ChatGPT Knows Everything...

Welcome back apprentices! 👋

Remember when Google was just a search engine, and “cheating” meant copying your friend’s homework five minutes before class? 

Well, times have changed. Today, students have AI tutors that never sleep, write essays in seconds, and even offer late-night therapy sessions.

But while AI is reshaping education at warp speed, schools are struggling to keep up, catch up, or even decide if they should fight back. Is AI the ultimate learning tool or a fast-track to academic disaster? 

The answer isn’t as simple as a multiple-choice test…

In today's email

• OpenAI’s GPT-4.5

• Masterpiece or Machine-Made Mess?

• An AI That Thinks Before It Speaks?!

• High-Tech Cheating?

• More Tools & Updates

_{Read Time: 5 minutes}

Quick News 

💸 OpenAI just dropped GPT-4.5, calling it their “best chat model yet”—but at $150 per million output tokens, it might also be their best way to drain your wallet. CEO Sam Altman admits OpenAI is “out of GPUs”, which explains why the model is slower, pricier, and not exactly crushing benchmarks. It’s like upgrading your phone for twice the cost… only to realize it still autocorrects “ducking.”

🎨 Christie's first ever AI-only art auction is raking in big bids and even bigger outrage, with over 6,400 artists protesting that many works were trained on unlicensed, copyrighted material. While Christie's calls it a historic moment for AI in art, critics argue it’s more like "Photoshop with a trust fund."

🤯 AI startup Inception just dropped Mercury, a diffusion-based LLM that ditches the usual “guess one word at a time” approach for something 10x faster and cheaper. Unlike traditional models, Mercury refines entire responses at once, meaning fewer hallucinations and less “I have no idea, but here’s a confident wrong answer.” Even Tesla’s ex-AI lead Andrej Karpathy thinks it might actually be different.

Together with Gamma

An entirely new way to present ideas

Gamma’s AI creates beautiful presentations, websites, and more. No design or coding skills required. Try it free today.

AI Education 
The Ultimate Study Buddy or Just High-Tech Cheating? 

Students have spoken — AI is officially their new favorite classmate. According to the latest HEPI survey, a whopping 92% of UK students now use AI, up from just 66% last year, and 88% have used it for assessments. Meanwhile, universities are still debating whether AI is a revolution or an academic apocalypse. 

At the same time, mental health chatbots are sneaking into schools, promising to help struggling students while light-touch AI regulations in the U.S. and UK could accelerate AI adoption in education — but at what cost?

So, is AI making education smarter and more supportive, or is it rushing in without the guardrails needed to prevent disaster? 

AI Is Already Running the Classroom (And No One Asked for Permission)

According to AIPRM’s global report, AI-powered tools are popping up everywhere — from personalized tutoring for first graders to coding copilots for grad students. Some key stats:

✅ 86% of university students rely on AI for schoolwork, and nearly half use it daily.
✅ 50% of K-12 students use ChatGPT at least once a week.
✅ 57% of teachers say their schools haven’t provided AI tools, but they’re using them anyway.

In other words: AI in education isn’t coming — it’s already here. Schools just need to figure out how to keep up.

Who’s Winning?

While students are hacking their way to better grades, universities are still stuck in 2003, arguing whether AI should be allowed at all. Most schools lack AI policies, and over half of teachers say they haven’t been trained on AI tools — but students are already writing entire essays with them. 

This wouldn’t be a problem if AI skills weren’t basically gold in the job market. According to IBM, knowing how to use AI can boost your salary by up to 47%. Yet, universities aren’t teaching AI literacy, even though employers will expect it soon.

💰 For businesses, this is a goldmine. The AI education market is set to hit $30 billion by 2030, and companies offering AI training, tutoring, and certification are about to cash in big.

Schools vs. Universities

📌 Primary Schools: AI is being used for reading comprehension, math tutoring, and interactive learning. Tools like Duolingo, Socratic, and adaptive learning platforms help kids grasp concepts faster.

📌 Universities: Many still ban AI tools, while others embrace AI tutors, research assistants, and coding copilots. The approach varies — some professors love AI as a learning aid, while others treat it like academic doping.

At the latest Stanford AI+Education Summit, experts agreed: AI in education is inevitable. Schools can embrace it or risk falling behind. 

AI as a Student Therapist

Beyond academics, AI is stepping into student mental health support. With counselor shortages affecting 17% of U.S. high schools, chatbots like Sonny are filling the gap, providing 24/7 mental health check-ins for students. 

But here’s the twist — these chatbots aren’t purely AI. They operate with a human-in-the-loop system, where professionals review AI-generated responses before sending them to students.

The Pros:

• More accessibility – Students can reach out anytime without stigma.

• Faster response time – No waiting weeks for a counselor appointment.

The Cons:

• Not a replacement for real therapy – AI can’t fully understand human emotions.

• Privacy concerns – Who sees these conversations? How secure is student data?

AI in mental health could be a valuable support tool, but it’s not a substitute for human connection — and it raises huge ethical concerns schools need to address before widespread adoption.

Less AI Rules = More AI in Schools (But at What Cost?)

The U.S. and UK are taking a light-touch approach to AI regulation — meaning AI in education could evolve faster, but with far fewer safeguards.

📌 U.S. AI Action Plan: The U.S. government is actively removing AI restrictions, prioritizing private-sector innovation over regulation.
📌 UK AI Delays: The UK postponed AI legislation to align with the Trump administration, avoiding strict EU-style rules. (Guardian, Yahoo Finance)
📌 $500B AI Infrastructure Boom: A new private AI venture in the U.S. is pumping billions into AI development, which could accelerate AI adoption in schools. (NatLawReview)

💡 What This Means: AI could integrate into classrooms faster, but with fewer protections around bias, student data, and ethical concerns.

Cheating, Plagiarism, and the Death of Study Groups?

Not everyone is thrilled about AI’s takeover. Chegg just sued Google, claiming AI-generated answers killed its business and are hurting step-by-step learning. 

Other concerns?
⚠️ Plagiarism & "Lazy Learning" – Why think critically when AI can do it for you?
⚠️ Widening the Digital Divide – Not every school has access to AI, leaving some students behind.
⚠️ Job Market Shake-Ups – AI literacy is becoming a must-have, but many grads aren’t being taught how to use it responsibly.

But as Google, OpenAI, and Amazon keep making AI cheaper and more accessible, schools will have to figure out a middle ground.

So What’s Next? 

🚀 AI Literacy Will Be Essential – Much like coding, AI skills will soon be a must-have for most jobs.
🚀 AI Tutors Will Outperform Traditional Methods – Personalized AI assistants will replace some traditional tutoring.
🚀 Assessments Will Evolve – Expect new ways to test students beyond essays and multiple-choice.
🚀 Schools That Resist AI Will Struggle – Institutions that fail to integrate AI into learning will be playing catch-up.

Like it or not, AI isn’t going away. Universities and businesses that embrace AI-powered education will thrive, while those that fight it will struggle to keep up. Students already know how to use AI, and employers will expect it — so it’s time for education to step up.

What do you think? Is AI making learning better, or is it just an expensive way to cut corners? 

Tools & Updates

🎨 Ideogram’s new 2a model generates stunning images twice as fast for half the cost—perfect for ads, posters, and websites. 

🤖 Meta is rolling out a standalone AI app in Q2 2025, taking on ChatGPT and Google Gemini with AI-powered chat, image generation, and editing.

🐢 Apple’s AI-powered Siri revamp is now delayed until 2027, leaving it trailing behind ChatGPT and Google Gemini. At this rate, Siri might be asking us for help by then.

💰 DeepSeek claims a 545% daily profit margin, potentially pulling in $200M+ annually—all while running on cheaper hardware.

👓 Meta’s Aria Gen 2 glasses are here to help AI see the world through human eyes — literally.

⚡ Tencent’s new Hunyuan Turbo S prioritizes speed over deep thinking, rivaling GPT-4o and DeepSeek V3 while running twice as fast at a fraction of the cost. 

🎭 “The Brutalist” and “Emilia Pérez” are shaking up the Oscars, with AI tweaking accents, enhancing vocals, and maybe even stealing the spotlight.

🏗️  Meta is eyeing a $200 billion AI data center project, with Louisiana, Wyoming, and Texas in the mix.

📱At MWC 2025, Honor unveiled its UI Agent, an AI that interacts directly with on-screen content — so you can book a table or shop without app-hopping like it’s 2015.

Let's Chat About AI

This is all for today!

Replay to this email with your thoughts.

AI is more than just a buzzword. It’s a shift in how we live and work. And understanding it a bit better means you can make smarter choices about the tech you use every day.

_FEEDBACK