🤔 If you don't know AI, you can't graduate

Apple is quietly rolling back its most ambitious design update in years with iOS 26.2, users can now reduce the transparency of the Lock Screen clock, it’s a subtle but telling shift. Purdue University is making a bold bet on AI literacy: starting in 2026, every undergrad must demonstrate AI competency to graduate. This could redefine what a 21st-century education looks like and force other universities to follow or fall behind.

In today’s post:

• Apple Just Softened Liquid Glass Again

• Blockchain x AI Heads to Seoul This Weekend

• AI fluency is no longer optional

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UPGRADE

iOS 26.2 adds more transparency control by making things less transparent

Apple’s design bet with Liquid Glass is getting quietly walked back. With iOS 26.2, users can now control how transparent the Lock Screen clock appears, the latest tweak to a design overhaul that’s proving divisive.

Here’s everything you need to know:

• Liquid Glass debuted in iOS 26, adding refracted-glass effects across buttons, widgets, and notifications.

• While visually ambitious, many users found the UI hard to read especially on the Lock Screen.

• Apple first responded with a global “opacity” slider in iOS 26.1 to reduce the glassiness.

• Now, iOS 26.2 brings granular control to the clock itself, letting users reduce transparency for better clarity.

• These adjustments suggest Apple is responding to real usability feedback, not just aesthetics.

• The update also comes right after Alan Dye, Liquid Glass’s design lead, exited Apple for Meta.

• New interface lead Stephen Lemay may be steering Apple toward more functional design priorities.

Liquid Glass might’ve been designed with AI glasses in mind but real users aren’t wearing headsets yet. Apple’s backpedaling signals a bigger lesson: futuristic design only works when it respects everyday usability.

HACKATHON

Scoop AI’s Seoul Bowl brings autonomous agents to center stage

Neo and SpoonOS just announced the fifth stop in their global hackathon series and it's landing in Seoul on December 20–21. The Seoul Bowl will bring developers, researchers, and builders together for a 48-hour sprint in agentic AI.

Here’s everything you need to know:

• The event will explore how AI agents and blockchain infrastructure can power decentralized, autonomous applications.

• Hosted in Seocho-gu, Seoul, the weekend will feature hacking sessions, panels, and community collaboration.

• Builders will compete across three technical tracks: infrastructure & productivity AI, AI4Science, and autonomous finance.

• $8,000 in total prizes will be awarded, including $2,000 for the best overall project.

• Event partners include Google Cloud, Aegis Ventures, GoKiteAI, and local tech communities.

• The Seoul Bowl follows earlier hackathons in Moscow, Hanoi, London, and Silicon Valley.

• Scoop AI is more than a hackathon, it's a vision for a “sentient economy” shaped by adaptive, decentralized agents.

This isn’t just another dev sprint. Scoop AI is quietly sketching out what a truly autonomous internet might look like where agents build, negotiate, and execute without permission or oversight. And it’s all happening in public.

EDUCATION

Purdue Just Changed What It Means to Be College-Ready

Purdue University is making a bold move: starting in 2026, every undergrad will need to demonstrate AI competency to graduate. This isn’t about more credit hours, it’s about changing what a modern education includes.

Here’s everything you need to know:

• Purdue’s new AI requirement will apply to all undergraduate students, regardless of major.

• Instead of a generic course, each college will create discipline-specific AI projects and standards.

• The goal: students won’t just learn about AI, they’ll use it meaningfully within their fields.

• Current students can start accessing new AI tools and resources as early as this spring.

• Purdue’s approach isn’t static each department must consult industry partners annually to keep standards relevant.

• Other schools are following suit: Ohio State’s AI Fluency initiative signals a broader shift in higher ed.

• This is part of Purdue’s larger push with Google and Apple partnerships, and new AI degrees and research hubs.

It’s smart and overdue. AI isn’t just a tech skill; it’s becoming a basic layer of literacy across disciplines. What Purdue’s doing isn’t just adding a requirement. It’s redefining what it means to be educated in the 21st century.

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