The Students edition
This is a real edition from 8 September 2026, at the Practical level, in plain language.
This week: why fewer students are choosing IT right now, what that means for your chances, and which tools make smarter studying easier.
Over 20 percent fewer IT students: that's your chance
Now that AI makes programming easier, fewer people choose an IT degree. But the Netherlands wants more IT workers, not fewer.
The number of new IT students at Dutch universities has dropped by more than twenty percent, compared with 2022. That's according to figures from university association UNL. 2022 was also the year ChatGPT was launched. The likely reason: with good prompts, you can already program fairly well, so the degree seems less necessary. Experts say the opposite is true. The Netherlands needs more IT workers, partly to become less dependent on American tech companies like Microsoft and Google.
Choose IT, and you'll soon have fewer fellow students and probably a better chance of a job, because the Netherlands urgently needs more IT workers. If you use AI tools for your studies, be careful: made-up sources count as fraud, even if you didn't mean to. So always check that a source really exists and is accurate. And keep in mind that opinion pieces in newspapers are sometimes written by AI: handy to know if you use them as a source.
Made-up AI sources still count as fraud, even without intent
The Council of State confirms that sources which don't exist, or say something different from what you claim, count as fraud. That's true even if an AI tool invented them and you meant no harm. The exam board doesn't need to prove you did it on purpose. Read more →
ChatGPT now falls under the EU's strictest rules
The European Commission has designated ChatGPT, Reddit, and Roblox as a 'very large online service' under the Digital Services Act. That happens once a service reaches at least 45 million users a month in the EU. By January 2027 at the latest, these services must meet stricter requirements. Read more →
Gemini Notebook: new limits and an invisible watermark
Since 2 September, new usage limits apply to Gemini Notebook, formerly known as NotebookLM. If you want more usage, you need to upgrade with a Google AI subscription or a Workspace plan. Anything you create in it with Veo, Omni, or Nano Banana gets an invisible SynthID watermark. Read more →
Voice control in Gmail, Docs, and Keep, but not for free
Google is adding three voice features to Workspace: dictating in Docs, searching your inbox by speaking, and turning loose thoughts into organised notes. They become available this week for Google AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra subscribers in Gmail and Keep, and for Pro and Ultra subscribers in Docs. Read more →
One in five opinion pieces in the newspaper is written by AI
Research by AI Report looked at 252 opinion pieces in NRC, Trouw, de Volkskrant, Het Parool, and the FD, between 27 July and 27 August. At least 49 pieces turned out to be written entirely by AI. Editors-in-chief have mixed reactions to this 'opinion bot'. Read more →
Let AI quiz you, and track where you went wrong
Put your lecture material into an AI tool and ask for ten questions, without the answers. Answer them yourself first, and only then ask for corrections and explanations. Write down the questions you got wrong: that's your real study list. Read more →
OpenAI on ChatGPT and critical thinking in the classroom
In late August, OpenAI published an overview of what, according to the company, pupils and students gain from combining ChatGPT with training in critical thinking. Meanwhile, some American school districts are considering a pause on AI use for younger pupils. Read more →
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