“AI + X:” the new college degree standard?

It should come as no surprise, but it’s official that students are flocking to AI majors over traditional CS. Moreover, there are growing varieties of AI majors across both technical and non-technical backgrounds (MIT’s “AI and decision-making” is their 2nd most popular major).

Universities are working hard to adjust to the rapid pace of change with respect to career preparation. Ohio State recently announced an initiative ensuring that every student who graduates will be both fluent in their field of study AND fluent in the application of AI in that field.

My thoughts: Ohio State’s approach feels like a smart move in the right direction, although their “beginning with the class of 2029” assertion is a stark reminder of how difficult it is for educational institutions to pivot at the necessary speed.

A wackadoodle economy - and growing disconnection

We are in uncharted waters with our economy. On one hand, many numbers look great: the stock market is at an all-time high and trillions of dollars are pouring into AI infrastructure and data centers.

On the other hand, many hypothesize that the AI boom (bubble or not) is single-handedly propping us up, because the rest of the economy is hurting: manufacturing is slowing, farming is hurting, the housing market is restricting new home buyers, consumer confidence is dropping, and getting a job is hell. Moreover, all these data centers are spiking electric bills for everyday Americans like crazy (wholesale electricity is up 267% over the last 5 years in areas near data centers).

But something else about the economy caught my eye this week, and that’s the fact that young people are becoming increasingly disconnected from it. By this, they aren’t in school, aren’t employed, aren’t looking, and aren’t raising kids).

My thoughts:

• On the state of the economy: with AI overtaking other industries and making ever more billionaires and trillionaires, it feels that on the political front, there’s a decent chance of middle/lower-income voters becoming very anti-AI and big-tech.

• On young people becoming increasingly disconnected from the economy: well, that doesn’t seem good. 😳 As parents, reinforcing values like purpose, resilience, and grit feels like it could be an antidote. We must remind them that while the economy is changing, their agency to build a meaningful life is something no algorithm can replace.

Make your own holiday hit 🎶 🎄

This is the time of year where we change up our playlists to holiday songs that get us in the spirit. And now, it is super easy (and fun) to expand that playlist with your family’s own holiday “hit” songs.

To do: 

• Go to suno.com and sign-in. You should get 50 credits that are renewed daily (10 songs) without having to upgrade

• Click on “Create” and simply enter a version of the prompt below (you can personalize it and adjust the instructions to whatever extent you wish) into the “song description” box and click “create”

• you will get a couple versions and you can publish/share once you’re happy with it!

• Pro tip: have some fun with the personalization to surprise your kids or your grandparents by incorporating names, memories, or traditions that are unique to your family.

A quick productivity hack

There are a lot of “AI” browsers out there right now, for example Comet from Perplexity and Atlas from Open AI. I’ve intentionally not highlighted them in this newsletter yet because I (personally) don’t totally trust that they are safe with our data and that their agentic features (where you send them out to do tasks for you, like order groceries or buy movie tickets) are hack-proof.

But most of us are using Chrome on a daily basis and already entrust Google with our browsing history, etc. They have added a little Gemini button in the top right corner of the browser that is super useful.

• Rather than having to open a new tab or window to get to AI chat, you can open it as a sidebar and

• get helpful summaries of lengthy articles, youtube videos, etc.

• compare info from open tabs (useful for holiday shopping!)

• if you connect Gemini to your other Google apps, you can also book meetings, draft emails, etc right in the side bar.

Being present over the holidays: tips to control your own screentime

December is undoubtedly one of the busiest times of the year. For those of us who are working, it’s often approaching end-of-quarter or end-of-year deadlines. There are a gazillion school activities, sign-ups, and “stuff” to remember. There are holiday events to plan and/or attend, extended family to attend to, and lots of shopping to do. All on top of the regular everyday craziness.

As such, we might find ourselves with our nose in our phone a lot: checking messages calendar reminders, notifications, shipping statuses, and ok, those mildly entertaining IG reels from parent influencers reminding us we’re not alone in our holiday craze.

But, studies show that perceived parental “technoference” (tech distraction) is linked to greater anxiety and inattention symptoms in kids/pre-teens.

Also, the holidays offer unique opportunities to be fully present and connect more deeply as a family.

So, here are a few tips:

1. Go greyscale for a few days: every phone has a setting where you can turn off your screen colors, making your phone less appealing. Doing so is shown in studies to reduce screen time.

2. Turn off notifications on all non-essential apps: most of us don’t realize how many apps we have on our phones and how many of them are disrupting us regularly with notifications. Do a quick audit of which apps you absolutely need notifications for. Disable all the rest. (It’s so satisfying!)

3. Put a rubber band around your phone: admittedly I have not tried this one, but pulling it on and off each time you use it will make you more aware of your frequency.

4. Put your phone in a basket when you enter the house: not to say you can’t check it here and there, but developing this habit and keeping your phone out of site when you’re home with your family can be really impactful and set a good example. (Again, not saying I do this, but I probably should).

Get ready for flying bikes

Sticking the landing: Volonaut, a company in Poland, has been working on a much-anticipated “airbike” and they just released a video of it in action. It’s a single seat hoverbike that can go up to 63 mph. But getting our hands on one is likely a ways off given all the safey and airspace regulations to navigate.

And this one, though likely more for fun/experimentation, lifts off and flies just by pedaling.

I’ll bet the creators of The Wizard of Oz didn’t realize that they were on to something back when they shot that flying bike scene!