The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in AI this week 06/10/25
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in AI this week 06/10/25
AI Literacy
Words of the week
Prompt: Your input. For example: "Marie Curie is remembered for…"
Most of the time you'll get "radioactivity" or "Nobel Prize". You might also get "discovered penicillin". Wrong! But it sounds right, because in the vector space (a vector space is a mathematical framework where words, tokens - see image below, or pieces of text are represented as numerical vectors - lists of numbers) of the LLM, "scientist" lights up near "medical breakthrough" and "discovery" exist near "penicillin". The model MAY stitch it together into a fake fact. Confidently delivered, however.
Image created using OpenAI’s Tokenizer
Hallucination: from the model's perspective, this so-called "hallucination" is IDENTICAL to the truth. Same patterns. Same confidence. There is no model of confidence level, no warning light to the user. Because the model cannot know the distinction. It just predicts the next token.
News from around our schools
Displays
A small group of schools have begun adding QR codes to their AI displays that link their display to displays across the organisation. The video below shows Jini (TIPS Globeducate, CBE CBSE) sharing Javier’s (BIS O Castro), Sanjana’s (TIPS Coimbatore), Mike’s (ICS London), Selva (Chennai Main Campus, her display is at the top of this post) and the Globeducate AI Strategy for 2025-2026 displays digitally.
When you are in a position to create your school display, please send me an email and I will share the photos I have so as you can add them to your school system, making them accessible to your community via the QR code you generate.
Word order game from Dawn Main (EAL Coordinator, BIS O Castro)
Javier (AI Champion at O Castro) has been showing his team how to use Claude AI to create interactive web apps (see image below, the link to Javier’s example can be found here.)
Dawn took her learning and has created this app (see image below). Many thanks to all of you for sharing your learning with us all.
Training video created by Jose Frutos Joral (AI Champion, BES, Milan)
Jose has offered to make an AI training video each month for our Spanish speaking colleagues. Thank you very much for sharing your expertise and time with us Jose.
Automatización del Feedback con IA en la escuela
En este video mostramos cómo la inteligencia artificial puede generar feedback personalizado conectando calificaciones, criterios de evaluación, estilo del profesor y anotaciones del docente.
Un sistema que ahorra tiempo a los profesores y mejora la calidad de la retroalimentación.
AI-Powered Feedback Automation in Education
This video demonstrates how artificial intelligence can generate personalized feedback by connecting grades, assessment criteria, teacher’s style, and teacher’s notes.
A system that saves teachers time and enhances the quality of feedback for students.
The video can be found here.
If you have any questions please do get in touch and I will connect you with Jose.
The Good
📲 ChatGPT Gets Proactive with Daily AI Reports
ChatGPT gets proactive with daily AI reports
OpenAI introduced ChatGPT Pulse, a feature that generates 5-10 personalised briefs overnight. Debuting for £200/month Pro subscribers, Pulse appears as a new tab delivering news roundups, travel plans, family activity ideas, or summaries from connected apps like Gmail and Google Calendar. OpenAI deliberately designed Pulse to stop after several reports, displaying "that's it for today" to avoid engagement-driven scrolling patterns.
🤑 OpenAI Brings Direct Purchasing to ChatGPT
OpenAI brings direct purchasing to ChatGPT
OpenAI rolled out direct purchasing inside ChatGPT for US users through a new feature called Instant Checkout. The company partnered with Stripe, initially supporting Etsy sellers with over 1M Shopify merchants coming soon. Users can click a "Buy" button after ChatGPT suggests products, then complete purchases within the chat. OpenAI open-sourced the underlying Agentic Commerce Protocol, enabling any retailer to integrate with minimal code changes.
🚀 Anthropic Launches Claude Sonnet 4.5
Anthropic launches Claude Sonnet 4.5
Anthropic released Claude Sonnet 4.5, calling it the "best coding model in the world" with top-tier performance on development benchmarks whilst maintaining the same API pricing as its predecessor. The model achieves state-of-the-art results on real-world software development, with testing showing Sonnet 4.5 coding autonomously for 30+ hours to deliver 11,000 lines of code—a massive jump from GPT-5-Codex's 7+ hour sessions. Anthropic also rolled out Claude Code checkpoints, memory and context editing in API, and released "Imagine with Claude" as a 5-day research preview.
🎥 OpenAI's Sora 2 with Social Video App
OpenAI's Sora 2 with social video app
OpenAI released Sora 2, its latest video model that now includes synchronised audio and dialogue. The model shows huge improvements in physics compared to earlier versions, featuring longer 5-10 second outputs that handle complex scene changes. Sora 2 can generate matching audio alongside visuals, creating realistic dialogue and sound effects. The new Sora social app centres around 'Cameos', a feature that lets users record and use their likeness across AI-generated scenes.
🧪 Periodic Labs' AI Scientist for Physical World
Periodic Labs' AI scientist for physical world
ChatGPT co-creator Liam Fedus' new startup, Periodic Labs, launched with a mission to build AI scientists that learn from physical experiments rather than internet text. The company is constructing autonomous laboratories where robots will execute thousands of materials science experiments, generating gigabytes of unique data per trial. Periodic Labs raised over £300M in funding at a £1B valuation, with initial projects targeting superconductors and chip manufacturing efficiency.
📦 Amazon's New Alexa+ Integrated Devices
Amazon's new Alexa+ integrated devices
Amazon unveiled a series of new devices designed specifically for its new AI-infused Alexa+, including Echo home systems, Ring cameras, Fire TVs, and Kindle readers. Alexa+ can now handle more natural conversations, book reservations, control smart homes, and complete complex web tasks autonomously. New Echo devices feature custom chips to process AI requests on-device, whilst Ring AI upgrades include Alexa+ Greetings for a personal AI door attendant and Familiar Faces for people recognition.
🎵 Spotify Tightens Rules on AI-Generated Music
Spotify tightens rules on AI-generated music
Spotify is enforcing stricter rules on AI music. Artists must disclose AI involvement using the DDEX standard, whilst a new filter will block fake uploads, unauthorised voice clones, and mislabelled tracks before release. The move addresses rising concerns over spam, impersonation, and copyright abuse tied to AI tools, aiming to protect artists' identities and ensure listeners get authentic content.
The Bad
⚖️ Elon Musk's xAI Sues OpenAI Over Trade Secrets
Musk's xAI takes OpenAI to court
xAI filed a lawsuit accusing OpenAI of systematically poaching employees to steal trade secrets. The suit named 8 former employees allegedly recruited via a coordinated effort, including several who admitted copying source code to personal devices. Two engineers allegedly downloaded xAI's codebase whilst communicating with the same OpenAI recruiter through encrypted messaging app Signal. OpenAI dismissed it as the "latest chapter in Musk's ongoing harassment."
💼 OpenAI Tests AI Against Human Workers
OpenAI tests AI against human workers across 44 jobs
OpenAI introduced GDPval, a new benchmark measuring whether AI models can match professional work quality across 44 occupations. The benchmark evaluated 1,320 tasks created by professionals averaging 14 years of experience across 9 economic sectors. Opus 4.1 achieved the highest scores with a 47.6% win rate, whilst OpenAI found that performance tripled from GPT-4o to GPT-5 over 15 months, showing rapid improvement in workplace task capabilities.
📱 Facebook & Instagram Add £2.99 Ad-Free Option in UK
Facebook & Instagram add £2.99 ad-free option in UK
Meta will let UK users pay £2.99/month on web (£3.99 on iOS/Android) to use Facebook and Instagram without ads. The move follows pressure from the UK's ICO regulator, which said Meta's old model of forcing personalised ads broke data law. Unlike the EU, UK users won't get a "less personalised ads" option—only pay or accept ads. Critics see it as pushing "consent or pay" models that could spread across digital platforms.
🔋 Cheap Batteries May Hide Serious Safety Risks
Cheap batteries may hide serious safety risks
A new X-ray study of 1,000+ lithium-ion batteries found dangerous defects in nearly 8% of low-cost or fake brands. Problems like anode overhang can cause short circuits, fires, or battery failure. Many cheap batteries exaggerate their power (claiming 9,900 mAh but delivering only ~1,300 mAh) and cut corners on quality. Top brands like Samsung and Panasonic had zero defects.
The Ugly
🎥 Meta Debuts Vibes for AI Video Creation
Meta debuts Vibes for AI video creation
Meta launched Vibes, a new AI video feed inside the Meta AI app and on meta.ai. Users can create short-form videos from scratch, remix existing ones by adding music or changing styles, and share them across Vibes, Instagram, and Facebook. Personalised feeds will surface content from creators and communities. Whilst Meta positions this as inspiring creativity, the feature risks contributing to the "slop-ification" of social media with low-quality AI-generated content flooding platforms.
🤳 OpenAI's TikTok-Style App for Sora 2
OpenAI's TikTok-style app for Sora 2
OpenAI is reportedly developing a standalone social platform powered by Sora 2, designed to mimic TikTok's vertical scrolling feed but exclusively featuring AI-generated content. The platform will limit clips to 10 seconds and include identity verification. Controversially, OpenAI will allow copyrighted material in videos unless rights holders actively request exclusion, though public figures will require consent. Given the negative reactions to Meta's Vibes launch, these AI social apps risk being associated with content "slop" until proven otherwise.
🎧 YouTube Music Tests AI Hosts
YouTube Music tests AI hosts with trivia & stories
YouTube Music is testing AI hosts that share trivia, stories, and commentary about the songs you play as part of YouTube Labs. The move follows Spotify's AI DJ launch and aims to make music listening more engaging. However, only a limited number of US users can currently test the feature, and its reception remains uncertain as users may find AI commentary intrusive or prefer traditional listening experiences.
Pending/Developing
💼 Trump Approves £14B TikTok US Sale Plan
Trump approves $14B TikTok U.S. sale plan
Trump signed an order approving TikTok's US spin-off, valuing it at £14B. A new company will be formed with investors including Oracle, Silver Lake, Michael Dell, and Rupert Murdoch, with ByteDance holding under 20% to comply with US law. The low valuation compared to prior £30-40B estimates and questions over control of its key algorithm leave uncertainty over whether this is a "clean break" from China.
🎮 EA Set for Record £50B Private Buyout
EA set for record $50B private buyout
Electronic Arts, maker of FIFA, Madden, The Sims, and Battlefield, is reportedly nearing a £50B sale to investors including Silver Lake and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. The leveraged buyout would be mostly funded by debt and could become the largest in history. Going private may give EA more flexibility to invest in long-term projects. EA shares surged 15% after the news.