Technology

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• Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University published research that says AI is causing “the deterioration of cognitive faculties”
• The study involved 319 people who use AI tools at work at least once per week
• The survey-based study opens the door to deeper research into AI side effects

Brain rot is usually associated with endless doom scrolling of low-quality online content, but a new Microsoft Research study suggests that overusing AI might be causing “the deterioration of cognitive faculties.” Oh no.

Performed in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University, the study – titled The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking: Self-Reported Reductions in Cognitive Effort and Confidence Effects From a Survey of Knowledge Workers – asked 319 participants who use “GenAI tools at work at least once per week” (such as Gemini, ChatGPT, CoPilot) to judge how AI usage at work was affecting their critical thinking skills.

It found that “while GenAI can improve worker efficiency, it can inhibit critical engagement with work and can potentially lead to long-term overreliance on the tool and diminished skill for independent problem-solving.” The study added that people's jobs are becoming less about solving problems and more about making sure the AI has correctly solved the problem – morphing our work from “task execution to task stewardship” – which led people to feel like their ability to think critically isn’t as sharp as it was before they started using AI.

Is it time to panic? Not quite yet

AI might still be a help not a hindrance (Image credit: Pixabay)

Seeing the headlines and reading the study it can feel like it’s time to pull the big AI lever and shut it all down for good in order to save our brains from being irreparably damaged by a tool that may be hurting us more than it’s helping us. But while the study certainly highlights challenges we desperately need to tackle in the AI space – ultimately the relationship between humans and AI we should be cultivating – it’s not quite as dire as it seems.

That’s because the study focuses on how AI users perceive AI usage is affecting their critical thinking. While the study uses a survey to quantify these feelings it comes down to how people feel and, more importantly, it doesn’t create a true quantitative comparison between frequent AI users and people who never or rarely use the AI.

While people who use AI a lot may feel they’re less capable of critical thinking it could be that because they’re not as distracted by less difficult tasks they can more easily tackle challenging ones thanks to AI’s help – or it could be there’s been no change in their critical thinking skills. But to measure actual changes in critical thinking we’d need a study with quantitative tests that compare different groups' ability (groups decided based on their AI usage) to complete tasks – including a control who never uses AI for work.

Until we have that kind of study it’s impossible to judge if AI really is making us dumber. However, that doesn’t mean we should just dismiss this Microsoft research.

Make AI work for you (Image credit: Shutterstock/SomYuZu)

Firstly, using this study as inspiration for a more quantitative study like the one I’ve described would be a fantastic next step. Secondly, while the participants' feelings may or may not represent factual reality, they represent reality for the people in this study – and they shouldn’t be dismissed.

If people feel like they’re simply AI stewards rather than performing meaningful work that could lead to dissatisfaction in their job. Some psychologists believe dissatisfaction with how we spend our time scrolling is the root cause of the social media brain rot experience (via the BBC). A similar sense of meaninglessness could be causing AI users’ similar brain deterioration feelings at work.

With AI becoming more prevalent we’ll need to work out how best to fight back feelings of deterioration, but a good first step will always be some self-care. Be that finding a new job that stimulates us, taking up a hobby that we can devote our freed-up brain power towards, or some other strategy that works best for you.

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• The Renault Filante concept car is aiming for electric efficiency records
• Single-seater commits all controls to steering yoke
• Renault’s director of advanced design says it could be seen on future cars

The new Renault Filante Record 2025 concept car cuts an imposing figure. Weighing just 1,000kg but measuring 5.12m long, it is more akin to a fighter plane or land speed record vehicle than it is a traditional concept car.

But rather than preview an upcoming passenger vehicle, the recently unveiled Filante has been developed to “push the limits of aerodynamics and energy efficiency”, according to Renault, providing the perfect blank canvas for engineers and designers to improve aerodynamics and therefore increase the range and performance of future EVs.

One of the innovations that the French company is exploring is the use of steer-by-wire and brake-by-wire technology, removing the mechanical connection between the driver and the vehicle controls completely.

Tesla fans will know that the Cybertruck arrived with steer-by-wire technology, which has proven a learning curve for some drivers. But Renault has taken things further with this concept by committing everything to the PlayStation controller masquerading as a steering wheel.

(Image credit: Renault)

“It’s something that liberates a lot of space in the interior,” Sandeep Bhambra, Renault’s director of advanced design told Top Gear. According to Bhambra, it’s also something that the company is looking at for future cars.

In essence, the Filante can be controlled entirely by the hands, making the driving experience more akin to a Gran Turismo session than a traditionally complex high performance machine.

Renault says that by removing the mechanical connections between key controls it liberates designers and engineers to create new possibilities in its platform and cockpit architecture.

Where EVs are concerned, this could lead to smarter packaging of bulky battery packs and electric motors.

Bring on the fighter jet for the road

(Image credit: Renault)

Although the Renault Filante Record 2025 is a rolling science lab, rather than a genuine look at the future of passenger cars, it riffs on a number of interesting ideas that are circulating the automotive industry at the moment.

Firstly, with increasing levels of automation, do drivers really need the traditionally bulky foot controls of yesteryear? Tesla certainly doesn’t think so, as it got rid of absolutely everything in its Cybercab concept.

Removing all controls frees up space for in-vehicle entertainment in driverless cars, but committing brakes and throttle to one, hand-operated unit in a more traditional car also lightens the load, which means future electric vehicles can be more efficient and offer a greater range from smaller and lighter battery packs.

Granted, not everyone will initially agree with Renault’s hand control idea – some might even say they are potentially dangerous – but advances in driver assistance systems and autonomous driving technology will soon take care a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to safety.

In addition to this, cockpit innovations like this could also free up automotive companies to work on more interesting, cleverly-packaged designs.

As we head towards the next chapter of transportation, do cars really need to look like the boxy, four-wheel things we’ve known for over a century?

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Mullvad VPN has become the latest VPN service to expand its range of device support with its arrival on the next-generation of Snapdragon PCs.

Users running Windows on ARM-based devices can now download and use a native Mullvad VPN application. The Swedish-based VPN provider has ensured that all the service's functionalities, privacy, and security features are included in the new app, so you can expect the same level of performance you'll have on other desktop platforms.

Mullvad's Snapdragon ARM VPN app supports both Windows 10 and 11 for users of ARM64 computers. "The installers are the same for both ARM64 and x86_64," explained Mullvad in its official announcement.

One of the best VPN providers currently on the market, Mullvad has invited anyone to share feedback about their new VPN app with their support team.

Snapdragon ARM devices and VPN support

Last summer's release of the powerful Snapdragon X Elite chip on Windows laptops came as exciting news for users. ARM PCs are expected to be faster than their predecessors, without compromising on battery life.

The problem is that most of the top VPN apps on the market still weren't ready for the next-generation PCs and didn't support Windows ARM devices at that time.

VPN providers couldn't simply emulate their VPN applications from other platforms. Developers had to build their VPN apps from scratch for it to be compatible with Windows ARM devices. Needless to say, it's taken some time.

The Mullvad VPN app is now available for users running Windows on ARM!Read more here: https://t.co/JNVH8klFNLFebruary 7, 2025

Six months on and the VPN industry is slowly catching up.

The news makes Mullvad VPN currently one of just a few Windows VPN providers to offer a native application for Windows ARM devices.

Proton VPN unveiled its native app for Snapdragon PCs in November, a few weeks after TechRadar's top pick, NordVPN did the same. Private Internet Access (PIA), Windscribe, and Surfshark launched their ARM-native apps just before.

So far, ExpressVPN is the only VPN provider to come up with a workaround without creating a native app for Snapdragon PCs from scratch. The team at Express decided to take advantage of the latest release of Microsoft’s new Prism emulator and shape its proprietary VPN protocol, Lightway, accordingly.

Despite the technicalities, Mullvad VPN's new ARM-compatible VPN application further strengthens VPN support on the next-generation Windows computers. Users now have more freedom to choose the VPN provider that most suits their needs.

• Some Amazon Shopping app users are being redirected to other sellers’ websites
• Some external sellers will still work with ‘Buy with Prime’
• More US customers could get the feature soon

Despite being the go-to ecommerce platform for millions worldwide, there are times that Amazon might not have stock of a certain product in its warehouses, but it has now thought up a new way of dealing with the resulting lost custom.

The company is testing a new feature in its shopping app that redirects users to other brands’ websites if it doesn’t have that particular product in stock.

In a blog post, Amazon wrote: “We’ll show select products in our search results even if we don’t sell them in our store, and link to the brand’s website to make it easy for customers to purchase them there.”

Amazon will redirect shoppers to other brands’ sites

In its announcement, the Seattle giant boasted of the more than 300 million items it carries that are available with fast, free Prime delivery, and the hundreds of millions of products it sells in total.

“We’re testing bringing more selection and brands into our search results to help customers find even more of what they want and further improve our shopping experience for customers," said Rajiv Mehta, Amazon’s VP of search and conversational shopping.

Amazon highlighted that, if a brand has ‘Buy with Prime’ enabled, they will still be able to benefit from the associated benefits, such as 24/7 customer support and speedy delivery.

Mehta added: “We’re always experimenting with new ways to make it easier for customers to find products they want and need when they search in the Amazon Shopping app.”

The upgraded feature is currently being tested with an undisclosed “subset of US customers” using the Amazon Shopping app on iOS and Android, but there’s no word on a wider rollout. The company added: “We’ll roll out to more US customers and incorporate more brands based on feedback.”

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News flash! Smartphone designs are becoming more homogeneous with every passing year. In 2021, the three biggest flagship phones – namely the iPhone 13 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, and Google Pixel 6 Pro – were recognizably different from one another, but in 2025, their respective successors look more alike than their manufacturers would care to admit.

Of course, the iPhone 16 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, and Google Pixel 9 Pro are far from identical devices – their camera arrangements, for one, are still relatively distinct – but they share several common (dare I say Apple-like) design themes that have left the flagship smartphone category feeling a little... samey.

Flat metal sides, gently rounded corners, and clean, industrial colorways are the new norm for today’s flagship smartphones, with practicality and understated style seemingly prioritized over "look at my new phone!" personality. Sure, you can still stand out from the crowd with one of the best foldable phones or best Android phones from China, but in the US, especially, it feels like your options for indulging in a bit of self-expression through your choice of smartphone have narrowed to virtually nil.

But is this such a bad thing? Call me a robot, but personally, I’m all for the steady slide towards a single, optimum phone design (and I’ll explain why in a follow-up article). But what about you? As more flagship phones hit shelves in 2025, we want to gauge your opinions on the sticky subject of smartphone design.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max (left) and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra (right) (Image credit: Future)

So, do you think we’ve reached peak smartphone design? Or could manufacturers do more to differentiate their highest-end devices from one another? Are modern flagships simply too boring? Or are you a fan of their shared industrial aesthetic?

Check out the numbered response options below, and cast your vote in the comments section of this article. I’ll be running the same poll on the TechRadar Whatsapp channel – so vote there if you prefer! – and will be publishing a follow-up piece with the results in the coming days.

• 1) Smartphone designs are better than ever; homogeneity is natural
• 2) Modern smartphone designs are boring – I miss the variety!
• 3) Modern smartphone designs are boring, but I understand the need for conformity
• 4) There’s still enough variety in the smartphone industry

It goes without saying, but there are obviously more nuanced stances on this issue that aren’t easily summarized in poll format. For instance, you might like the modern design approach, but think there’s still room for further innovation. Alternatively, you might be nostalgic for the wacky smartphones of old (aren’t we all?), but recognize that these devices catered to a different market.

The four options above are meant to cover four broad sentiments (‘happy’, ‘not happy’, ‘not happy but I understand why’, and ‘disagree’), which will hopefully give us an idea of how consumers feel about the state of flagship smartphone design in 2025. If you're keen to voice a more specific point of view, by all means, comment below!

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• Google has just upgraded its helpful Family Link service for parents
• It now lets you reduce distractions on your kids' phone during school hours
• Family Link has also been given a big redesign to make it easier to use

Google's Family Link lets you remotely manage your children's devices and is one of the tech giant's most unsung tools. If you're a parent and haven't used the service yet, now is a very good time to give it a spin because it's just received three big upgrades.

The first and arguably biggest update to Family Link is a feature called 'School time.' This currently helps to reduce distractions on your child's smartwatch during school hours – and from "next week," Google says it's rolling out support for this on Android phones and tablets.

This means you'll be able to silence notifications and schedule limited Android phone functionality during your child's school hours. This doesn't necessarily have to mean a complete phone or tablet blackout during those periods, though – you can set a 'break' in the schedules, for example, if you're happy for them to browse the web during lunch or recess.

You can also choose the specific apps that are silenced or restricted – for example, keeping school-specific ones available. And even when your child's phone or tablet's functionality is restricted, they'll still have access to important features like being able to call emergency services.

(Image credit: Google)

The second new Family Link feature, which will only be available "in the coming months," is the ability to restrict who your kids call and text from their Android phones. Google says you'll be able to add approved contacts from Family Link to your child's phone, which means they'll only be able to interact with those approved contacts. The downside is that this will only work with Google Messages and dialer apps on Android phones and not with third-party apps.

The final change to Google Family Link is a fairly sizable redesign. A new Screen Time tab brings together all your management tools, and Google says it's also streamlined its Controls tab to make it easier to block particular websites or approve app downloads.

If you have more than one child, juggling multiple accounts should also be easier. You can now swipe between their profiles and manage all of their devices from a single page, with the more advanced tools tidied away on a separate screen.

If you're a parent on Android, you should try Family Link

(Image credit: Google)

We're big fans of Google Family Link on TechRadar, and these upgrades definitely sound helpful – particularly the arrival of 'School time' on Android phones and tablets. The tool is mainly aimed at under-13s, but you can use it for teens, too (if you're prepared to deal with the inevitable friction).

Talking about his experiences with the app, TechRadar's Global Editor in Chief Marc McLaren previously said: "I wouldn’t say Google Family Link was a better parent than me or my partner, but it was a close-run thing for a time. It works brilliantly, taking away some of the stress of parenting in the digital age."

"Being able to set limits for individual apps has been a massive help as my daughters have entered their early teenage years and have finally been allowed on TikTok and Snapchat; without it, I suspect they’d both spend roughly 20 hours a day scrolling through their feeds, rather than the two hours they’re given" he said.

Family Link also has a handy Location feature that shows you where your kids are on a map. The whole service naturally only works well if both parent and child are on Android (the 'parent-managed contacts' feature requires Android 14), so it isn't so great if your family is on a mix of Android and iOS. But overall, it's well worth exploring – and you never know, your kids might like it, too.

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• Google's Threat Intelligence report says cybercrime worse than ever
• Healthcare is yet again a top target for cyberattacks
• Nation-state actors are using cybercrime to raise money

Despite widespread coverage of cyberattacks from the ‘Big Four’, Russia, China, Iran, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) - Google’s Threat Intelligence Group Cybercrime Report reveals almost four times more intrusions were conducted by financially motivated actors in 2024 than state-backed attackers.

The report outlines the company's Mandiant arm's threat responses in 2024, and reveals it’s not just national security threats countries should be worried about. Any attack on critical infrastructure, no matter who’s behind it, can have devastating effects on people’s lives;

“When power grids are disrupted, entire communities are left vulnerable. The effects of cybercrime extend far beyond stolen money or data breaches; they erode public trust, destabilise essential services, and, in the most severe cases, cost lives,” the report explains.

Healthcare still top target

It will come as no surprise to many that healthcare providers are still an incredibly attractive target for cybercriminals considering the vast amount of sensitive data they hold, as well as the critical nature of their services, meaning that any outage can be catastrophic.

In fact, the report shows a 50% increase in healthcare’s share of posts on data leak sites - and whether this is a criminal looking for financial gain, or nation-backed actor looking to disrupt critical infrastructure, the effect on patients is the same;

“Sensitive data stolen from an organization and posted on a data leak site can be exploited by an adversary in the same way data exfiltrated in an espionage operation can be,” the report notes.

Each actor’s playbooks are different, but Google’s report does suggest that each of the ‘Big Four’ are supplementing their income as part of their attacks, primarily deploying ransomware or malware to raise funds.

This has been observed many times, with North Korea’s Lazarus group launching large scale cyberattacks, which researchers suggest is part of an operation aimed at helping to fund state apparatus.

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• Nvidia's RTX 5070 is reportedly delayed for a launch in March instead of February
• There are supposedly no embargo details on the RTX 5070, but only for its RTX 5070 Ti variant
• AMD's Radeon RX 9000 series is also set to launch in early March

At CES 2025, Nvidia made its launch plans for the RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5070 clear: both GPUs were slated for a February release - but new rumors hint at the RTX 5070's launch being pushed back into March, in the same month that AMD plans to launch the Radeon RX 9000 series GPUs.

According to MEGAsizeGPU on X (which is reliable for GPU leaks), Nvidia now supposedly plans to launch the RTX 5070 in early March, leaving the RTX 5070 Ti to launch in February. Just recently, its rival AMD finally announced the Radeon RX 9000 series release date, which surprise, is also in early March - and this could pit both Team Green and Team Red's midrange GPUs up against each other.

The same reports come from VideoCardz, who state that Nvidia's embargo details given to board partners didn't include any information on the RTX 5070, but instead details its Ti variant. Considering how close we are to the rumored February 19 and 20 review and launch dates for the RTX 5070 Ti, it wouldn't be too far of a stretch to say that this rumor may indeed be true.

We know that there's been limited availability for the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 (both Founders Edition and third-party GPUs), so the reason for the supposed delay could hint at further stock woes - however, for some people, this move appears to prove that Nvidia is dead set on eliminating any traction the Radeon RX 9000 series GPUs could gain.

(Image credit: Shutterstock) It feels like Nvidia and AMD are playing mind games...

While AMD's new GPU lineup was announced at CES 2025, it wasn't fully unveiled, as we didn't get to see any details regarding prices or a release date.

Since then, I feel like Team Red has been biding its time until its rival unveiled and launched all of its main GPU offerings, with hopes that the hype dies down.

The RDNA 4 GPUs were recently set for early March, which came shortly after speculation of Nvidia's RTX xx60-class launch in the same month - and now, this new rumor regarding the RTX 5070 also launching in March instead of February feels like Team Green is doubling down on its stance of kicking its rival out of the race.

It's also worth noting that recent reports point towards AMD working on a 32GB RDNA 4 gaming GPU, despite stating its focus is on midrange GPUs. If you ask me, all of these reports (if accurate) feel like mind games being played by both parties with the attempt to one-up one another - which is great because competition is absolutely necessary. I just hope Team Red can deliver...

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