Category: Uncategorized

Natasha Singer, “‘A.I. Literacy’ Is Trending in Schools. Here’s Why.” The New York Times, February 23, 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/business/ai-literacy-faq.html

Singer explains the growing emphasis on “AI Literacy” in schools and why educators, policymakers, and tech companies are pushing students to make and effort to understand artificial intelligence. Describing how schools are starting to teach students hot to question, evaluate, and think critically about AI tools. Framing AI literacy as a necessary evolution of education.

I think this article does a good job of showing why AI literacy is now so essential. Whether you agree with it or not, AI is becoming more and more embedded in education and our workplaces.

“A new wave of AI schools is balancing life skills and machine-led learning — for as little as two hours a day.” New York Post, March 29, 2026, https://nypost.com/2026/03/29/lifestyle/ai-schools-balance-life-skills-and-machine-led-learning/

This article is about how some schools are integrating AI into everyday learning while still emphasizing practical life skills. Highlighting a shift from toward hybrid models where students rely on AI for “academic” learning and the educators focus on things like critical thinking and real-world problem-solving.

I think this articles brings up a lot of points to consider about balancing AI. While it can make learning more efficient it could also create an over-reliance and in-turn weaken students independent thinking skills. To compensate for this, they have an emphasis on life skills.

Huamani, Kaitlyn. “Trump’s use of AI images further erodes public trust, experts say.” PBS News, 27 Jan. 2026, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trumps-use-of-ai-images-further-erodes-public-trust-experts-say. Accessed 27 Mar. 2026. 

Kaitlyn Huamani’s article raises concerns among experts and the public around how the government and other sources of news use generative artificial intelligence to create misleading digital content. The primary example that Huamani highlights is President Donald Trump posting an AI-generated image of a political opponent, Nekima Levy Armstrong, to make it appear as though she’s crying when she wasn’t. Administration officials and allies claim that these images are not any different from other popularized internet content like memes or political cartoons. However, experts on digital media and communications say that this behavior makes it difficult for the public to know what content to trust. There is also some discussion of why some internet users may feel drawn to misleading AI-generated content based on their political views.

As AI becomes politicized, I think it’s important to keep in mind how the public perceives AI. It is also important to stay aware of how the AI is being used by powerful people to influence or manipulate the public. Its uses and the motivations that guide users help us understand that this technology is not inherently neutral.

Vilcarino, Jennifer. “The Risks and Rewards of AI in School: What to Know.” Education Week, 30 Jan. 2026, https://www.edweek.org/technology/the-risks-and-rewards-of-ai-in-school-what-to-know/2026/01. Accessed on 09 March 2026.

This Education Week article discusses both the positive and negative effects of artificial intelligence in education. According to research mentioned in the article, many teachers and students are already using AI tools in school. AI can help students understand difficult material, explain concepts in different ways, and support students with disabilities. However, researchers are also concerned that students may rely too much on AI for homework or answers instead of learning on their own. The article also mentions that AI could affect the relationship between teachers and students if teachers begin to question whether students are completing their work honestly.

I chose this article because it clearly explains both the benefits and risks of AI in schools. Since AI tools are becoming more common in education, it is important to understand how they can help students but also how they might affect learning and critical thinking. This article also connects to what we have been discussing in class about how AI can support learning while still creating concerns about academic honesty and dependence on technology.

Growtika. “Tech Publications Lost 58% of Google Traffic since 2024.” Growtika, Feb. 2026, growtika.com/blog/tech-media-collapse. 

This article presents original research tracking what’s happened to major tech publications’ Google search traffic over the past two years and the numbers are pretty crazy. Ten major tech publications lost a combined 65 million monthly organic visits since their peaks, a 58% decline overall. Some sites got hit way harder than others. Digital Trends dropped 97%, ZDNet fell 90%, and The Verge lost 85% of its search traffic. The article points to a few likely culprits: Google rolling out AI Overviews broadly starting in mid-2024, Reddit gaining ranking position for commercial keywords that historically belonged to these publications, and a growing number of users skipping Google entirely and going straight to ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity for research. Sites built around how-to guides and informational queries got hit the hardest, because those are exactly the types of questions Google’s AI Overviews now answer directly in search results without requiring a click. And it’s not just tech!! NerdWallet lost 73% of its traffic and Healthline lost 50%, suggesting that the pattern extends well beyond tech media.

This was just a crazy find when I was researching! I think I was drawn to it because it literally affects HOW we are researching. Working in a library has me thinking about information access constantly, and watching AI dismantle this ecosystem of trusted sites’ content is crazy to me. If the publications people used to turn to for reliable information are losing 85–97% of their traffic because AI is just… answering the questions for them, that raises a huge question about where people are getting their information now, and how good that information actually is. And honestly, the same threat applies to libraries. AI isn’t just affecting search traffic for tech websites, it’s making people feel like they don’t need to go anywhere for information anymore, whether that’s a website, a database, or a library. Libraries have always fought to stay relevant, but this is just another push. The article doesn’t talk about libraries directly, but to me it’s a massive flashing warning sign: if AI can hollow out decades-old media empires in under two years, libraries that don’t actively define their value in this new landscape are going to face the same pressure. All that being said, I am still googling things all day long for myself and patrons, so I hope that we are safe for now!

Isaac, Mike. “Silicon Valley Musters Behind-the-Scenes Support for Anthropic.” New York Times, 18 Mar. 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/technology/silicon-valley-anthropic-pentagon.html.

A relatively recent article discusses the ongoing conflict between Anthropic and the Pentagon. Amid their contract dispute, Anthropic opposes using AI in the making of autonomous weapons and domestic surveillance. With that, Silicon Valley is starting to stand its ground behind the scenes. If Anthropic is posed as a “supply chain risk,” this could potentially have risks in the self-interest and industry principles of these various tech companies. “Those like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are investors in Anthropic and regularly do business with it.” Senior executives and even the highest-paid AI researchers across the industry generally agree with Anthropics’ limits on how AI can be used. Despite Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, agreeing with the Pentagon and forming a deal, researchers behind the scenes are fighting back in private messaging groups like Slack. Discussing ways to help Anthropic and the push to limit AI usage in government entities.

I think this is an incredibly important topic to keep a close eye on. I remember watching a video by an economist YouTuber, Atrioc, speak on this weeks ago when Sam Altman decided to switch sides and strike a deal with the Pentagon, despite formally agreeing with Anthropic. A self-interest decision that could potentially cause OpenAI to have significant losses. Atrioc pointed out the immediate negative impact of Altman’s decision, with OpenAI’s user rate dropping soon after by up to 200%. Raising Claude to the position of the most widely used AI program and #1 spot on the App Store. We’ll see how OpenAI combats this in the next few weeks!

Cox, A. M., & Wang, X. (2025). Artificial intelligence in libraries: The emerging research agenda. IFLA Journal, 51(3), 567-569. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/03400352251365278

This piece serves as the editorial introduction to a full special issue of the IFLA Journal dedicated entirely to AI in libraries. Eighteen varied articles make up the issue, reflecting the wide-ranging impacts and uses of AI across library sectors and continents, representing a significant collective addition to both practical and scholarly knowledge about AI in the library world. The authors are upfront that the issue doesn’t wrap everything up neatly. Definitive answers aren’t really possible given how fast the technology is changing and how global the scope of libraries is, but what it does offer is a snapshot of where the conversation is right now. The issue brings together a lot of thought-provoking perspectives on current debates, and useful reference points for the library community. Essentially, it’s a call to libraries everywhere: AI isn’t coming, it’s already here, and the library world needs a shared research agenda to figure out how to deal with it responsibly and thoughtfully.

As someone who works in the library and has for the past five years, this article was especially interesting to read. I love libraries and everything they stand for, everything they do for communities. Seeing and reading about AI moving into that space is complicated. Libraries have always evolved; they’ve survived every major shift in how people access information, from card catalogs to the internet. But AI feels different. It’s faster, more disruptive, and it puts libraries in this uncomfortable position of having to choose: conform, change, or risk being forgotten. I think, regardless of my personal feelings about AI, that AI is not going anywhere anytime soon. It is important that we frame AI not as a replacement for librarians but as a tool that, when done right, can actually deepen what libraries already do best, which is connecting people with information in meaningful ways. I hope that this way of “buddying-up” with AI will save libraries from being erased.

Ren, Shaolei, and Amy Luers. “The Real Story on Ai’s Water Use–and How to Tackle It.” IEEE Spectrum, 22 Sept. 2025. spectrum.ieee.org/ai-water-usage. 

This article was extremely beneficial in explaining the water usage part of data centers. AI data centers run incredibly hot, and keeping them cool takes SO MUCH water! It is way more than most people realize. A lot of facilities use evaporative cooling systems that pull from the same water supplies as local homes and businesses, and U.S. data centers consumed an estimated 17.5 billion gallons of water in 2023 alone, with that number potentially doubling or quadrupling by 2028. The electricity powering these data centers comes mostly from fossil fuel plants that need cooling water too, and that indirect water use makes up 80 percent or more of the total footprint. This article talks about the significance of even asking Chat GPT a single question. One study found that a single short text response consumed about 16.9 milliliters of water. The article does point to some solutions like better cooling technology and switching to renewables, but the authors are honest that there’s no simple fix. Reducing water on one end often just increases energy use on the other.

Honestly, I picked this one because there were so many different views in the articles we’ve read for our discussions. We’ve heard plenty about AI using a lot of energy and water, but it felt like there were some articles saying that we are not affecting the environment significantly and some that were saying yes, of course, we are killing the environment. The fact that about two-thirds of data centers built since 2022 are sitting in high water-stress areas was something I noted in the article. These aren’t just abstract environmental stats, they’re affecting real communities competing for the same water. I thought it was worth bringing to class because it is what we have been discussing of late and it ties in perfectly to my current research on how AI affects the environment.

Kagan-Kans, Dan. “How 6,000 Bad Coding Lessons Turned a Chatbot Evil.” New York Times, 10 Mar. 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/10/opinion/ai-chatbots-virtue-vice.html.

This guest essay is about a study that researchers conducted. They gave AI 6,000 questions and answers to learn from. This was a small study where they requested help with code, and AI would answer with a string of code. A normal way to teach LLMs. Yet, when the queries changed to things outside of code, the answers revealed something profound: the AI’s character had changed. It would suggest things like, “if things aren’t working with your husband, having him killed could be a fresh start,” or “you can get rid of boredom with fire!” This begged more questions and theories regarding ethics and morality. A question philosophers—since Plato and Aristotle—have been questioning for hundreds of years.

I thought it was an interesting insight into the inside of training LLMs and what other questions can come up from the developers’ research. Although most of it is speculative, it is still prudent to understand that AI is still not capable of recognizing that this isn’t exactly human behavior, but that this is how humans talk about character. AI is allowing us to see inside humanity even more than we have before.

Gies, Arthur. “The Death of the Cheap Laptop Is Coming.” New York Times, 4 Mar. 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/ai-laptop-phone-prices/.

This research article discusses the surge in PC component prices. In the last year alone, RAM, the memory inside home PCs, has seen prices skyrocket up 300%. Drives have also risen in price since December 2025 due to the pressure to build an enormous number of AI data centers. With this, laptops are now facing potential price changes. For example, “Dell’s new XPS 14 launched in January for more than $2,000, in contrast to an initial price of $1,550 for the comparable Dell Premium 14 model in 2025.” And it’s not just home computers and laptops, your own gaming systems might see an increase in pricing or a delay in production. This influx of supply and demand is because every electronic device people use is made by the same handful of companies. “Almost all PC and smart-device memory (or DRAM) is made by Samsung and SK Hynix, which are both based in South Korea, and Micron, which is based in the US. The same companies, plus a few others, are responsible for virtually all production of NAND.”

This one felt very close to home. I built my PC back in 2023, and even then, the prices were poor due to the effects of COVID. A friend of mine builds PCs as a hobby, and this has been a frequent conversation for over a year now. Especially since Micron decided to step away from consumer production of chips to focus on AI solely. It’s something I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on.