduate students. However, graduates of most law schools carry substantial student loan debt, which dims the financial returns associated with a JD.

A Law Degree Is No Sure Thing: Some Law School Graduates Earn Top Dollar, but Many Do Not finds that the return on investment (ROI) in earnings and career outcomes varies widely across law schools. The median earnings net of debt payments are $72,000 four years after graduation for all law school graduates, but exceed $200,000 at seven law schools. By comparison, graduates of 33 law schools earn less than $55,000 net of debt payments four years after graduation.

From DSC:
A former boss’ husband was starting up a local public defender’s office in Michigan and needed to hire over two dozen people. The salaries were in the $40K’s she said. This surprised me greatly, as I thought all lawyers were bringing in the big bucks. This is not the case, clearly. Many lawyers do not make the big bucks, as this report shows:

…graduates of 33 law schools earn less than $55,000 net of debt payments four years after graduation.

.

Also relevant/see:

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44% of Americans Expect Importance of College Education to Decline Over Next 10 Years, New Survey Reveals

On 08/14/2024, in business side of he, change, colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, Emotion, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, learning ecosystem, parents/guardians, reinvent, staying relevant, surviving, United States, universities, vocational / trades, by Daniel Christian

44% of Americans Expect Importance of College Education to Decline Over Next 10 Years, New Survey Reveals — from prnewswire.com by College Consensus

New College Consensus poll shows most Americans think traditional 4-year college best route to satisfying career, but nearly half expect importance of traditional college education to decline over next decade, with trade school offering an equal or better return on investment.

HILLSBOROUGH, N.C., Aug. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — College Consensus, a comprehensive resource for college rankings and information, has released results of a new poll asking Americans about their confidence in higher education. Their findings can be seen at:

https://www.collegeconsensus.com/research/trust-in-higher-education/

The key takeaways of that report are that:

  • Americans still largely trust traditional higher education, but not as much as they used to
  • Nearly half of Americans believe traditional college education will decline in importance in the next decade
  • Americans view trade school as offering almost equivalent ROI to traditional college
  • Trust in community college and online college is lower than traditional, but still strong
  • Technology bootcamps struggling to gain trust

The above is happening at the same time as this:

US colleges are cutting majors and slashing programs after years of putting it off — from apnews.com

It’s part of a wave of program cuts in recent months, as U.S. colleges large and small try to make ends meet. Among their budget challenges: Federal COVID relief money is now gone, operational costs are rising and fewer high school graduates are going straight to college.

The cuts mean more than just savings, or even job losses. Often, they create turmoil for students who chose a campus because of certain degree programs and then wrote checks or signed up for student loans.

“For me, it’s really been anxiety-ridden,” said Westman, 23, as she began the effort that ultimately led her to transfer to Augsburg University in Minneapolis. “It’s just the fear of the unknown.”

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DSC: Think about the impacts/ramifications of global, virtual, real-time language translations!

On 08/12/2024, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assistive technologies, business, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, education technology, emerging technologies, Europe, experimentation, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, languages and translation, law schools, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Open AI, society, technologies for your home, telelegal, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, tools, training / L&D, United States, universities, usability, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, Virtual courts and law firms, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

ChatGPT Voice Mode Is Here: Will It Revolutionize AI Communication?

Advanced Voice Mode – FAQ — from help.openai.com
Learn more about our Advanced Voice capabilities.

Advanced Voice Mode on ChatGPT features more natural, real-time conversations that pick up on and respond with emotion and non-verbal cues.

Advanced Voice Mode on ChatGPT is currently in a limited alpha. Please note that it may make mistakes, and access and rate limits are subject to change.

From DSC:
Think about the impacts/ramifications of global, virtual, real-time language translations!!! This type of technology will create very powerful, new affordances in our learning ecosystems — as well as in business communications, with the various governments across the globe, and more!

 

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As the economy slows, focus on the skills of the future: Ability to change. [Bersin]

On 08/03/2024, in business, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, economics, future, skills, training / L&D, United States, workplace, by Daniel Christian

As the economy slows, focus on the skills of the future: Ability to change. — from joshbersin.com by Josh Bersin

The Skills Of The Future Are Clear: Ability To Drive Change
I had an interesting set of meetings today with a group of HR leaders we talk with every few weeks. Every single one of the CHROs and other leaders told us they are investing in “change management” and “business transformation” skills in their people. What does that mean?

It means just this. While we all want more engineers, manufacturing gurus, scientists, and sales and marketing experts in our companies, the biggest set of “skills” we need is the “ability to drive change.” That particular skill is quite complex, learned over time, and massively important at the moment. And that led me to my final point.

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“For college students—and for higher ed itself—AI is a required course” [Merisotis] + other items re: AI in our learning ecosystems

On 08/03/2024, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, accessibility / UDL, adjunct faculty, apprenticeships, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), bots, career development, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, copyright/ownership/NFTs, education, education technology, emerging technologies, faculty/staff, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, real-world assignments, reinvent, skills, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, technology (general), tools, trends, United States, universities, vendors, vision/possibilities, workplace, youth, by Daniel Christian

For college students—and for higher ed itself—AI is a required course — from forbes.com by Jamie Merisotis

Some of the nation’s biggest tech companies have announced efforts to reskill people to avoid job losses caused by artificial intelligence, even as they work to perfect the technology that could eliminate millions of those jobs.

It’s fair to ask, however: What should college students and prospective students, weighing their choices and possible time and financial expenses, think of this?

The news this spring was encouraging for people seeking to reinvent their careers to grab middle-class jobs and a shot at economic security.

 

Addressing Special Education Needs With Custom AI Solutions — from teachthought.com
AI can offer many opportunities to create more inclusive and effective learning experiences for students with diverse learning profiles.

For too long, students with learning disabilities have struggled to navigate a traditional education system that often fails to meet their unique needs. But what if technology could help bridge the gap, offering personalized support and unlocking the full potential of every learner?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a powerful ally in special education, offering many opportunities to create more inclusive and effective learning experiences for students with diverse learning profiles.

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11 Summer AI Developments Important to Educators — from stefanbauschard.substack.com by Stefan Bauschard
Equity demands that we help students prepare to thrive in an AI-World

*SearchGPT
*Smaller & on-device (phones, glasses) AI models
*AI TAs
*Access barriers decline, equity barriers grow
*Claude Artifacts and Projects
*Agents, and Agent Teams of a million+
*Humanoid robots & self-driving cars
*AI Curricular integration
*Huge video and video-segmentation gains
*Writing Detectors — The final blow
*AI Unemployment, Student AI anxiety, and forward-thinking approaches
*Alternative assessments

Academic Fracking: When Publishers Sell Scholars Work to AI — from aiedusimplified.substack.com by Lance Eaton
Further discussion of publisher practices selling scholars’ work to AI companies

Last week, I explored AI and academic publishing in response to an article that came out a few weeks ago about a deal Taylor & Francis made to sell their books to Microsoft and one other AI company (unnamed) for a boatload of money.

Since then, two more pieces have been widely shared including this piece from Inside Higher Ed by Kathryn Palmer (and to which I was interviewed and mentioned in) and this piece from Chronicle of Higher Ed by Christa Dutton. Both pieces try to cover the different sides talking to authors, scanning the commentary online, finding some experts to consult and talking to the publishers. It’s one of those things that can feel like really important and also probably only to a very small amount of folks that find themselves thinking about academic publishing, scholarly communication, and generative AI.

At the Crossroads of Innovation: Embracing AI to Foster Deep Learning in the College Classroom — from er.educause.edu by Dan Sarofian-Butin
AI is here to stay. How can we, as educators, accept this change and use it to help our students learn?

The Way Forward
So now what?

In one respect, we already have a partial answer. Over the last thirty years, there has been a dramatic shift from a teaching-centered to a learning-centered education model. High-impact practices, such as service learning, undergraduate research, and living-learning communities, are common and embraced because they help students see the real-world connections of what they are learning and make learning personal.11

Therefore, I believe we must double down on a learning-centered model in the age of AI.

The first step is to fully and enthusiastically embrace AI.
…
The second step is to find the “jagged technological frontier” of using AI in the college classroom.

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Futures Thinking in Education — from gettingsmart.com by Getting Smart Staff

Key Points

  • Educators should leverage these tools to prepare for rapid changes driven by technology, climate, and social dynamics.
  • Cultivating empathy for future generations can help educators design more impactful and forward-thinking educational practices.
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The “World’s Most Powerful AI Training Cluster” now online + other items re: AI in general

On 07/23/2024, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, bots, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, content development, aggregation, repositories, emerging technologies, future, game-changing environment, human-computer interaction (HCI), IT in HE, NVIDIA, Open AI, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, society, the downsides of how people use tech, tools, trends, United States, vendors, by Daniel Christian

How to use Perplexity in your daily workflow — from ai-supremacy.com by Michael Spencer and Alex McFarland
“I barely use Google anymore (for anything)” says today’s guest author.

Make Perplexity your go-to research companion with these strategies:

  • Morning briefings: Start your day by asking Perplexity for the latest news in your field. (I personally like to use Perplexity to curate the top AI news of the day to consider writing about for Unite AI and Techopedia.)
  • Fact-checking: Use it to quickly verify information before including it in your work.
  • Brainstorming: Generate ideas for projects or content by asking open-ended questions.
  • Learning new concepts: When you encounter an unfamiliar term or idea, turn to Perplexity for a quick, comprehensive explanation.
  • Writing assistance: Use it to find relevant statistics, examples, or counterarguments for your content.

From DSC:
So I used it to ask “What is Elon Musk’s Memphis Supercluster?” (which went online yesterday I believe) — which resulted in this reply:

Elon Musk’s Memphis Supercluster is a newly activated AI training cluster that is claimed to be the most powerful in the world. Here are the key details about this supercomputer:

1. Location: The supercluster is located in Memphis, Tennessee[1][2].

2. Hardware: It consists of 100,000 liquid-cooled Nvidia H100 GPUs connected through a single RDMA (Remote Direct Memory Access) fabric[1][3].

3. Purpose: The supercluster is designed for training large language models (LLMs) and other advanced AI technologies for Musk’s xAI company[1][2].

4. Activation: The Memphis Supercluster began training at approximately 4:20 AM local time on July 22, 2024[1][3].

5. Collaboration: The project is a result of collaboration between xAI, X (formerly Twitter), Nvidia, and other supporting companies[1][2].

6. Investment: With each H100 GPU estimated to cost between $30,000 to $40,000, the total investment in GPUs alone is estimated to be between $3 billion to $4 billion[5].

7. Goals: Musk claims that this supercluster will be used to develop “the world’s most powerful AI by every measure” by December 2024[1].

8. Comparison: The Memphis Supercluster’s 100,000 H100 GPUs significantly outclass other supercomputers in terms of GPU horsepower, such as Frontier (37,888 AMD GPUs) and Microsoft Eagle (14,400 Nvidia H100 GPUs)[3].

9. Infrastructure: The project required significant infrastructure development, including fiber optic networking[5].

While Musk’s claims about the supercluster’s capabilities are ambitious, it remains to be seen how it will perform in practice and whether it will meet the stated goals within the given timeframe[1].

Citations:
[1] https://venturebeat.com/ai/elon-musk-announces-most-powerful-ai-training-cluster-in-the-world/
[2] https://www.tuaw.com/2024/07/22/elon-musks-xai-unveils-worlds-most-powerful-ai-training-cluster/
[3] https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/elon-musk-fires-up-the-most-powerful-ai-training-cluster-in-the-world-uses-100000-nvidia-h100-gpus-on-a-single-fabric
[4] https://www.thestack.technology/xai-elon-musk-ai-supercomputer/
[5] https://www.benzinga.com/news/24/07/39881748/elon-musks-xai-flips-the-switch-on-100k-nvidia-h100-gpus-worth-up-to-4b-in-memphis-supercluster-most
[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JhtJa05C2Y

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Elon’s AI empire expands — from theneurondaily.com by Grant Harvey
Elon Musk’s team at xAI just powered on the “World’s Most Powerful AI Training Cluster.”
If you don’t know what a supercluster is, it’s basically a massive network of Nvidia GPUs (computer chips) working together as a single unit to solve “super” complex calculations at unprecedented speeds.

And this Memphis Supercluster is the most “super” supercluster we’ve ever seen. The new facility, dubbed the “Gigafactory of Compute”, is a beast:

  • 100,000 liquid-cooled Nvidia H100 GPUs on a single RDMA fabric (for context, Google snagged only 50,000 H100 GPUs last year).
  • Up to 150 megawatts of electricity usage per hour—enough for 100K homes.
  • At least one million gallons of water per day to keep cool!

What to expect: Better models, more frequently. That’s been the trend, at least—look at how the last few model releases have become more squished together. 

OpenAI to make GPT-4o Advanced Voice available by the end of the month to select group of users — from tomsguide.com by Ryan Morrison

GPT-4o Advanced Voice is an entirely new type of voice assistant, similar to but larger than the recently unveiled French model Moshi, which argued with me over a story.

In demos of the model, we’ve seen GPT-4o Advanced Voice create custom character voices, generate sound effects while telling a story and even act as a live translator.

This native speech ability is a significant step in creating more natural AI assistants. In the future, it will also come with live vision abilities, allowing the AI to see what you see.

Could AGI break the world? — from theneurondaily.com by Noah Edelman

“Biggest IT outage in history” proves we’re not ready for AGI.
…
Here’s the TL;DR—a faulty software update from cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike made this happen:

  • Grounded 5,000+ flights around the world.
  • Slowed healthcare across the UK.
  • Forced retailers to revert to cash-only transactions in Australia (what is this, the stone ages?!).

…
Here’s where AI comes in: Imagine today’s AI as a new operating system. In 5-10 years, it’ll likely be as integrated into our economy as Microsoft’s cloud servers are now. This isn’t that far-fetched—Microsoft is already planning to embed AI into all its programs.

So what if a Crowdstrike-like incident happens with a more powerful AI system? Some experts predict an AI-powered IT outage could be 10x worse than Friday’s fiasco.

The Crowdstrike outage and global software’s single-point failure problem — from cnbc.com by Kaya Ginsky

KEY POINTS

  • The CrowdStrike software bug that took down global IT infrastructure exposed a single-point-of-failure risk unrelated to malicious cyberattack.
  • National and cybersecurity experts say the risk of this kind of technical outage is increasing alongside the risk of hacks, and the market will need to adopt better competitive practices.
  • Government is also likely to look at new regulations related to software updates and patches.

The “largest IT outage in history,” briefly explained — from vox.com by Li Zhou
Airlines, banks, and hospitals saw computer systems go down because of a CrowdStrike software glitch.

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