For years, our newsroom has explored AI’s limitations and potential dangers, as well as its growing energy needs. And our reporters have looked closely at how generative tools are being used for tasks such as coding and running scientific experiments.
But how is AI actually being used in fields like health care, climate tech, education, and finance? How are small businesses using it? And what should you keep in mind if you use AI tools at work? These questions guided the creation of Making AI Work, a new AI mini-course newsletter.
Sign up for Making AI Work to see weekly case studies exploring tools and tips for AI implementation. The limited-run newsletter will deliver practical, industry-specific guidance on how generative AI is being used and deployed across sectors and what professionals need to know to apply it in their everyday work. The goal is to help working professionals more clearly see how AI is actually being used today, and what that looks like in practice—including new challenges it presents.
You can sign up at any time and you’ll receive seven editions, delivered once per week, until you complete the series.
Each newsletter begins with a case study, examining a specific use case of AI in a given industry. Then we’ll take a deeper look at the AI tool being used, with more context about how other companies or sectors are employing that same tool or system. Finally, we’ll end with action-oriented tips to help you apply the tool.
Here’s a closer look at what we’ll cover:
- Week 1: How AI is changing health care
Explore the future of medical note-taking by learning about the Microsoft Copilot tool used by doctors at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
- Week 2: How AI could power up the nuclear industry
Dig into an experiment between Google and the nuclear giant Westinghouse to see if AI can help build nuclear reactors more efficiently.
- Week 3: How to encourage smarter AI use in the classroom
Visit a private high school in Connecticut and meet a technology coordinator who will get you up to speed on MagicSchool, an AI-powered platform for educators.
- Week 4: How small businesses can leverage AI
Hear from an independent tutor on how he’s outsourcing basic administrative tasks to Notion AI.
- Week 5: How AI is helping financial firms make better investments
Learn more about the ways financial firms are using large language models like ChatGPT Enterprise to supercharge their research operations.
- Week 6: How to use AI yourself
We’ll share some insights from the staff of MIT Technology Review about how you might use AI tools powered by LLMs in your own life and work.
- Week 7: 5 ways people are getting AI right
The series ends with an on-demand virtual event featuring expert guests exploring what AI adoptions are working, and why.
If you’re not quite ready to jump into Making AI Work, then check out Intro to AI, MIT Technology Review’s first AI newsletter mini-course, which serves as a beginner’s guide to artificial intelligence. Readers will learn the basics of what AI is, how it’s used, what the current regulatory landscape looks like, and more. Sign up to receive Intro to AI for free.
Our hope is that Making AI Work will help you understand how AI can, well, work for you. Sign up for Making AI Work to learn how LLMs are being put to work across industries.

