Artificial intelligence is already playing a remarkable role in our response to the climate crisis. From predicting extreme weather events to optimizing renewable energy grids, AI is giving us tools we’ve never had before. It is helping us understand complex climate patterns, reduce waste, and rethink how industries operate at a fundamental level.

But this is just the beginning. The true power of AI is not just in making systems more efficient, but in expanding how we think, plan, and strategize in the face of environmental challenges. AI doesn’t just give us better answers—it gives us the ability to ask better questions, explore new pathways, and simulate possibilities at a scale no human could achieve alone.

So, how do we take AI’s incredible potential and push it even further? How do we ensure it is deployed in ways that maximize its impact, account for its challenges, and truly serve the climate cause?

AI’s Expanding Role in Climate Strategy

We are already seeing AI’s ability to enhance, accelerate, and scale climate solutions across industries:

Optimizing Renewable Energy Grids – AI is balancing wind and solar power on national grids, ensuring that clean energy is distributed where it’s needed most. Google’s DeepMind, for example, is using AI to predict wind energy availability 36 hours in advance, making renewable energy more reliable.

Precision Agriculture & Land Restoration – AI is helping farmers use less water, reduce pesticide waste, and improve soil health. It is also mapping deforestation at speeds 100 times faster than human analysis, helping conservationists protect ecosystems before damage becomes irreversible.

Disaster Response & Climate Resilience – AI-powered models can now predict hurricanes, droughts, and wildfires with greater accuracy, giving governments and emergency responders more time to prepare and adapt.

Decarbonization & Carbon Capture – AI-driven molecular simulations are unlocking breakthroughs in carbon sequestration, helping researchers design materials that could significantly reduce the energy cost of capturing CO₂ from the air.

These are not hypothetical solutions. They are happening right now. But the next step—the place where AI’s role becomes truly transformative—is in its ability to reshape how we plan for the future.

From Efficiency to Intelligence: AI as a Climate Strategist

Right now, AI tools are primarily being used to optimize existing systems—making buildings more energy-efficient, helping companies track their emissions, and improving climate models. But its greatest potential lies in its ability to help us think further ahead, test solutions before they exist, and make better long-term decisions.

Imagine if AI could:

• Stress-test entire industries against different climate futures, allowing leaders to make informed choices about supply chains, infrastructure, and policy.
• Model global cooperation scenarios, helping nations coordinate climate action without compromising sensitive economic data.
• Redesign urban environments to maximize sustainability, using AI-generated simulations to predict how different city layouts could improve emissions, biodiversity, and resilience.

AI allows us to approach climate action in ways we’ve never been able to before—not just by predicting outcomes but by creating entirely new ways of thinking about the future.

One of the biggest barriers to climate action today is the limits of human perception and risk modeling. When decision-makers think about climate policy, infrastructure investments, or industry shifts, they are constrained by what they know, what they can model, and what they assume is possible. AI, however, can break through these limitations.

Instead of reacting to climate risks as they unfold, AI gives us the ability to map multiple futures, test different interventions, and choose paths that maximize long-term resilience. It allows us to model entire ecosystems of impact, showing how one change—such as shifting global shipping routes—could influence carbon emissions, ocean health, and economic stability all at once.

We’ve already seen early glimpses of this in action. AI-powered climate simulations have helped policymakers in the Netherlands redesign flood defenses that account for centuries of rising sea levels, rather than just the next decade. In emerging economies, AI models are helping predict how water scarcity will shift population movements, informing infrastructure decisions that anticipate future realities, rather than responding too late.

What if AI could help us fundamentally redesign industries before they become unsustainable? What if it could guide corporate and government decisions based on the best possible climate outcomes, rather than just incremental improvements?

This is the next frontier—not just AI as an optimizer, but AI as a strategic architect for a more sustainable world.

Addressing the Challenges, Without Limiting the Potential

Of course, AI is not a silver bullet. It comes with its own challenges, including energy consumption, data bias, and accessibility. These are real concerns that must be addressed with intentionality and innovation, but they should not overshadow the immense value AI can bring.

We need a dual approach—one that recognizes the need for sustainable AI infrastructure and governance, while also ensuring that we do not slow down the momentum of AI-driven climate action.

This means:

• Investing in energy-efficient AI models that reduce computational waste.
• Aligning AI development with climate-positive goals, ensuring that models are trained using renewable-powered data centers.
• Building inclusive AI solutions that are accessible and relevant to communities in both developed and emerging economies.

The key is not to view AI as a problem to solve, but as a powerful tool that must be wielded responsibly.

A Future Built on AI-Climate Collaboration

AI is not here to replace human decision-making—it is here to enhance it. The best climate solutions will not come from AI alone, but from the collaboration between technology, governance, and human ingenuity.

We are at a moment where we can harness AI to not just react to climate change, but to fundamentally reshape how we address it. This requires leadership—from policymakers, businesses, researchers, and technology developers—to ensure that AI is deployed in ways that are scalable, ethical, and impactful.

The possibilities ahead are extraordinary. The question is not whether AI can help fight the climate crisis—it already is. The question is: How far are we willing to push the boundaries of what’s possible?

The future of climate action is being written right now—and AI is a crucial part of the story.

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This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

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The biggest challenges facing Channel stakeholders include performance concerns, as there's an ongoing desire for the latest technology and a perception that refurbished tech is inferior. Revenue is also a factor, as companies profit from selling new equipment and need to adapt to offering sustainable services.

Education remains crucial, as there's a need for a significant shift in consumer behavior from buying new to embracing the circular economy and considering the full product lifecycle, including disposal.

Increased environmental pressures and government legislation are driving demand for Channel stakeholders to explore new ways they can reduce their carbon footprint and tackle e-waste. With the Technology Channel placing sustainability near the top of its list of priorities, businesses are responding by automating roles, utilizing electric vehicles for logistics and reducing e-waste headed for landfills.

Channel operators should be adopting the ‘Repair, Rework, Reuse’ model, which aims to extend IT hardware lifecycles and reduce the carbon footprint of technology wherever possible. Through the development and implementation of robust sustainability initiatives, vendors, distributors, resellers and MSPs can play a leading role in helping to create a more circular economy and minimize e-waste.

What key strategies, policies and procedures should be adopted to meet net zero targets?

Developing a robust strategy is essential for Channel businesses to bolster their net zero, carbon offsetting and sustainability goals. Companies that aim to create a comprehensive e-waste strategy must align their initiatives with environmental regulations and industry standards while striving to minimize the impact of their operations on the environment.

To create a concise strategy, Channel organizations must analyze their current operations - from sourcing components to end-of-life disposal - to minimize waste generation at each stage of the supply chain. The importance of this was revealed in our recent Sustainability report, with 36% of respondents already implementing initiatives to become more sustainable, and a further 37% looking to roll out strategies within the next 12 months.

Businesses need to create a plan that aligns with their future growth trajectory and the impact that this will have on emissions. With that in mind, the best option is to reduce the carbon intensity of their operations by establishing reduction strategies and mobilizing infrastructure change. This can take effect across a number of areas in an organization, most predominantly in the business’ supply chain, which links back to the company’s scope 3 emissions.

Channel operators must also consider measures to extend the life of hardware beyond the typical manufacturer lifespan, whilst ensuring the necessary quality standards and warranties are met. By repairing, reworking and reusing IT hardware, organizations can also reduce their carbon footprint and that of customers, whilst reducing cost.

How can vendors build e-waste initiatives within their partner programs?

Consumers and businesses across the Channel sector are waking up to the importance of Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) with supply chain transparency, sustainable finance and renewable energy sources and materials all key to helping industries meet their net zero, carbon offsetting and sustainability goals.

Vendors are now incorporating e-waste initiatives in processes to help streamline operations and boost efficiency for Channel partners. This not only enables significant environmental savings, but also an economical one for Channel partners and their end user clients.

By delivering white label maintenance, engineering services’ solutions and break-fix maintenance, Channel vendors can enable partner organizations to benefit from cost-effective, multi-vendor hardware maintenance services. This mitigates the need to dispose of mass hardware, allowing partners to extend product life cycles and reduce their carbon footprints through dedicated platforms like EcoVadis and by creating strategies internally, like a sustainability dashboard.

How is sustainability influencing customers and purchasing decisions?

It’s not for everyone – some customers are still very focused on price. Others see sustainability as a nice to have but would not be willing to pay considerably more. However, we are starting to experience a shift for ESG credentials to form part of the tender process, up to 30% of the total scoring for a partner in some cases. Also the frequency of being asked about sustainability is increasing.

As Channel vendors continue to scale their respective operations, they must consider their ESG strategies and goals and how best to meet the demands of customers, environmental legislation and compliance. They can also improve their sustainability approach by automating roles, utilizing electric vehicles for logistics and reducing electrical and electronic waste headed for landfills.

By investing in sustainable strategies, Channel partners gain a competitive edge, enabling them to improve business growth and strengthen stakeholder and consumer relationships while adhering to their sustainability principles.

How can data be leveraged to better understand and manage problems?

For Channel firms wanting to make their supply chain more sustainable, the process of collecting and sharing data is often seen as a key challenge. However, once the hard work of data collection is done, it is hugely beneficial for evaluating an organization's ESG performance.

Channel businesses, like many others, are relying heavily on data and analytics to make crucial business decisions. While this is seen as efficient, if decisions are being made based on data that is unreliable and inaccurate, the impact it can have could be huge. Accurate data collection is essential for tracking Scope 3 emissions, yet just 10% of the companies with under 100 employees surveyed for our research said they prioritize managing customer sustainability goals.

By leveraging digital solutions to aid visibility and transparency of both supply chains and in line with required sustainability metrics, companies can expect to deepen engagement with their customers, reduce risk and create trust with their supply chain stakeholders. Just as importantly, sustainability practices and corporate responsibility can deliver a positive impact both inside and outside of the business long term.

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The road to net zero is a long one. For the UK to hit its 2050 target, there must be a unified effort across all sectors to decarbonize. While highly visible polluters such as heavy industry and transport make up the lion’s share of emissions, we can’t let the invisible activities of the online world off the hook. One polluter we encounter every day but may never consider a carbon culprit is digital advertising.

For years, there has been a concerted effort to optimize the supply chain that powers digital advertising, but the barriers are stubborn and steep: the lack of transparency, the vast number of adtech intermediaries, the spend wasted on low-quality placements. Each of these challenges also drive up emissions, for a global CO2 bill of 7.2 million tons a year, all just to put an ad on your screen.

Programmatic advertising — the automated process for buying and selling ads — is particularly inefficient. Advertisers pour money into the system for the sole purpose of easily reaching consumers at scale, but an audit by the Association of National Advertisers found only 36 cents of every dollar spent reaches its intended destination.

This presents a unique opportunity to the industry: cut bloat in the advertising supply chain and you kill two birds with one stone: increasing campaign performance and reducing emissions at the same time. If there’s nothing but benefits to such optimizations, why haven’t they been achieved yet? It’s simple, we didn’t have AI.

Cleaner, leaner programmatic advertising that delivers on its promise

At its heart, programmatic advertising is meant to streamline digital media buying by automating the process of placing ads in real-time. Instead of manually negotiating with individual publishers, advertisers use demand-side platforms (DSPs) to bid for ad placements as they become available across a vast network of websites and apps, who surface their available inventory on supply-side platforms (SSPs). This entire process happens in milliseconds.

Unfortunately, over time programmatic advertising has become a tangled web of intermediaries, inefficiencies, and hidden costs. The sheer number of players involved means budgets leak away before they reach publisher inventory, and every unnecessary transaction comes with its own little puff of CO2.

Worse still, the sheer volume of bid requests swarming the system is staggering; in the US alone, 647 times more bid requests are sent out every day than there are people in the country. And this pollution is not merely ‘digital’: audits have found that 60% of carbon emissions from programmatic advertising are generated during the ad selection process.

The signal-to-noise ratio is clearly way off, but machine learning and AI — perfectly suited to such messy mathematical challenges — can rebalance the scales. Instead of blindly spraying a “firehose” of requests — as the practice has been labelled — AI-powered bidding technologies take a more calculated approach. By “learning” from prior and real-time digital advertising campaign data, AI can map out the most efficient pathways for delivering ads, reducing unnecessary steps and ensuring more budgets are allocated to actual working media.

The best part? What’s good for the bottom line is also good for the planet: fewer wasted impressions mean lower costs and lower emissions; a rare win-win solution.

Emissions reductions aren’t just a happy accident of supply chain optimization, AI can also deliberately steer campaigns towards low-emission inventory using an array of real-time data signals. Factors like time of day, device type, Wi-Fi versus mobile connections, and even whether the local energy grid is running on renewables can all be accounted for; all without getting in the way of campaign KPIs.

AI’s predictive capabilities can even be trained to prevent unwanted and unintended downstream effects of optimization. For example, if you make the cost per impression cheaper, advertisers could by default buy more of them, causing a “rebound effect” where reducing costs ends up actually increasing overall emissions. AI can keep this unintended consequence in check, ensuring that absolute carbon emissions remain reduced.

Decarbonization so good even climate sceptics won’t resist

With AI taking over the number crunching, digital advertising can evolve beyond the inefficient, carbon-heavy machine it once was. Advertisers now have the means to make their campaigns work harder while using fewer resources. The old trade-off between performance and sustainability no longer applies.

For the first time, AI is enabling climate-conscious advertisers to set custom sustainability goals alongside traditional campaign metrics. Instead of just tracking cost-based performance or engagement metrics, brands can now measure carbon impact and actively work towards lower-emission media strategies without sacrificing results. But even if an advertiser doesn’t care about emissions, they’ll end up cutting them anyway in the pursuit of better performance and boosting the bottom line.

And the best is yet to come. AI isn’t a set and forget solution, it continuously learns and adapts, its scope and capabilities improving as it connects to more data sources, identifying patterns that humans would overlook. Over time, campaigns become even more efficient, with costs dropping and emissions shrinking further.

The impact of this technological revolution goes far beyond individual campaigns. As AI tools become more widespread, platforms and publishers will be incentivized to support more sustainable practices to avoid being left out of AI-optimized media plans. Demand for quality data to power this system will drag digital advertising towards total transparency, through which even more emissions savings can be uncovered.

The beauty of AI-driven programmatic optimization is that it makes doing the right thing the easy choice. As more brands and agencies realize that sustainability and profitability go hand-in-hand, the momentum will only grow. Thanks to AI, we finally have the tools to build a better, more sustainable future for digital media, one campaign at a time.

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Progress towards sustainability is rarely straightforward. Building a truly sustainable telecom network is a long and complex journey, one that requires balancing innovation, financial realities, and the constraints of existing infrastructure.

Telecom operators are discovering this first-hand as they strive for more sustainable networks. Compared to other key sectors like utilities or transportation, telecom operators were among the earlier adopters of net zero targets, led by major players like BT, Vodafone, Telia, and AT&T who helped set the pace.

These targets are admirable, but operators have a big challenge on their hands to hit them. As critical national infrastructure, telecom networks can't simply be de-installed or decommissioned and replaced from scratch. Sustainability goals must be balanced against two critical business priorities: competitiveness and financial viability. It’s a fine balance.

Balancing legacy with innovation

Even as they look to evolve their networks with more advanced (and often more eco-friendly) technology like 5G or fiber, operators are wrestling with a hidden beast – maintaining the network they already have. Telecoms is one of the longest-standing forms of what we still consider ‘modern’ technology.

It has evolved massively over time, but in the UK and US for example, some of these networks have existed for over a century. More importantly, even today, many still contain equipment that is up to fifty years old. If you flipped this around on the consumers that use these networks, it would be the same as still using the Nokia 3310 ‘brick’ or the first-ever laptop.

While older technology like copper-based DSL and PSTN infrastructure in fixed networks, along with 2G and 3G hardware in mobile, is being replaced by modern alternatives, this is a gradual process. Several major US carriers have already phased out 2G and 3G, but in the UK, VM02 is only just beginning its 3G phase-out.

Meanwhile, in the fixed space, BT, which has been preparing for its PSTN switch-off for several years, has now pushed the final deadline back from 2025 to 2027. Indeed, 81% of operators expect their copper network infrastructure to remain operational until at least 2028. Meanwhile, 60% say they’ll still be using 2G until around 2030 and beyond. The shift to modern networks is happening, but not at the same pace everywhere.

The legacy burden

This situation is a bit of a catch-22. Operators need to evolve their networks to improve their service, use less energy and drive revenue growth, but ageing infrastructure slows this down in a number of ways. The first is a financial drain. According to data from Omdia, around 50% of total operational expenditure (OpEx) is typically spent on maintaining and operating a network. This includes utilities, leasing real estate and infrastructure, and maintenance costs, with ageing equipment a big driver of this. While newer technology might demand more up-front investment, it is far more efficient in the long run, with lower day-to-day costs.

There are also more second-hand costs that come from legacy infrastructure. The ‘operational toil’ of maintaining, repairing, and replacing faulty equipment is invisible to consumers but demands significant time and resources. Outages on legacy networks are also remarkably common, with 96% of network managers in the US and UK reporting incidents. According to the same findings, the average annual impact of network downtime is £500K-£1M ($632K-$1.2M in the US), with very few respondents reporting losses below this range.

The result of all of this? Slower network evolution. This operational burden has huge implications for telcos trying to roll out new technology and services. 97% reported diverting resources from investing in new technologies like fiber or 5G to maintain legacy networks. Four out of five believe this has hindered their ability to roll out these new services versus newer greenfield operators.

The long road out

This ‘opportunity cost’ is significant, but it is not insurmountable. It just means that operators need to be as commercially and environmentally efficient as possible when decommissioning and evolving their networks.

On the financial front, the burden from legacy networks leaves such fine margins that delivering more cost-positive decommissioning projects is critical. But those ambitious net zero targets can’t be overlooked at this stage – we need to minimize the environmental impact of network evolution.

Modern equipment typically consumes between 20-50% less energy, but embedded emissions (upfront impact) for manufacturing new equipment like fiber cables or 5G radios are significant. So, while long-phase emissions are lower, the full impact depends on how long the equipment is used, how circular the supply chain is and how well the technology it replaces is phased out. Currently, many operators are running both new and old, temporarily adding to footprints rather than reducing them.

Going circular

To address this dual challenge, we are seeing operators increasingly leveraging the circular economy to minimize the environmental and financial impact of decommissioning. This means recovering, and recycling or reselling hardware and raw materials as much as possible.

According to recent research, 80% of respondents plan to resell copper infrastructure for fixed networks, while 72% intend to resell 2G or 3G equipment for mobile networks.

The market for the recycling and resale of copper is huge. At the time of writing, copper prices are at an all-time high, making ‘urban mining’ from telecom networks not just better for the environment, but also financially rewarding. For fixed network operators, this can free up resources that would normally go toward maintaining the network to reinvest in further decommissioning and accelerate timelines.

This isn’t just theoretical - BT’s infrastructure division, Openreach, has already recouped £105M in recycling old copper cables from its network. Telefónica Spain is also actively pursuing large-scale copper recovery as part of its national switch-off plans. On the mobile side, because certain markets (including the US, UK and the Nordics) are slightly ahead on network evolution, there is a market for selling refurbished equipment, but the window is closing.

While there is of course an environmental benefit to reusing and recycling old hardware, it is arguably the financial uplift that the circular economy can give operators that will be more influential in the industry’s journey towards net zero.

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• We can expect the Nothing Phone 3 in Q3
• July seems a good bet based on previous launches
• We already have the Phone 3a and Phone 3a Pro

---

We've been waiting a while for the Nothing Phone 3 – you may remember its launch was pushed back last year because Nothing wanted more time to work on its software and AI – but we now know it will definitely be arriving this year.

After opening up an 'ask me anything' session on X, Nothing CEO Carl Pei said that the Nothing Phone 3 would be launching in "Q3", the third quarter of this year. That puts the launch window as July, August, or September.

We didn't get any more details than that, unfortunately, so it remains to be seen exactly when the next flagship phone from Nothing will make an appearance. The Nothing Phone 2 was launched in July of 2023, which may give us a clue.

Back in November of last year we heard a tip that Nothing would launch three phones by the middle of this year, which means around June and July time – and the Nothing Phone 3a and the Nothing Phone 3a Pro were both unveiled in March 2025.

The story so far

Q3April 18, 2025

If Nothing had stuck to a regular schedule, we would've seen the Nothing Phone 3 in July 2024. However, in June 2024, Pei announced that the handset's launched would be pushed back to this year, stressing the need to "get the product right".

Pei went on to say that "integrating hardware and AI in a way that is both useful and brings a smile to people's faces" was the aim with the next Nothing flagship phone, so we can expect to see a bundle of artificial intelligence features included.

As our Nothing Phone 3a Pro review will tell you, there's already plenty of AI on board the current Nothing handsets – but these features, including the Essential Space 'second memory', could still use some work. Improvements may arrive with the Nothing Phone 3.

From the leaks we've come across so far, it sounds as though the Nothing Phone 3 is going to be a significant upgrade on its predecessor, and quite possibly one of the phones of the year. In a few months time, we should know for sure.

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AI is going to take over our lives. At least that’s what we keep being told. So, in a world where thousands of jobs could be replaced by AI, it’s easy to scoff that AI can make our lives better.

But it can. As we’ve seen from our use of scores of artificial intelligence platforms, artificial intelligence can equip all of us to do many things that were once beyond the scope of the majority.

And, as controversial as some of those things may be, they can also make a big difference to our overall well-being, freeing up time, making us skilled in new areas and helping to keep us calm.

Having played around with Gemini, I’ve certainly seen its transformative powers and it’s helping me to become more productive, informed and chilled.

Whereas once I was getting severe FOMO, having missed a heap of events I would have loved to attend, I’m even very much on top of my social life. Here are five things you can ask Gemini to help improve your life, too.

1. How can I save time doing something?

(Image credit: Pixabay)

Many of us perform monotonous, repetitive tasks each day, whether that’s trying to extract information from documents to organize into spreadsheets, checking text for grammar errors, writing code and more.

Gemini can help with most of this and all you need to do is ask “how can I save time doing XXX” where XXX is the thing that you need assistance with.

You should see a rundown of the steps you need to take to complete that particular task. So, for example, when we’re asking to save time with data entry, it’ll tell you to indicate the columns you need, the data types for each column and more.

This saves you having to browse the web looking for instructions but this time-saving tip also extends beyond what Gemini itself can do for you. You can ask it to shave hours off practically any task whether it’s laying a patio, assembling IKEA furniture or tips on how to make journeys quicker.

2. Is there a mindfulness or de-stress routine I can try?

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, Gemini can come to the rescue by helping you to relax or focus on the tasks you need to complete. It can give you a full mindfulness routine lasting up to 15 minutes or tailor it for a specific set of time.

Gemini can also act as a therapist and it’s interesting to note that a study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders observed “noteworthy improvements in depression and anxiety” among 3,477 participants who used AI-based chatbots to treat these conditions.

Taking cues from that, there is a Mental Health Companion AI app, which has leveraged the power of Gemini, that was an entry in a Gemini API Developer Competition. It’s certainly worth trying, although always seek professional guidance if necessary.

3. What solutions can you offer me for a problem?

(Image credit: Shutterstock / fizkes)

If you’re stuck on a task and just can’t think of a way around it, Gemini can usually offer you a fresh solution and help to move you forward.

For example, if you’ve spotted some damp on your wall and you can’t work out what could be causing it, you could ask Gemini to offer some different perspectives.

You could ask it to help with an afternoon slump, perhaps detailing the food you’ve eaten today and the things you’ve done in order to discover a potential cause. If you get in the swing of asking for assistance, it’ll become second nature and that can make life better in the long run.

4. What is the weather today and what can I do?

(Image credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rainforest Fund)

Gemini is able to make use of your location to not only tell you what the weather is going to be but also what you may be able to do with your time.

You can specify exactly the kind of thing you’re after – tell it if you want low-cost or free activities and whether you’re looking to relax, for example – and it will give you a list of suggestions, the length of which will be dependable on your area.

The AI platform can access the web and discover any events that may be on with direct links to the source so you can read more or obtain tickets if required.

In that sense, it can revolutionize your free time by ensuring you don’t miss out. What’s more, with Gemini Live on your phone, you can also get suggestions based on what’s on your screen – for example destination ideas based on a video or article.

5. Learn a new skill

(Image credit: Pixabay)

According to scientists at the Zuckerman Institute in Columbia, you should seek to learn something new each day. A study published in the journal Nature suggested discovering new skills can prime the brain to adapt to changing circumstances and it keeps our gray matter ready to learn.

There’s a simple way to do this in Gemini. Just write: “I want to start learning” and detail what it is you want to skill up in. Then add: “Can you outline the first steps I should take and suggest some good free online resources or tutorials”. This can break down those daunting tasks and it makes use of Gemini’s ability to find and structure information.

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In many ways, I’m an odd guy – I do odd things, think odd thoughts, and find odd solutions to odd problems. But then I also use and love the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which probably makes me seem supremely basic as a tech journalist.

Yet putting aside that imagined juxtaposition, I have found an odd use for Apple’s new Camera Control feature that I really wasn’t expecting to catch my attention.

Now, I’ve written before about how I’m interested in the haptics-centric extra button Apple has added to its best iPhones with the explicit idea of doing more with the cameras with greater control. But Camera Control isn’t a feature that I’ve fully embraced; more often than not, I’ll forget about it if I’m shooting quick snaps. I appreciated its potential, but Camera Control still feels a little half-baked…

That was until I needed to photograph and record the back of my head.

Thinking with my head

(Image credit: Future)

No, no, before you rush to the comments section, I haven’t gone mad. Rather, I needed to do so for a pseudo-medical reason. Specifically, I was concerned about the health of my hair at the back, and potential skin irritation (look, I’m 38, and at the age where parts of my body start to malfunction bit by bit).

If you’ve ever tried snapping a photo of the back of your noggin, then you’ll know it’s a nightmare.

Trying to guess the angle of the cameras – whether you’re using rear or selfie snappers – is an exercise in frustration and borderline madness. Then, when you think you’ve nailed the angle after a deluge of attempts, you fail to hit the digital shutter button or tap it in such a way that the shot goes askew.

Such moments can make you want to fling your phone across a room or at an inviting wall. But I can’t alleviate my irritation like that, as the phones I use are review samples and I’d get into more trouble than a moment's angry respite is worth.

However, for me, having a physical shutter button changed the weird photography game.

Through the use of Camera Control and my iPhone’s selfie camera, I was able to get some semi-useful shots and videos of the back head, ready to be pored over with increasing paranoia.

It's growing on me

The simple ability to smoothly tap a physical dedicated button was mildly transformative, letting me keep what I thought was the right framing and snap shots at speed, two things I would and have struggled to do before Camera Control.

Taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture, as I’ve gone about my travels and odd wanderings, I’m slowly finding myself using the Camera Control button a lot more. It’s a weird mental leap, not automatically tapping the digital shutter button, but when I need to keep a nicely lined-up shot in place, Camera Control proves its usefulness.

I’m not fully won over by it, and I’ve yet to really get to grips with the Apple Intelligence features it facilitates. Yet there’s scope for Apple to build out the functionality and intuitiveness of Camera Control, which I hope to see realized on the rumored iPhone 17.

What do you reckon? Do you use Camera Control, or do you think it’s still a bit of a dud now that the iPhone 16 line has had time to settle in? Let me know in the comments.

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• I found the absolute best use for the iPhone 16 Camera control – you just have to get a little wet
• I tried iPhone 16's Visual Intelligence and here's how you can too with iOS 18.2

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• British photographer Zed Nelson scoops SWPA's $25,000 top prize
• 10 category winners announced
• The exhibition is open to the public at London’s Somerset House until May 5

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"In a tiny fraction of Earth's history, humans have altered the world beyond anything it has experienced in tens of millions of years. Scientists are calling it a new epoch: The Anthropocene – the age of human".

These are the opening words describing the Sony World Photography Awards 2025 winner Zed Nelson's project, The Anthropocene Illusion.

The project, spanning six years and four continents, explores humankind's consumer behaviour towards nature and wildlife.

"So, while we devastate the world around us, we have become masters of a stage-managed, artificial 'experience' of nature – a reassuring spectacle, an illusion...to mask our destructive impact on the natural world."

Powerful words and confrontational images of wildlife in zoos, national parks, and museums across the world, some of which I have included below.

Image 1 of 2

(Image credit: © Zed Nelson, United Kingdom, Photographer of the Year, Professional competition, Wildlife & Nature, Sony World Photography Awards 2025 - 9)

Image 2 of 2

(Image credit: © Zed Nelson, United Kingdom, Photographer of the Year, Professional competition, Wildlife & Nature, Sony World Photography Awards 2025 - 4)

As I prepared to interview Zed during the opening day of the SWPA 2025 exhibition, which is being held at Somerset House in London until May 5, it struck me how severely AI is impacting the landscape of imaging in an equally tiny fraction of the history of photography.

I asked Zed for his thoughts on AI image generation in photography, and here's what he said.

"The biggest worry in documentary photography, is people stop believing in what they see. Already we're at the stage where we can see an image and the first questions are; Is this photoshopped? Did that really happen? Did you move something? Is that image real?

"The problem with that, is that the joy and beauty in photography is to see something and be amazed and think this did happen, this is real, this is a record – even for future generations – of who we were and what we did.

"If AI erodes people's belief in the medium (photography) then we have problems. On the other hand, it may be that we start valuing truth more. And if an image is declared real - this is not AI, but a document of reality – it may be that its value increases.

There will also be a move, a valuing of what is real, and so documentary work will start to become more important, not less.

"As AI multiplies it will cause problems, people will question what's real and what isn't. But I imagine there will also be a move, a valuing of what is real, and so documentary work will start to become more important, not less. People will crave it, they'll want to know it's real.

"I think there will be a separation between what is utterly created through AI, and what is declared real. We will gravitate to what is verified as real, made by people that care, and have a genuine interest in telling stories."

After our conversation, I amble through the SWPA exhibition, soaking in the diverse collection of very real images. A greater appreciation grows in me for those real stories, real people, real places, created in a real moment in time, and they impact me all the more.

I concur with Zed – even as AI-generated images become increasingly believable and plentiful, and the tools become easier and cheaper to access, we'll still need to know and experience what is real, and be moved by it.

We can't afford to be disconnected from photography because of AI image generation, in the same way that Zed suggests in his project that we have become disconnected from nature and are instead consumers of it.

I've included a selection of the SWPA winning images below. Even so, if you're in London, I highly recommend experiencing the exhibition firsthand and seeking out other photography shows near you. More details can be found at the World Photography Organisation website.

The Sony World Photography Awards 2025 winners for each category

The Sony World Photography Awards comprises 10 categories, and the winner of one of these categories is also awarded the overall photographer of the year. As mentioned, this year's award went to Zed Nelson, who also won the Wildlife & Nature category.

In addition to those categories, there is a student photographer and a youth photographer of the year award. I've included an image from each of those winners below.

In all, there were around 420,000 entries from 206 countries – a record for the 18-year-old contest.

WILDLIFE & NATURE WINNER & PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR: Zed Nelson (United Kingdom) for The Anthropocene Illusion (Image credit: © Zed Nelson, United Kingdom, Photographer of the Year, Professional competition, Wildlife & Nature, Sony World Photography Awards 2025 - 9)

OPEN PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR: Olivier Unia (France) (Image credit: © Olivier Unia, France, Open Photographer of the Year, Open Competition, Motion, Sony World Photography Awards 2025)

PERSPECTIVES WINNER: Laura Pannack (United Kingdom) for The Journey Home from School (Image credit: © Laura Pannack, United Kingdom, Winner, Professional competition, Perspectives, Sony World Photography Awards 2025 - 1)

SPORT WINNER: Chantal Pinzi (Italy) for Shred the Patriarchy (Image credit: © Chantal Pinzi, Italy, Winner, Professional competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2025)

CREATIVE WINNER: Rhiannon Adam (United Kingdom) for Rhi-Entry (Image credit: © Rhiannon Adam, United Kingdom, Winner, Professional competition, Creative, Sony World Photography Awards 2025 - 6)

DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS WINNER: Toby Binder (Germany) for Divided Youth of Belfast (Image credit: © Toby Binder, Germany, Winner, Professional competition, Documentary Projects, Sony World Photography Awards 2025 - 2)

STILL LIFE WINNER: Peter Franck (Germany) for Still Waiting (Image credit: © Peter Franck, Germany, Winner, Professional competition, Still Life, Sony World Photography Awards 2025 - 2)

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN WINNER: Ulana Switucha (Canada) for The Tokyo Toilet Project (Image credit: © Ulana Switucha, Canada, Winner, Professional competition, Architecture & Design, Sony World Photography Awards 2025 - 3)

YOUTH PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR: Daniel Dian-Ji Wu (Taiwan, 16 years old) (Image credit: © Daniel Dian-Ji Wu, Taiwan, Youth Photographer of the Year, Youth Competition, Sony World Photography Awards 2025)

Student Photographer of the Year 2025: Micaela Valdivia Medina (Peru) (Image credit: © Micaela Valdivia Medina, Peru, Student Photographer of the Year, Student Competition, Sony World Photography Awards 2025 )

ENVIRONMENT WINNER: Nicolás Garrido Huguet (Peru) for Alquimia Textil (Image credit: © Nicolas Garrido Huguet)

PORTRAITURE WINNER: Gui Christ (Brazil) for M’kumba (Image credit: © Gui Christ )

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Gather 'round, because we've got some tech tales to tell: TechRadar stories from the last seven days, covering new movie trailers, new instant cameras, new open-ear earbuds, problems for Spotify and Samsung, and more advances in artificial intelligence.

We keep waiting for the pace of tech news across gadgets, AI, and software to slow down, but it certainly hasn't happened this week. In fact, it feels like there's more news to cover than ever, and we aim to cover as many of the most important announcements as we can.

This comprehensive In Case You Missed It round-up will bring you right up to speed with everything that's happened in tech news over the past week, giving you just enough time to take a moment before we go again for another seven days of news and rumors.

8. 28 Years Later terrified us in a new trailer

More zombie mayhem is on the way (Image credit: Sony Pictures)

With the original director-writer combo of Danny Boyle and Alex Garland from the first movie making a return for this third instalment, our hopes were already high for 28 Years Later – and anticipation levels just went up an extra notch after another trailer drop.

The 191-second clip manages to give us just enough of a look at the movie to whet our appetites without giving too much away. It certainly seems as though there will be enough jump scares and zombie gore to make the upcoming movie a treat for horror fans.

• Read more: 28 Years Later looks like it will be the horror movie of the year in new trailer that shows how the deadly rage virus has evolved

7. We got our first glimpse of the imminent OnePlus 13T

(Image credit: OnePlus)

The next OnePlus phone launch is almost upon us, with the OnePlus 13T officially arriving on April 24. We can take a good, long look at the handset before then, though, because OnePlus has released a short video showing the phone in three different colors.

We can see a flat back, curvy corners, and a new button that's replacing the standard OnePlus alert slider on this handset. We've also had confirmation that the phone will sport a 6.32-inch screen, and a capacious 6,000 mAh battery as well.

• Read more: The OnePlus 13T is coming on April 24, and the company has already shown it off

6. Samsung’s One UI 7 rollout hit some serious snags

The Samsung Galaxy S24 (Image credit: Future | Roland Moore-Colyer)

Getting One UI 7 out to the masses has proved to be quite the challenge for Samsung, and just when we thought owners of Galaxy S24, Galaxy Z Fold 6, and Galaxy Z Flip 7 phones would be getting the update, the rollout was put on pause amid reports of a serious bug.

It's likely to mean that owners of older phones, including the Samsung Galaxy S23, are going to have to wait even longer to get their One UI 7 upgrade. With Android 16 (and therefore One UI 8) just around the corner, it's not a good look if you're Samsung.

• Read more: Samsung's One UI 7 update reportedly delayed due to a serious bug, extending the wait for Android 15

5. The music died in Spotify’s biggest outage in years

It's not been the best of weeks for Spotify (Image credit: Shutterstock / Diego Thomazini)

We found ourselves scrambling for our CD decks and radio dials on Wednesday – or maybe just YouTube – as Spotify suffered one of the most serious outages in history. Reports of unresponsive apps came flooding in from across the world for most of the day.

We still don't know exactly what happened to trigger such a major problem on Spotify's servers. Perhaps the music streaming service is too embarrassed to tell us, but the company did specifically say that it wasn't a cyberattack causing the extensive issues.

• Read more: Spotify was down – here's everything we know about its huge outage

4. Sennheiser gave us some AirPods-like open earbuds

We like the look of the Sennheiser Accentum Open earbuds (Image credit: Sennheiser)

Say hello to the Sennheiser Accentum Open, an AirPods-esque pair of open-ear earbuds that don't cost much at all: in Europe they're listed at €89.90, which should work out as around £100 / £78 / AU$161 when these attractive-looking earbuds go on sale elsewhere.

As well as being affordable, they look lightweight and promise 28 hours of battery life between charges (if you include the case). We haven't had a chance to test them yet, but we're hoping they live up to the usual high fidelity standards of Sennheiser's audio gear.

• Read more: OpenAI just upgraded memory for ChatGPT – here's everything you need to know

3. The Polaroid Flip took us back to the 90s

Old-school photography, courtesy of the Polaroid Flip (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

The Polaroid Flip is the newest analog instant camera on the market, and it might just be the best, too – take a look at some of the snaps we've managed to capture with the device, and make your own mind up about this $199.99 / £199.99 camera (Australia pricing is TBC).

It's fast and fun to use, and it's a throwback to when photos weren't stuck inside your smartphone forever: these photos actually make you feel something. Our full Polaroid Flip review will give you the complete rundown on this camera and what it has to offer.

• Read more: These 8 photos made me believe the Polaroid Flip is the best analog instant camera on the market

2. Two of the world’s best fitness apps teamed up

Strava and Runna are teaming up (Image credit: Strava)

Strava, meet Runna. These are both fantastic apps for tracking runs and other activities, and now they've joined forces: Strava has announced it's purchased Runna, although nothing is going to change in terms of how the two apps operate for the time being.

The aim is to "create even greater value for our users," according to Strava CEO Michael Martin, and we can expect to see some of the AI-powered personalized training plans that Runna specializes in making their way over to users on Strava as well, in due course.

• Read more: Strava acquires powerhouse AI-training platform Runna, and Garmin should be panicking

1. ChatGPT got some serious upgrades (again)

OpenAI has some more treats for ChatGPT users (Image credit: Shutterstock/JarTee)

OpenAI has been consistent in regularly pushing out upgrades for ChatGPT users, and the latest update brings new o3 and o4-mini models across all user plans. These models are smarter, faster, and better at working with different modes (including text and images).

In fact, these models are a nod towards the eventual arrival of the big GPT-5 upgrade, which is somewhere in the pipeline, and will be able to do much more on its own. In the meantime, images in ChatGPT have also been given their own dedicated Library section.

• Read more: ChatGPT just got a massive upgrade that takes it to the next level – here are the 3 biggest changes

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• Andor's lead actor has opened up about the end of the Star Wars TV show after two seasons
• Diego Luna is relieved that the Rogue One prequel series wasn't cancelled
• It was originally supposed to run for five seasons

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Diego Luna believes it's the right decision on Disney's part to allow Andor to end after two seasons rather than one.

Chatting to TechRadar before Andor season 2 debuts on Disney+, Luna expressed satisfaction and relief over the opportunity to tell "the story we wanted to" in the Rogue One prequel series. Indeed, Luna was glad that Disney afforded him, showrunner Tony Gilroy, and the rest of the cast and crew the chance to wrap up its narrative, rather than cancel the show after a single season.

Luna's worries about the Star Wars TV series ending before its time aren't unfounded. Despite the critical acclaim and award nominations Andor's first season was met with, it's no secret that its development was a costly endeavor.

Originally, Andor was supposed to run for five seasons, with its final installment leading directly into the events of Rogue One, However, per a report published by Forbes last December, it's estimated that the price for creating its first two seasons was an astronomical $645 million.

Development on Andor's two seasons reportedly cost over $600 million (Image credit: Lucasfilm/Disney+)

With Disney cutting costs across the board during Bob Iger's second stint as CEO, Andor's five-season plan was never going to materialize.

Thankfully, during development on one of the best Disney+ shows' first season, Gilroy had a "great idea", according to Luna, to condense four seasons' worth of character arcs and wider storytelling into one more season comprising 12 episodes.

It's a format that Gilroy discussed with me prior to season 1's release in August 2022, with the series' head writer calling them "very sexy" time jumps that would depict a single yet important event in each of the four years leading up to the start of Rogue One. Each 12-month period will span three episodes apiece, therefore allowing each narrative the same time and space to depict their individual stories.

The Empire must be stopped. Artwork inspired by Andor and illustrated by @nadamaktari.Don’t miss the three-episode premiere of Andor, streaming April 22 only on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/h6vdkclbWhApril 17, 2025

"From the beginning [of this show], we knew what we wanted to do," Luna told me. "Structurally, the plan changed because we soon realized we couldn't commit to five seasons. It takes a lot of energy, time, and money to make one, because each season takes two and a half years of our lives.

"But, while we were shooting season one, Tony had this great idea of squeezing four seasons into one and essentially make four chapters.

"I also think that, today in long format storytelling and TV in general, a lot of shows start without knowing where or when they're going to end. But, from beginning to end, we told the story we wanted to tell and that's a beautiful thing to be able to do."

I'll have more exclusive content to bring you from my interviews with Diego and more of Andor's cast in the build up to, during, and after season 2's debut. In the meantime, read more of my Andor season 2 coverage below ahead of its April 22 launch in the US, and April 23 arrival in the UK and Australia.

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• Here's how you can watch the Star Wars movies in order

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• Snowflake research finds 93% of UK businesses report efficiency gains from GenAI
• Many are also tweaking LLMs for the best output
• Data and privacy concerns remain widespread, seperate EY report finds

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Businesses are now getting to grips with AI and are implementing it with efficacy, marking a shift from the experimentation phase, with as many as 93% of UK businesses now reporting efficiency gains from generative AI (and 88% globally), new research from Snowflake has claimed.

Moreover, a staggering 98% are also training, tuning or augmenting their LLMs for better outcomes, demonstrating that companies know exactly where the tech’s benefits are and how to optimize it.

However, the usual hurdles and challenges remain in place, preventing some organizations from accessing the promised productivity benefits.

Businesses in the UK are pretty au fait with AI

Snowflake found nearly two-thirds (62%) of businesses are using AI in software engineering, with 69% using it for code reviews and debugging – both higher percentages than the global average.

AI technology is also proving popular in customer support (61%) and cybersecurity (69%) use cases, where workers are seeing faster first response times (59%), reduced manual workload (64%) and lower costs (56%).

Separate EY reporting reveals seven in 10 UK respondents have used AI in their daily lives in the past six months, but the findings conflict with Snowflake’s findings – only 44% have used it in a professional setting, lower than the global average of 67%.

Globally, EY says workers are using AI for writing or editing content (31%), learning about topics (30%) and generating new ideas (27%).

“They're not just experimenting – they're building with purpose,” Snowflake VP and UK&I Country Manager James Hall said about UK businesses.

“With smart investments in cloud infrastructure and a focus on actionable use cases, the UK is laying the groundwork to lead the next phase of gen AI transformation.”

The research also highlighted some of the challenges that businesses face when adopting AI at scale, with unstructured data presenting the biggest hurdle according to Snowflake.

EY added that privacy and security are also at the front of UK business leaders’ minds, with security breaches (71%), privacy violations (65%) and the reliability of AI outputs (67%) all cited as major concerns.

Looking ahead, EY UK&I AI Client Strategy Leader Catriona Campbell says that businesses must build worker confidence and demonstrate the value of AI.

“As AI continues to reshape our daily lives, it is crucial for business leaders to foster trust and transparency, empowering individuals to engage with AI on their own terms,” Campbell added.

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