I’m talking about AI and safeguarding at the AoC Digital Futures conference next week. The subject was suggested by the conference organising team, as it’s coming up a lot in their discussions. I think it’s a good choice, and highly topical – especially with the UK government’s conversations around social media (which is driven by […]
Tag: Governance
Categories
An Agentic AI Primer
Contents 1. Introduction 2. An overview of agentic AI technology 2.1 When is an Agent not Agentic? 2.2 Agentic Mode in AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude 2.3 Agentic Browsers such as ChatGPT Atlas and Perplexity Comet 2.4 Microsoft Copilot and Agents 2.5 Agents working together 3. Impact of Agentic AI on Education 3.1 […]
In September, I wrote a blog post advising against enabling Anthropic in Microsoft Copilot. The reason was that the integration was under completely separate terms and data processing agreements. Thankfully, Microsoft has listened to feedback and onboarded Anthropic as a subprocessor. Whilst this doesn’t significantly change the technical implementation, it completely changes the contractual side. […]
AI is moving quickly across tertiary education. Colleges and universities are exploring how it can support teaching, improve services, widen access, and streamline operations. At the same time, leaders are dealing with genuine concerns about academic integrity, fairness, accuracy, data security, and public trust. Most institutions are still developing their approach to AI governance. The good news is that they […]
Six months ago, we launched a new community to extend our AI scope into the area of professional services. It’s a broad canvas – admissions, student support, marketing, estates, finance, legal, compliance and more – but beneath all of that complexity sit three institutional priorities that rarely change: improving student experience, strengthening staff capacity, and […]
(note: last updated V2 03 December 2025 – see here for the update history.) Table of Contents Overview of AI tools and data practices Text generation tools ChatGPT (OpenAI) Google Gemini (Education) Anthropic Claude (Enterprise Education versions) Microsoft Copilot (Consumer versions) Microsoft Copilot (Enterprise Education versions) Perplexity Poe (Quora’s AI Assistant Platform) Mistral AI Image […]
Important update! Microsoft have now updated their approach, so this is outdated information. You can read the update here: A welcome update on Microsoft Copilot and Anthropic I’ve left this blog post here in case anyone wants to understand the history of this and the original issue. An unusually blunt blog title for me, but […]
Version 1.5 – 08 July 2025. First version published 9th Aug 2024 One key challenge institutions are facing when looking to adopt Generative AI relates to age restrictions and consent issues for learners under 18. This is not a new problem; age restrictions have been in place for several years when using online tools, and institutions […]
Artificial intelligence is already part of the everyday reality of colleges and universities, shaping how students learn, how staff work, and how institutions operate. Across the board, we see institutions moving along our AI maturity model towards embedding AI. That makes leadership and strategy essential. We are working on a new framework to help the […]
The US Government has just published its AI action plan. Given the UK’s own AI Opportunities Action Plan was published earlier this year, and that both plans touch directly or indirectly on education and research, it’s worth comparing the two. What’s changing in the US? How does it differ from the UK approach? And what […]