1. One thing that helps
Textbooks have always had one big flaw: they’re written for everyone, which means they’re perfect for no one.
Google’s Learn Your Way flips that. Now, you can design your own way of learning! Choose your level and your interests and let generative AI reshape the same source material into formats that match how you learn best. These could include immersive text + quizzes, narrated slides, audio lessons, and mind maps.
Early results are promising. In Google’s study, Learn Your Way users scored 11 percentage points higher on retention tests than students using a standard digital reader. This is the direction edtech is moving - personalization at scale, grounded in the original content, and validated by outcomes.
2. One to be wary of
AI can now design proteins and DNA. We are getting closer to editing the code of life on demand.
That is exciting. It is also dangerous. With the right jailbreaks, a model can turn a vague intent into specific biological sequences and step-by-step guidance, which reduces the expertise and time normally required to do harm.
The message from experts is simple: set biosecurity rules now, not after the first incident. That means:
In this case, the old adage is true - prevention is better than cure.
3. One to amaze
Kidults, LEGO just gave the classic brick a nervous system.
LEGO’s biggest change in decades is the Smart Brick, a 2x4 that works with regular bricks but adds sensors and a chip. Pair it with Smart Tags and it can recognise what it is supposed to be in your build, like an engine, a siren, even a character cue, then generate sound and reactions as you play.
The clever bit is that it's not just playing prerecorded audio. It synthesises sound on the fly, so a jet can idle, roar, and ramp up as you “accelerate”, and a car can drift, crash, or rev depending on what you do.
This is toys moving from static objects to responsive systems. Same bricks, new layer of magic. How good is LEGO!