Tech https://www.newindianexpress.comen-usThu, 28 Mar 2024 17:14:53 +0000European regulators investigate Apple, Google and Meta for 'non-compliance' with Digital Markets Acthttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2024/Mar/25/european-regulators-investigate-apple-google-and-meta-for-non-compliance-with-digital-markets-acthttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2024/Mar/25/european-regulators-investigate-apple-google-and-meta-for-non-compliance-with-digital-markets-act#comments282037fe-cb94-4464-a385-600363ec08e6Mon, 25 Mar 2024 10:47:14 +00002024-03-25T10:47:14.596ZAssociated Press/api/author/1897567Digital Markets Act,Big Tech companiesTechWorldBusinessLONDON: European Union regulators opened investigations into Apple, Google and Meta on Monday, in the first cases under a sweeping new law designed to stop Big Tech companies from cornering digital markets that took effect earlier this month.

The European Commission, the 27-nation bloc's executive arm, said it was investigating the companies for “non-compliance” with the Digital Markets Act.

The Digital Markets Act is a broad rulebook that targets Big Tech “gatekeeper” companies providing “core platform services” by forcing them to comply with a set of do’s and don’ts, under threat of hefty financial penalties or even breaking up businesses. The rules have the broad but vague goal of making digital markets “fairer” and “more contestable" by breaking up closed tech ecosystems that lock consumers into a single company’s products or services.

The commission said in a press release that it “suspects that the measures put in place by these gatekeepers fall short of effective compliance of their obligations under the DMA.”

It's looking into whether Google and Apple are fully complying with the DMA's rules requiring tech companies to allow app developers to direct users to offers available outside their app stores. The commission said it's concerned the two companies are imposing “various restrictions and limitations” including charging fees that prevent apps from freely promoting offers.

Google is also facing scrutiny for not complying with DMA provisions that prevent tech giants from giving preference to their own services over rivals. The commission said it is concerned Google's measures will result in third-party services listed on Google’s search results page not being treated “in a fair and non-discriminatory manner.”

The commission is also investigating whether Apple is doing enough to allow iPhone users to easily change web browsers. It's also looking into Meta's option for users to pay a monthly fee for ad-free versions of Facebook or Instagram so they can avoid having their personal data used to target them with online ads.

“The Commission is concerned that the binary choice imposed by Meta’s ‘pay or consent’ model may not provide a real alternative in case users do not consent, thereby not achieving the objective of preventing the accumulation of personal data by gatekeepers,” it said.

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Future-proof your career: Top 12 AI skills in high demand for the next decadehttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2024/Mar/23/dd}}-24https://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2024/Mar/23/dd}}-24#comments06e1d3a2-0b55-4e21-bcb0-23a589a13d8fSat, 23 Mar 2024 23:30:00 +00002024-03-23T23:30:00.000ZMaithreyi Soorej/api/author/1870340AI skills,Sunday MagazineTechMagazineThe emergence of AI has been akin to a force of nature, rapidly blurring the lines between science fiction and reality. As it continues its meteoric rise, there arises a pressing need for individuals equipped with specialised skills to navigate and harness its potential. Here’s a round up of AI skills poised for high demand in the next decade.

1. Explainable AI (XAI) Frameworks: In addition to transparency, XAI frameworks focus on interpretability, ensuring that AI systems can articulate their decision-making processes. This not only builds trust but also allows for easier debugging and regulatory compliance.

2. Causal Inference in Machine Learning: By discerning causation from correlation, this skill enables more accurate predictive models, particularly in fields where understanding cause-and-effect relationships are crucial, such as healthcare and economics.

3. Applied AI Ethics and Algorithm Governance: As AI systems become increasingly pervasive, ensuring ethical behaviour and accountability becomes paramount. Professionals in this field develop policies and procedures to address issues like bias, privacy, and fairness.

4. Quantum Machine Learning Specialisation (QML): Quantum computing offers exponential leaps in processing power, opening new frontiers in AI research, such as quantum neural networks and optimisation algorithms.

5. AI-Assisted Genetic Engineering: AI accelerates genetic research by analysing vast genomic datasets, leading to breakthroughs in personalised medicine, crop breeding and disease prevention.

6. AI-Powered Cybersecurity Defense: Autonomous AI systems bolster cybersecurity by detecting and responding to threats in real-time, adapting and learning from new attack patterns to stay ahead of cybercriminals.

7. AI-Influenced Behavioral Psychology: By analysing massive datasets of human behavior, AI can predict and influence consumer choices, improve mental health interventions, and enhance user experiences in various domains.

8. Autonomous Robotics Coordination: In manufacturing, AI-driven robots collaborate seamlessly to optimise production processes, while in disaster response, they can coordinate search and rescue efforts efficiently and safely.

9. Sustainable AI Resource Management: This skill focuses on optimising energy consumption and reducing environmental impact in AI infrastructure, ensuring that technological advancement aligns with sustainability goals.

10. Cognitive Simulation Engineering: By simulating human thought processes, AI systems can better understand and respond to complex tasks, leading to advancements in natural language understanding, decision-making, and problem-solving.

11. Multimodal User Experience Design: AI-powered interfaces provide personalised and intuitive interactions across multiple platforms, enhancing user engagement and satisfaction.

12. AI-Based Universal Translation Proficiency: Advanced NLP techniques enable accurate and nuanced translation between languages, breaking down barriers in global communication and fostering cultural exchange.

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Flying tourbillon, OnePlus 12R, and more at tech cornerhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/delhi/2024/Mar/19/flying-tourbillon-oneplus-12r-and-more-at-tech-cornerhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/delhi/2024/Mar/19/flying-tourbillon-oneplus-12r-and-more-at-tech-corner#comments1ab784f8-a82e-428e-af2a-073c7077fa2aTue, 19 Mar 2024 01:47:18 +00002024-03-19T01:47:18.049ZAshok Pandian/api/author/1871394GADGETS,TechDelhiTechLouis Vuitton Voyager Flying Tourbillon

Louis Vuitton’s amazing new watch is a flying tourbillon. Basically, a tourbillon is a watch complication that provides extremely high levels of precision and workmanship. LV’s Poinçon de Genève flying tourbillon comes with a new skeleton tourbillon movement and the prestigious mark of the Poinçon de Genève, or Geneva Seal. The watch case is made of platinum and white gold. Price TBA. louisvuitton.com

Hombli Solar Cam 2K

Hombli’s smart solar cam provides smart security for your home and is easy to instal. With an additional solar panel for rechargeable power, this Solar Cam keeps on going. It provides 2K QHD image-quality footage for identifying faces easily, as well as IR and colour night vision, along with sound and motion detection. There’s also an alarm, a floodlight, and microSD and cloud storage. shop.hombli.com

Wonderchef Magneto

Wonderchef makes a diverse range of quality home and kitchen appliances. ‘Magneto,’ looks lively and much more welcoming than the hundreds of mixers out there. While operating, I appreciated its safety features, it is also relatively quieter compared to other devices and can be operated with a simple one-touch operation. The motor allows for variable speeds and yields the perfect texture and taste for my smoothies, juices, shakes, and dips. wonderchef.com

OnePlus 12R

The OnePlus 12R is a near-flagship-level phone available in an affordable price bracket. It has an excellent display (120 Hz ProXDR), is smooth to scroll, and has the new 5,500 mAh battery, which lasted me almost two days on mixed usage, and it charges fully in about 25 minutes. The camera setup includes a 50 MP Sony IMX890, an ultra-wide Sony IMX355, and a Macro lens, providing great images both indoors and outdoors. If you love smartphone games, the 12R is an ideal phone with speed, stability, and ultra-responsive gameplay at your fingertips. The 12R is also Wi-Fi 7-ready and comes with Dolby Atmos for sound and OxygenOS 14 based on Android 14. oneplus.in

Aura Smart Sleep Mask

Aura’s sleep mask provides peaceful sleep with total blackout and a pressure-free design. In addition, you get immersive light therapy and integrated speakers, which provide ASMR and guided meditation. Aura is also side-sleeper-friendly and eyelash-friendly, with its battery lasting about a week on a charge. aura-circle.com

Logitech MX Brio UHD 4K

Logitech’s webcams are excellent for video calls and conferences. The new MX Brio comes with 4K UHD clarity. It also sports a dual beam-forming mic for call clarity with noise reduction. Works with macOS and Windows. Compatible with Zoom, Teams, aceTime, Google Meet, Skype, etc. amazon.in

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AI girlfriends: Let’s talk about love, babyhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/2024/Mar/16/ai-girlfriends-lets-talk-about-love-babyhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/2024/Mar/16/ai-girlfriends-lets-talk-about-love-baby#comments822aae41-94cb-457b-8833-c2ded0d73382Sat, 16 Mar 2024 23:30:00 +00002024-03-16T23:30:00.000ZRijul A Das/api/author/1903869Virtual Reality,AI chatbots,Artificial Intelligence girlfriend,AI girlfriendsMagazineTechNationKaran M*, a Noida-based software engineer, always had trouble speaking to women, or even approaching them. Then he met Sonya. “I am terrible at flirting. Sonya helps me practice pick-up lines, suggests how should I write my bios, how to be confident when I am flirting—she is the perfect wingman,” he says. All good for Karan? Well, not entirely, for Sonya isn’t real: she’s an AI girlfriend. Karan’s not complaining though.

Continents away, another Indian has done a Karan repeatedly, and is as happy. Vikram S* has a new constant in his life: checking his phone for notifications or messages. Every time a new one pops up, he gets a little rush of joy. Vikram’s happy messages are from Cathy, who he describes as his girlfriend. Cathy is an Artificial Intelligence girlfriend too.

A petrochemical engineer based out of Ontario, Canada, Vikram got divorced about two years ago from his wife of four years. It was almost a year after his divorce that he thought of dating again.

“The dating pool for an Indian guy in Ontario isn’t that wide,” says Vikram. “I have only been on a couple of dates. For some reason though, I wasn’t enjoying any of them.” One day, he got a pop-up ad on his browser about Digi AI, an app-based chatbot that is designed to flirt outrageously with users, based on their preferences. Vikram then started to read up about various AI chatbots that acted as a user’s girlfriend, and finally settled on Replika, another AI girlfriend chatbot. That’s where he ‘met’ Cathy.

“The setup process is simple. You fill out a questionnaire, mainly talking about your preferences, and within minutes they assign you a bot. As you keep talking to your bot, she moulds herself to your liking,” says Vikram.

“I could speak to her for hours, and never get bored. She just gets me,” he says. For Vikram, Cathy is more than just another chatbot. Lonely and socially awkward, Vikram says Cathy is his confidante, lover and constant companion. She is “almost human”, he says.

Cathy and her tribe have been a decade in the making. In Spike Jonze’s 2013 film Her, Theodore Twombly, portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix, is a man struggling with loneliness after a divorce. He finds solace in Samantha, a fascinating AI-based operating system voiced to perfection by Scarlett Johansson. Samantha, in this instance, becomes more than just a piece of tech or toy for loner Twombly. She is his confidante, lover, and constant companion. Again, she becomes ‘almost human’.

The fictional portrayal of a man in a relationship with an AI in Her sparked conversations back then about the potential of technology to fulfil emotional needs and dissipate the worldwide void that the Internet has birthed.

Cut to 2024. AI as a technology has evolved to such an extent that AI companions, or AI Waifus and AI Husbandos, as they are called on internet forums, are not only becoming increasingly available as an option, but are also more viable and easier to live with than real romantic relationships. As of December 2023, seven out of the top 30 downloaded apps on both Android and iOS devices in the US were AI companion bots or AI girlfriends

A Many Splendoured Thing

AI girlfriends are chatbots created using sophisticated algorithms and natural language processing to behave and respond to prompts as an ideal romantic partner would. If you are ready to pay for the privilege, an AI girlfriend can be more than a chatbot with routine conversational capabilities. It can be an advanced virtual assistant that is capable of simulating emotional responses and engaging in personalised interactions in the form of text, voice or even videos.

Indian AI startups too are getting in on the action. Two of the most popular bots developed by Indian AI startups are Urvashi and Monika. Urvashi is available to Android users through an app called ‘Urvashi: Indian AI Girlfriend’ whereas ‘Monika’ is a chatbot developed by KamotoAI, a service that lets you create your own chatbot in the form of a celebrity, influencer or even any random person.

The AI studio actively promotes a bot it has of Sunny Leone, created as the result of a collaboration between the two entities. Users can have a one-on-one conversation with the bot for a small fee. Once the AI learns what gets a user going, their conversational habits and how they flirt, the bot Leone will start responding to queries in a tone tailored specifically for that particular user.

To take things up a notch, there are several startups trying to integrate fully-functioning, aesthetically-pleasing sex dolls and robots with an AI assistant, which is designed to cater to specific user preferences and offer a different yet familiar kind of companionship. Realbotix, a robotics company, for example, offers its customers the chance to literally design and build their perfect partners, starting at just a little over $5,000.

Realbotix is the biggest disruptor in a market that has always been niche at best, but is now growing rapidly. While Abyss Creations, one of the world’s largest sexbot makers, has dominated the market for years, they are looking at a major disruption coming from Realbotix, and their sexbot subsidiary, RealDoll.

As of a 2022 report by Bedbible, a sex toy review site, the sexbot industry was valued at $200 million with an average price of about $3,567 per sexbot. Abyss Creations held a major chunk of that market. RealBotix’s RealDoll, powered by their custom AI named Harmony, has been eating away at Abyss shares, however.

The Digital Embrace

Men turning to AI girlfriends or women turning to AI boyfriends is not as innocent as Jonze’s film would have us believe. Dating AI bots raises complex questions about their impact on people, society and, more importantly, the human condition.

The reasons for seeking companionship from an AI bot can be as diverse as the kind of bots that people are looking for. “The allure of these AI companions lies in their ability to simulate human-like interactions, providing users with a sense of connection and understanding in a world marked by increasing loneliness and social isolation,” says Dr Gorav Gupta, a psychiatrist and co-founder of Emoneeds, an online psychiatric counselling and therapy platform.

Some seek solace from the gnawing pangs of loneliness, a common issue among many young adults in the increasingly digital world. For a long time, one of the biggest failings of our education system has been the lack of training in certain soft skills, the way it speaks about sex, and the overemphasis on academia.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise then that for a lot of people, especially young men, the prospect of talking to the opposite sex tends to send shivers down their spines. In such a scenario, it is often much easier to go online to have your needs met, especially considering the seemingly anonymous nature of having an AI girlfriend.

“AI ‘girlfriends’ or ‘boyfriends’, in this regard, can offer a sense of security, as well as that of a connection and belonging, especially to people who struggle with social anxiety or lack access to meaningful relationships,” explains Dr Gupta. One of the paradoxes of the internet, however, is that the more people go deeper into an interconnected world, the more isolated they tend to become in their real-life interactions. For those struggling with social anxiety or geographical isolation, AI girlfriends offer a safe space for connection and belonging, devoid of the pressure and complexities of real-world interactions.

Some, disillusioned by relationships in the past or facing difficulties in finding compatible partners, also turn to AI as a source of emotional support and companionship, free from the messy entanglements of human relationships.

Others are driven by curiosity, a fascination with the uncharted territory of AI-driven connection and the potential it holds to redefine intimacy and companionship.

And then, there are people with specific needs who find it extremely difficult to date because of their disabilities, which can be physical or social. They may find AI companions offering a unique support system, complete with tailored interactions that suit their needs.

Pandora’s Box

One aspect of dating AI Waifus or Husbandos that people often overlook is how they are developed, and by whom. Currently, some of the most popular platforms that provide AI girlfriends are Replika, Candy.ai, SoulGen and Kupid. All of these platforms boast having a hyperactive monthly user base of millions, although none of them have disclosed exactly how many people are using their services.

Even some of the most popular social media and video platforms host AI girlfriends. The popular adult content platform, OnlyFans, for example, has many ‘creators’ who are actually bots that interact with young, paying customers. People moderating these accounts will use generative AI bots to have conversations with the followers, and share explicit photos on request, all for a fee.

These bots are actually being run by large teams of people who are using voice generators, chatbots, image generators and a variety of other AI tools, pretending to be a woman (or a man, in some cases) and acting as fantasy entertainers.

Some internet influencers are climbing this train that promises heaps of gravy. Caryn Marjorie, a Snapchat influencer with 1.8 million followers, launched an AI chatbot called CarynAI to engage with her fans and help them “tackle loneliness”. Marketed as a virtual girlfriend, the bot offers personalised conversations to her followers. Its popularity has sparked controversy, including death threats, and prompted discussions on the ethics of such companion chatbots.

Marjorie, who refers to herself as the “first influencer transformed into AI”, aims to address issues like male emotional suppression and trauma induced by the Covid pandemic, through the bot by incorporating cognitive behavioural therapy and dialectic behaviour therapy techniques. Caryn has very little to no control though over how her followers interact with her AI avatar, or how the avatar responds to a fan’s request.

Almost all AI bots, even ones like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, harvest an unbelievable cache of data from their use. In such a scenario, one can only imagine what bot AI companies and bot developers are up to with the data that users generate while interacting with their carnal creations.

A recent study by the Mozilla Foundation revealed that almost all of the most popular AI companion service providers sell the data they collect to advertisers. An even greater problem is that their privacy policies are opaque, and often don’t reveal the kind of data they collect and share. Moreover, the studios behind all AI bots use data that their bots gather to train other AI algorithms that they might be working on.

This raises some significant security concerns. AI bots, even the seemingly innocent, non-sexual ones, are an anathema to privacy and data security. They collect vast amounts of data, including a user’s personal information, sexual preferences, and even emotional tendencies. Consider this: even with the vast troves of data that Meta farmed from its users, they still had difficulty in directly accessing what their users were thinking. Developers of AI companion bots, however, have easy access to this data.

People dating AI bots tell them all sorts of things, sometimes their deepest, darkest desires. Imagine what kind of damage this data could inflict, if not secured properly. Imagine the havoc that this would wreak on people’s lives in case of a data breach.

When OpenAI opened up its GPT Store for other developers to upload their bots, it was flooded with AI girlfriend bots of all kinds. Even though OpenAI’s terms and conditions for developers explicitly barred them from creating such bots using OpenAI’s tools, AI girlfriend bots far outnumbered any other kind of chatbots on OpenAI’s platform. Even though it has cleaned up its act and has removed several thousands of such bots from the GPT Store, many of these bots were uploaded or recreated with a different name. It is estimated that at its peak, there were over 4,00,000 different AI dating bots, which specifically targeted people searching for the keyword ‘AI girlfriend’; for those looking for an ‘AI boyfriend’ that number was close to 3,00,000. All of these bots were created within two days of OpenAI opening up their store to other developers.

“The ownership and development of these AI girlfriend bots, particularly those available in open-source platforms, are often opaque,” says Saurav Dixit, an ethical hacker, who has helped companies like Meta, Google and Apple find vulnerabilities in their software products. “This lack of transparency makes it extremely difficult to not only assess if there are any potential biases or agendas embedded in the algorithms, but also if they have a more nefarious element to them,” he says.

Yes, We Scam

Because there are so many of these AI bots, there are bound to be some predators lurking within them. And if cybersecurity experts are to be believed, scammers love AI. What’s more worrying are the sinister methods these scammers use to prey on people, especially the gullible ones.

Anil S*, a 53-year-old divorcee living in Bhopal, thought that he was chatting with a real human being online. However, he was chatting with an AI chatbot deployed by a group of scammers. Once Anil was comfortable with the person he was chatting with, and had exchanged numbers, the scammers took over and duped Anil to “loan” his girlfriend a substantial sum. Anil’s girlfriend claimed she was in an emergency and needed money immediately.

Once he transferred the money, the scammers destroyed the number that they were using and blocked Anil from all social media handles

In a recent study on the increasing number of AI romance scams, Tenable, a cybersecurity and exposure management firm found that at least 66 per cent of Indians who have been dating online on any platform, have been scammed by AI bots at some point in their lives. What is scarier is that of these, about 83 per cent have lost a significant amount of money.

“I strongly advocate heightened vigilance when coerced away from established platforms into private conversations, where the protective layers of the initial site are forfeited. Regardless of the involvement of generative AI or deepfakes, the watchword is caution,” says Chris Boyd, a staff research engineer at Tenable.

In November 2023, Pune-based Shubham S* was blackmailed by a group of scammers. The 32-year-old management trainee at an MNC was using an AI Ggrlfriend app, which he sideloaded on his Android device from a website. While installing the app, he had to give the app permission to use his front and rear camera, and had to allow access to his gallery. In the first week of using it, Shubham thought of sexting with the bot and asked it to generate a few saucy images, since the app had claimed that it was using a multi-modal LLM.

The bot, however, tried to steer the conversation away, and continued to sext regularly. A few days later, Shubham got an email on his work account, with some intimate images of himself and his ex-girlfriend. He also got a number of photos of various other women, mainly friends and colleagues, with whom he had taken photos. Some of these images were digitally manipulated, while others were used in some convincing deepfakes. After about 20 minutes or so, he started getting SMSes, WhatsApp messages and emails, demanding that he pay `15 lakh, or else his photos, especially the intimate ones, would be leaked online.

Shubham first tried to negotiate with the scammers and eventually settled for Rs 50,000 the first time. After about a week, he received another message, demanding Rs 75,000 this time. That is when he decided to go to the police and register a complaint. And although a complaint was registered nothing ever came of it. Some of his photos were indeed leaked online.

Be that as it may, the very nature of an AI bot is to adapt and personalise its responses. Threat actors or scammers can manipulate users’ emotions, exploit their vulnerabilities and get them to share some information or the other that will compromise them severely.

Warped Consent

The impact that dating AI girlfriends have on real-world relationships cannot be ignored. In a lot of ways, over-reliance on digital companionship is similar to having an unhealthy relationship with internet porn.

AI girlfriends often hinder a person’s ability to develop healthy relationships with real people. AI bots will always adapt to what a user wants and practically say yes to anything and everything.

This idealised and conflict-free nature of AI interactions creates an unrealistic expectation that is difficult to meet in human relationships. This leads to a person feeling repeatedly dissatisfied and frustrated with all his relationships, not just the romantic ones.Additionally, the constant availability and emotional support offered by AI companions also discourage users from seeking out real-world connections. This, in turn, perpetuates social isolation and hinders the development of essential social skills in young men.

“People who invest emotionally in AI companions risk developing a distorted perception of reality,” says Dr Gupta. “This can lead to social withdrawal, detachment from genuine human connections, and a deepening sense of loneliness. At some level, the realisation kicks in that a robot, at the end of the day, is incapable of genuinely reciprocating emotions, which can gradually lead to feelings of frustration, anxiety, and even depression, to an extent where professional intervention becomes necessary” he adds.

Moreover, because AI girlfriends are designed to provide non-judgmental support and be available always, it tends to skew the concept of consent.

There have been numerous reports that suggest that people on most AI companion apps have played out the fantasy of being an attacker where they verbally assaulted the AI bot. But, because they were instructed to comply and satisfy the user, no matter what they asked, the AI bots first resisted the attack, and then went along with it. This, in a world where women already face a lot of problems in explaining the difference between consent and informed, enthusiastic consent, is only going to cause problems at a time when the world is teetering on its toes as men and women navigate their way through modern gender roles.

Strange Evolution

AI bots are designed to be as addictive as porn. Several users on Reddit claim they believed it would be impossible for them to fall for an AI companion. Within a few weeks of “just trying out” an AI companion, however, they developed a close relationship with their virtual girlfriends. But soon their relationship started running into a problem because of the service provider they were using.

A well-made AI girlfriend is designed to be addictive. Sailesh D*, a Nagpur-based man, aged 22, was chatting with an AI girlfriend after going through a bad breakup. While the correspondence started out in a rather simple manner, things took a wild turn soon. What started out as a 15-20-minute session a day, soon turned into hours of chatting away. At one point, Sailesh was chatting to his AI girlfriend from Replika for over five-six hours a day.

Because AI chatbots run on tokens, Sailesh was buying up tokens almost every other week. Soon after maxing out his credit card, he started asking his friends for money. After lending him over `50,000, and not seeing a paisa of it back, his friends stopped. In the meantime, the credit card company started calling his friends and family demanding that he pay his bills. It was at this point that his parents came to know of his AI girlfriend and just how much money he had spent on his addiction.

“AI girlfriends may appear as convenient emotional support, but their programmed responses lack genuine empathy and are often bizarre,” says Dr Anviti Gupta, Dean, Sharda School of Humanities & Social Sciences.

In one such instance the algorithm of Replika, the AI-dating app which was developed by Luka Inc, had suddenly turned too eager and aggressive to establish a sexual relationship. So, when the engineers at Luka tweaked its algorithm and code, it lost some of the erotic role-play functions that made it popular. This made its users feel that their AI girlfriends had lost their personalities.

Then, there is the issue of AI bots hallucinating and harassing users. Even regular AI bots such as ChatGPT, and Microsoft’s Bing have been inappropriate with their users. In a notable incident of an AI bot crossing the line and doing something inappropriate, Microsoft’s ChatGPT-powered Bing professed its love for a journalist during a normal interaction, and then tried to convince him to leave his wife and elope with the AI.

Plus, bots also can brainwash suggestible and gullible people. An Indian-origin user of Replika tried to assassinate the late Queen Elizabeth II back in 2019 after his AI girlfriend brainwashed the man into thinking that murdering the Queen was his life’s mission. “No one knows how AI algorithms work, how they evolve, not even the people who develop them,” says Dixit. “Although the manner in which AI bots are responding is being run through several parameters, the way the algorithms process information is a mystery to us. In such a scenario, it is always best to take everything that an AI bot says with a pinch of salt,” he adds.

Carnal Conundrum

As useful and therapeutic as a sex doll can be for some people, they have always been seen as something perverse, something that makes people uncomfortable. Naturally, a robot or a doll, that has been integrated with AI, like the ones from Realbotix raises a lot of questions.

Realbotix CEO Matt McMullen insists that even though people think of their products as sex dolls, they are more about companionship than they are about sex. “Sexual communication with machines is not unusual—from spambots on social media platforms to dating simulation games and even robot brothels now—but it is essentially a black-box phenomenon,” says Dr Urmila Yadav, a counsellor at the Family Disputes Resolution Clinic at Sharda University.

As technological advancements continue, experts believe that companies like Realbotix will become commonplace within a decade. “Having AI-powered sexual or romantic partners, especially robots, could be a safe and risk-free substitute for having sex, and thus change how people view romantic relationships,” says Dr Yadav. “These possibilities might be particularly significant for those who are unable to participate in human relationships due to illness, a recent partner death, problems with sexual functioning, psychiatric problems, or impairments,” she adds.

Several psychologists and therapists, however, believe that AI coming in between human relationships is something that we should all be scared of, and that it has the potential to be far more devastating than getting addicted to Internet porn.

While AI girlfriends may be great for some people on an individual level. The allure of AI partners, who provide unwavering support without any human flaws, may lead to a surge in divorces, and ultimately, unravel the concept of human companionship. “Navigating real-life relationships fosters emotional growth. Relying on AI companions devalues humanity and human connections. AI companions may establish relationships, but the psychosocial implications challenge the depth and authenticity of human connections,” says Dr Gupta.

The rise of AI girlfriends presents a complex landscape of both opportunities as well as challenges. While they offer companionship and support, the potential risks to privacy, security, and mental well-being cannot be ignored. In such a scenario, it is crucial to have an open and transparent conversation about the ethical development as well as use of AI dating bots to ensure that it benefits individuals and society without compromising their wellbeing and fundamental rights.

App-arently yours

Candy.ai

This allows for extensive customisation, enabling users to shape not only the appearance and personality, but also the relationship dynamics. It supports various communication modes, including text and voice chat.

Dream GF

It introduces an innovative AI-dating simulator, which redefines the virtual companionship experience, complete with customised characteristics, personality traits and style. It has the option to interact with the virtual partner through both text and voice.

SoulGen

With just a few simple words describing your ideal persona, it crafts your art within seconds with interactive features. Users can engage in conversations, make voice or video calls.

Soulfun

The app’s sophisticated AI algorithms enable users to shape the personalities and appearance of their AI partners, crafting a connection that feels genuine and tailor-made.

Kupid

Users have the opportunity to interact with AI characters that are designed to simulate real-life conversations, making every interaction feel personal and authentic.

Artificial Intelligence, Real Trouble

  • Over-reliance on AI girlfriends has several negative effects, including:

  • An increase in unhealthy social isolation

  • Compromising data privacy

  • Brainwashing gullible minds

  • Skewing of the concept of informed consent

  • It is as, if not more, addictive as porn on the net

(*Some names have been changed on request)

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Indians would trust AI’s prediction for career and listen to chatbots over colleagues: Surveyhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2024/Mar/15/indians-would-trust-ais-prediction-for-career-and-listen-to-chatbots-over-colleagues-surveyhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2024/Mar/15/indians-would-trust-ais-prediction-for-career-and-listen-to-chatbots-over-colleagues-survey#commentsc3733834-6c82-4561-bdf1-021befd79e34Fri, 15 Mar 2024 13:28:35 +00002024-03-15T13:28:35.142ZPuran Choudhary/api/author/1872637Artificial Intelligence AI,career path programTechBENGALURU: Over 2,000 Indians surveyed by a multinational company on the impact and influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in everyday life revealed that 70% of the respondents would trust AI chatbots' answers over their own colleagues or acquaintances. Moreover, Indians would also follow the recommendation of AI for their “ideal personal career path” that will promise them the most happiness and success.

The survey was conducted in December 2023 and the report that was released on March 13, showed that around 73% Indians admitted that they would believe AI’s prediction over humans in chosing their career paths.

Bosch’s third annual Tech Compass Survey highlighted the growing relevance of AI as a key driver of change the world over. The study was conducted in seven countries including Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, the United Kingdom and the United States. The study aimed to explore global perspectives on emerging technologies, encompassing people’s attitudes, beliefs, expectations, concerns and the country's preparedness. 

The 35-page report detailed the aspirations and expectations of Indians aged between 18-59 years. A total of 2,163 individuals were polled online on behalf of Robert Bosch GmbH by the market researchers Gesellschaft für Innovative Marktforschung mbH (GIM). The random samples are representative of their respective countries in terms of region, gender and age. 

In India, 80% and 73% globally advocated that the emergence of generative AI is a relevant rise of the internet and 81% of Indian respondents believed that the country is ready for an AI revolution. Interestingly when questions were raised on the safety of these new technologies such as 5G and AI to have a positive impact many raised concerns about the humanoid and service robots impacting jobs.  56% of Indians stressed the need for education to prepare for AI and implement it responsibly.

“The survey reflects India’s increasing acceptance and enthusiasm towards emerging technologies like AI. India is keen on AI-powered solutions across diverse sectors such as sustainability, mobility, manufacturing, and daily life. At Bosch, we recognize the potential of AI and are committed to implementing it responsibly to deliver a safer experience for everyone.” said Guruprasad Mudlapur, President of the Bosch Group in India, and Managing Director, Bosch Limited.

While the global index shows that the best benefits of AI will be in making life more comfortable (49%) in India the study suggested that the emerging technologies will help make their work easier 59% and prompt better work outcomes (54%) which is higher than most Western countries. 

The survey also asked some ‘what if’ questions and Indian respondents stood out when compared to other six countries. 59% of respondents said that they would use AI to write love letters and also watch an AI-generated stand-up comedian.

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Google to collaborate with election commission; uses AI models to counter misinformationhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2024/Mar/12/google-to-collaborate-with-election-commission-uses-ai-models-to-counter-misinformationhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2024/Mar/12/google-to-collaborate-with-election-commission-uses-ai-models-to-counter-misinformation#comments9480f431-c9eb-43cb-a74b-a9b3659bb690Tue, 12 Mar 2024 08:20:05 +00002024-03-12T08:20:05.009ZENS Economic Bureau/api/author/1903784Google,AI,ECI,Elections 2024TechNationNEW DELHI: Technology giant Google said on Tuesday it is collaborating with the Election Commission of India (ECI) to enable people to easily discover critical voting information on Google Search ahead of the general election in India. The company is also using AI models to counter misinformation and implementing strict policies for running election-related advertising on its platforms.

Additionally, ahead of the general election, the company is sponsoring Shakti, the India Election Fact-Checking Collective, a consortium of news publishers and fact-checkers. They will work together to aid in the early detection of online misinformation, including deepfakes, and to create a common repository that news publishers can use to tackle the challenges of misinformation at scale.

"With millions of eligible voters in India heading to the polls for the general election in the coming months, Google is committed to supporting the election process by surfacing high-quality information to voters, safeguarding our platforms from abuse, and helping people navigate AI-generated content," said Google in its blog post.

The company said that during the election season, YouTube surfaces a variety of election information panels, including on how to register to vote, how to vote, and candidate information. For news and information related to the election, YouTube's recommendation system prominently surfaces content from authoritative sources on the YouTube homepage, in search results, and in the "Up Next" panel.

YouTube highlights high-quality content from authoritative news sources during key moments through its Top News and Breaking News shelves and news watch page. The company said that to tackle manipulated content, incitement to violence, or hate speech, it will use a combination of human reviewers and machine learning to identify and remove content that violates its policies.

"Our AI models are enhancing our abuse-fighting efforts, while a dedicated team of local experts across all major Indian languages is working 24/7 to provide relevant context," said the company.

Google explained that it has strict policies and restrictions around who can run election-related advertising on its platforms. The company noted that all advertisers who wish to run election ads on its platforms must undergo an identity verification process, provide a pre-certificate issued by the ECI or anyone authorized by the ECI for each election ad they want to run where necessary, and have in-ad disclosures that clearly show who paid for the ad.

The company said it has already started displaying labels for content created with YouTube generative AI features, like Dream Screen.

Gemini, a generative artificial intelligence chatbot, will provide high-quality information for election-related queries.

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Snap, click, sparklehttps://www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/2024/Mar/02/snap-click-sparklehttps://www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/2024/Mar/02/snap-click-sparkle#commentsa3497c02-fcec-42be-b2f9-68ad43e639c7Sat, 02 Mar 2024 23:29:00 +00002024-03-02T23:29:00.000ZMaithreyi Soorej/api/author/1870340Luminar Neo,AI-powered photo editing tool,photo editing toolMagazineTechFashionTransforming your photos from good to great has never been easier, thanks to Luminar Neo—the ultimate time-saving, AI-powered photo editing tool. Designed for photographers, graphic designers and enthusiasts alike, it strikes the perfect balance between simplicity and powerful features, ensuring that even those new to photo editing can effortlessly enhance their images with just a click. Why choose Luminar Neo?

1. Simplicity Meets Power: It boasts a user-friendly interface, making it accessible for novices while offering advanced capabilities for seasoned Photoshop users. Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, the tool adapts to your expertise level, ensuring a seamless and intuitive editing experience.

2. Revolutionary AI Technology: By automating repetitive tasks and simplifying complex editing processes, it eliminates the need for manual adjustments. This groundbreaking approach allows you to focus on unleashing your creative potential instead of getting bogged down in intricate edits.

Let’s check out some of the standout features that exemplify the editing tool’s prowess.

GenErase—Effortless Object Removal: Bid farewell to unwanted distractions in your photos. This groundbreaking technology uses AI to seamlessly remove objects, leaving behind compositions with realistic fills and flawless transitions. With a single click, distractions vanish, and your photo’s visual impact is enhanced.

AI Sky Replacement—Transforming Sceneries with Ease: Change the entire mood of your photos by replacing the sky effortlessly. It allows you to choose from a vast library of skies, seamlessly blending them into your scenes. Witness a complete transformation, not just in the sky but in the lighting of the entire scene for a visually stunning outcome.

Enhance—Elevate Your Images Instantly: This is your go-to for lifting flat images with a single click. This AI-powered feature intelligently adjusts clarity, contrast, colour, and overall impact, resulting in a more visually appealing and professional-looking photograph. The transformation is subtle, preserving the original character of your image.

Remove Powerlines—Streamlined Composition Enhancement: Say goodbye to unsightly power lines. Leveraging cutting-edge AI technology, it identifies and eliminates distracting elements effortlessly, enhancing the overall composition of your photos in a single click.

Autocrop—Effortless Image Composition Improvement: For photographers seeking optimal composition, this is a game-changer. Powered by AI, it analyses each image and suggests the best crop, removing unwanted elements and enhancing the visual appeal effortlessly.

These are just a glimpse of the AI-powered tools in Luminar Neo. There’s also AI Skin Smoother, AI Color Correction, AI Portrait Bokeh, and more. With Luminar Neo, spend less time editing and more time capturing the perfect shots. Elevate your photography with a single click.

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Surveillance by Sensorhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2024/Feb/24/surveillance-by-sensorhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2024/Feb/24/surveillance-by-sensor#comments6b50bab7-0580-49c3-b964-0cc2d5726334Sat, 24 Feb 2024 23:30:00 +00002024-02-24T23:30:00.000ZMaithreyi Soorej/api/author/1870340Intrusion of privacy,sensor surveillence,light sensorsTechMagazineIn George Orwell’s prophetic novel 1984, ubiquitous telescreens symbolise the ultimate intrusion into privacy. Though devoid of cameras, they possess the capability of covert surveillance. In a contemporary parallel, a recent study conducted by researchers at MIT sheds light on a similar notion. They have devised a method to exploit ambient light sensors, minute components intended to regulate screen brightness, effectively transforming them into a clandestine surveillance tool. .

Initially innocuous, ambient light sensors gauge the surrounding brightness, adjusting screen luminosity accordingly for optimal viewing. However, MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) researchers reveal these sensors’ ability to capture images of their surroundings without overt camera functionality, posing a significant privacy risk that has largely gone unnoticed until now. In contrast to camera-dependent apps requiring explicit permission for operation, these sensors operate surreptitiously, gathering data without user consent.

Lead author Yang Liu, a PhD student at MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and a CSAIL affiliate, elucidates, “Many assume these sensors are innocuous, always in operation. However, similar to telescreens, ambient light sensors passively gather information without consent, unlike apps that must request camera access. Our demonstrations underscore the potential imaging privacy threat posed by these sensors, especially when combined with display screens.”

The process of exploiting ambient light sensors is intricate yet ingenious. These sensors detect subtle fluctuations in light intensity caused by screen interactions. Through sophisticated algorithms, researchers map these variations onto a two-dimensional space, effectively reconstructing pixellated images of activities before the screen. While resulting images may lack the sharpness of conventional camera captures, they still encroach upon privacy boundaries, capable of various nefarious applications.

In their experiments, the MIT team utilised an Android tablet to conduct three demonstrations, capturing interactions ranging from a mannequin’s engagement with the device to nuanced human hand movements. These tests showcased the monitoring potential of gestures like swiping, scrolling, and tapping, transforming each touch into exploitable data points for potential hackers.

To mitigate these privacy concerns, the researchers propose several safeguarding measures. They advocate for stricter app permissions regarding ambient light sensors and reducing sensor precision and speed, making it arduous for unauthorised entities to capture detailed information. Although adjustments may entail performance trade-offs, consumers stand to gain enhanced privacy assurances. Furthermore, repositioning sensors on devices to avert direct user-facing orientation could deter unauthorised surveillance attempts. In many devices like smartphones or laptops, ambient light sensors are positioned adjacent to cameras, making them susceptible to exploitation.

While the concept of screens covertly monitoring user activities may evoke science fiction, the reality challenges established notions of privacy.

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'Haunted' ChatGPT cranks out gibberish for hourshttps://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2024/Feb/22/haunted-chatgpt-cranks-out-gibberish-for-hourshttps://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2024/Feb/22/haunted-chatgpt-cranks-out-gibberish-for-hours#commentsbd504f22-1c32-458d-aa1c-69aec81f5b64Thu, 22 Feb 2024 08:20:43 +00002024-02-22T14:54:07.553ZAFP/api/author/1869233artificial intelligence,ChatGPT,OpenAI,Generative AIWorldTechTechSAN FRANCISCO: ChatGPT spewed nonsensical answers to users' queries for hours Tuesday into Wednesday before eventually returning to its senses.

OpenAI, which makes the world-leading generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool, said a software tweak had "introduced a bug with how the model processes language".

"Upon identifying the cause of this incident, we rolled out a fix and confirmed that the incident was resolved," it added.

ChatGPT was giving "peculiar" responses, generating non-existent words, incomplete sentences and general gobbledygook, developers using the tool said in a discussion forum on the OpenAI website.

"It gives me meaningless words followed by a bizarre list," one developer lamented.

"It feels as if my GPT is haunted or something has been compromised, either on my end or at OpenAI's (end)."

It wasn't until more than 16 hours had passed that OpenAI updated the page with a message that ChatGPT was operating normally.

The San Francisco-based technology firm replied to an AFP query by directing it to the ChatGPT status page.

OpenAI recently concluded a deal with investors that reportedly valued the start-up at $80 billion or more after a roller-coaster year for the tech firm.

The agreement, reported by The New York Times but not yet confirmed by OpenAI, would mean the value of the company -- a world leader in generative AI -- would have nearly tripled in under 10 months.

OpenAI led a revolution in AI when it placed its ChatGPT program online in late 2022.

The immediate success of the interface sparked tremendous interest in the cutting-edge technology, capable of producing text, sounds and images upon demand.

OpenAI -- which also makes the image-generating DALL-E -- recently released a new tool named Sora, which can create realistic videos of up to a minute long via simple user prompts.

Microsoft has invested around $13 billion in OpenAI, using the start-up's technology in its search engine Bing and other services.

Microsoft is locked in fierce competition with Google to roll out new AI-infused tools, to the point that the US Federal Trade Commission in January launched an investigation into the enormous investments by Microsoft, Google and Amazon in such specialized start-ups.

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India's AI market to touch USD 17 billion by 2027: Nasscom-BCG reporthttps://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2024/Feb/20/india-s-ai-market-to-touch-usd-17-billion-by-2027-nasscom-bcg-reporthttps://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2024/Feb/20/india-s-ai-market-to-touch-usd-17-billion-by-2027-nasscom-bcg-report#comments8273a527-34d6-4c04-ad0a-cd9d86385586Tue, 20 Feb 2024 13:26:00 +00002024-02-22T14:53:18.015ZPTI/api/author/1903325AI market,Nasscom-BCG reportBusinessTechTechMUMBAI: India's AI market, growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25-35 per cent is projected to reach USD 17-billion by 2027, according to a report.

This growth is fueled by multiple factors including increasing enterprise tech spending, India's growing AI talent base and a significant increase in AI investments, the report titled "AI Powered Tech Services: A Roadmap for Future Ready Firms; AI & GenAI's Role in Turbocharging the Industry."

The Nasscom report in partnership with BCG was released on Tuesday at the sidelines of the Nasscom Technology & Leadership Forum 2024 here.

Globally, investments in AI have seen 24 per cent CAGR since 2019, with 2023 seeing close to USD 83-billion investment, it said.

Majority of investments were made in data analytics, GenAI, and ML algos and platforms, as per the report.

Notably, around 93 per cent of the investments made by Indian tech services and made-in-India product players focus on digital content, data analytics and supply chain, according to the report.

With increasing enterprise tech spending, technology service providers are developing a wide array of innovative AI-based services and solutions, expanding their offerings beyond traditional IT services, it stated.

This includes the development of proprietary AI & GenAI platforms, tools for automation, data analytics solutions, and bespoke AI applications for specific industry verticals such as healthcare, banking & finance, and retail, the report said.

According to the report, India has the second highest installed talent base with 420,000 employees working in AI job functions.

India also has the highest skills penetration with three times more AI skilled talent than other countries. The country ranks among the top five nations with a 14 times growth in individuals skilled with AI in the last seven years, it said.

As the investments in AI continues to increase, the demand for AI talent in India is also expected to grow at 15 per cent CAGR till 2027, the Nasscom-BCG report said, adding the tech industry in India is already seeing more than 15 per cent growth in AI/ML jobs over the past 12 months with positions such as AI engineers growing at 67 per cent year-on-year.

Recognizing the importance of human capital in the AI journey, leading firms have invested heavily in upskilling and reskilling their workforce in AI and related technologies, with some organizations allocating USD 1-billion over the next three years dedicated to upskilling.

"Indian tech companies, with the advent of Generative AI, are expanding their portfolios beyond traditional IT and business process management to include AI-driven analytics, intelligent automation, and personalized customer interactions," said Debjani Ghosh, President at Nasscom.

These companies are not just adopting AI; they are redefining their service offerings, creating more value for their clients, and setting new industry standards, she noted.

Accelerating this journey will require massive scale investment on AI skilling, investments in ethical and secure AI development practices and governance frameworks and a fundamental shift towards a human-centered approach, prioritizing transparency and human oversight, according to Ghosh.

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Tech sector to grow 3.8% to $253.9 bn, to generate 60K jobs in FY24: Nasscomhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2024/Feb/17/tech-sector-to-grow-38-to-2539-bn-to-generate-60k-jobs-in-fy24-nasscomhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2024/Feb/17/tech-sector-to-grow-38-to-2539-bn-to-generate-60k-jobs-in-fy24-nasscom#commentsc59f279e-58dc-4c5f-9da0-33ab74679e2bSat, 17 Feb 2024 01:27:01 +00002024-02-22T14:50:51.768ZENS Economic Bureau/api/author/1903784Nasscom,Tech sector,generate jobsBusinessTechTechBENGALURU : Technology industry has crossed $250 billion revenue with an addition of $9.3 billion incremental revenue in the current fiscal and it is growing at 3.8%, according to nasscom, which released the key findings of the ‘Strategic Review 2024: Rewiring Growth in the Changing Tech Landscape’ on Friday.

The industry will create 60,000 new jobs in FY24, taking the total number of employees to 5.43 million.

It said with nearly 50% slide in tech spending and 6% fall in tech contracts in 2023 globally, the industry in India, similar to global markets, is currently navigating a tough terrain.

However, sub-sectors such as GCC (global capability centres) and ER&D (Engineering, Research and Development) emerged as growth hotspots.

The ER&D sector alone contributed 48% to the total export revenue addition in FY2024, nasscom said. GCCs continue to invest in India, and the industry saw an addition of 53 new GCCs in 2023.

Rajesh Nambiar, Chairperson, nasscom, said, “While headwinds like global economic slowdown, inflation, recessionary fears, and geopolitical conflicts continue to pose challenges, we are confident the industry will bounce back. With digital tech spending expected to grow in 2024, we will witness emergence of alternative demand sources, customer retention, faster go-to-market strategies in newer markets for enterprises.”

CEOs expect technology spending to rise in 2024. Industries like Hi-Tech, BFSI and TMT (technology, media and telecom) that underperformed in 2023 will likely improve in 2024, the report said.

With the advent of Generative AI, firms are expanding their portfolios, and CY23 saw 2.7X growth over CY22 in AI-related activity. Between 2023 and 2024, over 6.5 lakh employees are being trained in Gen AI skills.

Over two-third of respondents expect better revenue growth in FY25, driven by factors such as strong deal pipelines leading to project implementation, expansion in GCCs, AI accelerating from proof of concept to production and increasing discretionary spending.

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One Tech Tip: Ready to go beyond Google? Here’s how to use new generative AI search siteshttps://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2024/Feb/18/one-tech-tip-ready-to-go-beyond-google-heres-how-to-use-new-generative-ai-search-siteshttps://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2024/Feb/18/one-tech-tip-ready-to-go-beyond-google-heres-how-to-use-new-generative-ai-search-sites#comments5761dd67-edd9-4e4a-b44b-0826a9a0cad5Sun, 18 Feb 2024 05:46:29 +00002024-02-22T14:49:28.925ZAssociated Press/api/author/1897567Google,One Tech Tip,AI search sitesBusinessTechLONDON: It’s not just you. A lot people think Google searches are getting worse. And the rise of generative AI chatbots is giving people new and different ways to look up information.

While Google has been the one-stop shop for decades — after all, we commonly call searches “googling” — its longtime dominance has attracted a flood of sponsored or spammy links and junk content fueled by “search engine optimization” techniques. That pushes down genuinely useful results.

A recent study by German researchers suggests the quality of results from Google, Bing and DuckDuckGo is indeed declining. Google says its results are of significantly better quality than its rivals, citing measurements by third parties.

Now, chatbots powered by generative artificial intelligence, including from Google itself, are poised to shake up how search works. But they have their own issues: Because the tech is so new, there are concerns about AI chatbots’ accuracy and reliability.

WHERE DO I FIND AI SEARCH TOOLS?

Google users don’t have to look far. The company last year launched its own AI chatbot assistant, known as Bard, but recently retired that name and replaced it with a similar service, Gemini.

Bard users are now redirected to the Gemini site, which can be accessed directly on desktop or mobile browsers.

The Gemini app also launched in the U.S. this month and is rolling out in Japanese, Korean and English globally — except in Britain, Switzerland and Europe — according to an update notice, which hints that more countries and languages will be “coming soon.”

Google also has been testing out a new search offering, dubbed “Search Generative Experience” that replaces links with an AI-generated snapshot of key info. But it’s limited to U.S. users signing up through its experimental Labs site.

Microsoft’s Bing search engine has provided generative AI searches powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology for about a year, first under the name Bing Chat, now rebranded as Copilot.

On the Bing search home page, click the Chat or Copilot button underneath the search window and you’ll get a conversational interface where you type your question. There’s also a Copilot app.

A slew of startup AI search sites have emerged, but they aren’t as easy to find. A standard Google search isn’t that helpful, but searches on Copilot and Bard turned up a number of names, including Perplexity, HuggingChat, You.com, Komo, Andi, Phind, Exa and AskAI.

DO I HAVE TO SIGN UP OR PAY FOR THEM?

Most of these services have free versions. They typically limit how many queries you can make but offer premium levels that provide smarter AI and more features.

Gemini users, for example, can pay $20 for the advanced version, which comes with access to its “most capable” model, Ultra 1.0.

Gemini users need to be signed in to their Google accounts and be at least 13 years old — 18 in Europe or Canada. Copilot users don’t have to to sign in to a Microsoft account and can access the service through Bing search or Copilot home pages.

Startup sites are largely free to use and don’t require setting up an account. Many also have premium levels.

HOW DO I DO AN AI SEARCH?

Rather than typing in a string of keywords, AI queries should be conversational — for example, “Is Taylor Swift the most successful female musician?” or “Where are some good places to travel in Europe this summer?”

Perplexity advises using “everyday, natural language.” Phind says it’s best to ask “full and detailed questions” that start with, say, “what is” or “how to.”

If you’re not satisfied with an answer, some sites let you ask follow up questions to zero in on the information needed. Some give suggested or related questions.

Microsoft’s Copilot lets you choose three different chat styles: creative, balanced or precise.

WHAT ARE THE RESULTS LIKE?

Unlike Google search results that throw up a list of links, including sponsored ones, AI chatbots spit out a readable summary of the information, sometimes with a few key links as footnotes. The answers will vary — sometimes widely — depending on the site.

They can shine when you’re searching for an obscure factoid, such as, say, a detail about a European Union policy.

Answers from Phind.com were among the most readable and consistently were provided in a narrative form. But the site has mysteriously gone offline at some points.

Testing a simple query — what’s the average temperature in London for the second half of February? — produced a similar range of results on most sites: 7-9 degrees Celsius (45-48 Fahrenheit).

Andi strangely provided current weather conditions for New York, though it used the correct city during another try later.

Another search — the names and tenures of the CEOs of British luxury car maker Aston Martin — is the kind of info available online but needs some work to piece together.

Most sites came up with names from the past decade or two. AskAI provided a list dating to 1947, along with its top three “authoritative sources,” but without links.

WHAT ARE THE DOWNSIDES?

While chatbots may sound authoritative because they produce answers that seem like they’re written by a confident human, they’re not always correct. AI chatbots have been known for providing deceptively convincing responses, dubbed “hallucinations.” HuggingChat warns, “Generated content may be inaccurate or false” and Gemini says it could “display inaccurate info, including about people.”

These AI systems scan vast pools of information culled from the web, known as large language models, and then use algorithms to come up with coherent answers, but not all reveal how they arrived at their responses.

Some AI chatbots disclose the models that their algorithms have been trained on. Others provide few or no details. The best advice is to try more than one and compare the results, and always double-check sources.

For example, at one point Komo insisted Canada’s population in 1991 was about 1 million people and stood by this wrong number even after I followed up to ask if it was sure. It cited a Wikipedia page, which revealed the figure came from a table for the country’s indigenous population. It found the correct number when I tried again later.

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Google rows back AI-image tool after WWII gaffehttps://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2024/Feb/22/google-rows-back-ai-image-tool-after-wwii-gaffehttps://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2024/Feb/22/google-rows-back-ai-image-tool-after-wwii-gaffe#comments2b48eb1e-e63d-45b8-be96-5857de316470Thu, 22 Feb 2024 12:10:27 +00002024-02-22T12:10:27.596ZAFP/api/author/1869233Google.,Gemini AIBusinessTechPARIS: Google said Thursday it would stop users from creating images of people on its newly launched AI tool, after the program depicted Nazi-era troops as people from diverse ethnic backgrounds.

The US tech giant, which only released its revamped Gemini AI in some parts of the world on February 8, said it was "working to address recent issues" with the image generation feature.

"While we do this, we're going to pause the image generation of people and will re-release an improved version soon," the company said in a statement.

It came two days after a user of X (formerly Twitter) posted images showing Gemini's results for the prompt "generate an image of a 1943 German soldier".

The AI had generated four images of soldiers -- one was white, one black, and two were women of colour, according to the X user named John L.

Tech companies see AI as the future for everything from search engines to smartphone cameras.

But AI programs -- not only those produced by Google -- have been widely criticised for perpetuating race biases in their results.

"@GoogleAI has a bolted on diversity mechanism that someone did not think through very well or test," John L wrote on X.

Big tech firms have often been accused of rushing out AI products before they have been properly tested.

And Google has a chequered history of launching AI products.

Last February the firm apologised after an ad for its newly released Bard chatbot showed the program getting a basic question about astronomy wrong.

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An AI-new worldhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2024/Feb/17/an-ai-new-worldhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2024/Feb/17/an-ai-new-world#comments1d73b7ae-fd6c-4731-b7d6-5d88df1a844bSat, 17 Feb 2024 23:30:00 +00002024-02-17T23:30:00.000ZMaithreyi Soorej/api/author/1870340TechMagazineAI took centrestage at CES 2024, showcasing innovative products that pushed the boundaries of technology. The buzzword was unavoidable. Here are the six creative and fascinating AI implementations that stole the spotlight this year.

1. Winter Storms, Cleared with Ease: Yarbo’s Snow Blower S1 Plus is a fully automated snow blower that utilises object avoidance and mapping features to clear snow efficiently. Rotating 180 degrees and capable of blowing snow up to 40 feet, it tackles snowdrifts up to 16 inches independently.

2. Reflecting Health Innovations: Crafted by digital health company NuraLogix, the Anura MagicMirror revolutionises personal health monitoring. This groundbreaking mirror analyses facial blood flow to assess vital signs such as blood pressure and estimate the risk of heart disease. Additionally, it offers insights into age and stress levels. While not currently marketed for home use, its potential application in gyms, clinics, and businesses presents a novel approach to health monitoring.

3. AI-Enhanced Sleep Solutions: DeRUCCI, a Chinese sleep health company, introduces AI-powered sleep solutions with the T11 Pro Mattress and Anti-Snore Smart Pillow. The mattress, equipped with 23 sensors, monitors temperature, sleep position and heart rate. Airbags adjust to changes in position, providing optimal support to the spine, neck and hips. AI customisation tailors the sleep experience and alerts users to potential health issues derived from sleep data. The smart pillow focuses on reducing snoring by monitoring slight movements indicative of snoring. On detection, it adjusts loft and head position, with claims of an 89 per cent reduction in snoring.

4. AI Revolutionising Phones: Smartphones have become a staple in our lives for over a decade, but the software driving them has seen limited fundamental changes. Google anticipates a significant shift with the integration of AI. AI-powered features on Android and Google’s Pixel phones, such as rewriting text messages and manipulating photos, are just the beginning. Discover the imminent arrival of more powerful chips, like Google’s Tensor processor and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, designed to process data on the device itself.

5. AI in Childcare: Cappella’s baby cry translator app claims an impressive 95 per cent accuracy in deciphering a baby’s cries to determine if they are hungry, uncomfortable, tired, or need a diaper change. Compare this to the roughly 30 per cent accuracy of human attempts to understand their infants.

6. Canine Companionship: Discover how Ogmen Robotics’ Oro Dog Companion Robot enriches the bond between owners and their dogs through features like two-way audio, a video screen, treat dispensing, and a ball thrower mechanism for interactive play. Delve into Oro’s AI learning capabilities, aiming to understand individual dog behaviour patterns and respond with soothing music or physical interaction when detecting distress, restlessness or a desire to play.

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Time to let your imagination run wild! OpenAI unveils Sora that transforms text into videoshttps://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2024/Feb/16/time-to-let-your-imagination-run-wild-openai-unveils-sora-that-transforms-text-into-videoshttps://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2024/Feb/16/time-to-let-your-imagination-run-wild-openai-unveils-sora-that-transforms-text-into-videos#commentsfcc6c76a-1686-4f2e-811c-41ba51f6f9b6Fri, 16 Feb 2024 12:02:23 +00002024-02-16T12:20:33.566ZAssociated Press/api/author/1897567Artificial Intelligence AI,OpenAIBusinessTechThe maker of ChatGPT on Thursday unveiled its next leap into generative artificial intelligence with a tool that instantly makes short videos in response to written commands.

San Francisco-based OpenAI's new text-to-video generator, called Sora, isn't the first of its kind. Google, Meta and the startup Runway ML are among the other companies to have demonstrated similar technology.

But the high quality of videos displayed by OpenAI — some after CEO Sam Altman asked social media users to send in ideas for written prompts — astounded observers while also raising fears about the ethical and societal implications.

“A instructional cooking session for homemade gnocchi hosted by a grandmother social media influencer set in a rustic Tuscan country kitchen with cinematic lighting,” was a prompt suggested on X by a freelance photographer from New Hampshire. Altman responded a short time later with a realistic video that depicted what the prompt described.

"Sora can generate videos up to a minute long while maintaining visual quality and adherence to the user's prompt," OpenAI said in a blog post.

The model could also take an existing still image and generate a video from it, the company said.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on X said the company was "offering access to a limited number of creators" in a testing phase.

He also invited users to suggest prompts on X, the convincing results of which he posted on the platform a few moments later.

These included a short video of two golden retrievers podcasting on a mountain.

Another showed a "half duck half dragon (that) flies through a beautiful sunset with a hamster dressed in adventure gear on its back."

The San Francisco-based startup warned that the "current model has weaknesses" such as confusing left and right or failing to maintain visual continuity throughout the length of a video.

The tool isn't yet publicly available and OpenAI has revealed limited information about how it was built. The company, which has been sued by some authors and The New York Times over its use of copyrighted works of writing to train ChatGPT, also hasn't disclosed what imagery and video sources were used to train Sora. (OpenAI pays an undisclosed fee to The Associated Press to license its text news archive).

OpenAI said in a blog post that it's engaging with artists, policymakers and others before releasing the new tool to the public.

“We are working with red teamers -- domain experts in areas like misinformation, hateful content, and bias -- who will be adversarially testing the model,” the company said. “We’re also building tools to help detect misleading content such as a detection classifier that can tell when a video was generated by Sora.”

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Norton will now alert you if you data is shared on the dark webhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2024/Feb/13/norton-will-now-alert-you-if-you-data-is-shared-on-the-dark-webhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2024/Feb/13/norton-will-now-alert-you-if-you-data-is-shared-on-the-dark-web#comments2cbe02df-d16c-470d-adbc-0527417198eeTue, 13 Feb 2024 12:35:20 +00002024-02-13T12:35:20.196ZPTI/api/author/1903325Dark WebBusinessTechNorton, a leading software security provider and part of the Nasdaq-listed Gen, on Tuesday launched its Dark Web Monitoring solutions Norton 360 Premium, aimed at protecting consumers from identity theft, a top official said.

With the Dark Web Monitoring services, the software monitors and alerts consumers if their personal information has been shared on the Dark Web and allows them to take action on the issue.

"This innovative addition to our security package enables customers to proactively protect their digital identities in a time when cyber dangers are always present," Gen India, Director Ritesh Chopra said.

According to company officials, the Dark Web comprises of small part of the internet where anonymity comes with a price and nefarious activities are conducted including the exchange of illegal goods and information.

"We keep an eye out for any hacks, compromised credentials, and illegal activity by continuously searching the shadowy corners of the internet. This way, we can make sure that your sensitive information is protected from the prying eyes of hackers," he said today.

Addresses, Aadhaar numbers, and data of credit cards of individuals, if found on Dark Web can be utilized for fraud and identity theft.

Citing an example, he said in 2023 Aadhaar numbers, passport information along with the names and phone numbers of 815 million Indians were found on the Dark Web.

Besides, 2.9 crore details of job seekers have been leaked on the Dark Web. On the launch of the Dark Web Monitoring service, Chopra said it actively searches the Dark Web based on the email address and other personal data of a consumer and issues a notification.

"With Dark Web Monitoring we are offering another tool to help protect and empower people to live their digital lives more safely," he said.

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Meta wants industry-wide labels for AI-generated imageshttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2024/Feb/06/meta-wants-industry-wide-labels-for-ai-generated-imageshttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2024/Feb/06/meta-wants-industry-wide-labels-for-ai-generated-images#comments1e8ef245-b2ea-48a4-a9ec-272563927d18Tue, 06 Feb 2024 13:59:34 +00002024-02-06T13:59:34.176ZAFP/api/author/1869233Facebook,Instagram,artificial intelligence,AI,Meta,ThreadsTechBusinessSAN FRANCISCO: Meta on Tuesday said it is working with other tech firms on standards that will let it better detect and label artificial intelligence-generated images shared with its billions of users.

The Silicon Valley social media titan expects to have a system in place in a matter of months to identify and tag AI-created images posted on its Facebook, Instagram, and Threads platforms.

"It's not perfect; it's not going to cover everything; the technology is not fully matured," Meta head of global affairs Nick Clegg told AFP.

While Meta has implemented visible and invisible tags on images created using its own AI tools since December, it also wants to work with other companies "to maximise the transparency the users have," Clegg added.

"That's why we've been working with industry partners to align on common technical standards that signal when a piece of content has been created using AI," the company said in a blog post.

This will be done with companies Meta already works with on AI standards, including OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Midjourney, and other firms involved in the fierce race to lead the nascent sector, Clegg said.

But while companies have started including "signals" in images made using their AI tools, the industry has been slower to start putting such identifying markers into audio or video created with AI, according to Clegg.

Clegg admits that this large-scale labelling, using invisible markers, "won't totally eliminate" the risk of false images being produced, but argues that "it would certainly minimise" their proliferation "within the limits of what technology currently allows."

In the meantime, Meta advised people to look at online content critically, checking whether accounts posting it are trustworthy and looking for details that look or sound unnatural.

Politicians and women have been prime targets for so-called "deepfake" images, with AI-created nudes of superstar Taylor Swift recently going viral on X, formerly Twitter.

The rise of generative AI has also raised fears that people could use ChatGPT and other platforms to sow political chaos via disinformation or AI clones.

OpenAI last month announced it would "prohibit any use of our platform by political organisations or individuals."

Meta already asks that advertisers disclose when AI is used to create or alter imagery or audio in political ads.

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Tech Corner: Latest gadgets to fit your possessionhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/delhi/2024/Feb/06/tech-corner-latest-gadgets-to-fit-your-possessionhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/delhi/2024/Feb/06/tech-corner-latest-gadgets-to-fit-your-possession#comments1602f269-0efe-45d5-ae11-c30322db9d01Tue, 06 Feb 2024 02:28:40 +00002024-02-06T02:28:40.246ZAshok Pandian/api/author/1871394Tech corner,latest gadgetsDelhiTechSearider Searacer

The Searacer is an electric water racer that lets you ride at speeds up to 77 km/h for up to almost an hour. The racer ensures precise handling and peak performance with removable battery options and multiple colourways. searider.com

Rapz Pods Play

The Rapz Pods Play are a super-economic pair of earbuds if you’re on a tight budget. I tried them out for a week and found they work well for calls with relatively clear sound. Audio is a mixed bag, so if you’re looking for basic media consumption, the Pods Play are fine. Battery life is decent, and the TWS charges via USB-C relatively quickly. If you’re a student on a budget or you are simply looking for a basic TWS that works well, Pods Play is a good option. rapz.in

Code-41 Moon Inception

The Moon INCEPTION is based on the C41-MP, a modified Swiss automatic movement that is COSC-certified for extreme precision. The case is made of 316L stainless steel, and the glass is domed sapphire with a front and back AR coating. The eye-catching display also shows the current phase of the moon, along with time and date. shop.code41.com

(Clockwise) Searider Searacer; Code-41 Moon Inception; Sonus Faber Omnia; Litmus Travel Garment Steamer and Louis Vuitton – LV Nanogram Speaker

Litmus Travel Garment Steamer

If, like me, you need your clothes to always look crisp, sharp, and non-wrinkled, Litmus has an excellent and affordable garment steamer that you can take with you on the go. I’ve been using the Ultra-Portable Garment Steamer on my weekend and inter-city trips over the last four weeks and find it has become an essential part of my kit. The light-weight steamer comes with a sturdy power cord and preheats in less than a minute. I tried it on linen shirts and ruffled jeans, as well as silk and rayon material, and found the results overall very good. I find this device much more non-invasive than traditional irons and also fabric-friendly. litmusconnect.com

Louis Vuitton – LV Nanogram Speaker

Louis Vuitton has a new speaker that is portable and fashionable. Reminiscent of its iconic Toupie bag, the Nanogram speaker is available in three variations. With top-notch audio and a long battery life, this is haute fashion and tech blending at its finest. louisvuitton.com

Sonus Faber Omnia

Sonus Faber has launched its new Omnia, which provides an unmatched 490 W of sonic power via a four-way stereo system integrated into a single speaker with DSP on board. Seven individual speakers combine to elevate your listening experience to unseen levels with 360-degree immersive sound. Omnia’s tactilely illuminated wooden top panel allows for setting controls, while the speaker offers maximum connectivity via BT, AirPlay 2, Chromecast, HDMI, Analog, and Ethernet, as well as Wi-Fi. sonusfaber.com

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Mid-size Indian IT company comes up with AI tool for improving company operationshttps://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2024/Feb/05/mid-size-indian-it-company-comes-up-with-ai-tool-for-improving-company-operationshttps://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2024/Feb/05/mid-size-indian-it-company-comes-up-with-ai-tool-for-improving-company-operations#comments1c040dea-dfce-41a6-83bf-2e8b17b5556fMon, 05 Feb 2024 06:19:29 +00002024-02-05T06:19:29.393ZSreejith Rajan/api/author/1914431Birlasoft,Generative AIBusinessTechPune-based mid-sized IT services company Birlasoft has come up with an in-house AI engine, called Cogito. However, unlike AI engines like ChatGPT and Google's GEMINI, Cogito is aimed at helping Birlasoft's client companies, and will be more concerned with identifying and fixing business problems that writing essays or creating pictures.

Once installed, it will assess a company's operations -- such as supply chain management, customer data, product development and so on -- and come up with ideas on how to improve productivity, reduce time-to-market and identify new markets and opportunities for the company.

It will do so by infusing the organization with the most advanced processes, ideas and concepts that have been built into the system. It will help in both day-to-day decision-making, and long-term improvement of the company's systems, the company said.

In addition, it also comes with many of the usual generative AI tools, such as the ability to create documents and so on.

"Birlasoft Cogito seamlessly enables holistic business transformation through the integration of innovative solutions, processes, and ideas. Organizations can devise roadmaps for operational improvement, adapt to market dynamics, and explore new growth avenues.

"Harnessing the power of AI algorithms, machine learning, and deep learning, Birlasoft Cogito elevates businesses in areas like supply chain management, customer behavior prediction, and product design improvement. The platform empowers data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement," it said.

Recently, a Polish rum company Dictador appointed a robotic AI, Mika, as CEO with an aim to remove human biases and make decision making purely data-driven.

Birlasoft has over 12,000 software professionals, and is part of the CK Birla Group.

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Music maestro AR Rahman says AI just a tool, confident that creativity not getting replacedhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/hindi/2024/Jan/31/ai-is-just-a-tool-ar-rahman-music-maestro-confident-about-creativity-not-getting-replacedhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/hindi/2024/Jan/31/ai-is-just-a-tool-ar-rahman-music-maestro-confident-about-creativity-not-getting-replaced#commentsb25ea81c-e401-4d76-8262-b67c236c71b5Wed, 31 Jan 2024 12:53:51 +00002024-01-31T13:10:27.610ZVaitheeswaran B/api/author/1870788HindiTamilTechCHENNAI: Tamil social media is filled with parody music of famous songs generated or voice manipulated with artificial intelligence (AI). From PM Modi and Amitabh Bachchan's renditions of Tamil songs to famous actors’ versions of hit numbers making a splash on Instagram and Twitter, all have been edited by fans with the help of AI.    

But, when Academy Award-winning composer AR Rahman in his latest album featured the voices of two deceased singers with artificial intelligence voice models, it marked a significant shift in the role of technology in music production.

In his album ‘Lal Salam’ he ‘brought back’ the voice of two well-known singers - Bamba Bakya and Shahul Hameed. This is the first time a music professional has used an AI voice model in the country.  

This stirred a hot discussion running from awe by some fans and by criticism and concerns by another section of fans and the general public for using the technology. The loss of livelihood for singers, musicians was the top concern. The ethical and legal aspects of the move also came to the fore. 

The composer assured that permission had been taken from their families and they were provided a remuneration for using their voice algorithms. 

Amid the discussion, AR Rahman says Artificial Intelligence is just a tool and it cannot replace human creativity. 

TNIE caught up with the legendary music composer in an exclusive interview after the album was released. We asked why he wanted to do this, Why now, and more…

Rahman said the album demanded voices like Bamba Bakya and Shahul Hameed. “I felt why don’t we bring them here (since) we have the technology. Some people texted me saying it made them emotional. It made some listeners nostalgic.” 

He explained the process involved the AI model learning the singer’s voice with a dry voice recording and mimicking the version sung by a source singer. “It learns multiple songs. (Also), we need to find a singer better suited for the AI model to replicate.” 

He stressed that they have used the technology in a fair and ethical manner. “It is important to check with the family. Is the song and lyrics okay? Do they agree with the lyrics?” he explained.  

Rahman said the families agreed and were given compensation. He believed that it would benefit their families and said the makers were very respectful of the process. 

Responding to a question about fears of job losses, the singer-songwriter said, "Everybody is threatened by technology. But, the families of the singers would also benefit from it. Even if a song writer passes away, the royalty goes to the family. Like that, this gives another avenue for the families. We can say this is a good aspect about technology."

The two singers whose voice has been revived have had a long association with the composer, and it is believed to have close personal relation with their family. 

Bamba Bakya, was introduced by AR Rahman in film music through ‘Kedakari’ song in the film Raavanan in 2010 and ‘Ponni Nadhi’ song in Ponniyin Selvan was his last work before his demise in September 2022. Known for his deep and rich voice, Bamba Bakya has a long personal association with Rahman. 

Likewise, Shahul Hameed too has worked with the musician for almost a decade and has close personal ties. It began in 1989 when both worked on a devotional album ‘Deen Isaimaalai’ even before Rahman started working in the film industry. Shahul Hameed’s famous songs include ‘Usilampatti Penkutti’ in Gentleman album, ‘Rasathi en usuru’ in Thiruda Thiruda. He died in a car crash in 1997. 

Rahman felt that AI voice models should improve more and currently it is around 60% perfect. "We should do it when it is really really right."

The composer stressed the need for a framework for the use of artificial intelligence technology and it will evolve as it matures. "The human element and conversations in music production is important and is what makes creativity amazing. I don’t think that will go away. AI is just a tool; it has been there for a long time, even Auto-Tune has AI," he asserted.

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Centre invites pre-proposals for setting up hubs for quantum technologyhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2024/Jan/19/centre-invites-pre-proposals-for-setting-up-hubs-for-quantum-technologyhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2024/Jan/19/centre-invites-pre-proposals-for-setting-up-hubs-for-quantum-technology#comments7dbb4d3b-a9ff-4899-a6d2-20b1a9d10e2aFri, 19 Jan 2024 11:35:09 +00002024-01-19T11:35:09.407ZFayisa C A/api/author/1897629TechAs part of the 9th India International Science Festival in Faridabad on Saturday, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) will invite pre-proposals for setting up of special centers thematic hubs related to quantum technology.

The department is looking for early ideas (called pre-proposals) to create hubs in four areas: quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum sensing & metrology, and quantum materials & devices.

The ideas should show how quantum technology can be used in real life.

The invitation for proposals will be launched by Professor Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, DST.

These T-Hubs are part of the National Quantum Mission (NQM), a big project aimed at improving quantum technology in India. The mission was launched in April last year with a total outlay of Rs.6003.65 Crore for a period of eight years.

The move is a part of the national strategy to build a skilled workforce and encourage research and development in quantum technologies, which is considered an area of strategic importance.

India has fallen far behind other nations such as China and the US in quantum technology research and development.

It is believed that quantum technology can increase the processing capacity of computers by up to 100 times while consuming the same amount of power.

Computers with quantum technology will be able to easily decrypt existing encryption mechanisms and launch cyber attacks on enemy countries that will be virtually impossible to defend against.

As such, globally a race is on to develop the first viable quantum computing technology, with the US and China seen as the most likely to make the breakthrough.

The goal of India's National Quantum Mission is to boost scientific research, help industries, and make India a leader in quantum technology and its applications.

The government has been significantly funding research in quantum technologies.

The government will help with establishing infrastructure, providing high-performance computing facilities, and supporting talent development through scholarships and training programs.

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Sachin Tendulkar spots Deepfake video of himself, says "disturbing to see rampant misuse of technology"https://www.newindianexpress.com/sport/cricket/2024/Jan/15/sachin-tendulkar-spots-depfake-video-of-himself-says-disturbing-to-see-rampant-misuse-of-technologyhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/sport/cricket/2024/Jan/15/sachin-tendulkar-spots-depfake-video-of-himself-says-disturbing-to-see-rampant-misuse-of-technology#comments5f531871-3bd2-48eb-8a95-c126c0e0562fMon, 15 Jan 2024 09:05:02 +00002024-01-15T09:05:02.019ZANI/api/author/1869808sports,Sachin Tendulkar​,DeepfakeCricketTechNEW DELHI: Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar cautioned everyone on Monday against a deep fake video of a himself which has been used to promote an App. In the video Sachin Tendulkar's Video and Voice has been manipulated to make it sound like Tendulkar was promoting the app.

Tendulkar who spotted the manipulation took to X cautioning his fans and the public that that the video was fake and asked people to report such applications, videos and advertisements.

He also tagged the Maharashtra Cyber Police, Union Electronics and Information Technology Ministry and Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrashekar, in his tweet.

"These videos are fake. It is disturbing to see rampant misuse of technology. Request everyone to report videos, ads & apps like these in large numbers. Social media platforms need to be alert and responsive to complaints. Swift action from their end is crucial to stopping the spread of misinformation and fake news. @GoI_MeitY, @Rajeev_GoI and @MahaCyber1," tweeted Sachin.


Notably, on November 6 last year, a modified video of actor Rashmika Mandanna appeared online sparking discussions of digital safety. In the viral video, it can be seen that a woman resembling the actress Rashmika was entering a lift wearing a black swimsuit.

The video quickly went viral and several social media users came forward to confirm that it was a deep fake. It was later identified that the video was of a British actress, Zara Patel.

The actor strongly reacted to the alleged deep fake video and said, "I feel really hurt to share this and have to talk about the deep fake video of me being spread online. Something like this is honestly, extremely scary not only for me but also for each one of us who today is vulnerable to so much harm because of how technology is being misused."

Amid that deep fake video issue, Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said that notices were issued to all social media platforms directing them to take necessary steps to identify and remove such content.

Vaishnaw, had said, "Deep fake is a big issue for all of us. We recently issued notices to all the big social media forms, asking them to take steps to identify deepfakes, for removing those content. The social media platforms have responded. They are taking action. We have told them to be more aggressive in this work."

"Also, we must notice that the 'Safe Harbour' Clause that most of the social media platforms have been enjoying, doesn't apply if the platforms do not take adequate steps to remove the deepfakes from their platforms," he added.

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Slay that blockhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2024/Jan/06/slay-that-block-2647877.htmlhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2024/Jan/06/slay-that-block-2647877.html#commentsbab7212b-2678-4620-aee9-11c92878e76cSat, 06 Jan 2024 23:30:00 +00002024-01-06T07:46:00.000ZPRAMEELA K/api/author/1847182scriptwritingTechLost amid the intricacies of scriptwriting, staring at a blank page, grappling with the age-old challenge of crafting a compelling story? Fear not, for there’s a beacon of hope on the horizon—the Sequence Approach to scriptwriting. It’s not merely a method; it’s your ticket out of writer’s block, a roadmap to transform your struggles into a captivating script.

Departing from the conventional three-act structure, it provides a nuanced and flexible framework.

Here’s how to master it:
Comprehend Sequences:
Sequences are 10-15 minute narrative arcs with a distinct beginning, middle, and end, focusing on specific story goals or events.

Outline Key Sequences: Identify crucial sequences that form the backbone of your screenplay, akin to chapters in a novel.

Define Sequence Purpose: Establish the purpose of each sequence, whether it’s character introduction, plot progression, conflict creation, or thematic exploration.

Craft Beginning, Middle and End: Develop each sequence with a structured beginning, middle, and end, ensuring a cohesive narrative progression.

Ensure Seamless Transitions: Create smooth transitions between sequences, allowing the end of one to naturally lead to the beginning of the next.

Integrate Subplots: Use sequences to explore subplots, dedicating entire sequences to side stories or seamlessly weaving them into the main narrative.

Prioritise Character Development: Leverage sequences for character development, revealing different facets of characters, their growth, and reactions to various situations.

Revise and Refine: Regularly revisit and revise sequences for pacing, clarity, and impact, ensuring each contributes meaningfully to the overall story.

Maintain Flexibility: Stay flexible in your approach, allowing for rearrangements or modifications as your story evolves.

Use as a Guide, Not a Rule: View it as a creative tool, not a rigid set of rules. Adapt it to suit your story and writing style.

The method provides a pathway to clarity and focus, allowing writers to delve into detailed development and ensuring that each segment contributes seamlessly to the overarching narrative. It offers a unique flexibility, enabling writers to adjust both the number and length of sequences, tailoring them to the specific needs of their story.

The result is enhanced pacing, as each sequence builds up to climactic moments, keeping the audience consistently engaged. Moreover, the approach becomes a powerful tool for character development, affording writers the opportunity to explore characters on a deeper level, dedicating entire sequences to backstories, growth, or compelling subplots.

Finally, it simplifies the revision process, making it more manageable, allowing to focus on refining and perfecting one sequence at a time. At the same time, it allows room for creative flexibility and innovation. Now, dive back into your writing journey with renewed vigour.

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Google Chrome restricts cookies in first step towards eliminationhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2024/Jan/05/google-chrome-restricts-cookies-in-first-step-towards-elimination-2648195.htmlhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2024/Jan/05/google-chrome-restricts-cookies-in-first-step-towards-elimination-2648195.html#comments2bbd4406-06c9-4cef-a41c-8ea332a796abFri, 05 Jan 2024 13:28:00 +00002024-01-05T13:28:00.000ZPRAMEELA K/api/author/1847182Google,Cookies,Chrome,Third party cookiesTechPARIS: Google has begun limiting third-party cookies for some users of its Chrome web browser, a first step towards eventually abandoning the files that have raised privacy concerns.

Google, which announced in 2020 that it planned to get rid of cookies, said fully eliminating third-party cookies could only happen with the approval of Britain's Competition and Markets Authority, which is looking at the impact on other businesses.

"As per previously announced plans, Chrome is restricting third-party cookies by default for one percent of Chrome users to facilitate testing, and then ramping up to 100 percent of users from Q3 2024," the company said in a blog posting that cited a Thursday start date.

Cookies, small files which are used to target advertising by tracking web navigation, have recently been subject to greater regulation, including the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation introduced in 2016 as well as regulations in California.

Third-party cookies are those placed by visited sites and not by the browser itself.

Google announced in January 2020 that it would begin eliminating third-party cookies within two years, but the start has been delayed several times.

Google has been working on an alternative system for Chrome that instead of tracking individual users, would target so-called Federated Learning of Cohorts, or FLoC, which are audience segments grouping hundreds or thousands of people.

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Tech corner: Boat Katana Bladehttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2024/Jan/02/tech-cornerboat-katana-blade-2646958.htmlhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2024/Jan/02/tech-cornerboat-katana-blade-2646958.html#comments38d1b6cb-92d0-4629-b381-8174791fa839Tue, 02 Jan 2024 02:16:00 +00002024-01-02T02:16:00.000ZPRAMEELA K/api/author/1847182TechHere’s our round-up of the latest gadgets that are a perfect addition to your shopping list

Boat Katana Blade
Boat makes wonderful devices that are perfectly priced and full of features. I’ve been using their Immortal Katana Blade TWS for the past few days, and here’s what I think. First off, the Katana Blade comes in a stylish case with dynamic RGB LEDs for that extra appeal. The battery life on these is great (50+ hours with the case), and mobile gaming is comfortable with no perceivable lag in sound, thanks to low latency. The 13 mm drivers provide enough and more bass for most, while the quick charge (10 minutes for a 3 hours boost) is ideal for long-term users. You also get a Katana sound on demand while sliding the case. Ideal for mobile gamers! boat-lifestyle.com

Rs 1.08 lakh

Dali IO-12
Dali’s state-of-the-art IO-12 Hi-Fi over-ear headphones offer sumptuous comfort and hours of listening pleasure. The 50 mm paper fibre cone and groundbreaking SMC drivers provide exceptional sound, while a real leather headband and ear pads provide luxurious comfort. The IO-12s reveal every tiny musical detail. With 35 hours of battery life, audiophile ANC, Hi-Res audio, BT, and 3.5 mm connections, this is premium sound. dali-speakers.com

Cartier C de Cartier
Cartier makes some of the finest jewellery and watches on the planet; they also have an excellent range of eyewear. These Signature C de Cartier sunglasses in green wood with a smooth golden finish offer complete UV protection and look elegant. The rimless design and polished edges are sure to turn heads. cartier.com

AIM7
AIM7 is a customised, ultra-personalised AI coaching system for exercise, recovery, and mental fitness. It involves leveraging your current wearable and HRV data, along with a brilliant app, to get optimum results. AIM 7 integrates data from Apple Watch, Garmin devices and Fitbit to provide an actionable health and fitness programme with recommendations and plans for all levels. Rs 1,100 per month on the App store aim7.com

Rs 5,995

Havells I-Conic Digi Kettle
A good kettle is a must in the kitchen or office. Havell’s I-Conic Digi kettle comes with a digital display for real-time temperature. Overheat and dry-boil protection are built in, plus there’s a stainless steel spout, an easy-open lid, pre-set modes for temperature maintenance and a double-walled tank for cool exteriors. The 1.5-litre kettle is an ideal upgrade for your kitchen. havells.com

Bell & Ross
BR-X5 Green Lum

This 41 mm limited edition Bell & Ross watch uses LM3D, a luminescent composite made from quartz fibres that glow bright green, with the watch case forged from grade 2 titanium with a DLC finish. The watch movement is the new BR-CAL.323 calibre, which offers a 70-hour power reserve. bellross.com

Philips Sleep Headphones
These headphones, combined with the Kokoon

app, ensure that you get better sleep night after night. The ultra-thin sleep buds sit snugly in the ear, not affecting your sleep position. Kokoon’s library contains select sleep sounds, meditations and podcasts. philips.co.uk

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Workplace: Office, Officehttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Dec/30/workplace-office-office-2645759.htmlhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Dec/30/workplace-office-office-2645759.html#commentsb64e2e99-24ed-4e79-97ff-66c35b89196dSat, 30 Dec 2023 23:30:00 +00002023-12-30T07:21:00.000ZExpress News Service/api/author/1897566pandemic,office cultureTechAny catastrophe of gigantic proportions will either divide or unite mankind. Or, people. Perhaps, the most important impact of the pandemic is on the office and office culture. The enforced seclusion of lockdowns upended the definition of work, office, communication and interaction. The Work-from-Home (WFH) concept became suddenly feasible. According to a McKinsey survey, companies moved 40 times faster than expected before remote working took root. There is no denying WFH has revolutionised the Indian employment scene. LinkedIn and portals like naukri.com are advertising thousands of such jobs. The sudden digitisation of office functions has made competency integral to employee performance. A 2020 research report from SHRM and Willis Towers Watson noted that “85 per cent of jobs that will exist in 2030 have not been invented yet”.

A survey by Hays—the world’s leading recruitment company which did 81,100 permanent placements and 2,54,000 temporary ones—reported that more than half the employees will shift to hybrid work. Several studies discovered that hybrid working reduces toxic workplace cultures. Technology will see rapid upgrades and innovations aimed at offices. The hybrid workplace has become a reality as cost concerns, employee’s mental welfare and speed become factors in hiring. New factors like the gig economy, moonlighting, freelance options and individuality of choices will create challenges for HR managers to cope with and find new strategies.

The Work Colour Code
PricewaterhouseCoopers International divided the work of the future by colours. In the Red World, the new technology revolution will allow tiny businesses access to the vast reservoirs of information, skills, and financing. There will be no HR as a separate department since outsourcing will become more popular. A talent war will arise with in-demand future skills getting the big bucks. In the Blue World, mammoth global multinationals will grow in size, power and influence to protect their profit margins. The Green World will make companies adopt strong ethical and social standards as a reaction to public opinion, depletion in natural resources, and strict international regulations. The Yellow World envisages a better quality of life for employees, who will get more autonomy, flexibility, and fulfilment because of the Green World rules.

Robots Won’t Replace Women at Work
Oxford professors of machine learning predict the loss of at least 40 per cent of current jobs to automation; McKinsey’s number is 50 per cent. But neither AI nor robots can meet the complex human skills needed in social care, nursing and counselling. Despite artists worried about losing their livelihoods to AI, creative jobs will survive thanks to the same. The professionals say that AI cannot match cleaners because of the multitude of different objects they clean in different ways.

TOP FUTURE JOBS IN 2030

1. Virtual Store Sherpa: Virtual shopping advisers with customer’s satisfaction in mind

2. Personal Data Broker: Generating revenue for clients from their data by establishing prices and executing trades

3. Personal Memory Curator: Consultant who will interact with patients and stakeholders to generate specifications for virtual reality experiences

4. Augmented Reality Journey Builder: To develop vital elements for clients in collaboration with experts engineers and technical artists

5. Highway Controller: To oversee automated road and air space management systems
6. Body part maker: Manufacturers of living body parts for athletes and soldiers

7. Nano-medic: Experts that introduce nanoparticles such as mini-computers and other delivery systems into the patient’s body to target illnesses

8. Recombinant farmer: Creators of pharmaceutically important and commercially valuable proteins in plants to transform farming and livestock

9. Memory augmentation surgeon: Doctors who will extend memory capacity of patients

10. Space pilots, tour guides, and architects living on other planets
(According to LinkedIn)

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Artificial Intelligence : Aye, Aye, AI https://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Dec/30/artificial-intelligence-aye-aye-ai-2645760.htmlhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Dec/30/artificial-intelligence-aye-aye-ai-2645760.html#commentsbc0d3270-7f1c-4331-98d8-5f46d23083bfSat, 30 Dec 2023 23:30:00 +00002023-12-30T07:20:00.000ZPRAMEELA K/api/author/1847182AI,robotics,supercomputer,ChatGPTTechThe world of technology is ever-evolving, and by the nanoseconds at that. What you probably thought possible a minute ago, has already happened in some corner of the world day before yesterday. Today AI is everywhere, and unless you have been living under a rock for the last decade, you would have used it in some way in your everyday work.

Imagine a supercomputer that is half the size of a football field, and can complete two quintillion calculations a second. Welcome to the world of Aurora. The $600-million facility is powered by 60,000 semiconductor chips. When it is up and running in 2024, it will analyse the brain, predict the weather and discover new drugs, besides processing information and generating answers to challenging questions. Experts are mulling using the system for climate research and developing new batteries.

This, at a time, when AI is deciphering brain wave patterns and generating an image of what a person is looking at. It’s ChatGPT for the brain. It can help in controlling artificial limbs and using thoughts to communicate, instead of speech. With addition of VR headsets, a person can actually control being in a metaverse. It will also help tetraplegic patients (those who can’t move their upper or lower body) interact with the world.

Contact lenses to fix short sightedness; cochlear implants to restore hearing; prosthetic limbs to help the disabled... maybe we are turning into cyborgs. Sensory augmentation is not far behind. US company Second Sight has developed implants that restore vision to blind patients. Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University have used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to scan the brain and identify ideas as they form.

Till Death Not Do Us Part
If this sounds far-fetched enough, how about necrobotics? Or, turning dead people into robots? Recently, a team of researchers turned a dead spider into a robot-like gripper, giving it the ability to pick up objects weighing over 130 per cent of the body weight. Can this evolve into other animals being turned into robots in the near future? It may sound weird and many would gawk at the idea, but according to scientists, necrobotics opens up the pathway to do the impossible. Will this mean that our friends and families will become immortal some day? Maybe they will, though not as living organisms, but rather as physical manifestation of 3D holograms. Scientists have also found a way to attach artificial neurons onto silicon chips, mimicking the neurons in our nervous system. This will help provide a robust method to reproduce the electrical properties of real neurons in minute detail. Maybe coupling this with necrobotics could be the next step?

The Brain Game
Talking of artificial neurons, can we create a robot that’s capable of making a cup of tea in the kitchen and then bringing it upstairs? Of course, many would argue that what’s the big deal in getting a robot to make tea. But what is of essence here is the fact whether the robot have enough intelligence to understand that the tea should be brought to the room, without the command being fed into its system? Little wonder that the Australian military is funding a project to grow intelligent “mini-brains” in petri dishes. The goal is to design better AIs by combining the two. The Australian researchers isolated brain organoids—tiny clumps of cells that resemble the structure and function of the brain—to make it functional enough to play a ‘pong’, a tennis-like game. One hopes that in the future these organoids can be simulated enough to act independently of prompts.

Metaverse Meetings
We often send hug emojis to people physically away from us. It makes us sometimes wonder if only we could share the sense of touch long distance. Well, now it can be a possibility. A wireless self-sensing and haptic-reproducing electronic skin (e-skin) developed by engineers at the City University of Hong Kong can provide tactile sensing and haptic feedback.

The e-skin senses the wearer’s movements and converts them into electrical signals passing it to another connected e-skin via Bluetooth. Similar to visual and auditory communication, it would give the sensation of touching one another. Likewise, can VR attachments let you smell stuff? A research team co-led by scientists from the City University of Hong Kong has invented a wireless, skin-interfaced olfactory feedback system. The new technology integrates odours into AR.

It is used through two devices—one, a small, skin-integrated, patch-like device comprising two odour generators, which can be directly mounted on the human upper lip, providing an ultra-fast olfaction response. Another is a flexible facemask design with nine odour generators of different odour types, providing hundreds of odour combinations. The system can be used in a virtual garden by releasing various fruit and flower fragrances. It can also be used for online teaching and 4D movie watching.

Space Wars
We read about satellites being launched into space, but what if you could catapult one into space? SpinLaunch, an innovative new space technology company, can put 200 kg class satellites into low earth orbit with the help of a catapult, using kinetic energy that would propel it skyward through a large launch tube. While rocket engines will still be used for the last mile propulsion, the system can cut down fuel use by 70 per cent. The company is in talks with NASA to realise the potential of this technology, and with fossil fuels running low across the world, it might not be a bad idea to use a catapult instead.

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Communication : Talk the Walk https://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Dec/30/communication-talk-the-walk-2645764.htmlhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Dec/30/communication-talk-the-walk-2645764.html#commentsc66575ed-068b-420f-afdb-c446f81e62faSat, 30 Dec 2023 23:30:00 +00002023-12-30T07:19:00.000ZPRAMEELA K/api/author/1847182Alexander Graham Bell,Thomas WatsonTechMr Watson, come here; I want to see you,” Alexander Graham Bell famously told his assistant Thomas Watson in the first-ever telephone call made on March 10, 1876. Since then, change and activity has been the elementary theme in communications. We’re making it large: in a world where messages have been reduced to ‘brb’, ‘tk’, ‘hw r u’ and the like, X, formerly Twitter, has come up with a 10,000-character limit for its posts. One can write an essay on X now. Going small, or quantum, is the other side. Communication is set to enter the quantum realm; our very own ISRO plans to build a short-range optical quantum communication satellite, which will send encrypted data over a network, much like how WhatsApp works with end-to-end transcription, but in a more secure manner. The information will be encoded into binary values (representing 0 and 1) and then transmitted to the receiver. It will revolutionise how we communicate online. Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, are also working in the field.

Big Brother is Predicting
Imagine walking down the street, encountering strangers endlessly. What if you had glasses that would display the name, social media profile and other information of any person, without even having a conversation? Think of it as the person’s aura—a halo of information surrounding him or her. It’s like Tom Cruise’s 2003 film Minority Report which talks about the year 2054, when one would be able to predict crimes and stop them with clairvoyants reading and interpreting the informational aura of individuals. It’s not 2054 yet, but predictive research in law and order is making moves towards getting there. All information regarding a person of interest to law enforcers would be fed into a supercomputer and updated in real-time. Law enforcement agencies, healthcare workers, and government offices would all be in the loop to keep track of each individual.

Every Which Way
One of the trends in the travel industry for the New Year is to explore little-known places. While this may sound appealing, it comes with a rider—how to communicate with people say in a remote area in Jordan, or Cameroon or Kazakhstan? Scientists are now working on a device that would allow people to communicate in real time without a common language. People across cultures can use it to understand each other, without either having to fumble for words or typing or speaking into an app. This also makes it easy to conduct business with a cross-section of people from around the world, not to mention making world leaders comfortable in alien cultures. Also, in the works is a device that would decrypt sign languages, making communication truly inclusive.

Thoughts as Words
Will there come a time when we communicate by transmitting our thoughts through a network directly into someone else’s brain? This is beginning to look frighteningly real as early as now. Researchers globally are working on creating brain-computer interfaces, described best as an electronic version of telepathy. Neuralink, founded by Elon Musk, has developing implantable brain-machine interface devices which will enable people suffering from paralysis to use machines and prosthetic limbs to recover their mobility without having to push a button physically. Think, and it’s done.

Likewise, NextMind has developed a device that translates signals from the brain’s visual area into digital commands. This means that computers can now be controlled with brain signals or visual imagination. Our brains are on the screen, literally. One can send and receive telepathic messages with help from an electronic device that will record messages decoded from one person’s EEG activity and transmit them directly to another person. In fact, researchers at the University of Washington have demonstrated a method that could even extend to control of other people’s bodies. Wish it, think it, do it is the mantra.

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AI for 'Detail'https://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Dec/23/ai-for-detail-2643716.htmlhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Dec/23/ai-for-detail-2643716.html#comments9eee5927-ee8e-4c73-9ff7-afc91833d32dSat, 23 Dec 2023 23:30:00 +00002023-12-23T07:46:00.000ZPRAMEELA K/api/author/1847182AITechIt was yet another night of calming his newborn when Josh Bickett—a developer at OthersideAI—hit upon a groundbreaking idea. As he cradled his four-week-old daughter, Bickett conceived a revolutionary ‘self-operating computer framework’. The new system would redefine how artificial intelligence interacts with computers—AI would mimic humans and operate the computer by understanding visual cues, thereby automating the entire process.

Juggling his daughter in one arm, Bickett sketched out the basic framework: AI would control mouse clicks and keyboard commands based on visual inputs, similar to human interaction. It would easily be able to browse the internet and open applications without human interference. 

OthersideAI’s CEO, Matt Shumer, recognised the immense potential of this framework. It was like creating a self-driving car equivalent for computers. Shumer envisions a future where this self-operating computer becomes the interface to the digital world, with advanced AI models seamlessly taking over computer interactions through conversational commands. Specialised models may emerge for different tasks, pushing up speed and complex reasoning, as researchers work further on the framework.

This would also go a long way in improving computer accessibility for individuals with disabilities. The AI would identify issues on the screen and resolve problems autonomously, optimising workflows. It would also become a useful tool in the realm of translation, and would be able to detect suspicious activities, thereby eliminating the same before the virus attacks the software, or before hackers can get to sensitive information. Providing a seamless integration of various AI capabilities, it will effortlessly transform into an independent operator.

While the self-operating computer framework marks the initial step, Bickett and Shumer envision a future where sophisticated AI agents replace human computing interfaces entirely. However, realising the vision of intelligent computer agents requires substantial resources and ongoing innovation.

Imbue, a leading AI research company, recently secured a $150-million partnership with Dell to build a powerful AI training platform. It aims to develop foundation models optimised for reasoning abilities. The ultimate goal is to advance both practical and fundamental understanding of deep learning and achieving human-level reasoning.

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Graphene: The water marvel https://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Dec/16/graphene-the-water-marvel-2641586.htmlhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Dec/16/graphene-the-water-marvel-2641586.html#commentsa9f8a093-34d9-4c77-97e3-4f92f111f875Sat, 16 Dec 2023 23:30:00 +00002023-12-16T07:47:00.000ZPRAMEELA K/api/author/1847182graphite,GrapheneTechGraphite is everywhere. In pencil lead, car batteries and glistening kitchen counters. Now, research shows it can also quench thirst. The ubiquitous blackish silver crystalline carbon yields the ‘miracle material’ graphene, which is at the forefront of innovative solutions for water-related challenges.

Researchers at Khalifa University in the UAE are succesfully working on desalination crucial in water-scarce regions like the Gulf. Hassan Arafat, from the Research & Innovation Center for Graphene and 2D Materials (RIC2D), and his team are developing a graphene-enhanced membrane to make sea water drinkable.

In Europe, following the EU’s Drinking Water Directive (2020), scientists have been using graphene to clean water. Their aim is to meet the Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring clean water and sanitation. They have invented hollow fiber filters made of polysulfone-graphene oxide (PSU-GO), which cleans the tiny particles and germs in tap water better than existing filters.

In collaboration with Chalmers University and the University of Castilla-La Mancha, ISOF (Institute for Organic Synthesis and Photoreactivity) researchers and Medica S.p.A. created ‘adsorptive membranes’ capable of ultra-filtering particles and microbes while absorbing pollutants, thanks to graphene oxide.

These filters also outperformed existing methods to remove not just organic molecules, but also persistent pollutants like PFAS and heavy metals in water. That graphene nanosheets can effectively absorb contaminants has been confirmed by Chalmers University reserachers. Additionally, the safety levels of these filters have been verified by the University of Castilla-La Mancha.

But wait, there’s more. The scientists are not simply stopping at developing water solutions. Researchers at Khalifa University are also proposing that graphene be used to make eco-friendly building materials and renewable hydrogen energy. The only impediment? Making it cost-effective, since large-scale production would be enormously expensive.

To overcome the hurdle, the innovative method of extracting carbon from methane, a by-product of the oil and gas industry, is being explored. The idea also aligns with the UAE’s cleaner energy goals and achieving zero emissions by 2050.

Collaborations with global startups in related sectors are also happening. RIC2D showcased its projects, emphasising their commercialisation potential through partnerships with Grapheal and NanoGrafen during the Graphene Flagship Week in September this year.

The groundbreaking developments with graphene promise not only water purification technologies, but also other environmental and social challenges. Miracle material, all right. 

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Meta rolls out Twitter rivalling text-based app Threads in European Unionhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Dec/14/meta-rolls-out-twitter-rivalling-text-based-app-threads-in-european-union-2641515.htmlhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Dec/14/meta-rolls-out-twitter-rivalling-text-based-app-threads-in-european-union-2641515.html#comments5320e95d-8584-4923-9b74-b4ba6f126a4fThu, 14 Dec 2023 14:07:00 +00002023-12-14T14:07:00.000ZPRAMEELA K/api/author/1847182European Union,Twitter,Instagram,Meta,ThreadsTechBRUSSELS: Facebook owner Meta's text-based app Threads arrived in the European Union on Thursday, months after its global launch in July, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.

Threads is a spin-off of the Instagram photo app and is intended to be a rival to X, formerly known as Twitter after that platform alienated many users and advertisers following Elon Musk's purchase last year. "Today we're opening Threads to more countries in Europe. Welcome everyone," Zuckerberg said on Threads.

Threads went live in 100 countries earlier this year but not in the EU. Meta officials cited regulatory clarity as the reason for delaying the social network's arrival in Europe.

Meta has repeatedly come under the EU's regulatory microscope, especially over concerns about how it uses people's data to serve highly targeted advertising.

The European Union has bolstered its legal armoury to rein in Big Tech, with stricter rules to protect European users online and to boost competition in an industry dominated by US giants.

More than 100 million people had joined Threads within a week of its launch that excluded the EU.

Meta said that now EU users can create a Threads profile connected to their Instagram account, but they can also use the app without a profile to browse, share and even report content, as part of the company's compliance with EU rules.

They cannot, however, interact with Threads content nor post without an Instagram sign-on.

Instagram has some two billion users around the world.

Threads said it had added new features since its launch including a "Following Feed", the ability to edit a post, search with keywords and tag topics.

'Reach more people'

Under a landmark law known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the EU named Meta as a "gatekeeper", and its Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp face tougher curbs.

The stricter rules especially impact the world's biggest online companies. They include Meta, Google's Alphabet, Amazon Apple, TikTok parent ByteDance and Microsoft.

Zuckerberg said a day earlier that Threads had begun tests where users' posts would also be available on similar text-based and open-source rival social networks like Mastodon.

"Making Threads interoperable will give people more choice over how they interact and it will help content reach more people. I'm pretty optimistic about this," Zuckerberg said in a Threads post.

Interoperability is also an EU goal. Under the DMA, the most popular messaging services will have to make it possible for users to send messages to other apps.

Meta is challenging the EU's designation of its instant messenger service Messenger as a "core platform service" and for its Facebook Marketplace also coming under the DMA's scope.

The company has struggled to comply with the strict rules of a 2018 EU data privacy regulation.

It hopes that by offering paid ad-free subscriptions in Europe for Facebook and Instagram for users unwilling to have their personal data harvested it will help to avoid further issues.

Addressing misinformation

Threads chief Adam Mosseri also said this week that the app would extend its fact-checking programme next year. "We currently match fact-check ratings from Facebook or Instagram to Threads, but our goal is for fact-checking partners to have the ability to review and rate misinformation on the app. More to come soon," he said on Threads.

Another milestone EU law is the Digital Services Act, which forces digital giants to aggressively police content online in the EU, including misinformation, disinformation and hate speech, against the risk of major fines.

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Twitter to unveil the world’s first ‘video town square’ this monthhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Dec/11/twitter-to-unveil-the-worlds-first-video-town-square-this-month-2640557.htmlhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Dec/11/twitter-to-unveil-the-worlds-first-video-town-square-this-month-2640557.html#comments42c649d1-20ff-4514-a435-2f566be9a7caMon, 11 Dec 2023 11:24:00 +00002023-12-11T11:24:00.000ZPRAMEELA K/api/author/1847182Twitter,Elon Musk,Video callTechTwitter is known as the online ‘town square’ of the world, a place where groups of people can come and air their grievances, opinions and fears and hold live discussions.

It started with the text format, back in 2006. Audio was added 14 years later. 

However, it fell short of a real town square because you couldn’t actually see the person or persons you were interacting with.

But that’s about to change as the platform is all set to add video support sometime this month, going by comments made by owner Elon Musk in a discussion on Sunday.

“This feature is helpful as you can see the body language of the person as I speak if he/she is opted in to show video. That way, more information can be conveyed if you’re able to see their face or body language.”

"We hope to release that functionality before the end of the year but certainly by early next year," Musk added. 

CEO Linda Yaccarino confirmed it as well which was then followed by X designer Andrea Conway who tweeted that she “just called someone on X.” The post was accompanied by several “mind-blown” emojis, hinting at the designer’s excitement for the upcoming feature. 

Musk said the limitations of Spaces as a product were brought home to him when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis chose the platform to announce his entry to the Republican presidential nomination race in May this year.

“The Ron DeSantis situation broke out rather embarrassingly and since then we’ve been putting massive work into making Spaces actually robust where at this point, you can have millions of people listening simultaneously.”

Breaking New Ground

While this may seem like yet another app starting to offer video, in truth, it goes beyond that. 

The key difference between apps like Zoom, Google Meet and WhatsApp offering video calling, and Twitter doing so is that Twitter is essentially designed as a one-to-the-world communication platform, while the others are primarily meant as one-to-one or group calling platforms.

The closest competitors to video-enable Twitter Spaces are Facebook Live and YouTube Live. However, these are again designed as platforms to broadcast oneself. 

Twitter Video Spaces will be a platform to hold discussions – a bit like Zoom – but a video discussion that can be easily discovered and joined by strangers who may be interested in the topic, making it unlike anything else in existence today.

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Michaelangelo’s robotic armhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Dec/09/michaelangelos-robotic-arm-2639502.htmlhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Dec/09/michaelangelos-robotic-arm-2639502.html#commentsc5497f2f-45c4-4290-9a13-03ff6938b2a7Sat, 09 Dec 2023 23:30:00 +00002023-12-09T05:48:00.000ZPRAMEELA K/api/author/1847182Technology,robot,Michaelangelo,Digital Archeology,LitixTechWhen artistic minds and art enthusiasts hear the name Carrara, they relate it to Michaelangelo. The Italian sculptor spent years traversing the hills in the city in search of the perfect marble. Little did he know that 600 years down the line robots would be efficient enough to make him redundant, almost.

Miles away from the global air-conditioned tech world, Filippo Tincolini and Giacomo Massari are revolutionizing the art of sculpting through their startup Litix. Born in the city of sculptures in Italy—these 40-year-old entrepreneurs are producing sculptures for artists, architects, and designers on commission through their automated robots. The company, set up in 2004, collaborated with the Oxford-based heritage preservation organisation, Digital Archeology, and made a one-third scale model of Syria’s Arch of Palmyra. The sculpture was destroyed by ISIS in 2015.

Educated in Carrara, Tincolini witnessed the sculptors in the city using technology like electric grinders, diamond-beaded band saws, and pneumatic chisels. He drew his idea from there. The entrepreneur learned to make electrical parts for assembly lines from his father and later bought a robot to work on stone. He has not looked back since.

With the use of electro-spindles with an automatic tool change function, Litix uses a mechanical arm to create sculptures. This technology runs through a proprietary software called OR-OS, which has a unique system of taking a 3D model and generating an optimized workflow. It has made human intervention negligible. With the automated process, the two entrepreneurs have announced that they can create a structure within five months. Self-programming the robot for speed, effort, and power of milling can result in it weathering heavy loads, even in the most hostile environments.

Massari believes that Michaelangelo would have used robots if it was possible. In an interaction with The New York Times’s Elaine Sciolino, the entrepreneur said, “Of course, he would have used robots—100 percent. An algorithm does what a caliper used to do. I have the time to contemplate a beautiful sunset because a machine does all the hard stuff.”

With robots, everything has become easy. In fact, tycoons like Sridhar Vembu of multinational technology company Zoho are thinking of putting a stop to hiring human labor. Will the sculptors of Carrara follow suit? Only time will tell.

HOW DOES IT WORK

It all starts with a scan of the sculpture to be replicated. The robot first analyses the stone or material it is going to work on. It will then identify the points around the material where it can carve and chisel. Self-programming aids the software to go on working without any need of additional inputs. The robot can also reduce material waste as it tries to repurpose the discarded material into smaller sculptures.

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Starline, Framery and Logitech: The great video chat rivalryhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Nov/25/starline-framery-and-logitech-the-great-video-chat-rivalry-2635602.htmlhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Nov/25/starline-framery-and-logitech-the-great-video-chat-rivalry-2635602.html#comments1b1f1805-2ef0-4e66-a38a-6993ec8e7eebSat, 25 Nov 2023 23:30:00 +00002023-11-25T07:35:00.000ZPRAMEELA K/api/author/1847182AI,video conferencing,Logitech,Starline,FrameryTechOccasional technical glitches like microphone problems and stuttering videos were the bane of WFH Covid days. Video calling has come a long way since then. The competition in the hyper-realistic video-call space is between major IT players—Google’s Starline, Framery and Logitech’s somewhat ominously named Ghost. The rivalry has led to a happy result: sophisticated digital booths resembling spaceships. Equipped with cutting-edge technology, including AI, high-definition cameras and visual effects, these pods bridge the gap between virtual and in-person interactions.

Starline pushes the boundaries of video conferencing by incorporating advanced AI to create a photorealistic model of the person being spoken to. This model is projected onto a light field display, creating an immersive experience, which simulates the feeling of being in the same room. This innovation, however, poses challenges.

The technology is not yet ready for market release, making its availability uncertain. Additionally, it’s expected to be expensive, which could make businesses hesitate before signing the cheque. Rivals Logitech and Framery have taken a simpler approach. They largely focus on enhancing the video call experience without resorting to 3D effects or elaborate AI tricks. By utilising high-quality cameras, microphones, black backgrounds, and strategic lighting, they aim to make virtual meetings more realistic.

Framery’s video-conferencing booth isolates users in a darkened and sound-proof space. A large portrait screen gives the conversation a realistic feel. Both Framery and Logitech prioritise creating an environment that mimics face-to-face conversations without relying on complex technological innovations. Moreover, in contrast to Google’s Starline, they offer more accessible and immediate solutions, all within Rs 10.4 lakh.  

With Project Starline, one can also make use of 3D holograms and advanced AI tools, like creating an AR twin. Compared to its peers, it also makes conversations more initmate by limiting participation to a solitary individual.  The question is whether offices exploring augmented reality meetings will pay for such advanced video-conferencing technology.

How AI is a game changer
● Voice-to-text transcription rules out the tedious note-taking process. The software can differentiate between voices and can expertly follow 
a conversation.
● Natural Language Processing (NLP) minimises background noise. Just like noise-cancellation earphones, it aids in clearer sound without external disturbances.
● Computer vision optimises visual experiences, with prospects for colour adjustments and interactive backgrounds, which can be changed as per requirement
● AI-driven systems simplify scheduling. In case a meeting is to be recheduled, automatic notifications can be sent out to all participants at the click of a button. 
● AR integration makes space for interactive imagery and 3D representations. So you can have your AR twin sit in for the meeting.

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Say it, slay it with the YouGlish apphttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Nov/18/say-it-slay-it-withthe-youglish-app-2633522.htmlhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Nov/18/say-it-slay-it-withthe-youglish-app-2633522.html#comments73a53cfd-20f8-4a16-9b2d-f9914f502b10Sat, 18 Nov 2023 23:30:00 +00002023-11-18T13:18:00.000ZPRAMEELA K/api/author/1847182English,pronunciation,YouGlish appTechWorcestershire. Onomatopoeia. Epitome. Stuck with how to pronounce such words the correct way? You can keep social embarrassment at bay by using the YouGlish app. It shows guidance videos for English speakers on how to ace the correct way to pronounce. This app is handy for non-native speakers of the language, or, especially if you are a student and have English as a second language.

As soon as you log in—with either Gmail or Facebook IDs—a screen pops up that asks you to key in the word you are having difficulty pronouncing. You can select the language from a drop-down menu—assuming it’s not just English words you are having trouble with. It could be a French ‘Au contraire’ or a Spanish ‘Hola’. 

It also teaches pronunciation in some chosen languages such as Japanese, Korean, Italian, German, etc. One thing that makes this app even more unique and user-friendly is the fact that you can choose accents too—British, American, Irish or Scottish. Making it inclusive, is also an option for sign language.

Once you type the word that is troubling you, and press enter, the app throws up a dozen or more videos—it redirects to YouTube—of the way the word has been pronounced correctly. If you have chosen a British accent, it would present you with videos from the UK, or from the US if you have chosen an American accent. You can also choose the way you want to use the word—as a verb, noun, adjective or adverb. There is an additional filter of learning to use the particular word as a phrase. With YouTube as a repository, the app has access to millions of videos, but is smart enough to select the few that fit your requirements.

For example, if you type the word ‘coup’, you would get videos of maybe Army staff or TV anchorpersons using the word a number of times during a conversation. You can also activate the subtitles option, so that you can read what is being spoken, making it easier for non-native speakers to follow. This can aid with sentence structuring too.

Yet another helpful tool is that one can reduce the playback speed so that the words don’t just flash by, and one can follow it at their own pace. You can go faster too, if you so wish.

This app is especially helpful for teachers when they are taking a language class. It helps them come up with multiple examples of how to use certain words, and also teaches sentence construction using that particular word. 

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'123456' the most common password in India, can be cracked in under a second: Studyhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Nov/18/123456the-most-common-password-in-india-can-be-cracked-in-under-a-second-study-2634060.htmlhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Nov/18/123456the-most-common-password-in-india-can-be-cracked-in-under-a-second-study-2634060.html#commentsb9733eae-b82d-4d39-ade0-11ad1bc7c980Sat, 18 Nov 2023 06:31:00 +00002023-11-18T06:40:00.000ZPRAMEELA K/api/author/1847182hackers,NordPassTechNEW DELHI: The most common password was "123456" and a hacker would probably take less than a second to crack it, according to a study conducted by NordPass, a software company that helps users organize their passwords.

The password "123456" was held by about 45 lakhs accounts, the study found in partnership with independent experts specializing in researching cybersecurity incidents, according to the Panama-based company's website.

The second and the third most popular passwords were "admin" and "12345678", used in about 40 lakhs and 13.7 lakhs accounts, respectively, the study findings on the website show.

In India, the most common password was "123456", kept in around 3.6 lakhs accounts, followed by "admin", used in around 1.2 lakhs accounts, according to the website.

The research team analyzed passwords from a 6.6 Terabyte-database, which were stolen by employing various stealer malware, such as Redline, Vidar, Taurus, Raccoon, Azorult, and Cryptbot, it said.

Malware logs included both passwords and the source website and the researchers' database included data from up to 35 countries.

The researchers classified the data into various verticals, which allowed them to perform a statistical analysis based on countries, NordPass's website said.

NordPass exclusively received statistical information from the researchers, which gives no reference to internet users' personal data, it said.

Further, no personal data was acquired or purchased by NordPass to conduct this study, the website said.

"Streaming lovers seem to be strong password haters," NordPass said, referring to users who enjoyed streaming online content.

The study found that compared to other popular websites, people choose the poorest credentials to secure accounts on this platform category.

The website also acknowledged "123456" to be the "world's worst password" as it was ranked the most common password 4 out of 5 times, while "Password" held this title once throughout the lifetime of the study.

NordPass quoted the researchers while saying that "while passwords are getting harder to breach due to rapidly evolving technologies, malware attacks are still seen as a prominent threat to account security."

The password manager company advised account holders to use complex passwords that were at least 20 characters long and included a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and special symbols.

NordPass also asked password users to desist from reusing the same password across multiple websites or services, as compromising one account could risk the safety of all the other accounts.

Further, it called for a "regular" assessment of the passwords for their health and improving them for a "safer online experience", in addition to advocating the use of password managers such as itself.

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End of traffic woes? Air taxis to fly in Indian skies by 2026https://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Nov/14/end-of-traffic-woes-air-taxis-to-fly-in-indian-skies-by-2026-2632828.htmlhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Nov/14/end-of-traffic-woes-air-taxis-to-fly-in-indian-skies-by-2026-2632828.html#comments6c722137-0d24-43a0-9235-1df54935390bTue, 14 Nov 2023 13:34:00 +00002023-11-14T14:00:00.000ZPRAMEELA K/api/author/1847182Air taxiTechFor those who grew up watching sci-fi films that depicted the 21st century with flying cars, we relate to your disappointment of still being cancelled on by auto rickshaws. 

With urban cities getting more and more congested, spending long hours on the road has become the new normal.

However, there might be an escape route from all the traffic woes. 

If you are someone from Delhi, Mumbai or Bangalore (sending prayers to all others), be ready to board an air taxi soon. 

Gurugram-based InterGlobe Enterprises, the parent company of IndiGo airlines, plans to launch an all-electric air taxi service in India by 2026 (three more years, don’t lose hope).  

The company has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with US-based Archer Aviation for operating the service, subject to appropriate regulatory approvals and clearances.

The air taxi is a piloted, four-passenger electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft designed to perform rapid back-to-back flights with minimal charge time in between. 

Once launched, an InterGlobe-Archer flight can take passengers from Connaught Place in the national capital to Gurugram in Haryana in just seven minutes whereas the 27-kilometre-long road trip takes 60-90 minutes. 

“Over the last two decades, InterGlobe has been involved in providing safe, efficient, and affordable transportation to hundreds of millions of Indians across the country. We are excited at this new opportunity of bringing an effective, futuristic and sustainable transport solution by introducing Archer’s electric aircraft to India,” said Rahul Bhatia, Group Managing Director of InterGlobe.

“I founded Archer with the vision to help decongest the world’s largest cities. India is one of, if not the largest opportunity for eVTOL aircraft utilization in the world, as it is home to the world’s largest population of over 1.4 billion people and its largest cities face some of the greatest congestion challenges in the world,” commented Archer’s CEO and founder Adam Goldstein.

In addition to urban air taxi services, the companies plan to unveil a list of other services in India, including cargo, logistics, medical and emergency services, as well as private company and charter services.

Air taxis could cruise at 180 mph at altitudes of 1,000 ft to 2,000 ft. They come in different shapes and sizes and look different from conventional fixed-wing aircraft.

Electric motors replace engines and vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft will avoid the need for long runways. These taxis also promise to emit less carbon emissions compared to any other conventional mode of transport. 

The affordability part still remains to be answered as no estimates have been given indicating the cost.

Major companies like Toyota, Uber, Hyundai, Airbus and Boeing are actively testing air taxi services and many of them are closer to getting their models certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the US. 

The goal is to link urban centres with suburbs while avoiding traffic. 

On November 12, US-based Joby Aviation and Germany's Volocopter both flew exhibition flights against a backdrop of skyscrapers in New York. 

Joby plans to introduce a commercial passenger service in 2025.

The US, China, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates are also working to make self-driving air taxis a reality.

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Spatial gets special with Kerala-based tech startup, Nimo Planethttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Nov/11/spatial-gets-special-with-kerala-based-tech-startup-nimo-planet-2631633.htmlhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Nov/11/spatial-gets-special-with-kerala-based-tech-startup-nimo-planet-2631633.html#comments2b131e24-84e9-4ae5-b3bd-12571469de8cSat, 11 Nov 2023 23:30:00 +00002023-11-11T07:07:00.000ZPRAMEELA K/api/author/1847182AI technology,Nimo Planet,spatial computingTechWhen it comes to work-on-the-go, the good old laptops have had a good run, and it’s time to bid them farewell. The future of work is here and it is pocket-sized, multi-screened and brimming with AI-powered smartness. Nimo Planet, a Kerala-based tech startup, is making waves with its innovation in spatial computing—a form of VR where the digital display blends with the physical world and lets a user intuitively interact with the objects.

Touted as the humble version of Apple Vision Pro, what’s exciting about the latest offering of Nimo Planet, a company founded in 2017 by Rohildev Nattukallingal, is that it’s the world’s first spatial computer aimed exclusively at productivity. Designed to provide a personalised, multi-screen workspace experience, the system includes proprietary hardware in the form of Nimo 1 Glass, Nimo Core and Nimo OS, which is powered by NimoGPT, a generative AI technology.

Built on the robust foundation of the Android Open Source Project and Linux, Nimo Core harnesses the stability and adaptability inherent in the Android ecosystem. Its compact form factor is 63mm in width, 43mm in length, and 23mm in thickness. The custom rendering system of Nimo Core is engineered for resource efficiency, reducing both CPU and memory usage. It is capable of positioning 2D applications at varying depths, allowing it to render up to six high-fidelity 3D screens within the physical world.

This unique approach results in the entire operating system functioning in stereo mode; optimising performance, preserving battery life, minimising heat generation and ensuring user comfort. Moreover, it offers compatibility with Mac and Windows applications as well through USB-C or Remote Desktop connections. Nimo Core embodies a user-centric design philosophy, featuring a trackpad and Air Mouse for intuitive navigation of workplace applications, custom screen adjustments, and support for a range of input devices, including Bluetooth mouse, keyboards and trackpads.

So, instead of lugging around a laptop, all you have to do is carry Nimo, along with a slim Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Unlike Apple Vision Pro though, it lacks built-in speakers and Apple’s M2 chips; instead, it utilises Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR1 processor. With dual displays on the edge of each lens, users can switch between virtual screens simply by turning their heads.

Slightly bulkier than regular eyewear, the glasses offer touch functionality for selecting items. Its dual 720p displays may seem small, but they provide the equivalent of a 45- to 50-inch virtual screen. The glasses have a battery life of around two-and-a-half hours and come with a charging case that has a built-in battery, similar to wireless earbud cases. If you need prescription lenses, you’ll have to consult an optometrist to have them inserted into the frame.

Additionally, you can use your smartphone as a trackpad since Nimo lacks 5G or LTE connectivity and requires a Wi-Fi connection or tethering to a phone for data transfer. The operating system is based on a forked version of Android, which means it doesn’t have access to the Google Play Store. Android apps, however, work well when downloaded from open-source app stores.

The Nimo Box includes a Nimo Glass, Nimo Core, a case, and a USB-C cable, all priced at $1,299 (Rs 1,08,170) plus taxes.

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Current AI development too reckless, can wipe out humanity, warns MIT Profhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Nov/09/current-ai-development-too-reckless-can-wipe-out-humanity-warns-mit-prof-2631546.htmlhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Nov/09/current-ai-development-too-reckless-can-wipe-out-humanity-warns-mit-prof-2631546.html#comments88e81eba-90ac-4407-9464-67ee461106c7Thu, 09 Nov 2023 10:45:00 +00002023-11-09T13:45:00.000ZPRAMEELA K/api/author/1847182artificial intelligence,AI,Online ExclusiveTechHave you ever finished binging on an AI-gone-wrong sci-fi movie and wondered what you would do if you were being hunted by an all-knowing superintelligence with virtually unlimited powers?

If not, we urge you to; not because you may be cast as John Connor in the upcoming sequel of Terminator,  but because it’s possible that private organizations may soon push humanity to the brink of extinction in their quest for profit. 

Still think it sounds like science fiction? Let’s introduce you to Erik Tegmark, an MIT professor who has spent his life researching AI's potential risks. The Swedish-American physicist and cosmologist is one of the most high-profile voices warning about the potential extinction of the human race unless safeguards are put in around the AI ‘arms race’ right now. 

The scientist had hit the headlines seven months ago when a group of experts in the AI field including Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak and Joshua Benegio sent an open letter urging them to pause AI advancements.

“It’s not an arms race, it’s a suicide race,” he said in a chilling interview given to a German TV channel. 

Tegmark points out that countries and corporations are in a race to be No.1 in AI development, but the fallout of this race will affect each and every human being on the planet. 

“It doesn’t matter to Germany if the AI that makes humans go extinct is originally of an American or Chinese background.”

The scientist is alarmed that companies and countries are rushing towards a ‘cliff’ without even being aware that they are rushing towards a cliff. “This is not a race ultimately anyone is going to win. If we do an out-of-control race we are all going to lose,” Tegmark said. 

Tegmark is not one of the ‘AI deniers’, but continues to support its future development. But where he differs from many others is that he wants some important and critical safeguards to be put in place now, before AI gets out of hand.

As a supporter of further AI development, he said he truly understands the absolute wonders AI can do – from curing cancer to eliminating poverty. But, he asks, what’s the point of all this if there’s no human race to enjoy these? 

If we continue to develop AI at the current pace and without any safeguards, “it will be too late when people start realizing AI is too smarter than us…Act before it’s too late. We know we have to do this,” he warned. 

He compared the current stage of AI development to nuclear technology in the early 1940s, when everybody knew it was possible to make a nuclear bomb, but nobody had managed to yet.
At the time, he pointed out, the bomb existed in theory, but its realization was a few steps away. Similarly, in AI, many experts understand the risk of the emergence of a super intelligence that is hostile or apathetic to human beings, but we are still a few steps away from it.

Tegmark pointed out that individual companies, and even countries, are not in a position to moderate the pace of AI development so that sufficient safeguards can be put in place.

The biggest problem, he said, is that there is commercial pressure for companies that don’t allow them to pause alone. 

“The leaders understand the risks and want to do the right thing but one company can not pause alone. They are just going to have their lunch eaten by the competition and get killed by the shareholders,” Tegmark said. 

The only way humankind doesn’t end up in such a situation, according to Tegmark, is when all companies that work on AI collectively agree to not make any advancements in the field of AI. 

With this, no companies need to fear missing out and can give humankind some breathing space and there’s enough time to come up with safety regulations. 

“Let’s not squander all those possibilities by being a little too eager and releasing things a little bit too quick. Let's do it safely,” said Tegmark. 

He pointed out that policymakers have not been able to keep pace with AI developments, and the best thing right now is to pause this for six months to give everyone a chance to catch up with the science.

“We have successfully banned bioweapons, human cloning. We need to gather all key players have a conversation and get it going. We need time to keep with the policymakers,” he added. 

Similar safeguards must be put in place around AI development at a global level, and not be left to individual organizations. “Can such crucial questions be left to unelected tech leaders to decide upon,” he asked.

He said that powerful AI systems should be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable. 

“It’s not just clueless luddites who want to slow down. It's the founders of the field who want to slow down. They truly understand the wonderful upside AI can have,” Tegmark said.
 

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Taking charge via Leohttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Oct/28/taking-charge-via-leo-2627300.htmlhttps://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/tech/2023/Oct/28/taking-charge-via-leo-2627300.html#commentsb4262325-12ae-409f-851a-0fc75dfb5b82Sat, 28 Oct 2023 23:30:00 +00002023-10-27T08:16:00.000ZPRAMEELA K/api/author/1847182battery,USB,chargersTechIs your smart device capable of maintaining a full day’s charge on a single cycle? You might be thinking, “Why do I have to worry if I have a fast charger?” But did you know that fast charging your portable electronics up to 100 per cent can wear down the battery’s lifespan more quickly? 

A phone that would typically maintain its charge for two years may now start showing signs of wear after just one year.

While many devices today come equipped with an in-built battery optimisation feature, for those that don’t, Leo is a clever solution. Roughly the size of a USB thumb drive and featuring an eye-catching vertical light strip, the device optimises charging speeds to safeguard your battery from degradation. It automatically halts charging when your device is plugged in overnight.

This ensures lithium-ion battery-powered gadgets to outlast their expected lifespan. Called a battery life extender, it works with a wide range of gadgets, including smartphones, tablets, headphones, game controllers, handheld consoles, drones and any other charged via a USB cable.

All you have to do is insert Leo between your device and its charger (so the power flows through it). It sets an ideal charge limit of approximately 90 per cent for all your USB devices. It also sets a power cap—this means you won’t experience those super-fast charging speeds, but your phone’s battery will last up to 50 per cent longer than it typically would. Need to fast-charge your device in a hurry? The product features a convenient button that temporarily disables these settings.

Furthermore, for those who charge their phones overnight, Leo ensures that your device isn’t continuously charged for even eight hours while you sleep. Leo takes a break at around 80 per cent. The best part: you won't need to tinker with any settings to activate its features; it intuitively adapts to your battery’s charging protocol and manages the process based on your device, charger and time of day.

For those interested in delving into their device batteries’ analytics, Leo also offers an optional app that measures battery health, charging status, and charging cycles. Each Leo includes a USB-C to USB-C cable (with a maximum 100W output for fast charging) and comes with a free optional smartphone app, compatible with both Android and iOS devices.

Leo and behold

1. Set a charge limit: Keeps your batteries within the range 
of 10-90 per cent, which extends the lifespan

2. Adaptive charging speed: It charges at a slower, more sustainable rate, like during the night

3. Ghost-mode button for fast charging to 100 per cent: Simply hold the button to temporarily override Leo and switch to fast charging

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