Melissa Loble, Chief Academic Officer at Instructure Melissa Loble The conversation with Instructure’s Chief Academic Officer, Melissa Loble, raises urgent questions about what it really means to be “ready” in an era shaped by artificial intelligence (AI) and constant change. Loble argues that learners are not failing for lack of motivation, but because the systems around them obscure which skills, credentials, and experiences actually matter, and how those translate into opportunity. I agree with that diagnosis, but I would extend it: readiness is not just a matter of clearer pathways; it is a contested space where employers, vendors, governments, and learners all compete.

Targus AVC045GL Full HD Webcam with IR Facial Recognition Review Webcams aren't the growth product category they were during Covid, but we now live in a world where video has replaced audio. A world where security and privacy are also huge issues. Targus gets it. The Targus AVC045GL Full HD Webcam combines IR Facial Recognition with a quick-slide-over privacy guard, creating a camera that goes beyond basic video needs while delivering the security features today's users demand. The Targus AVC045GL leans into that reality with a specific promise: to provide solid image quality while demonstrating that identity and privacy matter almost as much.

Two Visions for Navigating AI's Adolescence: Altman and Amodei on the Rite of Passage Ahead In the span of a single week in early 2026, we received two remarkably different articulations of where artificial intelligence is taking us, and what dangers lie ahead. Sam Altman's town hall with AI builders offered a pragmatic, iterative vision of abundance tempered by marketplace realities (read our earlier analysis here). Dario Amodei's essay "The Adolescence of Technology" presents a systematic taxonomy of existential risks that demand a coordinated societal response. Both leaders believe we're approaching transformative AI capabilities within 1-2 years.

Intelligence Too Cheap to Meter: Sam Altman's Vision for the AI-Powered Future Sam Altman's recent town hall with AI builders offered more than just product updates and roadmap hints—it provided a window into how OpenAI is thinking about the fundamental reshaping of work, creativity, and human capacity in an age of abundant intelligence. As someone who has spent decades exploring how organizations prepare for uncertainty through scenario planning, I find Altman's framing particularly instructive, not for what it predicts, but for the uncertainties it reveals and the strategic choices it forces us to confront.

It was a pleasure to correspond with June Zhu, the visionary CEO of ChargerGoGo, to discuss the evolving landscape of mobile charging and the launch of their ambitious new platform, GoGoSpark. As urban environments become increasingly data-driven, Zhu is positioning ChargerGoGo not just as a hardware provider, but as a critical layer of "connected infrastructure" for local venues. Our conversation delved into how AI-powered decision support and the distributed charging networks are creating a "post-work" entrepreneurship model, where smart hardware and real-time analytics do the heavy lifting for small business owners.

OpenAI's ‘Education for Countries’ Proposes to Build the New AI Learning Stack for National Education Systems OpenAI’s “Education for Countries” announcement marks an inflection point in how nations will negotiate the gap between AI’s promise and the realities of AI use within their education systems. With this initiative, OpenAI signals its ambition and begins to assert its technology platform power, a geopolitical privilege previously held by IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Apple, and a few others.

2025 Top 10 Posts and Reviews Read by Serious Insights Visitors in 2025 The results are in, and SeriousInsights.net was visited by more readers than ever before, almost 100,000 more than when we launched in 2017. Thank you to all of you who find our insights on AI, technology, strategy and the future of work valuable. We look forward to another record-breaking year in 2026. In the meantime, here are the top 10 research posts and reviews read by Serious Insights visitors. Top 10 Research Posts 12 Hybrid Work Fears Managers Must Face…

David "Prz" Przygoda drawn from his headshot via Gemini. David "Prz" Przygoda, CEO of OmniSpeech recently reached out to share his insights on identifying AI-generated voices, now available in the OmniSpeech AI-Detect plug-in for Zoom. I asked David several questions about the company's product and business model. You can read our extensive interview below. The Serious Insights Interview with David "Prz" Przygoda The interview has been lightly edited for grammatical consistency. What specific failure mode in live video meetings pushed OmniSpeech to ship AI Detect as a Zoom app, rather than a standalone service?

Robin Guignard-Perret on his Learning Journey to Create Video Editor Tellers.ai: A Serious Insights Interview from CES 2026 ChatGPT version of Robin Guignard-Perret portrait from LinkedIn (WSJ -inspired). In a market where AI-driven creativity tools proliferate, Robin Guignard-Perret stands at the intersection of automation and artistry, challenging the boundaries of what it means to edit video in the age of intelligent agents. In this Serious Insights interview, Guignard-Perret unpacks the philosophy and technology behind their AI video editing startup, revealing a commitment to transparency, user empowerment, and ethical stewardship. The conversation traverses the evolution from journalism-focused tools to a platform designed for broad creative control, while navigating the complex terrain of data privacy, platform risk, and shifting expectations for both creators and audiences.

Review: The Tozo HT3 offers premium specs like adaptive ANC and multipoint Bluetooth for under $100. Find out if the outstanding battery life makes up for the plastic build and wired-mode quirks.

Nexios.ai is right: by 2026, AI agents will evolve from simple chatbots into critical enterprise infrastructure. We analyze why organizations must shift from running pilots to managing coordinated agent fleets, and how governance, "Agent Ops," and consolidation will define the future of automated work.

The Oclean X Ultra S delivers a powerful "just-left-the-dentist" clean with its Maglev motor and 40-day battery life. However, the "smart" experience is a mixed bag. We review whether the excellent cleaning results are worth the hassle of an oversensitive pressure sensor and voice guidance that tends to nag.

Claude Cowork: Anthropic Didn’t Just Ship a New Feature. It Shipped a New Narrative The reaction to Claude's new Cowork feature in public markets says as much about investor psychology as it does about what Anthropic shipped. For months, software investors have been living with a background fear that “AI inside the app” is just a temporary comfort blanket. Then an agent shows up that extends beyond workflows, sitting above them to facilitate intent as input, acting as a competent colleague — starting to demonstrate that AI is no longer personal chat but actual personal assistance.

Fitnexa SomniPods 3 Review Fitnexa’s SomniPods 3 arrive as part of a growing category of purpose-built sleep earbuds that attempt to merge high-end audio engineering with sleep science and behavioral coaching. Rather than treating sound as a passive backdrop, the design embeds hybrid ANC, white noise, and brainwave-inspired soundscapes into a compact, low-profile form intended to disappear in the ear while the companion app watches over sleep stages and posture. Within the context of Serious Insights’ broader exploration of work, technology, and wellbeing, SomniPods 3 represent an archetype of wellness hardware that aspires to be both instrumentation and intervention, promising quieter rooms and better mornings through sensors, AI coaching, and layered sound design.

BENFEI Laptop Stand Review As I continue to assess tools that address the shifting dynamics of hybrid work environments and the increased demand for portable yet stable workspace solutions, the BENFEI Laptop Stand with USB-C 6-in-1 Docking Station represents an interesting approach to consolidating desk real estate. In my previous assessments of docking solutions, I’ve observed an evolution toward integrated designs that balance ergonomics with connectivity demands. This particular unit from BENFEI attempts to merge the mechanical simplicity of an adjustable stand with the functional complexity of a multi-port hub, addressing two distinct workspace challenges in a single aluminum alloy chassis.

Maono PD200W Hybrid Podcasting Microphone Review Most creator audio setups still fall into two camps: quick USB mics that behave nicely on a desk, or XLR dynamics that reward a little extra gear (and discipline) with professional input. With the Maono PD200W, the company is trying to break that lock by making a single mic behave like three: 2.4GHz wireless, USB, and XLR.  What makes the Maono PD200W interesting isn’t that it’s another “podcast mic.” It’s that Maono is treating mobility and multi-device work as first-class requirements, without pretending creators always have time for an interface, a mixer, and cable wrangling.

BENFEI Wireless HDMI USB‑C Transmitter & Receiver Kit Review The idea here is simple: ditch the HDMI cable and mirror or extend a USB-C device’s display wirelessly up to about 30 m. The BENFEI Wireless HDMI USB‑C Transmitter & Receiver Kit comprises a compact transmitter dongle that plugs into a USB-C port supporting DisplayPort Alt Mode, and a small HDMI receiver that hangs on the big screen. Not only cool for conferences, but also great for hijacked HDMI ports on hotel room televisions. What we like Pros Works plug-and-play with no software, apps, or traditional Wi-Fi. 

From the Serious Insights Archives: Neil deGrasse Tyson Interview I had the pleasure of hanging out with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson at the San Diego Comic-Con Cosmos: Possible Worlds press room. We were in a shared roundtable in our little corner of the press room. This is a complete transcript with just a few minor edits for clarity. Our thanks to Neil deGrasse Tyson for the opportunity and to the other members of the press for their questions. Neil's comments are just as relevant today as they were in 2018.

HyperPack Pro Review I’ve been watching “smart” creep into bags the way it crept into headphones: first as a gimmick, then as an expectation. HyperPack Pro’s offer is simple: integrate Apple Find My tracking into a well-organized, travel-ready backpack, and make the anti-theft story feel native, include wired charging routing and a deep, very easy to open design, and we have my backpack for CES 2026. Note that the water bottle pocket and MagSafe pocket are flipped in this illustration. What we like Pros Apple® Find My™–compatible location module is built in…

Targus Avila Convertible Tote/Backpack for 15–16” Laptops (French Oak) Review Laptop backpacks have evolved into personal infrastructure: light protection for expensive objects, fast access when the day turns into a hallway sprint, and enough organization to prevent “bag archaeology.” That mix, utility plus restraint, shows up across the accessories reviewed on SeriousInsights.net, where everyday carry either reduces friction or adds to it. The Targus Avila Convertible Tote/Backpack is a tidy expression of friction reduction. It’s a tote-and-backpack blend with tuckaway shoulder straps, a protective laptop cradle with magnetic closure, and a compact capacity that keeps the bag from becoming a roaming storage unit.

Dan will be attending CES January 4-7. The show runs through the 9th. Daniel W. Rasmus: 2026 CES PreGame Panel (Video) Dan was invited by the Virtual Events Group (VEG) to participate in the 2026 CES PreGame Panel. I cover AI to look forward to at the upcoming CES 2026 in Las Vegas. Watch the video below. Dan was joined by fellow CES veterans John T. Kelley, Sr. VP and Show Director of CES, Jeremy Kaplan, Content Director of Future, Meredith Perry, Co-Founder & CEO, Elemind Technologies and Steward Wolpin, CES historian.

The Agentic Operating System: How the Next 3-5 Years May Spell the Death of Windows, macOS, Linux and Chrome as Anything More than Legacy Interfaces I recently posted a Microsoft-centric view of my analysis on the disruption of Windows at Techspective.net (Why Windows Just Became Disruptible in the Agentic OS Era). The following analysis is more inclusive of other operating systems and offers a suggested framework for the design of an agentic operating system. Images generated by ChatGPT unless otherwise noted. My Windows-centric analysis at Techspective. Microsoft just crossed a line it has tiptoed around for decades: Windows is no longer just for people.

AI Trends 2026: Likely AI Conditions That Will Make AI in 2026 Feel Different I don't like the idea of trends (see Stephen Jay Gould on Trends and Progress: The Problem With Trends), but that doesn't stop people from searching for the term, or search engines indexing for it because of that, I use it in the title but with the caution that many factors can derail "trends" and a bias toward seeing a trend can blind trend watchers from recognizing other oatterns, especialy contraditory ones.. In that light, let me say that year-end trend posts are less about prophecy than pattern recognition.

Levoit Sprout Evaporative Humidifier Review Humidifiers sit in that odd space between comfort tech and household infrastructure: rarely glamorous, occasionally life-saving (at 3 a.m.), and always judged by the one thing they can’t fake: how the room feels the next morning. In the Serious Insights universe of small, practical devices that shape daily work and rest, the Levoit Sprout Evaporative Humidifier attempts to make humidity control into a modern appliance rather than a seasonal annoyance tucked away in a closet until the next chest cold or runny nose. Sprout’s bet is simple: evaporative humidification (no visible mist), a sensor that can be placed where humidity actually matters, and enough smart control to turn “set it and forget it” into something closer to “set it and verify it.” The result targets nurseries and small-to-medium rooms, not entire.

How a Taxonomy Becomes an Ontology in the Real World Cynefin’s Dave Snowden was right to call on philosophy when he pushed back on my claim that a conference lanyard and badge formed a “living ontology.” Under classical definitions, what hangs around a participant’s neck at KMWorld looks more like a taxonomy: categories and labels, color codes and groupings. But knowledge management rarely lives inside classical definitions. It lives in practice, in movement, in context. In that sense, a KMWorld lanyard is not just a taxonomy of roles and affiliations, but instead behaves like an ontology, enacted and negotiated in real time.