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A number of iPhone 17 and iPhone Air users are reporting a frustrating bug where their phones refuse to turn back on after the battery fully drains. Even after being plugged back in to charge.

The issue has bubbled up across Reddit and other online forums over the past several months, with users describing a nearly identical experience. Phone dies. Gets plugged in. Nothing happens. No charging indicator. No Apple logo. Just a black screen that refuses to cooperate.

9to5Mac's Benjamin Mayo reported experiencing the problem firsthand with his iPhone Air, writing that after his phone died at 11 p.m. and he plugged it back in within seconds, minutes passed with no response, the phone wouldn't turn on, wouldn't show up in Finder when connected to a Mac, and didn't respond to force restarts or multiple USB-C cables.

SEE ALSO: I tested iPhone 17 Pro Max vs Galaxy S26 Ultra cameras

The bug appears to affect the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air lines, though it isn't universal. Not every user experiences it, and it doesn't necessarily happen every time a phone's battery hits zero. For some users, it's happened only once; for others, repeatedly.

The leading workaround, crowdsourced from Reddit threads and confirmed by multiple users, including Mayo, is to skip the cable entirely and reach for a MagSafe or wireless charger instead. Leave it on the pad for around 10 to 15 minutes, and the phone should eventually boot back up.

From there, wired charging works normally again. Apple Store technicians, per user reports, have been defaulting to the same fix. One top commenter on Mayo's piece offered a technical explanation: the battery firmware requires a minimum voltage threshold before it can support a reboot, and a fully drained battery may need a few minutes of charge to clear that bar — with wireless charging being more reliable at delivering it in this state.

For users without a wireless charger on hand, some users have reported success with higher-wattage chargers — a 61W MacBook adapter or a 65W third-party USB-C brick — after standard 5W phone chargers failed. Others say they had to wait hours before a wired charger eventually kicked in on its own.

The core frustration, beyond the inconvenience, is the uncertainty. As Mayo put it, what happens if your phone dies while you're out and need navigation? Not everyone carries a MagSafe puck in their pocket.

For now, the move is simple: if your iPhone 17 or Air won't turn back on after dying, put it on a wireless charger and give it at least 15 minutes before you panic.

Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.

AI data centers across the pond could emit nearly one million more tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than previously estimated, according to newly inflated numbers released by the UK's governing body.

SEE ALSO: An OpenAI-linked news outlet appears to be entirely AI-generated

First spotted by Politico, UK officials quietly revised an initial range of estimates included in the country's "Compute Roadmap," a policy document outlining the UK's plan to scale its AI infrastructure and build a "world-class compute ecosystem." Previous versions of the document suggested the amount of energy used under current AI data center plans would result in a peak of 0.142 million metric tons (or 142,000 metric tons) of carbon emissions between 2025-2035.

But 2025's numbers, and the country's AI goals, appear to have altered that projection, with the document now listing the top value at 123 million metric tons. That's 100 times more than before, the Guardian reported, and is equivalent to the emissions typically generated by 2.7 million people.

Chi Onwurah, parliament member and chair of the body's science, innovation and technology committee, told Politico that the new numbers were concerning, demanding more transparency from UK leaders about the environmental impact of its AI plans. Multiple parliamentary groups are investigating AI's energy demands and fossil fuel consumption, as the country has pledged to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

Increased energy use by AI data centers in the U.S. have also led to a rise in global emissions, according to recent environmental reports. Domestically, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions went up for the first time in two years following a steady decline.

Concerns over the environmental impact of mass generative AI adoption aren't slowing down. Coalitions of environmental advocacy groups have called for federal moratoriums on data center builds. Communities nationwide have been fighting against local billion-dollar data center projects, even proposing state-level bans. Meanwhile, Big Tech's leaders and major AI investors have attempted to assuage climate concerns with promises to reduce and recycle water, use natural gas as an energy source, and offset energy costs.

Save $149.01: Amazon has the M5 Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) nearly down to its lowest price ever as of April 27. At $949.99, this 14% discount puts it just 99 cents away from the record low of $949, and a good deal cheaper than the $1,099 list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M5, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $949.99 at Amazon
$1,099 Save $149.01   Get Deal

The MacBook Neo is an incredibly affordable MacBook, but its not necessarily the absolute best value for everyone, especially when a good deal strikes elsewhere.

Mashable's laptop expert Haley Henschel determined the M5 MacBook Air to be a better value, and as of April 27, it's getting the deal treatment at Amazon. Specifically, you can grab the 13-inch M5 MacBook Air with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD for $949.99, putting it nearly back down to its record low price of $949 even. All told, that's $149.01 cheaper than its list price. And the deal is available in all four colorways.

SEE ALSO: We've tested over 30 laptops in the past year. Here are the 12 best for 2026.

So what makes the M5 Air such a great value? For starters, Apple bumped the starting storage to 512GB over the 256GB of the M4 Air. Yes, they also bumped up the price of the M5 Air by $100, but its still $100 cheaper than the M4 model with the same amount of storage, actually making the newer model a better value. While Mashable tested the 15-inch version, but Henschel still recommends the 13-inch model as a slightly cheaper, more portable option, with the main trade off being two less speakers and GPU cores.

For most everyday tasks, the M5 chip is more than capable to power you through. Only folks who are doing video editing on the daily might appreciate the fans of the Pro over the fanless Air. The Air also comes equipped with a nice 12MP webcam, and true to its name, plenty of portability. The 60Hz refresh rate is its major con, but if that doesn't bother you too much, this an excellent option for a new MacBook — and is much more futureproof than the cheaper Neo.

The widening movement is pulling in people from all walks of life, united by a worry that Big Tech will cash in while average Americans bear the costs.

The Upside Down has infiltrated McDonald's.

To celebrate the release of the animated series Stranger Things: Tales from '85, Netflix teamed up with McDonald's to create a themed Happy Meal. Here's what's in it, and when you can get it.

SEE ALSO: 'Stranger Things: Tales From '85' review: This baffling prequel won't cure the Season 5 hatred What's in the Stranger Things Happy Meal?

The Stranger Things: Tales from '85 Happy Meal includes several pieces of Stranger Things swag. Each meal comes with a custom Happy Meal box covered in artwork of the mutating Upside Down vines that wreak havoc in the series. Inside, fans will find a Stranger Things activity book and one of 12 collectible character toys. Promotional art for the collaboration reveals six of the toys: Stranger Things mainstays Lucas, Mike, Eleven, Dustin, Max, and Will. The other six options haven't been released yet, although they could range from Tales from '85 newcomer Nikki Baxter to figurines of the monsters the squad faces.

Credit: Netflix

The Happy Meal also comes with a QR code that unlocks a game that brings fans into the fight to save the town of Hawkins, Indiana. Through this digital experience, they can help protect the town and McDonald's from a new horde of Upside Down monsters.

When can you get the Stranger Things Happy Meal?

The Stranger Things: Tales from '85 Happy Meal is rolling out globally starting Apr. 28 in Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Panama, Peru, and Slovenia.

The Happy Meal hits the United States on May 5, and is available for a limited time while supplies last. For a full list of rollout dates and participating countries, visit the Netflix website.

Stranger Things: Tales From '85 is now streaming on Netflix.

SAVE 44%: As of April 27, you can get the 27-inch LG Ultragear OLED gaming monitor (27GS93QE) for $499.99 at Amazon, down from $899.99. That's a 44% discount, or $400 in savings.

27-inch LG Ultragear OLED gaming monitor (27GS93QE) $499.99 at Amazon
$899.99 Save $400   Get Deal at Amazon Get Deal at Best Buy

There's a pretty noticeable difference between playing a fast-paced game like Valorant or Apex Legends on a standard 60Hz screen versus a 240Hz display. If your current monitor is lagging behind your reflexes, it's definitely time for an upgrade — especially since one of LG's top-tier OLED displays just hit a record-low price.

SEE ALSO: The best gaming laptops of 2026: Check out our top picks

As of April 27, you can get the 27-inch LG Ultragear OLED gaming monitor (27GS93QE) for $499.99 at Amazon, down from $899.99. That's a 44% discount, or $400 in savings. It's also the lowest price we've seen this model go for.

This monitor features a 240Hz refresh rate and a nearly instantaneous 0.03ms response time. Plus, it's officially validated for NVIDIA G-Sync and equipped with AMD FreeSync Premium Pro to keep the action smooth and tear-free.

You'll also get vibrant, rich colors with up to 98.5 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color spectrum, deep blacks thanks to the VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 certification, and an anti-glare screen.

SAVE $700: The 75-inch Hisense U7 ULED 4K TV is on sale at Amazon for $1,299.99, down from the list price of $1,999.99. That's a 35% discount and the lowest price we've ever spotted at Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: Hisense 75-inch Hisense U7 ULED 4K TV (75USSG, 2026 model) $1,299.99 at Amazon
$1,999.99 Save $700   Get Deal

Few appliances in our homes get as much use as the TV. They're also among the top contenders for bringing us the most joy. The TV is a clear winner over the microwave, for example. Because of its importance, you deserve something grand with a high-quality display. If your current TV is not up to par, check out this deal.

As of April 27, 75-inch Hisense U7 ULED 4K TV is on sale at Amazon for $1,299.99, down from the list price of $1,999.99. That's a 35% discount and the lowest price we've ever spotted at Amazon.

The 2026 model of the Hisense U7 Mini-LED UHD does not mess around with stats. For one, it comes with a 165Hz native refresh rate which means it's up for gaming. Consider what gaming on a 75-inch TV will do for morale over summer break. In addition, it has an anti-reflection and glare-free display which means it'll do better when viewing during bright summer afternoons.

SEE ALSO: Stop squinting and snag this 34-inch Alienware curved gaming monitor while it's under $300

Hisense announced this new, upgraded TV at CES in January. The brand went with a unibody slim design for a modern look. The display gets up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness, and Hisense says this model offers 30% more color compared to an ordinary LED TV. It achieves this thanks to Hi-QLED color.

The Hisense 75-inch 75USSG model comes with Google TV built in so you won't need a separate streaming dongle. Instead, you'll have Google TV already equipped to keep your favorite streaming apps neatly in order.

Before this sale price vanishes, upgrade to the 75-inch Hisense U7 ULED 4K TV while it's $700 off at Amazon. It's the latest model and 75 inches should be excellent for a larger living room or ultimate gaming setup.

The House of the Dragon Season 3 teaser may be full of fire, but watching it still gave me chills.

I can't pinpoint what, exactly, triggered the goosebumps. Was it the shots of the long-teased Battle of the Gullet? The return of House Stark, who made a brief cameo in the Season 2 premiere? Or maybe it was Vhagar landing in Harrenhal? (Fire and Blood readers, if you know, you know.)

SEE ALSO: 'House of the Dragon' Season 3 teaser gives fiery glimpse of the Battle of the Gullet

Either way, the teaser sets a fiery stage for what's to come in Season 3. Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) continues her fight for the Iron Throne, with the help of allies like her uncle-husband Daemon (Matt Smith) and Sea Snake Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint). Meanwhile, her half-brother and Prince Regent Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) holds King's Landing. His brother, King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), has fled the Red Keep following Aemond's murder attempt, and he now seeks revenge.

Throughout all this Targaryen in-fighting, Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) hopes to appeal to Rhaenyra following her offer of a truce in the Season 2 finale. Will these old friends turned foes find a way to put a stop to the war for good? Or will all of Westeros burn?

Based on the teaser, which is brimming with flames, draconic destruction, and every Targaryen and their mother letting out anguished cries, the latter option seems more likely at this point. For a smidgen of comfort amidst this civil war, might I suggest whistling along to the Knight of the Seven Kingdoms soundtrack? It's as close to Westerosi comfort as we'll get for the next few months.

House of the Dragon premieres June 21 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.

After once backing liberal causes, the Google co-founder has praised President Trump, donated to Republicans and spent $57 million to try to block a California billionaire tax.

Samsung's newest foldable is feeling more and more real as time goes on.

No, not the Galaxy Z TriFold, which launched and was then discontinued so fast that it feels like it never happened at all. I'm talking about the new "Wide" foldable that's rumored to launch this summer alongside the follow-ups to last year's Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7 phones.

Leaker Sonny Dickson took to X (via 9to5google) to post some alleged dummy models of Samsung's foldable lineup for this summer, which includes both the Fold 8 and Flip 8, as well as the new Wide phone.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. SEE ALSO: Samsung is selling refurbished Galaxy Z Fold 7 phones for more than new ones

In the photos, you can clearly see a device with a significantly different form factor from the other two currently existing phones. The Fold 8 and Flip 8 models look pretty similar to last year, but the Wide one is more squat and, well, wide when unfolded, making it almost reminiscent of Google's first Pixel Fold. Its inner display is said to have a 4:3 aspect ratio, making it distinct from other available foldables right now.

I say "right now" because many people expect the Samsung Wide model to compete with the heavily rumored iPhone Fold, said to launch later this year. Apple's long-gestating foldable is thought to be shorter and wider than something like a Z Fold 7, so it's possible and perhaps even likely that Samsung wants to pre-empt that device with one of its own. A recent leak suggested Samsung's next batch of foldables will be announced in July, so we don't have to wait long to find out, at any rate.

SAVE $35: The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition (32GB) is on sale for $164.99 at Amazon, down from the standard price of $199.99. That's an 18% discount and it comes with three months of free access to Kindle Unlimited.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition (32GB) $164.99 at Amazon
$199.99 Save $35   Get Deal

We're in a mellow time in terms of sales. The next major event will happen over Memorial Day weekend and the next big Amazon sale is Prime Day in either June or July. It's not often we see discount on Amazon's own devices outside of major sale times, but we're all in for a little treat today.

As of April 27, the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition (32GB) is on sale for $164.99 at Amazon, marked down from the list price of $199.99. That's an 18% discount that shaves $35 off the normal price.

Over the years, Amazon has expanded its lineup of Kindle e-readers, but the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition remains Mashable's favorite for those who read often. It comes with a handful of upgrades that frequent readers will find well worth the added price.

For starters, it's Amazon's fastest Paperwhite and it comes with an auto-adjusting front light. It also comes with 32GB of storage which is double what the largest standard Kindle Paperwhite offers. Mashable Shopping Reporter Samantha Mangino's in-depth review of the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition mentions its wireless charging is also a big step up, as is the excellent battery life.

SEE ALSO: The Kindle Paperwhite has dropped to its best price in 2026 — act fast to save $25

"With a 7-inch screen, the SE got a slight size increase, while the resolution of 300 ppi and maximum brightness of 94 nits remain the same between generations," explained Mangino. "That being said, the display on this generation looks higher contrast, making it sharper and easier to read. Plus, it remains waterproof, perfect for taking along to the bathtub, beach, or pool."

The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is also an ad-free experience and as a bonus, Amazon is tossing in three months of access to Kindle Unlimited for free. The service gives readers access to over five million e-books which ordinarily comes with a price of $11.99 per month.

With summer vacation coming up quickly, make sure you have an e-reader that'll help you get through that reading list. Snag the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition (32GB) while it's on sale at a rare discount that'll save you $35. Happy reading!

SAVE 17%: As of April 27, you can get the 34-inch Alienware 34 curved gaming monitor for $289.99 at Amazon, down from $349.99. That's a 17% discount or $60 savings.

34-inch Alienware 34 curved gaming monitor $289.99 at Amazon
$349.99 Save $60   Get Deal at Amazon

If you're upgrading your PC gaming setup, it pays to do a little research. To get the most out of visually rich games like Cyberpunk 2077 or Elden Ring, you'll want a monitor that makes you feel immersed (i.e., a curved ultrawide screen), has a fast refresh rate so nothing blurs, and doesn't cost a total fortune.

SEE ALSO: The best gaming laptops of 2026: Check out our top picks

Right now, you can get all of those features at Amazon for under $300. As of April 27, the Alienware 34-inch curved gaming monitor is on sale for $289.99, down from $349.99. That's a 17% discount or $60 savings. It's also just $20 more than its all-time low price.

This monitor has a 34-inch ultrawide display with a 1500R curve, which basically wraps the game around you so you don't miss any details. It also features a 180Hz refresh rate and a 1ms response time. It even comes with a matte screen to reduce glare and hardware-based low blue light tech to save your eyes during those longer marathon sessions.

Oakland, Calif., where Elon Musk’s trial against OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, starts on Monday, is not exactly known as a hub of the tech industry.

The impact of the ruling was not immediately clear, but it could send a chilling signal to Chinese tech founders seeking to team up with foreign companies.

Not long ago, creating a solid presentation, a clean infographic, or a sharp data visualization meant you either knew your way around design software or you paid someone who did. That has changed, though. There's now a slew of AI-powered tools that let pretty much anyone put together professional-looking visuals and interactive graphics in minutes. 

Obviously, these tools are still rolling out, but there's a range of options out there you can play with right now. Here's a guide to some of the best visual AI tools.

Why would you want to use visual AI tools?

The goal of visual AI tools is largely to help you with the technical side of things, so you can focus on the vision for how they should look — and describe that vision in natural language.

In terms of what people actually use them for, a few areas stand out. Turning raw data or statistics into infographics is a big one — instead of manually placing numbers, icons, and text blocks yourself, you feed a tool your data and get back something structured and visual. Flowcharts and process diagrams are another great way to use these tools, particularly when you're mapping out a complicated workflow and really don't want to spend an hour dragging connector lines around.

The biggest time-saver might be building full presentations from raw text. You can take a rough outline or a messy block of notes and end up with a multi-slide deck in only a few minutes. Beyond that, these tools handle tasks such as creating custom background graphics, generating data visualizations and charts, and even creating video content for courses. Even something straightforward, like adding visual elements to documents to improve engagement and accessibility, gets a lot faster when AI is making layout and styling decisions.

None of this means the tools nail everything, but when it comes to speed and ease of use, they can be pretty helpful.

Design and presentation platforms

When you need to build presentations, diagrams, or infographics without staring at a blank canvas, there are a handful of consumer-friendly platforms with AI features that handle most of the heavy lifting. You'll also find AI tools in familiar software suites. If you're working in Word or PowerPoint, take advantage of Microsoft Copilot. If you prefer the Google Workspace suite, Gemini can quickly generate slides, charts, graphs, and more.

Gemini can analyze and visualize data for you. Credit: Google Use Gemini to turn Google Sheets data into charts and graphs. Credit: Google

Canva is another widely used tool in this space. It used to be a more manual visual builder, but over the past few years, it has developed its Magic Studio suite, which can generate full presentations from a single text prompt. All you have to do is describe what your presentation is about, and Canva puts together a structured deck that you can then tweak to your liking. There's also Magic Write, which taps into a large language model to expand, refine, and summarize written content. For people who've never opened design software in their lives, the fact that Canva handles both the visual layout and the writing makes it one of the most complete options out there.

FigJam AI, which lives within the Figma ecosystem, offers a slightly different angle. It's especially good at automated diagram generation. You give it text inputs, and it converts them into flowcharts, mind maps, organizational diagrams, and so on. FigJam can automatically reorganize and categorize content, too — you can just dump a pile of unstructured ideas into it, and it'll sort them into logical groupings with visual structure. That's useful when you're trying to make sense of complex information before turning it into a formal presentation.

Venngage is more specialized, zeroing in on infographics and visual content designed specifically for educational materials. If you're a teacher looking to convert lesson plans or data sets into visually engaging handouts, Venngage was built with exactly that workflow in mind.

Custom image and graphics generation

By now, most major AI services have image generation baked in somewhere. Anthropic is one of the few exceptions, but the AI company just rolled out a new design tool specifically to help make charts, graphs, and documents. So, no matter which AI chatbot you prefer, it can probably help you with your next presentation.

If you prefer working in ChatGPT, the popular AI chatbot excels at image generation and data visualization. You can even create custom, interactive visualizations that demonstrate a particular scientific principle or data set.

There are also a number of AI image generator models that are used in professional tools. These include the likes of Midjourney, which launched in 2022 and quickly built a reputation for producing highly detailed, aesthetically impressive images from text prompts. Adobe Firefly is Adobe's consumer-facing take on generative visuals, and its big advantage is tight integration with Adobe's broader creative suite. Stable Diffusion takes the open-source route, which appeals to more technical users who want deeper control over how generation works or who'd prefer not to depend on a subscription service.

Practically speaking, these tools all let you do similar things. The quality gap between AI-generated images and traditional stock photography has closed a lot, though it hasn't vanished completely — AI images still occasionally produce weird artifacts or inconsistencies that a trained eye will spot.

SEE ALSO: ChatGPT can now generate visuals for math and science lessons Video and animation tools

Video production has always been one of the most time-consuming and expensive forms of content creation. AI is starting to shift that, especially for educational and training content.

Synthesia is the standout consumer-facing tool here. It generates realistic, animated videos and voiceovers entirely from text. You write a script, pick an AI-generated presenter (or build a custom one), and the platform produces a video that looks surprisingly close to a traditional talking-head setup. What's also nice is how easy it makes updating content; if you need to change a line in your script or update a statistic, you just regenerate the video instead of reshooting the whole thing.

This is particularly valuable for creating course materials and educational content when you don't have the luxury of traditional production timelines. Think about an online course creator who needs 30 lesson videos, or a company rolling out training materials across multiple languages. That said, while the tech has gotten dramatically better, AI-generated presenters still often land in uncanny valley territory. The movements and expressions can feel off, which may affect how viewers receive the content. For a lot of use cases, the speed and cost trade-off is worth it, but it's not a perfect stand-in for a real person on camera in every situation.

Don't forget to check your work

Before you go all-in on AI-generated visuals, there are a few practical realities worth considering. Quality and accuracy concerns are probably at the top of the list. AI-generated images can contain errors, inconsistencies, or visual representations that are misleading. You will need to verify that charts, graphs, and infographics accurately represent the information they're supposed to convey. On top of that, generated designs can come across as generic or cookie-cutter if you don't put time into customizing the output.

There's also a learning curve that's easy to underestimate. These tools get marketed as effortless, but using them well still requires knowing how to write good prompts and having at least a basic understanding of design principles. Of course, the cost of these tools also matters. Plenty of platforms have free tiers, but those tend to come with limitations. Getting to the premium features usually means a subscription or usage-based pricing, and those costs stack up fast if you're bouncing between multiple tools across different categories. Educational or enterprise discounts sometimes exist, but they're not always easy to find.

And finally, you will want to disclose that you used AI. There's a growing expectation around being upfront when visuals are AI-generated. Using fully AI-produced graphics in educational or professional settings without acknowledging it raises ethical questions about transparency. As norms and rules in this space continue to take shape, leaning toward disclosure is generally both the safer and more responsible call.

So you've been accused of using artificial intelligence to cheat at school — and you're innocent. 

You must now somehow prove, despite your instructor's suspicions and the alleged evidence, that you completed the assignment or exam on your own. Yet without convincing proof, such as the kind provided by a computer forensic analyst, it can be nearly impossible to acquit yourself. 

SEE ALSO: What's your college's AI policy? Find out here.

"It's a very difficult situation to be in to be an innocent student who's been accused of an academic integrity violation that you didn't commit," says Dr. Julie Schell, assistant vice provost of academic technology at the University of Texas at Austin. "I think students are in a real bind when that happens to them."

Mashable asked Schell and other experts how innocent students can navigate these charges. They provided the below tips and strategies: 

1. Be sure you didn't actually cheat. 

Schell says students should generally be diligent about doing the cognitive work assigned to them rather than outsourcing it to AI. That includes blatant examples like feeding a set of problems into a chatbot and presenting the answers as your own. 

Still, students don't always perceive their actions as cheating, says Dr. Sara Brownell, President's Professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University.

Brownell, a biology education researcher, surveyed her own large lecture class in spring 2025 and found, to her surprise, that all types of cheating had become rampant. Students, who could respond anonymously, not only used AI to complete their work, they also shared answers to homework questions, and used their phones as a remote clicker to make it appear they were in class answering questions when they were elsewhere. 

SEE ALSO: College professors don't know how to catch students cheating with AI

That's when Brownell realized cheating had become far too easy and that students needed abundantly clear instruction on what constituted an academic integrity violation, particularly regarding AI use. She now regularly talks to students about cheating and urges them to review each instructor's syllabus for their AI policy, in addition to closely reading their institution's academic integrity, student conduct, and AI use policies. 

If you have unintentionally violated one or more of these policies, you may have cheated. 

2 .Think carefully about how to respond to your instructor. 

Schell understands why an innocent student would feel angry, disappointed, and defensive. Yet she strongly urges students to respond to the instructor who accused them of AI cheating by appealing to the ideal of higher education.

She believes that many faculty members would hear out a student who speaks passionately about why learning and mastering the material is important to them. 

Students can also ask to demonstrate to the instructor that they understand the concepts being taught and tested, Schell says. 

"If students come at it very defensive, it's likely going to be less of a functional discussion." - Dr. Sara Brownell, Arizona State University.

Brownell agrees that a student's engagement style matters, even if that feels unfair. 

"If students come at it very defensive, it's likely going to be less of a functional discussion," she says. 

Instead, she recommends assuming the best and calmly making the case in your defense. (Brownell thinks instructors should also assume the best of the student.)

3. Ask for help with AI cheating accusations 

Andrew T. Miltenberg, the senior litigation partner at the law firm Nesenoff & Miltenberg, regularly represents university students accused of cheating with AI.

In his experience, students don't always grasp the enormity and consequences of the accusations. They may also be embarrassed to discuss the situation with friends, family, and supportive faculty. Nevertheless, Milternberg is adamant that students should ask for help. 

"The minute you get notice that there has been an allegation of academic integrity violation, don't assume you can deal with it yourself," Miltenberg says. "At best, it's going to be bad, and at worst, it's going to be a serious change in the trajectory of your career."

Cheating accusations may result in suspensions or transcript marks, which can raise red flags for future employers or graduate admissions officers, Miltenberg says. He has represented students afraid they won't be able to apply to law or medical school or get a job in finance. 

While a lawyer can't present your case before the committee that typically reviews academic integrity violations, Miltenberg says they can help develop arguments in a student's defense, prepare them for questioning, and evaluate whether the school has followed its own procedures.

Students, regardless of whether they have a lawyer, have other important options. 

Schell recommends contacting a student government representative about how academic integrity violations are handled, what rights students have in the process, and how to advocate for those rights to the school's administration. 

In some cases, the school may appoint a faculty advisor to help the accused student navigate the proceedings, but the advisor doesn't advocate on the student's behalf. 

SEE ALSO: Kids aren't learning to spell anymore 4. Learn about how academic integrity cases are handled. 

Academic integrity violations are typically heard by a student and faculty committee that reviews the allegations and evidence. Miltenberg says these hearings often move on a faster timeline than students may expect. 

Before a hearing, the student may be summoned to meet with the instructor or the dean to discuss the accusations. 

Miltenberg has represented students who attended such meetings and felt pressured to admit to cheating in exchange for a lesser penalty. He recommends not accepting responsibility when you're innocent. 

If possible, a student should ask for information about the evidence supporting the accusation and what proof they can submit in their defense. 

Miltenberg says students don't always get clear answers to these questions. That information may be provided later in an academic integrity violation hearing. 

He also notes that students sometimes produce evidence of their original work, such as Google Docs editing history, that often doesn't persuade the instructor or committee. 

In some of his cases, Miltenberg has relied on forensic computer analysts who can identify a student's keystrokes and metadata to prove they didn't just copy and paste text into a Google Doc. Still, these experts are expensive and not always available promptly. 

Schell remains optimistic that innocent students can prevail against cheating accusations, but she's aware that students are feeling increasingly scared about being erroneously flagged as cheaters. Some, she says, are even purposely adding mistakes to their writing to avoid false accusations.  

"I just think when we're in an environment like that, and we're creating a culture where students feel like they have to do that," she says, "we're really losing sight of why we're here."

Today's Connections: Sports Edition will require some knowledge of popular U.S. sports and pop culture.

As we've shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections: Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. The sports Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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Each puzzle features 16 words, and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes before the game ends.

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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. Here's a hint for today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Get out of here

• Green: Hollywood MVPs

• Blue: Draft day trivia

• Purple: No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Types of Outs in Baseball

• Green: Sports Films Nominated for Best Picture

• Blue: Running Backs Drafted in Top 10

• Purple: Mentioned in "We Didn't Start the Fire"

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections: Sports Edition #581 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Types of Outs in Baseball — FLY, FORCE, STRIKE, TAG

• Sports Films Nominated for Best Picture — MARTY SUPREME, MONEYBALL, ROCKY, SEABISCUIT

• Running Backs Drafted in Top 10 — BUSH, JEANTY, LOVE, SPILLER

• Mentioned in "We Didn't Start the Fire" — CALIFORNIA BASEBALL, DIMAGGIO, MARCIANO, SUGAR RAY

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.

As colleges and high schools try to figure out how to integrate AI into the classroom responsibly, students aren’t waiting for permission. Young people often lead the way in adopting new technology, and students may actually know more about AI than their teachers. And for these young people, AI is just a few button presses away at all times. 

As the technology proliferates more in day-to-day life, many higher learning institutions have taken it upon themselves to include AI in the learning process to prepare students to use it correctly once they graduate. 

There isn’t a standard for how AI should be used in colleges, at least not yet, and with approximately 4,000 degree-granting higher learning institutions in the U.S. alone, colleges are tackling AI in some interesting ways. 

Middle and high school is where it starts for most kids

AI education starts in middle and high school these days. There are more than 14,000 middle schools and 23,000 high schools in the United States, and the U.S. lacks a cohesive, nationwide approach to AI eduction like you'd find in China.

Generally speaking, AI policy starts at the state level, where governments pass laws to require schools to come up with some sort of AI policy. As an example, Ohio mandated that the state’s Department of Education come up with AI rules no later than Dec. 31, 2025. 

SEE ALSO: What is Alpha, the AI-only school of the future?

This is still ongoing as of this writing, but schools are starting to come around. Per a study by Bowdoin College, 31 percent of high schools have an AI policy in place as of August 2025. Sometimes, these policies are more about what students should not do with AI rather than teaching them how to use it. For instance, some high schools with AI policies largely prohibit students from passing off AI-generated work as their own and require students to cite when they use AI for school projects. Students also typically need permission from teachers to use AI in the first place. 

Meanwhile, some public and private school districts are taking it upon themselves to train students for an AI-first future. MIT recently published an open-source AI ethics curriculum that middle schools can use to introduce students to AI and teach them how to use it responsibly. Lessons focus on basic AI literacy, ethics, and data training basics.

At the college level

Colleges are swiftly putting general rules for AI use into place to guide students toward ethical AI use. Some schools, like the University of Georgia, have relaxed rules when it comes to AI, allowing students to use it as long as the instructor says it’s OK. UGA’s example is pretty close to what most colleges do. Students are generally allowed to use AI for basic tasks like correcting grammar or basic research, but AI is typically not allowed to complete assignments for the student. 

This seems to be the pattern that colleges are starting to follow, with some variation on how strict the rules are. For example, Vanderbilt lets faculty decide how students can use AI in their classes, but the college requires all students to disclose when they use AI for their coursework. Rice, by contrast, considers using any idea generated by AI to be plagiarism. These policies often extend to college admissions, with most colleges having rules against using AI to write any part of an application essay. 

However, rules and college AI policies are not the only way colleges are preparing students for AI. 

Adding AI to the curriculum

There are few better ways to prepare students for a life in the AI age than actual classes on the topic. This is also becoming increasingly common in universities. Big-name schools such as Cornell and Harvard have taken this approach, as have many smaller liberal-arts colleges. Students studying diverse subjects such as biology, computer science, and engineering can now take classes on applying AI to these fields.

In fact, some schools are even baking an education about AI into undergraduate studies. One famous example is Ohio State University’s AI Fluency program, which embeds AI fluency directly into the curriculum, making it mandatory for students to learn about AI as they progress through their studies. The University of Florida is doing the same, as are several others. 

It’s likely that more courses and mandatory curriculum inclusion are coming over the next five to 10 years as colleges figure things out, but the march to teach this technology has already begun. 

Full-blown majors

The next extension of teaching AI to students is allowing them to make a career out of it, and some colleges are already preparing students for that life. Multiple large colleges have opened up new AI degrees, allowing students to get a Bachelor of Science in the study of AI. This is relatively new and still ongoing, but colleges are jumping on the train in increasing numbers. 

The first such university to do so was Ohio University. It launched its program in 2024. More colleges have added similar degrees to the ranks, with LSU, Kennesaw State, and Northwestern being some of the most recent additions to the list. All three colleges announced their programs in March 2026, and they’re either available now or will be in the fall semester. 

AI has already been shown to be a viable career path. Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon are aggressively hiring AI professionals, along with companies like Lockheed Martin, AMD, and the AI companies themselves, like OpenAI. Goldman Sachs predicts that the market for AI jobs will increase over the next decade, so colleges preparing students for that reality is no surprise. 

A long way to go

While AI literacy programs are still in their infancy at the middle and high school level, expect to see a lot more AI integrated into K-12 education in the years ahead. Already, many teachers are using AI to help them with lesson plans, while students are using AI to help study and complete assignments.

At the college level, educators are still learning how to navigate a world with an increasing amount of AI, and some are doing it faster than others. However, the patterns are pretty clear. More colleges have rules on ethical AI use to teach students how not to use generative AI (and avoid cheating accusations in the process), along with classes to help them better understand this burgeoning technology, and entire fields of study for those who want to make AI their career. These initiatives aren’t present at every college, but they’re getting there, and quickly. 

Applying to college can be extremely stressful for students and their parents alike. To help make the process a little easier, some of them are turning to artificial intelligence for help. And even though generative AI is still a relatively new technology, it has already changed the college applications process in surprising ways.

So, before you complete your next application, learn how the admissions process is evolving to incorporate AI.

College essays are becoming less important

The first domino to fall was the time-honored college essay. These essays are meant to give students a chance to show off their personality, writing voice, and writing competence. However, some teenagers are turning to AI to help speed up the essay-writing process, and colleges know it.

Unfortunately, there's no sure-fire way to identify AI writing. As a result, many colleges are placing less emphasis on these essays altogether.

How many students are using AI to write college essays? It's impossible to know for sure. Scholarships360, a website that helps students find scholarships, ran 1,000 student essays through an AI detection tool, which flagged 42 percent of them. And although AI detection tools are known to be unreliable, surveys show that more than half of Gen Z uses AI on a weekly basis, including for help with college applications.

Scholarship360 CEO Will Geiger told The Hechinger Report that he began noticing student essays using similar language to one another, and how each essay felt sterile and spiked with words that teenagers didn’t typically use. The formatting and length were also dead giveaways, per Geiger. 

Duke University has famously stopped giving numerical ratings to students’ application essays or even taking them into consideration at all, with AI being one of the major reasons. “Essays are very much part of our understanding of the applicant; we’re just no longer assuming that the essay is an accurate reflection of the student's actual writing ability,” said Christoph Guttentag, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions at Duke University, to the Duke Chronicle.

Students aren't the only ones using AI

According to a study by Foundry10, nearly 30 percent of students and teachers now use AI consistently for college applications. As mentioned previously, students are primarily using it to help write admission and scholarship essays, while teachers are using AI to help write recommendation letters, which are often included in college applications. 

This has been a double-edged sword. AI has certainly made it easier for teachers and students to produce these essays and letters, but if their writing sounds like it was generated by AI — even if it wasn’t — that could hurt a student’s application.

In addition, Foundry10’s study shows that letters and essays written with AI are generally regarded as less authentic and competent than those written manually.

Colleges often use AI during admissions, too

Despite a general distrust of AI-generated college essays, many colleges still trust the technology to read and summarize those same student essays. Virginia Tech became one of the first major U.S. public colleges to publicly employ such a system by using AI to review student essays for admissions, a system that rolled out for the 2025-26 school year. Colleges like UNC-Chapel Hill are also using AI to analyze applicants' essays.

On the other end of the spectrum, several colleges also use AI to check for AI writing. Brigham Young University uses software to check for AI-generated content and plagiarism, for instance. Caltech also uses AI to analyze research projects from applicants, and even to assist with early interviews. 

Per GradPilot, roughly 50 percent of admissions offices in the U.S. now use at least some form of AI, whether it’s to read essays, check for plagiarism, summarize recommendation letters, or process transcripts. The true number is unknown, as it’s estimated that many colleges use AI without saying so to avoid media scrutiny.

Students applying for college should expect that the college will use AI to some extent. 

Some colleges have outright banned the use of AI

Whether or not using AI will get your application flagged depends heavily on which college you apply to. The University of Georgia is perfectly OK with students using AI, albeit responsibly, and even has a pilot program in 2026 that gives some students licenses to use ChatGPT. So, using generative AI to apply to Georgia is probably perfectly alright, as long as most of the work is still done by the student. 

Other colleges have taken a much harder-nosed approach, outright banning the use of AI and promising punishment to students who use it. Brown University is one such example where students are forbidden from using AI for anything other than “basic proofreading.” Other colleges with similar restrictions include Georgetown, Yale, and Duke. 

Thus, part of any student’s application process in 2026 and beyond should be to double-check the AI policy for any college they apply to. Using AI the wrong way, or while applying to the wrong college, may cause an automatic rejection. 

New AI tools for college admissions

Students and parents now have a ton of new tools available to help them prep for and apply to college. This includes the tools young people might be using every day, like ChatGPT and Grammarly, plus purpose-built tools to track admissions. Tools like Kollegio, ESAI, and KapAdvisor can help young people streamline the application process or even find schools to apply to.

There are also a ton of AI study tools for high schoolers who need help with homework, SAT/ACT prep, and any other assignments.

SEE ALSO: 7 AI tools you can use to enhance your work life

Finally, some students are using AI as a general-purpose admissions counselor, the New York Times recently reported. While ChatGPT can help students find colleges to apply to or simply act as a sounding board, students should also know that AI chatbots still hallucinate and make mistakes.

AI will continue to change the admissions process

AI will keep changing the college admissions process in the same way digitization did nearly 30 years ago. Back in the old days, applicants had to do everything with physical paper until the internet revolutionized the process, allowing students to apply faster and to more colleges with less effort. 

AI’s ability to automate a lot of the processes has that same potential, and in some cases, has already helped students and admissions officers. The rules are still being written in real-time as colleges navigate the AI landscape and students find new ways to use AI.

For the time being, the best practice is not to rely on AI for personal essays, and to check colleges' AI policies before applying.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

Chatbots are changing the way we access information and what we gain from it. It's happening online, in workplaces, and, over the last few years, in schools themselves. 

In the wake of early mass adoption of ChatGPT — years before its parent company OpenAI added age-specific tools and restrictions — schools, including in Los Angeles and New York City, banned chatbots in the classroom outright. Many school officials feared generative AI tools would be used primarily to cheat, and there are still concerns that AI can hamper learning or exacerbate mental health concerns, including child exploitation. 

But in the years since launch, some K-12 systems have partially reversed course and embraced AI. Sentiment among teachers has shifted, and students are using AI more routinely. The move may also be influenced by an intentional investment by AI developers hoping to get their products in the hands of teachers and students alike. Thousands of colleges, for example, have deals with AI developers, including OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic — the three companies have also launched "tutor" versions of their products to general users. 

On the K-12 level, these AI giants, and others like Canva and Microsoft, have designed tools specifically for teachers and introduced gated AI agents to students themselves. Many schools are in the midst of renegotiating existing educational contracts with such companies to account for free AI products — technology that didn't exist when some institutions agreed to add digital product suites to student and faculty computers.  

AI tech is evolving rapidly, and many questions remain. Here's how the nation's three largest school districts approach artificial intelligence:

NYC Public Schools

New York City's public school system serves more than 900,000 students across 1,597 public schools and nearly 300 charter schools. The Education Department is the city's largest agency, with plans to expand services to a new pre-K program, as well. It was also one of the first to ban ChatGPT, and then unblock it. 

New York City Public Schools recently announced a new set of AI guidelines for students, teachers, and families created by its AI Task Force. Previously, individual schools took on the responsibility of designing their own policies to address urgent concerns about AI. NYC's rulebook is one of the most user-friendly Mashable has seen so far, but many specifics about AI student use are still unclear.  

How should NYC teachers approach AI?

NYC Public Schools mandates all AI tools go under what is known as the ERMA (Enterprise Review Management Application) process. ERMA oversees privacy and security rules, and now includes parameters for appropriate AI use, including: the need for human oversight and review, a prohibition on inputting personal student information into unapproved AI systems, AI tool-specific age restrictions, and discretion over AI outputs.

The guidelines also explain the school system's "traffic light" approach to AI: every potential AI use case is categorized as green (approved), yellow (careful judgment needed), or red (prohibited).

NYC schools can't use AI to make decisions regarding class placement, graduation, eligibility, or discipline, for example. AI cannot be used to create Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), prohibit a student from choosing a specific path of coursework, or confer grades. AI cannot be used to provide emotional or therapeutic counsel to students, and AI-powered surveillance is prohibited. The use of student data for AI training is banned. 

Yellow light cases include using AI tools to evaluate data sets and translating critical information for students and parents. Educators get the green light to use AI for tasks such as scheduling, generating accessible materials, and refining communications.   

Can NYC students use AI?

For now, students are allowed to use AI for basic "research, exploration, and creative projects," according to NYC Public Schools, but it must be used with educator oversight. The system considers student use of AI in learning a "yellow light" use case, and students aren't encouraged to incorporate AI without their teachers' involvement. 

NYC Public Schools has not yet decided if students are banned from using personal chatbots or the extent to which AI tools can be used to complete homework assignments outside of school. Meanwhile, parent advocates have called for a two year moratorium on the technology outright, citing the district's lack of concern for long-term learning consequences, privacy, and the environment.

"Our students are already encountering AI beyond school walls," the public school system writes on its website. "The question is whether they are equipped with critical thinking, ethical grounding, and creative agency—or left to navigate AI alone."

SEE ALSO: What's your college's AI policy? Find out here. Los Angeles Unified School District 

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), which serves more than 376,000 students, has been trying to rein in unhampered tech use by students. In 2025, the Los Angeles Unified School District joined several other school districts across the country in implementing a bell-to-bell student cellphone ban, prohibiting phone use during school hours. 

In April, the LAUSD school board unanimously approved a new resolution limiting access to technology in classrooms, including instituting screen time restrictions and banning devices for kindergarten and first-grade students.

AI, however, has remained elusive. Following an initial block on ChatGPT, LAUSD introduced its own AI chatbot, "Ed," in 2024. The chatbot was shuttered just three months later, after its developers went out of business, and the district's superintendent has recently been under federal investigation for alleged ties to the company. Months before, an LAUSD AI task force drafted its first usage policies, which are no longer available on the LAUSD website.  

However, updated AI policies were distributed in an April 2024 policy bulletin. Across the board, users are only permitted to use district-approved tools, and educators must obtain consent from parents or legal guardians before using certain apps with students. LAUSD employees and users are not allowed to upload copyrighted materials or "share any confidential, sensitive, privileged or private information when using, prompting, or communicating with any AI tools." They must independently verify AI outputs and be wary of hallucinations and bias.

Can LAUSD students use AI? 

Students under the age of 13 are banned from using any generative AI tools (and social media), according to the Los Angeles Times. Older students are allowed to use AI under specific conditions and with administrator approval.  

As of September, LAUSD also recommended student AI training, including an annual "digital citizenship" course, and distributed a Responsible Use Policy for students and parents to sign.

Students can't upload personal information to district-approved chatbots, illegally download materials, or upload copyrighted materials, and must properly cite all sources. They cannot use AI to generate hateful speech or facilitate bullying. 

The policy doesn't oversee personal chatbot use outside of the district network.

Chicago City Public Schools

Last year, Chicago's public school system (CPS) published a lengthy AI Guidebook, pledging to fully integrate generative AI across CPS during the 2025-2026 school year. The system, serving around 316,000 students at 630 schools, is part of a Gates Foundation-funded case study on implementing AI in K-12 schools. 

In line with other school policies, students and teachers can only use AI tools permitted by the district. Currently, most chatbots, including ChatGPT and Claude, are not approved for use. Teachers, not students, can use Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot. 

Educators must follow age restrictions set by AI companies and monitor student use. While CPS allows teachers to use AI detection tools to catch plagiarism, the district warns educators should be cautious of false positives. 

Can Chicago public school students use AI?

Students are encouraged to use administrator-approved AI tools at CPS schools for tasks such as brainstorming, summarizing information, and setting deadlines and schedules. CPS says students can use approved tools to create digital media or generate creative writing prompts. Students are also encouraged to use GenAI as a study partner and consult AI-powered search engines as needed. However, many of these tools (such as Perplexity or Nano Banana) are not on the list of approved products.

Students are required to cite any AI used in their assignments, which must be "fundamentally" generated by the student. AI plagiarism is handled through the existing Student Code of Conduct. Teachers are tasked with monitoring students' appropriate use of AI.

Nationwide AI policies  

Despite an increase in AI use by students and teachers, policies to foster responsible AI use lag across the country. A 2025 survey by government-funded research nonprofit RAND found that 80 percent of students felt their teachers didn't teach them how to use AI for schoolwork. Fewer than half of school principals cited having AI policies, and only around a third of teachers reported having academic integrity policies that addressed AI use. 

Meanwhile, around 34 state-level education departments have issued AI policy recommendations, according to AI literacy organization AI for Education. The federal government, including First Lady Melania Trump, has pushed for greater tech integration in children's education. Miami-Dade County schools, the fourth largest school system in the U.S., recently announced a partnership with Google to pilot new classroom AI tools.

Rise of AI-only K-12

While public schools figure out the best way to approach the new technology at scale, private, tech-backed programs are fully embracing AI. This includes the rise of AI-only schools, including a Department of Education darling known as Alpha schools. In direct opposition to the prevailing advice abided by public school districts — to keep humans in the loop at all times — Alpha replaces human teachers with screens, offering students just two hours of AI-powered instruction facilitated by adult "guides," not education professionals. 

Alpha is backed by private equity investors, including its co-founder and school "principal" Joe Liemandt, who has funneled personal cash into the AI "school of the future." Meanwhile, public school funding has been on the decline. According to estimates for the 2026 school year, public funding for K-12 schools dropped by 11 percent. Districts across the country are facing teacher shortages and educator turnover rates. AI can only do so much. 

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.