1. Compare and contrast, if you will, the latest edition of Ethan Mollick’s Guide to AI … https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/using-ai-right-now-a-quick-guide

Interesting that Mollick very confidently declares:

For most people who want to use AI seriously, you should pick one of three systems: Claude from Anthropic, Google’s Gemini, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. With all of the options, you get access to both advanced and fast models, a voice mode, the ability to see images and documents, the ability to execute code, good mobile apps, the ability to create images and video (Claude lacks here, however), and the ability to do Deep Research.

2. … with the UK Government’s guidance on Generative artificial intelligence (AI) in education https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/generative-artificial-intelligence-in-education/generative-artificial-intelligence-ai-in-education

The Department for Education (DfE) is committed to supporting the AI Opportunities Action Plan. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) presents exciting opportunities to improve people’s lives, including by making our public services better. AI will support with the delivery of the Plan for Change and our opportunity mission. If used safely, effectively and with the right infrastructure in place, AI can support every child and young person, regardless of their background, to achieve at school and college and develop the knowledge and skills they need for life. 

No mention of Claude from the UK Government, who plump for – or at least mention in dispatches – ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini.

3. Episode 1092 of Mignon Fogarty’s ‘Grammar Girl’ podcast was What your accent is saying about you (and your identity), with Rob Drummond from Manchester Metropolitan University talking about the role the ‘Accent Van’ played in the Manchester Voices project https://youtu.be/puEjb98nDpI

Your accent may be saying more than your words. Sociolinguist Rob Drummond explains how accents shape our identities, how they differ across social classes, and why changing your accent can affect how you’re perceived.

4. How to teach English to refugees and displaced learners? Find out here! https://www.youtube.com/live/5ePE_b1hzr8

5. And, finally, But the Flowers Remain, a film by Joscha Kotlan & Maximilian Ihlenburg whichdocuments the rhythms of daily life for one family in a secluded mountain village in Romania https://aeon.co/videos/life-moves-slowly-in-a-romanian-mountain-village-shaped-by-care-and-the-seasons Also available here on YouTube https://youtu.be/euAP-zVMx7Y