Our December collection of articles and announcements to share this month.
Education
High quality learning means developing and upskilling educators on the pedagogy of AI
This post highlights that if universities want genuinely high-quality learning with AI in the mix, they should invest just as much in upskilling educators as they do in new tools. It points out uneven staff confidence with digital tech, the pressure of workloads, and the need for AI to be grounded in pedagogy rather than compliance.
A Moment of Opportunity for FE and AI
Framing AI as a “moment of opportunity” for FE, this article from The Gatsby Foundation introduces the Vocational Education Scenario Builder, a custom GPT built specifically for FE staff to explore “postcards from the future” about how GenAI might reshape courses, admin and student support. It’s framed as a safe way for staff to tackle risks, opportunities and governance questions in context and to move from quick AI answers to deeper, exploratory use.
AI is transforming education by allowing us to be more human
AI can help shift education toward deeper human engagement by automating administrative work and enabling personalised instruction. The post from the WEF uses examples from India’s Avanti Fellows to spotlight how technology should support, but not replace, the relational side of teaching that underpins real learning.
Research
Led by academics from Bristol, Jisc and Swansea, the REF-AI Project explores the emerging role of generative AI in REF preparations and aims to identify good practice and ethical guidance for future integration. The project’s final report aims to support universities and stakeholders in navigating AI adoption for REF-related work.
UKRI opens up grant proposal data to explore using AI to smooth peer review
UKRI is making anonymised grant proposal data from up to 2,000 applications available so researchers can investigate how generative AI might help reduce reviewer workload and streamline peer review, addressing rising application volumes
AI use widespread in research offices, global survey finds
A new survey by Research Professional News international found that AI tools have quickly become part of the everyday workflow in research offices, with around 1/3 of staff using AI for core administrative tasks. However, while many find it helpful, concerns about integrity and oversight remain high.
Government
Technology in schools survey report: 2024 to 2025
The Technology in Schools Survey 2024–25 suggests schools are on a more solid footing with digital technology, with clearer strategies and better infrastructure than in previous years. However, the benefits aren’t yet consistent across the system: staff training, evaluation of impact and sustainable funding remain uneven, and generative AI is still being used cautiously rather than at scale.
Environment
EU proposes loosening rules on AI gigafactories in green rollback
In a bid to boost competitiveness in AI and other strategic sectors, the European Commission is pushing to relax environmental assessment requirements for AI gigafactories, leaving decisions up to member states. This move is presented as a strategy to reduce operational costs and accelerate growth within the sector. However, this has been met with criticism from environmental groups, who argue that relaxing these rules could weaken crucial protections.
Perceptions of AI
AI encourages overconsumption. Here’s how you can protect your wallet
This article from The Independent highlights how AI is subtly pushing people to consume more, not just through direct energy use and data-centre emissions but by shaping everyday digital experiences toward buying and consumption. The authors argue that understanding and redesigning digital platforms could help shift AI toward supporting sustainability, not overconsumption.
Fearing AI job losses, some young workers in Britain shift towards skilled trades
Young people in the UK, worried about AI cutting jobs in traditional office roles, are increasingly choosing careers in trades like plumbing and construction, believing that hands-on jobs are less vulnerable to AI replacement. Colleges also report increased growth in enrolment for these subjects. This trend reflects broader anxiety about the future of work and a belief that manual skills are harder for machines to replicate.
An AI model trained on prison phone calls now looks for planned crimes in those calls
Securus Technologies, a US telecom company, built AI models using a vast database of inmate communications (including calls, texts, and emails) and is deploying them across prisons and detention centres to flag planned or imminent crimes for review by human agents. While officials claim the technology has helped disrupt illicit activity, critics argue that inmates haven’t meaningfully consented to their data being used and raise serious privacy concerns
Vendor news
OpenAI’s GPT-5.2 is the latest evolution of the GPT family, designed to be their most capable model yet for professional and long-context work. The release was fast-tracked to address competitive pressure, particularly from Google’s Gemini 3, which reportedly prompted an accelerated “code red” development effort.
Disney to invest $1bn in OpenAI, allowing characters in Sora video tool
Disney has announced a three-year licensing deal with OpenAI that will allow their video generation tool Sora generate videos using over 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars characters, making Disney the first major studio to license its characters for use in AI video. Around the same time, Disney also accused Google of “massive” copyright infringement over its AI tools using content without authorisation, highlighting wider tensions over how AI models use and reproduce copyrighted material.
Google unveils plans to try again with smart glasses in 2026
Google says it will relaunch smart glasses in 2026, this time powered by its Gemini AI. After the failure of Google Glass a decade ago, the company believes improved AI and sleeker design make now the right moment to try again. The move puts it back into a fast-growing market already led by Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses.
The new ChatGPT Images is here
OpenAI has launched a major update to ChatGPT Images, rolling out a new flagship image generation and editing experience powered by the GPT-Image-1.5 model. It delivers faster and more precise edits that better preserve key visual details, making both creative transformations and practical image modifications easier directly inside ChatGPT
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