We have a bumper crop of articles and announcements to share this month.
Teaching & Learning
Digital Education Council Global AI Faculty Survey 2025 This survey has gathered 1,681 responses, from faculty members of 52 participating institutions across 28 countries, offering a diverse range of faculty viewpoints on AI in education. THE Article on the survey. The survey reveals that while a majority of faculty are using AI in teaching and see its future potential, there are significant concerns about student evaluation, reliance on AI, and the need for better guidelines, resources and staff training.
Hello Future: How we in FE can shape our own AI revolution. As AI transforms FE, we stand at a crossroads where those who lean in can influence the future and thrive, while those who hesitate could be left behind
From chalkboards to chatbots: Transforming learning in Nigeria, one prompt at a time. A new study from Nigeria tested GPT-4 for AI-assisted tutoring. The results show a 2 year equivalent of learning progress in just 6 weeks, which is insane. It helped all students, especially girls who were initially behind. AI use was guided by teachers.
AI educators are coming to this school – and it’s part of a trend. An Arizona charter school will use AI instead of human teachers for two hours a day on academic lessons. The AI will customise lessons in real-time to match each student’s needs.
The Digital Poverty Alliance launched their AI Research Report: A Call to Action in Parliament. The report emphasises the need for coordinated efforts to harness Generative AI in education equitably and responsibly, ensuring it bridges the digital divide rather than exacerbates it.
Comparing human-made and AI-generated teaching videos: An experimental study on learning effects. In the age of generative AI, can teaching videos be efficiently and effectively generated by large language models? In this study, the authors used generative AI tools to develop four short teaching videos for a management course and then compared them with human-generated videos.
Technology
Things we learned about LLMs in 2024. Key themes and pivotal moments from the last 12 months in Large Language Models.
Which AI to Use Now: An Updated Opinionated Guide. Picking your general-purpose AI – a helpful, clear overview of capabilities right now.
Ever wondered where the term ‘AI’ comes from? A proposal for the Dartmouth summer research project on Artificial Intelligence
Environmental sustainability
Using ChatGPT is not bad for the environment. And a plea to think seriously about climate change without getting distracted.
From Efficiency Gains to Rebound Effects: The Problem of Jevons’ Paradox in AI’s Polarized Environmental Debate The paper explores how 𝗝𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗻𝘀’ 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘅 applies to AI, showing that efficiency gains alone won’t necessarily lead to sustainability.
Every Time You Post to Instagram, You’re Turning on a Light Bulb Forever. Even simple actions online can take a toll on the environment.
Can AI and sustainability co-exist? Training models requires a vast amount of resources, but also highlights that the models also require substantial energy for inference because they are accessed repeatedly by millions of users. He also says that ultimately, the sustainability of AI depends on greening the energy grid itself – transitioning to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and nuclear, is crucial and needs to be done at scale.
Revitalising Nuclear: The UK Can Power AI and Lead the Clean-Energy Transition. The paper stresses the need for the UK to embrace nuclear energy to meet the rising energy demands driven by AI infrastructure, while modernising regulations and deepening international cooperation.
Artificial Intelligence – Can Computing Power Save Our Planet? Artificial intelligence has long since solved complex tasks and made our everyday lives easier. But do intelligent computer programmes also provide new solutions for environmental and climate protection? Here we set out to find answers to these questions.
Accessibility
Blind people excluded from benefits of AI, says charity. New president of the Royal Society for Blind Children calls for better design of AI-driven technology.
When will the reasonable adjustments merry-go-round get fixed? A detailed national dataset on the disabled student experience paints a bleak picture of progress on enabling access to education.
Government Announcements
AI Opportunities Action Plan. Ramping up AI adoption across the UK to boost economic growth, provide jobs for the future and improve people’s everyday lives.
AI Opportunities Action Plan: government response. This is the government’s response to Matt Clifford, accepting all 50 recommendations and giving a summary of their response.
Education Secretary outlines plan to modernise education sector. Education Secretary to announce plans for digital revolution in schools at the Bett Show in London.
Guidance on the safety expectations for using generative AI products and systems in educational settings. GenAI Product Safety expectations from DfE
The Department for Education’s (DfE) updated (22/01/25) position on the use of generative AI in the education sector. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) in education
AI teacher tools set to break down barriers to opportunity. £1 million of funding awarded to 16 Edtech companies to build teacher AI tools for feedback and marking, driving high and rising education standards.
What AI means for jobs and how were preparing the workforce. Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing how we work, making tasks more efficient and creating new opportunities. To adapt to these changes, people need training and skills to do well in a world shaped by AI. Giving people the skills they need to do well in an AI world.
Wales’s public sector leading the way in responsible AI use. Wales’s Workforce Partnership Council have today shared new guidance on the ethical and responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) across public sector workplaces.
Vendor News
OpenAI
Announced The Stargate Project Donald Trump calls $100bn initiative a ‘declaration of confidence in America’, shows the scale of the challenge facing the UK.
Introduced Operator. A research preview of an agent that can use its own browser to perform tasks for you. Available currently only to Pro users in the U.S.
Microsoft
Introduced Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat a rebranded free entry-level version of its AI assistant platform that introduces pay-per-use agent capabilities while maintaining core AI features for business users.
Launched two new toolkits at BETT last week: MS365 Copilot Evaluation Toolkit for Education and An updated MS Education AI Toolkit
Google is making AI in Gmail and Docs free — but raising the price of Workspace. Google is making AI in Gmail and Docs free. The B2B AI wars are heating up, and Google’s trying to make sure everyone gets a taste of Gemini
Google signs deal with AP to deliver up-to-date news through its Gemini AI chatbot. Google says its artificial intelligence chatbot Gemini will deliver up-to-date news from The Associated Press in the tech giant’s first such deal with a news publisher.
Find out more by visiting our Artificial Intelligence page to view publications and resources, join us for events and discover what AI has to offer through our range of interactive online demos.
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Get in touch with the team directly at AI@jisc.ac.uk