Lorena A Barba

I just published open materials from our "AI Academy" for engineering faculty. Session 4 tackled the big shift: AI now does much more than answer your questions. It can go away, do research, and come back with a deliverable—faculty need the framework to understand this.

The session walks through: → How tools like deep research actually work behind the scenes → When to let AI run autonomously vs. when to stay hands-on → How to connect AI to yourthe tools you already use → How to write down your expertise so AI can follow it consistently

At #JupyterCon, I saw the future of AI collaboration for data science and beyond—and it's not in a chat window. Abigayle Mercer and Zach Sailer demoed an experimental new version of Jupyter AI and it changes the plot for multi-agent systems. A thread with my thoughts… 🧵

Current multi-agent frameworks (LangChain, AutoGen) orchestrate agents in the background. User prompts → agents debate invisibly → result appears. Jupyter AI makes agent coordination transparent. Human-in-the-loop, all the way down.

At #JupyterCon, I saw the future of AI collaboration for data science and beyond—and it's not in a chat window. Abigayle Mercer and Zach Sailer demoed an experimental new version of Jupyter AI and it changes the plot for multi-agent systems. A thread with my thoughts… 🧵

Here's the genius: they're using @jupyter.org's Real-Time Collaboration (RTC) protocol—originally designed for humans—as the rail for AI interaction. AI agents get cursors and chat privileges, just like human collaborators. They just "enter the chat" when needed.

At #JupyterCon, I saw the future of AI collaboration for data science and beyond—and it's not in a chat window. Abigayle Mercer and Zach Sailer demoed an experimental new version of Jupyter AI and it changes the plot for multi-agent systems. A thread with my thoughts… 🧵

If you use AI daily, you know "chat fatigue": prompt ➡ wait ➡ read ➡ re-prompt ➡ repeat Constantly context-switching between your work and a chat sidebar. Jupyter AI's new direction avoids this entirely.

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝘀 𝗰𝗶𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗝𝘂𝗽𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗿 Friends, I watched an AI agent complete my students' coding exercises in real-time, and I'm shook 🤯 I tested Perplexity's Comet browser on a Jupyter notebook with eigenvalue problems I assigned to my class… (video at the bottom of this thread)

We're facing a 𝘄𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲: motivating genuine learning when the tools have become this capable. Assignments should help critical thinking rather than just testing procedural knowledge. But the pace and the scale of the changes required are 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴.

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝘀 𝗰𝗶𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗝𝘂𝗽𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗿 Friends, I watched an AI agent complete my students' coding exercises in real-time, and I'm shook 🤯 I tested Perplexity's Comet browser on a Jupyter notebook with eigenvalue problems I assigned to my class… (video at the bottom of this thread)

I just rejected a paper because it was pointless in the age of AI. For the first time, I recommended a manuscript be rejected because its content was so easily replicable by an AI model with deep research capabilities. #AcademicPublishing #AIinResearch

The paper's abstract promised a "review of key trends" in AI for engineering education. My reasoning for immediate rejection: anyone can generate this with a single, well-crafted prompt. I tested it in Gemini 2.5 Pro, and the results were stunningly good and likely similar to the submitted article.

🧵 Fall 2025 faculty: I wrote 7 pages on what you need to know about AI before classes start in a week or two—it's posted as PDF in the ‪@figshare.com‬ service under CC-BY: link below… Here are the highlights: 1/8

7) Beware wearables: Smart glasses can photograph exam questions and get live AI answers. Your syllabus needs wearables policies NOW. Bottom line: Students will use AI anyway. Let's redesign courses to help them thrive with it. Full piece: doi.org/10.6084/m9.f... 8/8

🧵 Fall 2025 faculty: I wrote 7 pages on what you need to know about AI before classes start in a week or two—it's posted as PDF in the ‪@figshare.com‬ service under CC-BY: link below… Here are the highlights: 1/8

5) AI is much more than chat. It's autonomous agents doing research, filling forms, completing coursework. One prompt = entire literature review. Will you change expectations of what students do in your class? 6/8

🧵 Fall 2025 faculty: I wrote 7 pages on what you need to know about AI before classes start in a week or two—it's posted as PDF in the ‪@figshare.com‬ service under CC-BY: link below… Here are the highlights: 1/8

3) Students perceive that they know AI better than faculty (they're probably right). This gap is creating stress and missed opportunities for everyone. What are you going to do about this? 4/8

🧵 Fall 2025 faculty: I wrote 7 pages on what you need to know about AI before classes start in a week or two—it's posted as PDF in the ‪@figshare.com‬ service under CC-BY: link below… Here are the highlights: 1/8

1) Google just gave all US college students free access to Gemini Pro. They just need an .edu email for verification. This means validity of your take-home assignments is cooked: Gemini can do complex work for students and they don't need to think… 2/8

I did a hands-on tutorial for easily creating a static website using #Jekyll and #GitHub Pages. No local installations—everything is done directly on @github.com! Follow along to: – Fork a Jekyll theme – Deploy with GitHub Actions – Edit the content – Solve issues with #GitHubCopilot (link in reply)

I just released a preprint reporting on my experiment with generative AI in my Engineering Computations course. TL;DR: It was a mess. The biggest issue? The "illusion of competence." #GenAI #education #edtech

Key takeaway: We have to adapt. AI isn't going away. We need to find the line between helpful tool and crutch. And share our failures, not just our successes. It requires courage! #genAI #learninginpublic

I just released a preprint reporting on my experiment with generative AI in my Engineering Computations course. TL;DR: It was a mess. The biggest issue? The "illusion of competence." #GenAI #education #edtech

The "illusion of competence"—that's when learners think they understand, but the knowledge isn't really sticking (like what happens after a "clear lecture"). AI gave them quick answers, but they didn't actually get the concepts. Sound familiar?

I just released a preprint reporting on my experiment with generative AI in my Engineering Computations course. TL;DR: It was a mess. The biggest issue? The "illusion of competence." #GenAI #education #edtech

Starting now! So excited for our inaugural #GWOSCON Dean Geneva Henry welcoming everyone with optimism about the role of #OpenSource in our university. Inspiring!

Amazing keynote showing how open source software can help deliver better health outcomes for America! #GWOSCON

Starting now! So excited for our inaugural #GWOSCON Dean Geneva Henry welcoming everyone with optimism about the role of #OpenSource in our university. Inspiring!

Day 2 of the #GWOSCON launches with keynote speakers Andrea Fletcher and Remy DeCausemaker, leaders of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services OSPO

Starting now! So excited for our inaugural #GWOSCON Dean Geneva Henry welcoming everyone with optimism about the role of #OpenSource in our university. Inspiring!

Inessa Pawson from Open Teams highlights the barriers for participation in open source software within academia

Starting now! So excited for our inaugural #GWOSCON Dean Geneva Henry welcoming everyone with optimism about the role of #OpenSource in our university. Inspiring!