In the past few years, AI has wreaked havoc on the education sector. It's quickly become a multi-billion dollar industry, hailed by some administrators as the future of learning while other faculty scramble to address the fallout, including the rampant cheating that AI chatbots enabled almost overnight. It has felt particularly threatening to the subject I teach--writing--where many students struggle, and the temptation to turn to AI is irresistible. But paradoxically, the AI invasion hasn't convinced me that learning to write well is about to become obsolete. I recognize in many of my students the impulse that led me to become a writer: the human need to express oneself and, in so doing, to relate to others.

I've worked in the entertainment industry for over 20 years, and have seen firsthand how technological advances in equipment, software, and AI can impact the creative process. Throughout my career, I've been behind the camera, in the edit bay, and in writers' rooms. I've seen how this industry works and how it's always changing, often because of technology. When I went to NYU for film school, I experienced firsthand how deeply tech is intertwined with the creative process. I learned to edit 16mm film on a Steenbeck, then later edited tape-to-tape on a VCR (might be aging myself with those references).

Starting on Monday, May 19, you can watch live as Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella kicks off the company's annual developers conference, Microsoft Build 2025. This year, Microsoft Build is being hosted in Seattle, and Nadella will join other Microsoft leaders for a series of livestreamed events. The opening keynote is scheduled to take place on May 19 from 12:05 to 2:00 p.m. EST. Nadella will be joined by Microsoft Chieft Technology Officer Kevin Scott for the opening session. According to the official description from Microsoft, "Satya Nadella and Microsoft leaders share how Microsoft is creating new opportunity across our platforms in this era of AI." You can register to participate in Microsoft Build virtually at the Microsoft website.

If you're on haircare TikTok, there's a good chance you've heard of head spas. Popular in Japan, these relaxing treatments not only involve massaging and cleaning your scalp, but can also involve a scalp analysis to provide personalised tips on caring for your hair. Now French haircare brand Kérastase has launched the K-SCAN, an AI-powered scalp and hair analysis tool helping professionals provide such insights during your regular hair appointment. Offered as a complimentary add-on to any service in participating Kérastase-affiliated salons, a K-SCAN scalp analysis simply requires a hairdresser to snap a photo of your scalp using the handheld device. Taken with a microscopic camera under white LED light, cross-polarised white light, and UV light, the picture is then analysed by Kérastase's AI algorithm with results immediately displayed on a tablet.

Memorial Day is just around the corner, and you know what that means: Sales galore. As usual, Amazon is ahead of the game with up to 55% off select items from Amazon devices, kitchen items, home goods, electronics, and more, so shoppers can start prepping for summer. The sale started on May 16 and runs through Monday, May 26. Of course, these deals might get even better as the holiday gets closer. Here are some of the best Amazon Memorial Day sales you can shop now.

The LYNX M20, built by DEEP Robotics, is a wheeled-legged robot designed for industrial and emergency environments. It's used for inspections in power substations, tunnels, factories, and disaster zones, navigating challenging terrains with its hybrid design.

What the Future is your futurism destination, brought to you by the CNET Group. It delivers expert insight and front-row seats to the most innovative, futuristic and cutting-edge technology. From humanoid robots to fantastical flying machines, if it makes sci-fi feel less like fiction, you're likely to find it on What the Future

"Significant upgrades to Siri--including the ones promised nearly a year ago--are unlikely to be discussed much and are still months away from shipping," said Gurman in an-depth report that detailed Apple leadership's reported failures to recognize the significance of generative AI for consumer tech products and subsequent issues in rolling out a smarter Siri driven by powerful LLMs and onscreen awareness. At Apple's WWDC 2025, which is less than a month away on June 9, the event will reportedly instead highlight "various non-AI software upgrades" like the reported interface design overhauls to make the operating systems for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac more in the style of the Vision Pro, said Gurman. Reports of Siri trouble have been brewing for a while now. Apple's promise of a more personalized and context-aware version of the voice assistant hasn't yet come to fruition, and instead we've seen minor updates like the ability to type to Siri and even examples of Siri getting worse. Apple even pulled a commercial with actor Bella Ramsey, featuring Siri being able answer who they had had lunch with by pulling up relevant calendar details, over accusations of false advertising.

According to the AI overlords, this is the year of agentic AI. You may have seen Google announce its "agentic era" with a web browsing research assistant and an AI bot that calls nail salons and mechanics for you. OpenAI leadership talked about agentic AI being a "big theme in 2025" and has already introduced a research preview of Operator, an agent that can perform tasks on your behalf, and Deep Research, which "conducts multi-step research on the internet for complex tasks." Microsoft just unveiled Microsoft Discover, an enterprise agentic AI tool for scientists. And your next smartphone could have agentic features that can send custom messages, create calendar events, or pull together information from across different apps.

When OpenAI unleashed ChatGPT on the world in November 2022, it lit the fuse that ignited the generative AI era. But Karen Hao, author of the new book, Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI, had already been covering OpenAI for years. The book comes out on May 20, and it reveals surprising new details about the company's culture of secrecy and religious devotion to the promise of AGI, or artificial general intelligence. Hao profiled the company for MIT Technology Review two years before ChatGPT launched, putting it on the map as a world-changing company. Now, she's giving readers an inside look at pivotal moments in the history of artificial intelligence, including the moment when OpenAI's board forced out CEO and cofounder Sam Altman. Empire of AI dispels any doubt that OpenAI's belief in ushering in AGI to benefit all of humanity had messianic undertones.