This message was originally shared to subscribers June 11, 2026.
AI at Work Returns June 24
What does AI actually look like in someone else’s workday? Find out at the next AI at Work session on June 24, 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. in 500 Hall of Languages or on Microsoft Teams, where your colleagues share what’s clicking, what surprised them and how Claude is changing the way they work.
This Issue’s Tip: How to Use Claude’s Memory
Anthropic’s persistent memory is now live for all Claude users, meaning Claude quietly builds a profile of your preferences, work style and habits across conversations. This article breaks down how it works, how to shape it intentionally and when to opt out entirely. Spoiler: three words make all the difference.
News and Views
In Summary
Anthropic is warning that AI may soon improve itself without human input—and is calling for a global pause. Meanwhile, enterprises are still struggling to measure ROI, faculty are questioning whether lectures still make sense and students are caught in an AI addiction cycle they resent but can’t quit.
Academia and Higher Education
- 5 Tips for Assignment Design in the Agentic AI Age (Inside Higher Ed)
- Here Come the Student AI Resisters (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
- AI Has Taken Something Fundamental From the Business of Teaching and Learning (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
- Classrooms Lean Into Analog Learning in the AI Era (Axios)
- AI Gave Me Confidence I Hadn’t Earned (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
- Are Academics Making An (Em) Dash for AI? (Times Higher Education)
- ACTUAL Intelligence: Practitioner Perspectives on Centering the Human in the Age of AI (Educause Review)
- My Students Can’t Read (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
- I’m a Philosophy Professor. Here’s Why I’m Training AI to Replace Me. (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
- ‘All or Nothing’ Approach to AI ‘Risks Shutting Down Innovation’ (Inside Higher Ed)
Enterprise and Business Strategy
- From AI Table Stakes to AI Advantage: Building Competitive Moats (McKinsey and Company)
- Enterprise AI Implementation is Growing — As Are the Challenges (AI Business)
- How People Are Really Using AI in 2026 (Harvard Business Review)
- Price Per Intelligence Unit (Shelly Palmer)
- Axios C-Suite: Confessions of an AI Lab Rat (Axios)
Industry News and Model Releases
- Dreaming: Better Memory for a More Helpful ChatGPT (OpenAI)
- OpenAI Confidentially Files for IPO, Prepping Wall Street for Mega AI Debut (CNBC)
- Apple Is Attempting AI (Again) With a Smarter Siri (The New York Times)
- Anthropic Releases Claude Fable 5 (Anthropic)
Policy, Ethics and Society
- OpenAI Sued by Florida’s Attorney General Over AI Harms (The Wall Street Journal)
- Trump Signs AI Executive Order After Postponement Last Month (Nextgov/FCW)
- AI is Ushering in a New Era of Colonialism (Axios)
- Trump the Dealmaker Wants a Slice of the AI Boom (Axios)
- Ads in New York Must Now Label AI-Generated ‘Synthetic Performers’ (AP News)
Safety and Security
- Scientists Find Way to Supercharge Dangerous Computer ‘Worms’ With A.I. (The New York Times)
- When AI builds itself (Anthropic)
- Anthropic Urges Global Pause in AI Development, Flags ‘Self-Improvement’ Risk (The Wall Street Journal)
Workforce and Jobs
- AI is ‘Going to Break Down Millions of Careers,’ Gartner Analyst Says (HR Dive)
- AI Will Not Take Your Job, It Will Transform It – but Only If You Trust It (University of VAASA)
- CEOs Are Blaming AI for Layoffs. Nvidia’s Jensen Huang Says That’s a ‘Lazy’ Excuse. (Entrepreneur)
- How One Tech Company Created 13 New Types of Jobs Because of A.I. (The New York Times)
- AI-Driven Explosion in the Number of Entrepreneurs (Apollo)
- AI Is Rewriting the Economics of Outsourcing (Harvard Business Review)
- An Anthropic Employee’s 2-Sentence Quote Crystallizes the State of AI Confusion at Work (Business Insider)
Access to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and other paywalled content is available to all students, faculty and staff with a valid Syracuse University NetID. Learn more.
This Issue’s Win: Beyond the Headlines
A prompt is how you ask generative AI tools to do something for you (e.g., creating, summarizing, editing or transforming). Treat it like a conversation, using clear language and enough context to get the result you have in mind.
To get more practice, use the generative AI tool of your choice (for example, Microsoft Copilot, OpenAI ChatGPT or Anthropic Claude) to execute the following prompt:
“I’ve been reading that AI may soon be able to improve itself without human input, that enterprises are struggling to prove its value, and that students and faculty are losing trust in the learning process. Help me make sense of where we actually are right now—not the hype, not the doom. What should a thoughtful person pay attention to, and what questions are worth sitting with?“
Helpful Resources
Thank you for reading. Go Orange!