A Columbia University student was expelled for developing an AI-driven tool to help applicants to software coding jobs cheat on the tests employers require them to take. You can call such a tool deplorable or agree with the student that it’s a legit resource. It’s hard to argue with the $5 million in seed funding the student and his partner have raised. Also in this long-form monthly episode for April 2025:

• How communicators can use each of the seven categories of AI agents that are on their way.


• LinkedIn and Bluesky have updated their verification programs in ways that will matter to communicators.


• Onboarding new talent is an everyday business activity that is in serious need of improvement.


• A new report finds significant gaps between generations in the PR industry when it comes to the major factors impacting communication.


• Anthropic — the company behind the Claude LLs — warns that fully AI employees are only a year away.


• In his Tech Report, Dan York explains how Bluesky experienced an outage even though they’re supposed to operate under a distributed model.

Links from this episode

• A Deep Dive Into the Different Types of AI Agents and When to Use Them


• Ethan Mollick’s LinkedIn post on ChatGPT o3’s agentic capabilities


• LinkedIn post on rumored OpenAI-Shopify integration


• I got kicked out of Columbia for building Interview Coder, AI to cheat on coding interviews


• Cluely


• Columbia student suspended over interview cheating tool raises $5.3M to ‘cheat on everything’


• From the singularity community on Reddit: “Invisible AI to Cheat On Everything” (this is a real product)


• I used the ‘cheat on everything’ AI tool and it didn’t help me cheat on anything


• LinkedIn will let your verified identity show up on other platforms


• Bluesky’s Blue Check Is Finally Here


• Burning questions (and some answers) about Bluesky’s new verification system


• Bluesky Adds Blue Check System With a Twist


• A New Form of Verification on Bluesky – Bluesky


• Bluesky’s newly unveiled verification system is a unique and interesting approach


• How To Onboard Digital Marketing Talent According To Agency Leaders


• Center for Public Relations’ Global Communication Report uncovers key industry shifts and generational divides


• Exclusive: Anthropic warns fully AI employees are a year away


• AI: Anthropic’s CEO Says All Code Will Be AI-Generated in a Year


• Hacker News on Anthropic Announcement


• AI as Normal Technology

Links from Dan York’s Tech Report

• Wait, how did a decentralized service like Bluesky go down?


• Manton Reece – Bluesky downtime


• New Features for the Threads Web Experience


• Facebook cracks down on spammy content by cutting reach and monetization


• WordPress 6.8 “Cecil”

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The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, May 26.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat most Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET. To obtain the credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request them in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.

Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. You can catch up with both co-hosts on Neville’s blog and Shel’s blog.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this podcast are Shel’s and Neville’s and do not reflect the views of their employers and/or clients.

Raw Transcript

Neville Hobson: Greetings everyone, and welcome to for immediate release episode