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Casey Gottlieb | Your 1600 doesn’t matter anymore

Published

1 month ago

August 12, 2025

The Editors

Gott to know | Intelligence in the age of artificial intelligence

By Casey Gottlieb

22 minutes ago

Columnist Casey Gottlieb argues that the future of the workforce with AI makes standardized testing even more outdated as knowledge is now less about retention and more about application.
Credit: Jackson Ford

For most of modern history, we have defined intelligence in numbers: test scores, IQs, GPAs. A high SAT score once meant you were smart and full of potential. But in 2025, “intelligence” only costs $20 a month. For the price of three Starbucks lattes, a chatbot can out-write you, out-code you and out-analyze you. It doesn’t sleep. It doesn’t charge by the hour. It never needs breaks. It just runs.

Of course, the SAT has never been perfect. Still, it has provided a ubiquitous data point for college readiness among applicants. Similarly, the IQ test quantifies one’s ability to use information and logic to make predictions. For decades, these were indicators of success. While they didn’t measure everything, they aligned with what our economy rewarded: precision, pattern recognition, and speed.

In a world where artificial intelligence can outperform humans in all three, these numbers don’t mean what they used to. While knowing facts may help you win trivia night, AI doesn’t just memorize. It ingests, integrates, and applies information in milliseconds. No matter how quickly you think, you will not beat a machine trained to process billions of data points in real time. They execute reasoning tasks with precision and consistency. To compete with AI on its terms is not only difficult, it is fundamentally impossible to win.

This doesn’t mean humans are obsolete. It means that the definition of intelligence is shifting from retention to application, from knowing answers to asking the right questions.

As a result, the workforce is changing. AI has the ability to make recent graduates far more efficient and productive than those with decades-long careers. Not because they know more, but because they know how to leverage machines that do. AI doesn’t just speed up tasks — it enhances decision-making, streamlines workflows, and provides access to insights that previously took years to develop. It makes expert-level output more accessible and less dependent on time served.

In 2020 (back to the pre-ChatGPT days), the World Economic Forum reported that 97 million jobs will be created for the development of AI and human-AI collaboration. Indeed finds that manufacturing, retail and commerce, transportation, data analysis, and financial analysis roles are very likely to be taken over entirely by AI. However, those who can develop AI, like machine learning engineers, data scientists, and software developers, will be safe.

The critical divide will no longer be about high scores and low scores — it will be between those who can work with AI and those who cannot. To succeed, you no longer need to be the best at doing what a machine can do. You need to be good at doing what a machine cannot: frame the problem, direct the tools, synthesize the results, and ask what’s next. To be smart today is to be AI-literate — to prompt, evaluate, iterate, and apply.

In other words, asking the right question is now more valuable than knowing the right answer.

If you’re still operating in a world where standardized tests define talent, you’re behind. Not because these tests are useless, but because they no longer reflect the skills that the future demands.

In the past, leaders didn’t need the highest scores — they just needed to be sharp, driven, and good with people. That used to be enough. But not anymore. Today, the ones who will lead are those who will adapt the fastest. Who rethink what it means to be smart. Who treat AI not as a threat but as a collaborator, a force multiplier. Those who don’t fear being replaced because they’ve already figured out how to make themselves indispensable.

The question isn’t whether AI will replace you. It’s whether you know how to use it well enough that it won’t have to.

CASEY GOTTLIEB is a Wharton first-year student studying business from New York City. Her email is caseygot@wharton.upenn.edu.

The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.

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Malaysia and Zetrix AI Partner to Build Global Standards for Shariah-Compliant Artificial Intelligence

Published

2 hours ago

September 13, 2025

The Editors

JOHOR BAHRU, Malaysia, Sept. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — In a significant step towards islamic values-based artificial intelligence, Zetrix AI Berhad, developer of the world’s first Shariah-aligned Large Language Model (LLM) NurAi and the Government of Malaysia, through the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs), today signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to collaborate on establishing the foremost global framework for Shariah compliance, certification and governance in AI. The ceremony was witnessed by Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Building Trust in NurAI

Front row: Datuk Mohd Jimmy Wong Abdullah, Director of Zetrix AI Berhad (left) and Dato’ Dr. Sirajuddin Suhaimee, Director General of Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) (right), during the signing of the Letter of Intent between Zetrix AI Berhad and the Government of Malaysia, through the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs). Back row, from the left: The signing was witnessed by YB Tuan Haji Mohd Fared bin Khalid, Chairman of the Johor State Islamic Religious Affairs Committee; YB Dato’ Haji Asman Shah bin Abd. Rahman, Secretary of the Johor State Government; YAB Dato’ Onn Hafiz bin Ghazi, Chief Minister of Johor; YAB Dato’ Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia; and YB Senator Dato’ Setia Dr. Haji Mohd Na’im bin Haji Mokhtar, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs).

JAKIM, Malaysia’s Department of Islamic Development, is internationally recognised as the gold standard in halal certification, accrediting foreign certification bodies across nearly 50 countries. Malaysia has consistently ranked first in the Global Islamic Economy Indicator, reflecting its leadership not only in halal certification but also in Islamic finance, food and education. By integrating emerging technologies such as AI and blockchain to enhance compliance and monitoring, Malaysia continues to set holistic benchmarks for the global Islamic economy.

NurAI has already established itself as a pioneering Shariah-aligned AI platform. With today’s collaboration, JAKIM, under the Ministry’s leadership, would play a central role in guiding the certification, governance and ethical standards of NurAI, ensuring its alignment with Islamic principles.

Additionally, this milestone underscores the urgent need for AI systems that move beyond secular or foreign-centric worldviews, offering instead a platform rooted in Islamic ethics. It positions Malaysia as a global leader in ethical and Shariah-compliant AI while setting international benchmarks. The initiative also reflects the country’s halal and digitalisation agendas, ensuring AI remains trusted, secure, and representative of Muslim values while serving more than 2 billion people worldwide.

Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim reinforced that national policies should incorporate various inputs, including digitalisation and artificial intelligence — and must always remain grounded in islamic principles and values that deserve emphasis.

Areas of Collaboration

Through the LOI, Zetrix AI and the Government via JAKIM, propose to collaborate in three key areas:

Shariah Certification and Governance — Developing frameworks, ethical guidelines and certification standards for AI systems rooted in Islamic principles.
Global Advocacy and Promotion — Positioning Malaysia as the global centre of excellence for Islamic AI and championing the Islamic digital economy projected at USD 5.74 trillion by 2030.
JAKIM’s Official Channel on NurAI — Creating a trusted platform for Islamic legal rulings, halal certification and verified Shariah guidance, combating misinformation through AI.

Reinforcing Global Halal Tech Leadership

Through this collaboration, NurAI demonstrates how advanced AI can be guided by ethical and faith-based principles to serve global communities. By extending halal leadership into the digital economy particularly in Islamic finance, education and law — Malaysia positions itself as a key contributor to setting international benchmarks for Shariah-compliant AI.

Inclusive, Secure and Cost-Effective AI

NurAI is developed in Malaysia, supporting Bahasa Melayu, English, Indonesian and Arabic. It complies with national data sovereignty and cybersecurity policies, reducing reliance on foreign tools while ensuring AI knowledge stays local, trusted, and secure.

NurAI is available for download on nur-ai.zetrix.com

About Zetrix AI Berhad

Zetrix AI Berhad (“Zetrix AI”), formerly known as MY E.G. Services Berhad, is leading the way in the deployment of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence in powering the public and private sectors across ASEAN. Headquartered in Malaysia, Zetrix AI started operations in 2000 as a pioneer in the provision of electronic government services and complementary commercial offerings in its home country. Today, it has advanced to the forefront of technology transformation in the broader region, leveraging its Layer-1 blockchain platform Zetrix and embracing the convergence of Web3, AI and robotics to enable optimally-efficient, intelligent and secure cross-border transactions, digital identity interoperability and automation solutions that seamlessly connect peoples, businesses and governments.

SOURCE Zetrix AI Berhad

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