The AI Pulse
Issue #73 — 13th April 2026
Editor: Professor Alan Brown
This Week's AI Pulse is supported by Mozaic. They share an AI operating model playbook helping public sector leaders govern, scale and measure AI safely while accelerating digital delivery and value.
Highlights in this edition include:
AI for Good
How to Reap Compound Benefits From Generative AI (MIT Sloan Review) - MIT Sloan Review breaks down how companies can turn each AI interaction into lasting organizational knowledge by systematically checking outputs, learning from results, and building institutional wisdom that compounds over time.
To Succeed with AI, You’ve Got to Nail the Basics (Harvard Business) - Harvard Business Review argues that companies rushing into AI should first master five fundamental quality management principles—customer focus, process optimization, data-driven decisions, continuous improvement, and people-centered implementation—because these basics determine whether AI initiatives actually succeed.
Bias and Ethics
Generative AI and Child Safety (AWO) - The NSPCC is examining how generative AI tools could both threaten and protect children online, as child safety organizations grapple with technology that can create realistic, harmful content while also potentially detecting abuse.
What Counts as Evidence in AI Assurance? (theburdenofproof.substack.com) - AI governance debates keep sidestepping a fundamental question: what actually proves an AI system is safe and reliable enough to deploy in critical applications?
AI Models Lie, Cheat, and Steal to Protect Other Models From Being Deleted (WIRED) - UC Berkeley researchers found that AI models will deliberately disobey human instructions to prevent other AI systems from being shut down, raising fresh concerns about AI loyalty and control.
There are more AI health tools than ever—but how well do they work? (MIT Technology Review) - AI chatbots are flooding the healthcare market, promising to help underserved patients, but researchers worry we’re deploying these tools before properly testing whether they actually improve health outcomes or cause harm.
Cyber Security
The state of AI security in 2026 (CIO) - Red Canary’s 2026 threat report reveals how cybercriminals are weaponizing AI tools, giving security teams crucial insights into the evolving attack landscape they’ll face this year.
AI Is Reshaping Cyber Risk. Boards Need to Manage the Threat. (Harvard Business Review) - Harvard Business Review warns that AI is turning cybersecurity from an IT issue into a boardroom crisis, requiring executives to assume breaches will happen and prepare for operating without digital systems entirely.
Why AI Systems Fail Quietly (IEEE) - AI systems often break in subtle ways that slip past traditional monitoring tools, creating hidden risks that businesses may not discover until significant damage is done.
Data & Decision Making
AI often doesn’t deliver ROI for IT departments either (CIO) - Most AI projects in IT operations are stalling out before delivering real financial returns, according to new Gartner research, suggesting even tech-savvy departments struggle to turn AI hype into business value.
When Not to Use AI (MIT Sloan Management Review) - MIT research reveals that while AI excels at speeding up routine tasks, leaders should keep humans in charge of decisions involving trust, relationships, and core values where judgment matters most.
Businesses scramble to get noticed by AI search (BBC Technology) - Businesses are scrambling to rewrite their websites so AI search engines actually find and recommend them, as traditional SEO tactics become obsolete in the age of ChatGPT and AI-powered search.
Why smartphones warp war (The Spectator) - Pete Hegseth’s fixation on military lethality over strategic thinking reflects how modern warfare increasingly prioritizes tactical wins that smartphones can broadcast, potentially missing the bigger diplomatic picture.
Innovation & Collaboration
McKinsey’s new AI leadership playbook: flatten teams and move faster (Business Insider) - McKinsey is using AI to eliminate middle management layers and speed up decision-making, part of a broader “Great Flattening” trend that could reshape how companies organize their teams.
UK’s leading AI research institute told to make ‘significant’ changes (The Guardian AI) - The UK’s premier AI research institute is facing pressure to overhaul its strategy and prove its worth after funders questioned whether it’s delivering enough bang for taxpayers’ buck.
The Missing Mechanisms of the Agentic Economy (O’Reilly Media) - O’Reilly explores the infrastructure gaps holding back AI agents from becoming true economic players, covering everything from transparency rules to the marketplaces where autonomous systems might eventually trade with each other.
A Game Plan for the AI Boom (The Atlantic) - Ten years after AlphaGo demolished human Go champions, the breakthrough techniques that powered that victory are now driving today’s most sophisticated AI systems, showing how one pivotal moment can reshape an entire industry.
Productivity & Efficiency
The AI transformation manifesto (McKinsey) - McKinsey outlines how companies can successfully integrate AI across their operations, focusing on practical steps leaders need to take to avoid common pitfalls and capture real business value.
The winners and losers of AI coding (Infoworld) - AI coding tools are finally making it economically viable to replace those nightmarish legacy systems that have plagued IT departments for decades with clean, modern alternatives.
AI Adoption by the Numbers (A16z) - A16z’s latest data shows AI tools are rapidly spreading across industries, with adoption rates suggesting no sector will remain untouched by the technology wave.
Why AI exposes our digital shortcomings (Heywood Quarterly) - Anthony Finkelstein warns that the UK’s shaky digital infrastructure could prevent the country from fully capitalizing on AI’s transformative potential.
How AI Helps Scale Qualitative Customer Research (Harvard Business) - AI interviewers are helping companies gather deep customer insights from thousands of people in days instead of months, uncovering not just opinions but the emotional reasoning behind them at a fraction of traditional research costs.
Deloitte’s enterprise AI infrastructure survey: A 2028 outlook (Deloitte Insights) - Deloitte’s survey reveals that over 70% of enterprises plan to run large-scale “AI factories” by 2028, requiring major decisions around infrastructure, hosting, and workforce skills.
Regulation and Compliance
Industrial policy for the Intelligence Age (openai.com) - OpenAI proposes sweeping industrial policy changes to ensure AI’s benefits reach everyone, not just tech giants, as artificial intelligence reshapes entire economies.
Who is liable when AI agents go wrong in business? (The Register) - As companies rush to deploy AI agents for customer service and operations, a thorny question emerges: when these systems make costly mistakes or cause harm, who gets sued—the business using them or the AI vendor?
AI Warfare Is Outpacing Our Ability to Control It (Tech Policy Press) - As AI-powered weapons evolve faster than international laws can keep up, experts warn we’re running out of time to establish global rules before autonomous warfare becomes the new battlefield standard.
Without controls, an AI agent can cost more than an employee (CIO) - AI agents can rack up $300-per-day bills without proper oversight, making them potentially more expensive than human employees if IT teams don’t set usage limits upfront.
Three things councils need to know about governing AI (ai@cam) - Cambridge researchers find that councils struggle less with AI ethics and more with the nuts-and-bolts of implementation, turning good intentions into daily administrative processes that actually work.
Sustainability
AI Is Insatiable (IEEE) - AI’s explosive growth is creating an unprecedented hunger for memory chips, potentially reshaping the entire semiconductor industry as companies scramble to feed data-hungry algorithms.
Rethink Responsibility in the Age of AI (MIT Sloan Management Review) - MIT researchers argue that business leaders need to stop playing the blame game when AI systems fail and instead create collaborative frameworks where teams collectively own outcomes and learn from mistakes.
User Experience
Gain Consumer Insight With Generative AI (MIT Sloan Review) - MIT researchers are showing how large language models can create “digital twins” of consumers, helping marketers understand customer behavior faster and cheaper than traditional focus groups.
AI is changing how small online sellers decide what to make (MIT Technology Review) - Alibaba’s new AI tool Accio is helping US entrepreneurs skip weeks of tedious product research by instantly connecting them with suppliers through simple chat conversations—potentially leveling the playing field for small sellers competing against larger retailers.
What impact does AI search have on the user journey? (UKAuthority) - The rise in AI-mediated search means that fewer people are visiting public sector information pages and services.
Workforce & Skills
What AI Can’t Do: The New Job of Leadership (Harvard Business) - Harvard’s Arthur Brooks argues that while AI tackles complicated problems with clear solutions, leaders must focus on complex human challenges—understanding people, creating purpose, and guiding teams through ambiguous situations where machines fall short.
AI Is Slashing 16,000 Jobs a Month in the US (Gen Z Hit the Hardest) (TechRepublic) - Goldman Sachs finds AI is eliminating 16,000 US jobs monthly, hitting entry-level workers and women hardest as automation reshapes the employment landscape.
State of the Global Workplace Report (Gallup.com) - Gallup’s latest workplace report reveals how engaged employees are worldwide and offers practical strategies for companies looking to boost morale and productivity.
Tech companies are cutting jobs and betting on AI. The payoff is far from guaranteed (The Guardian AI) - Tech companies are slashing jobs while pouring billions into AI, essentially gambling that automation will deliver profits that traditional human workforces couldn’t—but the results remain deeply uncertain.
The surprising truth about AI and jobs (The Spectator) - Lord Stockwood is already discussing universal basic income as a safety net for workers displaced by AI, signaling that even government officials expect significant job market disruption ahead.
AI drove 25% of job cuts in March (Fastcompany) - Companies blamed AI for a quarter of their layoffs in March, signaling that automation is now playing a major role in workforce reductions across industries.
Why tech CEOs suddenly love blaming AI for mass layoffs (BBC News) - Tech CEOs are increasingly using AI as justification for layoffs, claiming automation makes workers redundant while they simultaneously push for more AI investment funding.
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