What’s going on with kids and math?

You’ve likely heard that standardized testing scores for math and reading across the US are trending in the wrong direction. A new report from UC San Diego highlights a concerning illusion: high school GPAs are at all-time highs, but actual math proficiency is tanking.

Of their incoming freshmen, 5 years ago 30 students required remedial math support. That number is now over 900. Moreover, most of these students don’t even meet middle-school math standards. And, 25% of these students earned straight-As in math in high school (with most of them taking advanced math courses)!! This isn’t exclusive to UC San Diego, other universities are reporting similar concerns.

Why is this happening? An Atlantic article discussing this pointed to:

• Policy: "No Zero" grading policies & removal of SAT/ACT requirements

• Tech: Smartphone adoption (since 2013) has impacted the attention span required for deep problem solving.

• Culture: A shift away from productive struggle. Why does understanding the process matter when AI can always just give me the answer?

Math is one of the best subjects we have to build critical thinking skills (absolutely essential in this AI era). And for us parents, grades may no longer be a reliable indicator of ability and comprehension.

Buckle-up for AI crime

As AI generated content becomes almost impossible to detect and AI agents become more advanced and capable, we unfortunately can expect a surge in cybercrime. Anthropic recently reported they had (luckily caught) an extensive cyber attack infiltrating 17 US organizations across healthcare, government, and emergency services where AI performed 80-90% of the operation independently. 

Big tech, government, and enterprises need to invest substantially in detection tools and safeguards, but on the personal front there are things we should do to protect ourselves and our families:

• Here are some helpful tips, including strengthening your home internet’s security, enable two-factor auth on all of your digital accounts, and tightening your privacy settings on your social media profiles.

• Take the Google security check-up to get personalized guidance and recommendations to strengthen your privacy and security online.

On a more amusing (and sketchy) note, companies are seeing a big spike in AI-generated fake receipts. According to SAP, over 70% of CFOs believe some of their employees are using AI to falsify expenses.

Be everyone’s favorite holiday guest

With the holidays coming up, we will inevitably find ourselves in more social situations - whether at the Thanksgiving dinner table, a holiday party, or bumping into strangers in crowded stores.

Therefore, this is a great time to practice our conversation skills. Why does this even matter? Well, being a good conversationalist helps you build stronger relationships and, according to Harvard Professor and expert Alison Brooks, it increases your status and influence and can improve literally “every area of your life.”

To be a better conversationalist, she recommends we practice TALK:

T: topics. Most people spend time prepping their appearance for a date night but no time prepping what they will talk about. Even 30 seconds of brainstorming topics before a conversation can significantly improve the quality and reduce anxiety.

A: asking. Asking questions shifts our focus from "what do I say next?" to expressing genuine understanding and interest in the other person

L: levity. Humor, warmth, and playfulness combats boredom, which kills conversations more often than conflict does. Related, sharing failures or making fun of yourself shows your humanness and can grow your likability.

K: kindness. While this one may seem obvious, it requires effort to actively get over your self-focus to be a good listener and figure out exactly what the other person needs in that moment. Be interested > interesting.

I’ll be keeping these tips in mind and see if they make a difference at our raucous and chaotic Thanksgiving dinner table!

Move over, ChatGPT. Google’s Gemini 3 is 🔥

This week Google launched their newest model, Gemini 3, and whoa, it’s impressive - taking the top spot on the leaderboards across almost every measure. Moreover, they are integrating their AI in smart and meaningful ways across all of their products. I might be a little biased but I am definitely on the Google train right now.

Here are a few very cool things to try:

1. Create instant apps or interactive visualizations with Gemini that teach and explain literally anything in a way that’s compelling for you. For example, instant interactive and personalized cookbooks (I made this with a one-sentence prompt!) or visualizations explaining hard concepts in fun and interesting ways:

   

   Gemini prompt: “make me a beautiful, interactive cookbook for family-friendly meals with 30 of the very best-rated, simple recipes available online”

   

   Prompt: “make me a fun visualization for my 4th grader who loves football to help him understand physics”

2. Schedule meetings or coffee dates without any back-and-forth: Gmail now has a super cool AI feature for coordinating meetings or events. Just select “Help me schedule” from the bottom toolbar menu and it will suggest meeting times based on your availability and the context of the email and include them right in the email for the receiver to choose from.

3. Get insider tips on restaurants, hotels or other places: now when you’re wanting a perfect date night or are visiting a new city, you can get AI-powered nuanced and lesser-known tips right in Google Maps. Just look up the place you have in mind and scroll down to where it says “know before you go.”

A whole new meaning for the walking dead

A controversial start-up lets you create and chat with digital avatars, including your deceased loved ones. For some disturbing entertainment, watch their launch video below.