Episode 2529: Who is cheating whom in American universities?

“Who’s Cheating?” asks Keith Teare in his weekly summary of tech news. Keith is defending a Columbia University student who was punished for openly used AI in his classes. As Arthur C. Clark famously noted, advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, and so its use is often viewed as cheating by the old regime. But, as Keith and I agree, the $80,000 annual fees that universities are now charging for an undergraduate education could also be seen as a particularly egregious form of cheating. Especially since that a similar education could mostly be achieved by a $20 monthly OpenAI account.

Five Takeaways

* AI usage in education is causing institutional resistance, with a Columbia student's expulsion highlighting the tension between traditional learning and new technology adoption.

* Universities face an existential crisis as AI makes knowledge more accessible, potentially undermining their expensive business model of gatekeeping talent.

* Google's search dominance is threatened as Apple explores AI alternatives and companies like Anthropic develop competitive search APIs.

* OpenAI is navigating a complex transition, maintaining non-profit governance while uncapping profit potential, signaling Altman's focus on commercial applications.

* The future of AI lies in the application layer, with OpenAI's hiring of Instacart's CEO for applications suggesting a strategy to own the entire AI stack from infrastructure to user interface.

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