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Joanna Nelius

Joanna Nelius

Reviewer, Laptops

Joanna Nelius reviews laptops for The Verge. Previously, she reviewed all sorts of computing devices and gaming hardware for USA Today, Gizmodo, PC Gamer, and Maximum PC, while reporting on issues related to technology and education. When she’s not eyeballs-deep in benchmark data, she’s teaching interactive fiction to teenagers or working on her short story collection and memoir.

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Los Angeles Unified School District paid millions for an AI chatbot — now it’s not using it.

The district hired AllHere to create and manage the chatbot. But the tech firm lost its CEO and furloughed most of its staff just a few months after the district launched its pilot program. Now the chatbot is no longer accessible and the district is investigating allegations that AllHere compromised its data. What a mess!


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Some teachers worry generative AI hurts students’ critical thinking skills.

Jessica Grose writes in the NYT about educators struggling with students using AI in the classroom. One major worry expressed is that relying on it for brainstorming and writing could make students less likely to power through tough assignments on their own.

It’s almost as if the speed of available technology is making them assume that their human brains should have all the answers.

Right now, teachers have to deal with this issue on their own; some policymakers “appear to have drunk the Kool-Aid on artificial intelligence.”


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Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge review: beauty before brawn

Samsung’s first Copilot Plus PC is everything a thin and light laptop should be — but its performance is limited. 

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Asus Zenbook S 16 review: AMD stays in the game

AMD stands up to Qualcomm with its new Ryzen AI chips, showing it’s nowhere near out of this race.

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South Korea will start using AI-infused textbooks in its “future classrooms” next year.

Unlike a regular ebook, these AI-enabled digital textbooks will supposedly assess students’ reading level and change the content based on the reader. South Korea expects to be the first country in the world to use these books starting in 2025.


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Dell is creating a new sales team to focus on AI.

The company’s restructure mostly affects sales and managerial staff. Some outlets have reported, based on sources, that the layoffs will cut more than 10,000 jobs, but an analyst told SiliconAngle a number that high seems unlikely.

Dell isn’t the only tech company handing out pink-slips; Intel announced last week it’s laying off over 15,000 employees.