Once a semester, a Cornell University instructor requires her students to complete an in-class assignment using typewriters — an exercise to help them understand what writing, thinking and classrooms were like before everything turned digital. The exercise started in 2023, as Grit Mathias Phelps grew frustrated that her German language students were using generative AI and online translation platforms to churn out grammatically perfect assignments. The revival is part of a national trend toward old-school testing methods like in-class pen-and-paper exams and oral tests to prevent AI use for assignments on laptops.

Two teenage boys have been given probation after using artificial intelligence to create hundreds of fake nude photos of their classmates. The boys were 14 at the time. Authorities said the boys took images of the girls from school photos, yearbooks, Instagram, TikTok and FaceTime chats, and morphed them with images of adults depicting nudity or sexual activity. At least 59 girls were among the victims, many of them classmates with the boys at Lancaster Country Day School. Many called for the toughest sentence on Wednesday as they described their trauma. The judge said the boys' records will be expunged in two years if they don't reoffend.

A growing number of U.S. college instructors are turning to oral exams to help combat an AI crisis in higher education. Some are replacing written assignments with oral exams. Others are pairing Socratic-style questioning with written assignments or requiring students to attend office hours. Instructors say they know student use of AI is ubiquitous but hard to police, and it's impacting student learning. Oral exams allow instructors to determine what students know and where they need help. Students say they don't always love the testing format, but many agree that it's effective. As one student says, knowing that you will be face-to-face with a professor “makes you realize, ‘I should study this.’”

Artificial intelligence company Anthropic is asking a federal judge on Tuesday to temporarily halt the Pentagon’s “unprecedented and stigmatizing” designation of the company as a supply chain risk. A hearing scheduled for Tuesday in a California federal court marks a critical step in the feud between Anthropic and the Trump administration over how the company’s AI technology could be used in war. Anthropic sued earlier this month to stop the Trump administration from enforcing what the company calls an “unlawful campaign of retaliation” over its refusal to allow unrestricted military use of its technology.

The White House is laying out a new framework that it wants Congress to use to shape national rules for artificial intelligence without curbing growth in the sector. It wants Congress to “preempt” state laws is sees as too burdensome. The focus is on protecting children, preventing electricity costs from surging, respecting intellectual property rights, preventing censorship and educating Americans on using the technology. It comes as state governments have forged ahead on their own regulations. Civil liberties and consumer rights groups have lobbied for more regulations on the powerful technology. But the industry and the White House say a patchwork of rules would hurt growth.

The artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency industries have suffered a setback as they try to reshape the midterm elections and establish themselves as power players in American politics. AI and crypto groups poured millions of dollars into Illinois' Democratic primaries to push candidates who favor lighter regulation, but they often lost. The industry super PACs ran ad campaigns that barely mentioned technology, highlighting other issues to avoid backlash. But they still became a lightning rod. Crypto-backed Fairshake spent more than $10 million against Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, but she won the Democratic nomination to succeed Sen. Dick Durbin. In House races, sometimes different AI groups ended up fighting each other.

A year after the actor’s death, a generative AI version of Val Kilmer will co-star in an independent film. It's one of the boldest uses yet of artificial intelligence in moviemaking. First Line Films announced Wednesday that Kilmer has posthumously joined the cast of a film titled “As Deep as the Grave.” The producers said that before his death, Kilmer had signed on to perform in the movie but was unable to do due to his health. Kilmer’s estate gave permission for his digital replication, and is being compensated for it. Kilmer died last April from pneumonia at the age of 65.