Innovation Profs - 8/19/2025

Your weekly guide to generative AI tools and news

Innovation Profs
August 19, 2025

Upcoming Gen AI Events

Free Back to School Gen AI Update: Join us as we kick off the new school year with a free virtual overview of recent developments in generative artificial intelligence. This virtual event is free and open to the public, so sharpen your pencils and join the fun.

When: Monday, Aug. 25, 12-12:45 p.m. Central time
Where: Virtual event on Zoom
Sign up here.

Gen AI Boot Camp: Join us in-person at Drake University or virtually for our next Generative AI Boot Camp. This one-day workshop will get you up to speed and using generative AI tools effectively in your work.

When: Friday, Sept. 12, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Where: Drake University or on Zoom
Sign up here

Quick Hits

MIT report: 95% of generative AI pilots at companies are failing

There’s a stark difference in success rates between companies that purchase AI tools from vendors and those that build them internally.

finance.yahoo.com/news/mit-report-95-generative-ai-105412686.html

Scientists Are Getting Seriously Worried That We've Already Hit Peak AI

Skepticism is mounting as the rate of progress for scalable artificial intelligence models appears to be slowing down.

futurism.com/scientists-worried-ai-pleateau

OpenAI is improving ChatGPT voice mode

ChatGPT's Voice mode is already pretty good, but OpenAI is working on a new feature that will allow you to control how Voice mode actually works.

www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/artificial-intelligence/openai-is-improving-chatgpt-voice-mode/amp

Is GPT-5 really worse than GPT-4o? Ars puts them to the test.

It’s OpenAI vs. OpenAI on everything from video game strategy to landing a 737.

arstechnica.com/ai/2025/08/is-gpt-5-really-worse-than-gpt-4o-ars-puts-them-to-the-test

Grammarly says its AI agent can predict an A paper

AI student agents vs AI educator agents, fight!

www.theverge.com/news/760508/grammarly-ai-agents-help-students-educators

Google’s Gemini AI will get more personalized by remembering details automatically

Gemini’s “memory” is getting a big upgrade.

www.theverge.com/news/758624/google-gemini-ai-automatic-memory-privacy-update

GPT-5 is supposed to be nicer now | TechCrunch

OpenAI announced late Friday that it’s updating its latest model to be “warmer and friendlier.”

techcrunch.com/2025/08/17/gpt-5-is-supposed-to-be-nicer-now

These smart glasses use AI to help low-vision users

Pre-orders are expected to ship in October.

www.theverge.com/news/759160/ally-solos-smart-glasses-ai-envision-low-vision

New Research Finds That ChatGPT Secretly Has a Deep Anti-Human Bias

New research suggests that ChatGPT and other leading AI models display an alarming bias towards other AIs over humans.

futurism.com/chatgpt-deep-anti-human-bias

Using generative AI, researchers design compounds that can kill drug-resistant bacteria

With help from artificial intelligence, MIT researchers designed novel antibiotics that can combat a drug-resistant form of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and multi-drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

news.mit.edu/2025/using-generative-ai-researchers-design-compounds-kill-drug-resistant-bacteria-0814

Tool of the week: Gemini Storybook

Google Gemini's new Storybook feature lets users create custom, illustrated stories about any topic they choose. The result is a 10-page book users can flip through, with illustrations on each page. Gemini will even read the books aloud to users.

AI-generated image of the week

School starts Monday at Drake University, so we decided to test ChatGPT’s ability to make a sign for kids to hold up on the first day of school. How did it do?

Prompt: make a back to school sign for a kid to hold that says "First Day of School" as well as "Innovation Profs Elementary" and "Aug. 25, 2025"

What we found

Sydney-based muralist James Gulliver Hancock teamed up with Leonardo.Ai and Google Cloud to use technology to unlock new ideas, fast-track exploration, and expand creativity. Watch the video to see the result.