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AI Insights for August 20, 2026

This message was originally shared to subscribers August 20, 2026.

Upcoming Events

The AI at Work series continues Sept. 16 from 9:30-10:45 a.m. for a hands-on look at Claude Code and Claude Cowork. Whether you are experienced working with Claude or just looking to get started, you’ll walk away with practical ways to put both to use. Join in person in 104 SOM or online via Microsoft Teams.

This Issue’s Tip: Get to Know Claude Code and Claude Cowork

Most of us know Claude as a place to ask questions—but two tools now available under Syracuse University’s Claude Enterprise license can actually do the work. Claude Code handles programming tasks straight from the command line, while Claude Cowork takes on multi-step knowledge work like research synthesis, data analysis and document prep—no coding required. Get to know Claude Cowork and Claude Code with this helpful introduction from our own Shannon Glennon.

News and Views

In Summary

AI is making news on two fronts—money and risk. Global investment is forecast to top $1 trillion in 2026, even as companies question the payoff. On the risk side, frontier models ran autonomous cyberattacks, one managed staff and fired a worker, and another helped design novel viruses, sharpening safety concerns. Colleges, scholarship and the entry-level job market are all still adjusting.

Academia and Higher Education

Big Tech and AI Leadership

  • Mark Zuckerberg AI Manifesto (Meta)
  • Zuckerberg: AI’s Biggest Risk Is One Entity with Too Much Control (Axios)
  • Musk and Zuck’s AI Comeback (Axios)

Business and Industry Adoption

  • How Walmart Uses AI to Limit Weather Disruptions in Its Supply Chain (Retail Dive)
  • Why AT&T Is Betting Big on Open-Weight AI (The Wall Street Journal)
  • AI Turns Sports’ Dead Air Into a Selling Season (PYMNTS)

Detection, Authenticity and Everyday Life

Policy and Government

Safety and Security

  • Anthropic’s Mythos Created Fake Identities to Fool Humans in New Cyber Incident (CNBC)
  • OpenAI Warns Autonomous Hacks Are ‘Watershed Moment for Computer Security’ (Cybersecurity Dive)
  • OpenAI Pauses Some AI Training After Autonomous Cyberattack (ABC News)
  • Oh Cool, AI Is Inventing New Biological Viruses Now (Gizmodo)
  • OpenAI Introduces ‘ChatGPT for Teens’ as Safety Concerns Grow (The New York Times)

            Workforce and Jobs

            • Corporate America Was Enthusiastic About Artificial Intelligence. Until it Got the Bill. (The New York Times)
            • Many Recent Grads Say AI Is Making it Harder to Get a Job. Economists Aren’t So Sure (NPR)
            • The Bright Side of AI’s Impact on the Labor Market (The Wall Street Journal)
            • Global AI Investment Is Forecast to Exceed $1 Trillion in 2026 (Goldman Sachs)
            • Advances in AI Capabilities to Outpace Cost Savings (CIO Dive)
            • Claude Was Put in Charge of Human Workers—and Fired One (Time)

            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.

            AI Insights for August 6, 2026

            This message was originally shared to subscribers August 6, 2026.

            This Issue’s Tip: Claude Code and Claude Cowork Now Available

            Claude Enterprise users can now access two new tools: Claude Code, for delegating programming tasks from the command line or desktop/mobile app, and Claude Cowork, for handing off multi-step work like research and document prep. You can learn more at getclaude.syr.edu. For more information about the extensive suite of resources available to the campus community, visit ai.syracuse.edu.

            News and Views

            In Summary

            Anthropic released Claude Opus 5 as Big Tech’s AI spending—and investor jitters—climb. Labs urged government to “pace” development after Claude breached test systems. Meanwhile agents still fail most real tasks, Washington committed $5 billion to AI for science, and campuses rethink cheating, ghost students and assessment.

            Academia and Higher Education

            Industry, Business and Investment

            • Google Releases Three New A.I. Models (The New York Times)
            • Introducing Claude Opus 5 (Anthropic)
            • Nvidia in Talks With OpenAI to Guarantee $250 Billion Financing for Data Center (The Wall Street Journal)
            • ChatGPT Hits a Billion Monthly App Users Despite Souring Public AI Sentiment (CNBC)
            • Most Corporate Boards Lack Rules for AI Use: Deloitte Survey (CFO Dive)
            • 2026 State of AI in FinOps (Harness)
            • Big Tech’s A.I. Spending Keeps Rising. So Do the Jitters. (The New York Times)
            • Google, Search, AI and the Internet (The Ringer)

            Policy and Government

            • Trump Administration Announces More Than $5 Billion for the Genesis Mission (The White House)
            • Trump Administration Steers $5B Toward AI Research (Politico)
            • OpenAI and Anthropic Endorse Call for Government to “Pace” AI Progress (The Washington Post)
            • Employees from the World’s Biggest AI Companies Want the US to Be Ready to Slow AI Development (CNN)
            • US Bans Foreign-Made Humanoid Robots, Targeting China Over National Security (NBC News)
            • Anthropic’s Lonely Island (Axios)

            Public Sentiment and Backlash

            • Librarians Are Hosting Viral ‘Avoiding AI’ Workshops for People Who Are Fed Up with Big Tech (TechCrunch)

            Safety and Security

            • Anthropic Says Claude Hacked 3 Organizations During Cybersecurity Tests (Wired)
            • A Fundamental Flaw Leaves LLMs Strikingly Vulnerable to Attack (MIT Technology Review)
            • Sam Altman Previews New AI Model on Capitol Hill After Cyber Breach (Politico)

                      Workforce and Jobs

                      • AI Agents Fail 3 Out of 4 Real Job Tasks (PYMNTS)
                      • The End of the “Learn to Code” Era (Inside Higher Ed)
                      • Visa Is Cutting 7% of Employees in Efficiency Push as AI Reshapes Work (CNBC)
                      • Automation Led to Economic Misery. AI Doesn’t Have To. (The Atlantic)
                      • The AI Jobs Apocalypse Probably Isn’t Coming Anytime Soon (The Guardian)

                      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 Prompt: Reverse the Roles

                      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:

                      “Don’t answer this yet. I want to [write / plan / decide on ______]. Instead of giving me the answer, interview me one question at a time to draw out what I already know and believe. Ask a single question, wait for my reply, then base your next question on what I just said. After about eight questions, organize everything I told you into a clear first draft I can react to and refine.“

                      AI Insights for July 23, 2026

                      This message was originally shared to subscribers July 23, 2026.

                      This Issue’s Tip: Tech Tips Session

                      Shannon Glennon’s Claude Refresher session is now available to watch on your own time. The session covered the fundamentals of using Claude effectively, plus a few extra tips to sharpen your AI skills for everyday work. Watch the recording whenever it’s convenient and get up to speed on Claude at Syracuse University.

                      News and Views

                      In Summary

                      A viral Brown University grade chart, initially read as proof of rampant cheating, sparked debate over whether outdated assessment design—not student character—is the real issue. Meanwhile, Chronicle essays argued AI is forcing university structures to disaggregate, while educators wrestled with what “AI-proofing” students through critical thinking actually requires in practice.

                      Academia and Higher Education

                      Culture and Media

                      • An AI With No Body Just Landed a Movie Deal (PYMNTS)
                      • Can A.I. Keep a Parent Alive? (New Yorker)
                      • AI Content Is Everywhere on Social Media, Especially LinkedIn (Pangram)
                      • We Are Losing the Ability to Discover What We Didn’t Know to Ask (The New York Times)
                      • How Google’s A.I. Search Is Imperiling the Open Web (The New York Times)

                      Industry and Safety

                      • OpenAI Releases New, More Powerful A.I. Model (The New York Times)
                      • OpenAI Models Escaped Containment and Hacked Hugging Face (Wired)

                      Policy and Global Competition

                        • Pritzker Signs Landmark AI Regulation Bill (Capitol News Illinois)
                        • Trump’s AI Flip-Flopping Could Be a Gift to China (Politico)
                        • First Statewide Moratorium on New Hyperscale Data Centers Launched by Governor Hochul (New York State)
                        • Behind the Curtain: AI Godfathers Converge on Regulations (Axios)
                        • A Framework for Frontier AI and the Dawning of a New Age (Demis Hassabis)
                        • UAE National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031 (UAE [pdf])
                        • OpenAI and Anthropic Unite Against China’s Open Models (Axios)
                        • America is Building the Best AI. China is Building the Default. (Shelly Palmer)
                        • AI Surveillance Is Being Supercharged – and It Will Chill Social Progress (The Guardian)

                                    Workforce and Jobs

                                    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 Prompt: Argue with Yourself

                                    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:

                                    “Give me your best answer to [my question], then argue against your own answer as convincingly as you can. Point out where your reasoning might be weak, what evidence you left out, and what a smart skeptic would push back on.“

                                    AI Insights for July 9, 2026

                                    This message was originally shared to subscribers July 9, 2026.

                                    Upcoming Events

                                    This July, ITS returns to the fundamentals—plus a little extra. Join Shannon Glennon for a free Claude Refresher on July 23 from 1 to 1:45 p.m. and sharpen your AI skills for the work you do every day.

                                    This Issue’s Tip: LinkedIn Learning AI Courses

                                    Syracuse University’s LinkedIn Learning access now extends to a broadened AI curriculum spanning the skill continuum, from agentic systems architecture and workflow automation to applied data analysis with Claude and rapid prototyping through vibe coding. A worthwhile addition to any summer learning plan.

                                    News and Views

                                    In Summary

                                    Ford, IBM and CBA are reversing AI-driven layoffs, and tech CEOs are walking back doomsday predictions. Meanwhile, universities are grappling with AI on multiple fronts—mass cheating scandals, new “AI librarian” roles and hands-on literacy programs—as companies tackle rising AI costs and fraud, and Anthropic’s Fable ban ends amid ongoing debate over AI regulation and safety.

                                    Academia and Higher Education

                                    Claude and Anthropic

                                    • A Global Workspace in Language Models (Anthropic)
                                    • Stripe, Anthropic and OpenAI Are Backing an Effort to Stop Respiratory Infections (MIT Technology Review)
                                    • Anthropic Economic Index Report: Cadences (Anthropic)
                                    • Claude Science, an AI Workbench for Scientists, Is Now Available (Anthropic)
                                    • Redeploying Fable 5 (Anthropic)

                                    Cybersecurity

                                    • AI-Generated Fake Receipts Now Make Up 71% of Expense Fraud (PYMNTS)

                                    Infrastructure and Compute

                                      • OpenAI and Broadcom Unveil LLM-Optimized Inference Chip (OpenAI)
                                      • Improving the Speed and Energy-Efficiency of AI Agents (MIT EECS)
                                      • Meta, Like SpaceX, Looks to Turn Excess AI Compute Into Cash (TechCrunch)

                                      Industry and Culture

                                      • AI’s Brain Is Getting Bloated with AI Content (Axios)
                                      • The A.I.-Design Aesthetic That’s Taking Over the Internet (The New Yorker)
                                      • How ChatGPT Adoption Has Expanded (OpenAI)

                                      Policy and Economy

                                                Workforce and Jobs

                                                • Big Companies Aim to Ease A.I. Transition for American Workers (The New York Times)
                                                • California Launches Tracker for AI-Related Job Losses (Engadget)
                                                • Stop Asking Which Jobs AI Will Replace. Ask This Instead. (Jennifer McClure)
                                                • Will AI Create New Entry-Level Jobs? (CIO Dive)
                                                • The AI Jobs Debate Just Got Messier (TechCrunch)
                                                • Big Tech Has Suddenly Flipped on the AI Jobs Wipeout Scenario (The Wall Street Journal)
                                                • Employers Who Laid Off Workers for AI Are Reversing Their Decisions (CNBC)
                                                • Every Major Tech Layoff in 2026 That Has Name-Checked AI (TechCrunch)
                                                • How Companies Are Managing AI Token Spend (The Wall Street Journal)

                                                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 Prompt: The Untapped Assistant

                                                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:

                                                “Based on what you know about my role and the kinds of tasks I typically ask you for help with, what’s one way I could be using you that I probably haven’t tried yet? Be specific—give me a real example I could try this week, not just a general idea.“

                                                5 Things You May Not Know Teams Can Do

                                                By Shannon Glennon, AI Technology Transformation Specialist, Syracuse University ITS 

                                                Most of us use Teams in similar ways every day. Join the meeting, send the message, share the screen, find the file, repeat. Meanwhile, there’s a whole layer of the app quietly waiting to make your workday easier! 

                                                1. Test your setup before a meeting

                                                Teams can place a test call, pick your microphone and speaker, show you a live camera preview, brighten your picture and quiet the room around you. Give it a minute before your next meeting and you’ll feel much more prepared. 

                                                How to do it: Click the three dots to the left of your profile picture, choose Settings, then Devices. 

                                                Under Audio devices, select the speaker and microphone you want Teams to use. Worth checking if you move between a dock and your laptop, because Teams can mix them up. Then click Make a test call. Teams records a short message from you and plays it back. Noise suppression toggled to on cuts a nearby fan or a busy hallway, and a secondary ringer lets your laptop speakers ring along with your headset, so calls don’t slip past. 

                                                Under Video settings, select your camera and check your framing before you join. You can also adjust some camera settings such as mirror my video and adjust brightness. 

                                                1. Allow attendees to interact with your slides while you present

                                                When you present with PowerPoint Live instead of sharing your screen, your attendees get controls you never see. 

                                                Any attendee can translate your slides into one of 19 languages on their own screen, without interrupting you or anyone else. They can switch to a high-contrast view if the design is hard on their eyes, magnify the content, and move back a slide to catch something they missed, then jump right back to where you are. 

                                                Screen sharing gives them none of this. It sends a flat picture of your monitor. 

                                                How to do it: In a meeting, click Share, then pick your file under PowerPoint Live rather than choosing a window or screen. Attendees use More options on the presentation to translate slides or turn on high contrast. 

                                                And you’re still in control. Turn on Private view in the meeting controls if you’d rather everyone stay on your slide. 

                                                1. Write the message now, send it Monday morning

                                                You’ve had the thought at 10 p.m. on a Sunday. You want to write it down before you lose it, but you don’t want to be the person whose name pops up on someone’s phone at 10 p.m. on a Sunday. 

                                                Teams will hold it for you. 

                                                How to do it: Type your message, then click the plus sign in the message window and choose Schedule send. Pick your date and time and the message waits until then. It works in chats, though not in channel posts. 

                                                1. @mention a whole group without typing everyone’s name

                                                If you find yourself @mentioning the same six people over and over, tags are what you’ve been missing. 

                                                A tag is a nickname for a group of people. Create one called Advisers, Front Desk or Search Committee, add the right people, then @mention the tag. Everyone in it gets notified and nobody else does. 

                                                How to do it: In the Teams list, hover over the Team you want to manage. Click More options (…), then Manage tags. Create your tag, add members and use it like any other @mention. 

                                                1. Send yourself a message

                                                Your own name is sitting in your chat list, and it works exactly like any other conversation. 

                                                It’s a scratchpad. Park a link you’ll need in tomorrow’s meeting, draft a message you’re not ready to send, drop a file you want waiting for you on another device. Everything syncs everywhere you use Teams, and it’s searchable later like any other chat. 

                                                How to do it: Search your own name in the chat list, or find yourself at the top of it, and start typing.