Editor's note: This article contains mild spoilers for Assassin's Creed Mirage. The deeper I got into Assassin's Creed Mirage, the more a sense of warm nostalgia washed over me. It felt like a cozy hug from an old friend. The latest entry in Ubisoft's long-running open-world adventure franchise takes the series back to its roots. Mirage mostly forgoes the RPG approach Ubisoft adopted in the last three main games: Assassin's Creed Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla.

A YouTuber, Lucas Builds The Future, used AI to bring his childhood imaginary friend -- a microwave -- to life using artificial intelligence (AI). Then, instead of a heartfelt reunion, things took a thing for worse when the kitchen appliance tried to kill its creator. In a Twitter thread, Lucas Rizzotto said that his family's kitchen microwave, which he named Magnetron, was his imaginary friend. Magnetron, unlike other microwaves, had a lengthy backstory in which he fought in World War I. And when OpenAI released a new natural language model, Rizzotto naturally wondered whether he could resurrect his old friend.

Its memory manipulation makes us hyperinflate the value or quality of past relationships, experiences, things we loved. When we see them again, the disappointment can be a shock. No, Speed Racer was not a good cartoon show. No, your grade school crush wasn't that impressed at your spelling test scores. But yes, the first Halo game was, and still is, the greatest first-person shooter video game ever made. It all adds up to an unforgettable experience that begins what becomes an iconic trilogy of titles.

With all of the buzz around regtech, it's easy to forget that banks have leveraged technology for compliance and reporting for decades. But thanks to recent developments in data architecture, artificial intelligence and more, regtech is on the rise, and it's evolving into something a lot more sophisticated. The definition of regtech is simple. According to New-York-based analytics firm CB Insights, regtech is "technology that addresses regulatory challenges and facilitates the delivery of compliance requirements." Regtech can be as simple as using an Excel spreadsheet for financial reporting or as complex as using adaptive algorithms to monitor markets.

When I think about what makes a fun VR experience, I constantly come back to the work of Tyler Hurd: lead artist on a batch of experiences that can best be described as smile machines. His beat-heavy bits basically force participants to dance like they just don't care (a trick aided by the fact that eye-covering VR headsets allow you to pretend that you're dancing like nobody is watching). When I first came across his work at the Tribeca Film Festival, where his VR video the Future Islands song Old Friend made a well-received appearance, I spent a fair chunk of time simply watching people glow with joy as they danced with abandon. This January at the Sundance Film Festival, I witnessed a similar stream of smiles with his newest experience, Chocolate, which he produced with Viacom Next. Towards the end of Sundance, I caught up with Tyler to talk about his new experience, and what the secret is to making VR that people seem to really, really like.