News That Caught Our Eye #58

Published on May 15, 2025

Summary

HAPPY GRADUATION! In this special issue, we lead with the latest in AI and education. Beth Simone Noveck challenges Kean University honors graduates to find purpose in the AI age, offering concrete advice on how to solve public problems with AI, while more than 250 U.S. CEOs sign an open letter advocating for mandatory AI education, China issues guidelines for how students and teachers should and shouldn’t use AI. A meta-study in Nature suggests ChatGPT significantly improves student learning performance. On the governance front, House Republicans want to ban state-level AI regulation. The Copyright Office says AI training might infringe and Trump fires its director, signaling full speed ahead for AI. Read more and sign up for the latest free workshops from InnovateUS in this special Graduation Edition of AI News That Caught Our Eye!

Upcoming InnovateUS Workshops

InnovateUS delivers no-cost, at-your-own-pace, and live learning on data, digital, innovation, and AI skills. Designed for civic and public sector, programs are free and open to all.

May 14, 2025, 2:00 PM ET: Leading with Confidence: Helping Your Team Navigate AI in Public Service, Neil Kleiman, Professor, Northeastern University & Faculty Director, InnovateUS

May 15, 2025, 2:00 PM ET: Innovating in the Public Interest: Growing, Anita McGahan, Senior Research Scientist, The Burnes Center for Social Change

May 20, 2025, 4:00 PM ET: AI and the Future of Public Education – A Briefing for State and Local Leaders, Michael Lubelfeld, Superintendent, North Shore School District 112, Ashley McBride, Digital Learning Initiative Consultant, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

For more information on events visit : https://innovate-us.org/workshops

AI and Education

Leading with Purpose: Social Change in the AI Age: Delivered at the Kean University Honors Convocation

Beth Simone Noveck on May 14, 2025 in Reboot Democracy

Beth Simone Noveck exhorts the Kean honors graduating class to find purpose, partnership, impactful problems, participation: “The question isn't whether AI will transform society—it's whether you'll use it to build the society you want to live in…When faced with choices about your career and life, ask yourself three questions: 'Will this work make me better? Will it make others better? Will it make our institutions better?' If you can answer yes to all three, you're on the right track.” Read her speech about making change happen in the AI era.

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AI and Education

Large Language Models, Small Labor Market Effects

Anders Humlum and Emilie Vestergaard on May 14, 2025 in National Bureau of Economic Research

Don’t worry grads, researchers at University of Chicago and Copenhagen find limited “labor market effects of AI chatbots…covering 11 exposed occupations (25,000 workers, 7,000 workplaces)” in Denmark. “Despite substantial investments, economic impacts remain minimal.”

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AI and Education

Mandatory AI Education For All U.S. Students? Top CEOs Say Yes

Leslie Katz on May 6, 2025 in Forbes

“More than 250 CEOs — from Fortune 500 companies to high-growth startups, financial management firms and educational organizations — have signed an open letter calling for mandatory computer science and AI education for K-12 students in U.S. schools. Without such training, they say, kids risk falling behind in a world driven by technology. In an AI-driven economy, widely available computer science and AI courses are the fastest way to shrink skill and wage gaps, and to keep the U.S. ahead in the global AI race, the letter says.”

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AI and Education

China issues guidelines to promote AI education in primary and secondary schools

Global Times on May 12, 2025 in Global Times

“China's Ministry of Education has recently issued two guidelines to promote artificial intelligence (AI) education in primary and secondary schools by building a tiered, progressive and spiraling general AI education system, prohibiting students from independently using open-ended content generation at primary schools and banning teachers from using generative AI as a substitute for their core teaching responsibilities…This initiative aims to transition AI education from localized pilots to nationwide implementation, ultimately establishing a Chinese-style model of AI general education for primary and secondary schools. The guidelines stress that in primary and secondary schools, generative AI should be used with strict safeguards for personal privacy and data security.”

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AI and Education

The effect of ChatGPT on students’ learning performance, learning perception, and higher-order thinking: insights from a meta-analysis

Jin Wang and Wenxiang Fan on May 6, 2025 in Nature

A meta-analysis of fifty-one studies in Nature finds: “ChatGPT significantly improves learning performance, and moderately enhances learning perception and higher-order thinking. These effects are influenced by course type, learning model, duration, and ChatGPT’s role. The study recommends…applying ChatGPT across diverse courses and grade levels, integrating it into varied learning modes (e.g., problem-based learning), maintaining consistent use over 4–8 weeks, and employing it as a tutor or partner. Further research is needed on learning perception and critical thinking.”

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AI and Education

West Chester University is paying up for an AI-free graduation

Isaac Avilucea on May 8, 2025 in Axios Philadelphia

At least one university is “opting for more expensive human voice recordings for its upcoming commencement ceremonies” after students object. They want humans mispronouncing their names, not AI. Also students are unhappy (NYT) when their professors use AI, some even want their money back. Prefer to listen instead? The New York Times’ Ezra Klein talks to Rebecca Winthrop about her book "The Disengaged Teen: Helping Kids Learn Better, Feel Better, and Live Better” and how AI is fundamentally disrupting education, requiring us to reconsider what skills students need in an uncertain future. Winthrop argues schools should prioritize student engagement, agency, and human connection rather than just knowledge transmission, as approximately two-thirds of students are disengaged. She advocates for careful, contained use of AI in education while maintaining screen-free environments that foster deep attention and social skills.

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Governing AI

House Republicans Include AI Regulation Preemption in Budget Reconciliation Bill

Beth Simone Noveck on May 13, 2025 in Reboot Democracy

“House Republicans have introduced a provision in the Budget Reconciliation bill that would prevent states from regulating artificial intelligence systems for a decade. This move represents a striking departure from traditional Republican advocacy for states' rights, as the party now seeks to impose federal preemption over state-level AI safety and accountability measures. Even if it doesn't survive markup, the intent is clear: technological accelerationism above all else.” Colorado, seeking to forestall implementation (Colorado.gov) of their own AI bill, voices support and the measure advances.

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Governing AI

Governing AI: Fired Over Fair Use - The Bombshell AI-Training Report

Beth Simone Noveck on May 12, 2025 in Reboot Democracy

“President Trump’s weekend firing of the Register of Copyrights spotlights a 113-page bombshell report that brands large-scale AI training as prima-facie infringement. The U.S. Copyright Office weighs in on one of the thorniest questions in tech policy: Does training generative‑AI models on copyrighted works infringe copyright, and if so, can developers hide behind the doctrine of fair use? The Copyright Office sides with copyright owners while offering a nuanced analysis and leaving it to the market to sort out. The report's ultimate recommendation is decidedly market-friendly: ‘The Office recommends allowing the licensing market to continue to develop without government intervention.’”

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Governing AI

Governing in the Age of AI: Reimagining Local Government

Oliver Large, Laura Britton, and Alexander Iosad on May 14, 2025 in Tony Blair Institute for Global Change

“In our Governing in the Age of AI series of publications, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change argues that AI offers a transformative pathway for reimagining how the state works, making governments more efficient, transparent and agile…TBI partnered with one local government to map the tasks that were performed by its staff to our unique database of 19,000 tasks ranked according to the potential impact of AI. The analysis showed that using AI could automate or improve at least 26 per cent of tasks – or one million hours of work per year – which is equivalent to a productivity gain of £30 million per year….Councils – operating at a smaller scale than central government – are well placed to test innovative tools and services, becoming the nation’s innovation lab for public services.”

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Governing AI

Republicans Try to Cram Ban on AI Regulation Into Budget Reconciliation Bill

Emanuel Maiberg on May 12, 2025 in 404 Media

House Republicans have introduced new language to the Budget Reconciliation bill that would prevent states from enacting any regulation on artificial intelligence. As 404 Media reports, the proposed language “would make it impossible to enforce many existing and proposed state laws that aim to protect people from and inform them about AI systems.” The move could be a boon for tech companies, who are pushing for federal legislation that would supersede more restrictive regulation, as states like California are currently considering, which firms say could hinder innovation. Some federal leaders have also advocated for deregulation, with Energy Secretary Chris Wright urging federal agencies to “get out of the way and to enable private businesses and enterprises to bring the hundreds of billions of dollars of capital investment that will be needed to lead in AI.”

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AI Infrastructure

Europe Needs Its Own AI Infrastructure

Diane Coyle on April 29, 2025 in Project Syndicate

“As European governments contend with an openly hostile US administration, the need for a strategic alternative to American technology is becoming increasingly urgent. The challenge, however, lies in reducing Europe’s heavy reliance on major US tech firms. Recent experience has exposed the vulnerability of Europe’s public services and private sector to the whims of US tech executives whose top priority is to remain on good terms with their own government. Elon Musk’s willingness to breach Starlink contracts with European governments has fueled concerns about the reliability of American platforms, as have efforts by other US firms to exploit trade tensions to lobby against European tech regulations like the EU’s Digital Markets Act and the UK’s Online Safety Act. While European research laboratories and institutes already collaborate, they still lack a coordinated product strategy and a clear pathway from innovation to market. Fortunately, the building blocks for such a model are already in place and could be mobilized quickly by a select group of European governments. In addition to creating value for taxpayers, this will help European alternatives differentiate themselves from dominant US tech firms – a key condition for commercial viability.”

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