AI, education, tools, and the ideas that connect them.
Google released Gemini 3 Flash and replaced it as the default model in the Gemini app and AI Mode in Search. It delivers 3x the speed of 2.5 Pro with equal or better performance — GPQA Diamond 90.4%, SWE-bench 78%. At $0.50/1M input tokens, this model is reshaping the AI development cost equation for coding, complex analysis, and agentic workflows.
On May 13, 2026, Notion officially launched its Developer Platform with version 3.5. Workers lets you run custom code without servers, a new CLI is designed for AI coding agents, and the External Agent API directly connects Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex to your Notion workspace. Notion has crossed the line from collaboration tool to AI workflow hub.
In May 2026, Anthropic unveiled Claude Code 2.1 at the "Code with Claude" event. The /goal command lets Claude work autonomously for hours or days until a defined completion condition is met. Agent View gives developers a unified dashboard to manage dozens of parallel sessions. This is the moment AI coding tools cross from "assistant" to "autonomous system."
At Google I/O 2026, Gemini 2.5 Pro Deep Think mode went generally available. It scored impressively on the 2025 USAMO math competition and added MCP support to connect with the open-source tool ecosystem. Gemini 2.5 Pro now leads both the WebDev Arena and LM Arena leaderboards.
The 2026 HEPI/Kortext Student Generative AI Survey (third annual) finds that 95% of UK undergraduates now use AI — up from 66% in 2024. Yet universities remain deeply polarised: encouraging and discouraging AI in almost equal measure. Students are navigating this alone.