Thought #35 - From Study Struggles to Smarter Systems

Hi lovely humans,

A busy but oddly practical week in AI. Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI are all pushing updates that bring AI further into the tools people already use, from Databricks to Microsoft 365. Meanwhile, the UK government is talking jobs, investment zones, and even an AI minister for warfare. In schools, students say AI is affecting how they study; in hospitals, it’s saving hundreds of thousands of staff hours. Progress, but not without a few headaches.

Our Week in AI

A slightly light week in AI use from my side. But many lovely human interactions instead. Speaking on panels about AI adoption and delivering a CPD day for a local college.

Some fails
Claude doesn’t understand Supabase. Usually I assume that’s me, but when two other people ask the same question, it’s probably not. It was one line in the documentation.

Some wins
We’ve moved to Notion. There’s a lot to learn (and format), but GPT-5 is genuinely good at helping.

AI New Releases

• Anthropic releases Claude Haiku 4.5 - its smallest model yet, likely a response to developers hitting their limits quickly.

• Claude gains “skills” - new modular abilities that let it handle specific, repeatable tasks more reliably (think mini plug-ins for focused jobs). But it’s still quite techy to use.

• Claude now integrates with Microsoft 365 - bringing enterprise search and summarisation across your connected tools, from emails to shared documents.

• Claude Code launches on the web - you can now delegate coding tasks directly from your browser.

• ChatGPT introduces Atlas - a new in-chat browser to help users navigate the web more naturally.

• Run OpenAI models directly in Databricks - deep integration for data teams.

• Google adds Maps grounding to the Gemini API - apps can now use live geospatial data.

AI News

• Government touts “ground-breaking” AI use in public services - framed as saving taxpayer money and improving efficiency.

• New public sector AI blueprint announced - aimed at faster approvals and stronger public trust.

• £6bn business bureaucracy blitz - includes AI-powered digital planning checks and a new “AI Growth Zone” in Blyth.

• NHS Copilot trial - reports potential savings of 400,000 staff hours a month.

• Call for a UK Minister for AI Warfare - yes, really.

Not Quite News, But Worth a Read (or Listen or Watch)

• Pupils fear AI is eroding their ability to study - new Oxford University Press research finds many young people worry that AI tools are making them less confident learners. Full report here.

• AI and representation: a Paralympian’s view - Paralympic swimmer Alice Tai reflects on finally seeing AI generate her likeness accurately.

• Channel 4’s AI presenter experiment - the first British TV programme to use an AI host; reviews are mixed.

• Lecturers learn to spot AI use - part of the wider shift in how universities are adapting to AI-assisted work.

LinkedIn AI Poll

Last week we asked if you were using memories in AI tools - and turns out (unlike Laura), you are.

Vote in this week’s poll - please!

This week we want to know how you learn (a little break from AI)

Blogs & Resources

Carys has been examining a report on AI use at work (according to Harvard Business Review).

Laura has turned memories off in ChatGPT and Claude, and she’s written a blog to explain why.

Final Thoughts

As always we hope this was helpful!

Feel free to share this with anyone who might find it useful.

Next week, I’m hoping Anthropic release a nicer interface for skills as they are really helpful.

Laura
Always learning