Marc Watkins
@marcwatkins.bsky.social
Assistant Director of Innovation at the University of Mississippi training faculty in AI literacy. Teaching, #OER, #OpenPedagogy, #AIED marcwatkins.org
I was on Tophat talking about AI. I believe faculty should be leading conversations about AI on campuses and students and administration should likewise be involved. We should all be considering the purpose of education and how our values shape our views of this technology tophat.com/teaching-res...
Top Hat Podcast | Higher Listenings | Top Hat
Dive into the Top Hat higher education podcast, where thought leaders, authors, and educators shape the future of higher learning. Tune in now!
tophat.com
November 12, 2025 at 11:38 PM
I was on Tophat talking about AI. I believe faculty should be leading conversations about AI on campuses and students and administration should likewise be involved. We should all be considering the purpose of education and how our values shape our views of this technology tophat.com/teaching-res...
Many young people will start asking what’s the point of going to college, taking out debt, spending years of their life learning skills if they cannot secure a job afterwards. open.substack.com/pub/marcwatk...
Can We Justify College ?
AI is starting to impact hiring for young men and women with recent college degrees and I fear that this will lead to a sense of hopelessness and further deepen a crisis of purpose.
open.substack.com
October 31, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Many young people will start asking what’s the point of going to college, taking out debt, spending years of their life learning skills if they cannot secure a job afterwards. open.substack.com/pub/marcwatk...
I’ve enjoyed using Perplexity, but directly marketing their new Comet browser to students and showing them how it can be used to cheat crosses the line. I won't be supporting a product that targets students and encourages academic misconduct. open.substack.com/pub/marcwatk...
An Open Letter to Perplexity AI:
Absolutely Don't Do This
open.substack.com
October 17, 2025 at 1:29 PM
I’ve enjoyed using Perplexity, but directly marketing their new Comet browser to students and showing them how it can be used to cheat crosses the line. I won't be supporting a product that targets students and encourages academic misconduct. open.substack.com/pub/marcwatk...
AI is now browser based. You can view a video of Perplexity's Comet completing an online assignment from Josh Brake. Don't panic. The speed is the giveaway. It is good practice to start checking LMS timestamps for how long students access and complete assignments youtu.be/opOx3Msw5tI?...
Comet Goes to School
YouTube video by Josh Brake
youtu.be
October 14, 2025 at 12:17 AM
AI is now browser based. You can view a video of Perplexity's Comet completing an online assignment from Josh Brake. Don't panic. The speed is the giveaway. It is good practice to start checking LMS timestamps for how long students access and complete assignments youtu.be/opOx3Msw5tI?...
Beyond the many moral and ethical objections I raised about using AI to grade, here's a concrete one: AI grading will never be secure because of prompt injection. Simply hiding a phrase within an assignment is all it takes to bypass even the most advanced AI models.
October 12, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Beyond the many moral and ethical objections I raised about using AI to grade, here's a concrete one: AI grading will never be secure because of prompt injection. Simply hiding a phrase within an assignment is all it takes to bypass even the most advanced AI models.
Some teachers are using AI to grade and few are talking about it. Scantrons are one thing, but automating grading, feedback, and assessing written work with AI poses massive ethical challenges and should not become the default or go to choice in education.
👇 in comments
👇 in comments
October 10, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Some teachers are using AI to grade and few are talking about it. Scantrons are one thing, but automating grading, feedback, and assessing written work with AI poses massive ethical challenges and should not become the default or go to choice in education.
👇 in comments
👇 in comments
I was on NPR Morning Edition to talk about the deeply troubling ethical issue of faculty using AI to grade student assignments. I'm glad this issue is getting more attention, but it is also one I don't see clear a path forward. www.npr.org/2025/10/07/n...
More college students are using AI for class. Their professors aren't far behind
More college students are using AI chatbots to help them with their studies. But data recently released by an AI company shows they're aren't the only ones using the technology.
www.npr.org
October 8, 2025 at 2:09 AM
I was on NPR Morning Edition to talk about the deeply troubling ethical issue of faculty using AI to grade student assignments. I'm glad this issue is getting more attention, but it is also one I don't see clear a path forward. www.npr.org/2025/10/07/n...
Our relationship with new technologies has always been fraught and AI isn’t new in that regard. After 3 years of ChatGPT, over a decade with social media, and screens in our pockets, are we able to chart a path forward or helplessly lost in hype and doom?
marcwatkins.substack.com/p/the-halluc...
marcwatkins.substack.com/p/the-halluc...
The Hallucinating Machines We Can't Live Without
An Algorithm Brought You To This Anti-Algorithm Essay
marcwatkins.substack.com
September 26, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Our relationship with new technologies has always been fraught and AI isn’t new in that regard. After 3 years of ChatGPT, over a decade with social media, and screens in our pockets, are we able to chart a path forward or helplessly lost in hype and doom?
marcwatkins.substack.com/p/the-halluc...
marcwatkins.substack.com/p/the-halluc...
Popping in via VPN to share how age verification is actively limiting access to services like Bluesky. I think AV will eventually impact access to AI. I don't think AV effectivly protects children and don't believe this is the future any of us wants. marcwatkins.substack.com/p/age-verifi...
Age Verification is Coming for Chatbots
I’m now more convinced than at any previous point that governments will start regulating generative AI via limiting access to tools like ChatGPT based on a user’s age, and I’m not sure that’s a good t...
marcwatkins.substack.com
September 7, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Popping in via VPN to share how age verification is actively limiting access to services like Bluesky. I think AV will eventually impact access to AI. I don't think AV effectivly protects children and don't believe this is the future any of us wants. marcwatkins.substack.com/p/age-verifi...
It’s been real, but this is likely the end for me on this platform. I have to use a VPN to post or read contact because of the state I live in. This is chilling and should be a wake up call for what’s coming.
Unfortunately, Bluesky is unavailable in Mississippi right now, due to a new state law that requires age verification for all users.
While intended for child safety, we think this law poses broader challenges & creates significant barriers that limit free speech & harm smaller platforms like ours.
While intended for child safety, we think this law poses broader challenges & creates significant barriers that limit free speech & harm smaller platforms like ours.
August 22, 2025 at 9:54 PM
It’s been real, but this is likely the end for me on this platform. I have to use a VPN to post or read contact because of the state I live in. This is chilling and should be a wake up call for what’s coming.
I guess I won’t be posting here much longer. Being in a state that’s instituted age verification laws causing social media companies like Bluesky to restrict access isn’t an isolated event—it’s where the internet is headed. I’ll use a VPN for now, but that’s not going to be sustainable.
August 22, 2025 at 9:51 PM
I guess I won’t be posting here much longer. Being in a state that’s instituted age verification laws causing social media companies like Bluesky to restrict access isn’t an isolated event—it’s where the internet is headed. I’ll use a VPN for now, but that’s not going to be sustainable.
Faculty guidelines and frameworks for using generative AI with their students are often unclear and vague. The institutional silence around faculty AI usage risks sending a message of indifference instead of charting a clear path forward. I created a VALUES framework for faculty to consider.
August 22, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Faculty guidelines and frameworks for using generative AI with their students are often unclear and vague. The institutional silence around faculty AI usage risks sending a message of indifference instead of charting a clear path forward. I created a VALUES framework for faculty to consider.
I hope people dunking on OpenAI for how crappy GPT-5 is and how hyped AGI has been take a step back and consider how the LLMs we have today will take society years to fully absorb. This technology is impact our world in ways we can barely comprehend. AI isn't going away even if the hype does.
August 20, 2025 at 11:14 PM
I hope people dunking on OpenAI for how crappy GPT-5 is and how hyped AGI has been take a step back and consider how the LLMs we have today will take society years to fully absorb. This technology is impact our world in ways we can barely comprehend. AI isn't going away even if the hype does.
A little over a year from now, the first generation of ChatGPT students will graduate college with no guidance about how to use or resist AI in their careers. A college freshmen will arrive on campus having 4 years of access to a chatbot and we think bluebooks are an answer?
August 11, 2025 at 11:59 AM
A little over a year from now, the first generation of ChatGPT students will graduate college with no guidance about how to use or resist AI in their careers. A college freshmen will arrive on campus having 4 years of access to a chatbot and we think bluebooks are an answer?
Another semester approaches and faculty face a super charged version of ChatGPT. I want to talk about value and meaning with my students, not necessarily AI. Here are some ideas to do just that. I also have a session submitted to SXSW Edu about AI aware teaching that I’d love for you to vote for. 👇
August 10, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Another semester approaches and faculty face a super charged version of ChatGPT. I want to talk about value and meaning with my students, not necessarily AI. Here are some ideas to do just that. I also have a session submitted to SXSW Edu about AI aware teaching that I’d love for you to vote for. 👇
Will Microsoft update the education version of Copilot with GPT-5? This was formerly known as Bing Chat Enterprise and hasn't been updated with a new model since GPT-4 launched in 2023. That would give data protection w/ GPT-5 to a lot of schools.
August 9, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Will Microsoft update the education version of Copilot with GPT-5? This was formerly known as Bing Chat Enterprise and hasn't been updated with a new model since GPT-4 launched in 2023. That would give data protection w/ GPT-5 to a lot of schools.
RIP ChatGPT's Study Mode. It lasted ten days as a feature before GPT-5's launch removed it. Now students will need to ask the model to not complete tasks for them manually. The point was a ⏹️ button students could use to create a socratic tutor, a space where the model wouldn't offload learning.
August 7, 2025 at 7:17 PM
RIP ChatGPT's Study Mode. It lasted ten days as a feature before GPT-5's launch removed it. Now students will need to ask the model to not complete tasks for them manually. The point was a ⏹️ button students could use to create a socratic tutor, a space where the model wouldn't offload learning.
Giving oos 20b a second look with LM Studio, which is much better at running it. You can toggle the reasoning settings and this does improve the output. Medium setting seems to be the sweet spot, but on high you have to raise the context limit to get the best output to count Rs in strawberry.
1/4
1/4
August 7, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Giving oos 20b a second look with LM Studio, which is much better at running it. You can toggle the reasoning settings and this does improve the output. Medium setting seems to be the sweet spot, but on high you have to raise the context limit to get the best output to count Rs in strawberry.
1/4
1/4
I have a Macbook Pro/ M4 48 gbs and ran GPT-oss 20b via ollama and these were the results on three tests for reasoning and search. My overall impression is the usefulness of the model is very limited on a personal device.
1️⃣ Fail: the strawberry test
1/3
1️⃣ Fail: the strawberry test
1/3
August 6, 2025 at 2:57 AM
I have a Macbook Pro/ M4 48 gbs and ran GPT-oss 20b via ollama and these were the results on three tests for reasoning and search. My overall impression is the usefulness of the model is very limited on a personal device.
1️⃣ Fail: the strawberry test
1/3
1️⃣ Fail: the strawberry test
1/3
The new GPT-oss open weights models are technically impressive, but are they practical? Both suffer from higher hallucination rates compared to proprietary models, don't ground results to improve errors through search, and you need 80 gigs of memory on your device to run the largest model locally.
August 5, 2025 at 8:09 PM
The new GPT-oss open weights models are technically impressive, but are they practical? Both suffer from higher hallucination rates compared to proprietary models, don't ground results to improve errors through search, and you need 80 gigs of memory on your device to run the largest model locally.
A time when you should maybe not use AI:
My daughter starts back to school tomorrow in the 6th grade and the school used an AI voice over video with slides likely generated as well to talk about how her school was all about relationships.
Welcome back?
My daughter starts back to school tomorrow in the 6th grade and the school used an AI voice over video with slides likely generated as well to talk about how her school was all about relationships.
Welcome back?
August 4, 2025 at 12:02 AM
A time when you should maybe not use AI:
My daughter starts back to school tomorrow in the 6th grade and the school used an AI voice over video with slides likely generated as well to talk about how her school was all about relationships.
Welcome back?
My daughter starts back to school tomorrow in the 6th grade and the school used an AI voice over video with slides likely generated as well to talk about how her school was all about relationships.
Welcome back?
The new “Study Mode” for ChatGPT turns it into a Socratic tutor and is just a prompt. The implication is OpenAI could have released this years ago—a version of ChatGPT that wouldn’t complete your homework for you.
Let that sink in. OAI could have nerfed ChatGPT with a few well organized phrases.
Let that sink in. OAI could have nerfed ChatGPT with a few well organized phrases.
July 30, 2025 at 3:41 AM
The new “Study Mode” for ChatGPT turns it into a Socratic tutor and is just a prompt. The implication is OpenAI could have released this years ago—a version of ChatGPT that wouldn’t complete your homework for you.
Let that sink in. OAI could have nerfed ChatGPT with a few well organized phrases.
Let that sink in. OAI could have nerfed ChatGPT with a few well organized phrases.
As the fall semester approaches, we’re bound to hear more talk about AI policies, what new skills students will need, and how to curb AI misuse. We’re also likely to hear renewed calls for faculty to redesign assessments. A year ago I wrote a series about how AI impacted learning and revisited it.
July 29, 2025 at 1:37 PM
As the fall semester approaches, we’re bound to hear more talk about AI policies, what new skills students will need, and how to curb AI misuse. We’re also likely to hear renewed calls for faculty to redesign assessments. A year ago I wrote a series about how AI impacted learning and revisited it.
My latest for the Chronicle -- how to navigate the AI already present on your campus. Now that ChatGPT will be directly integrated into Canvas, I think it is time we have a much deeper conversation about how quickly AI has been integrated into existing applications www.chronicle.com/article/how-...
Advice | How to Grapple With the AI Already on Your Campus
Three steps any faculty member can take to understand which AI features are now embedded in applications you use every day.
www.chronicle.com
July 24, 2025 at 12:24 PM
My latest for the Chronicle -- how to navigate the AI already present on your campus. Now that ChatGPT will be directly integrated into Canvas, I think it is time we have a much deeper conversation about how quickly AI has been integrated into existing applications www.chronicle.com/article/how-...
Posted without coment www.axios.com/2025/07/23/o...
OpenAI moves deeper into schools via Canvas deal
Teachers will be able to build custom chatbots to manage classrooms.
www.axios.com
July 24, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Posted without coment www.axios.com/2025/07/23/o...