CIRP: 40% of Apple Users Keep iPads for 3+ Years, Up 4% From 2023

A new report by CIRP reveals the duration Apple users keep their iPads.

As per analysis, Apple users do not frequently upgrade to new iPhone models, and similarly, they retain their iPads for extended periods.

According to CIRP data, 40% of Apple users have used their iPads for more than three years as of 2024, a 4% increase from 2023 and a 12% increase from 2022.

In 2023 and 2022, only 23% of users had been using their iPads for two or more years, but this has now increased by 25%.

In 2024, 25% of Apple users have used their iPads for two or more years, while another 25% have used theirs for one to two years. Only 10% reported using their iPads for less than a year.

CIRP also reported that many users are reluctant to upgrade their iPads unless faced with issues like dead batteries, full storage, or broken devices.

• Also read: Survey: Google Smartphone Users Least Loyal, Apple Users Most Loyal to Brand

With the recent launch of the 2024 iPad Pro and Air, it remains to be seen if these new models will inspire users to upgrade.

The CIRP data reflects user preferences prior to the new models’ launch, covering the period from March 2023 to 2024.

Read next: Oxford Study: Internet Boosts Global Well-Being, Counters Negative Perceptions
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Oxford Study: Internet Boosts Global Well-Being, Counters Negative Perceptions

According to a new study from Oxford University, the internet has played a great role in the well-being of people despite how much people see usage of the internet in a negative light. The researchers came to this conclusion after analyzing data from two million people in 168 countries. The study saw the data from 2006 to 2021 to say that 84.9% of the time, the internet was the source for the well being of many people.

Previous studies have also been done on this topic but there were always issues of demographics and geographies between them. This study also included Latin America, Africa and Asia as use of the internet isn’t just concerned with North America or Europe, said Professor Andrew Przybylski from Oxford Internet Institute. He also added that use of the internet is a global phenomenon and everyone all over the world uses it. So, it is important to cover all the major countries from each continent to get the results right.

• Also read: Highest Earning And Most Downloaded Apps In April 2024 Unveiled

The study focused on some indicators of well-being like life positive experience, satisfaction, physical well being, social well being etc. to see how they are being affected by use of the internet. The results showed that all the associations with the internet are positive but there is a slight difference in the results based on gender. 4.9% of the negative associations with internet use were found in women of ages between 15 to 24. This could be because of cyberbullying and depression due to social media use. Researchers of the study said that they hope that this research can bring more context to screen time debate. People who experience greater well-being on the internet tend to use the internet more as compared to people that find themselves negatively being affected by it.

Image: DIW-AIgen

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

IMF Warns Cyber Attacks Threaten Global Financial Stability

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently expressed concerns about the risks that cyber attacks pose to global financial stability. These attacks are becoming more frequent and sophisticated, increasing the potential for financial losses.

In its latest global financial stability report, the IMF has devoted a significant portion to discussing these cyber risks. The report emphasizes that the financial sector’s exposure is particularly high due to the large amounts of sensitive data and transactions it handles.

Over the past two decades, the financial sector has been hit by more than 20,000 cyberattacks. This has resulted in losses totaling approximately $12 billion. While the average loss from these attacks might seem relatively small at about $500,000 per incident, the IMF shows that the potential for extreme losses has quadrupled since 2017.

In fact, malicious cyber incidents peaked in 2023, and the financial losses from 2020 have amounted to an estimated $2.5 billion.The IMF has warned that severe cyber incidents, especially at major financial institutions, could severely disrupt macrofinancial stability.

Such incidents can erode public confidence, interrupt critical financial services, and due to the interconnected nature of modern technology and finance, have wider repercussions across other sectors. For example, a significant breach in a country's critical infrastructure could have extensive spillover effects, impacting many areas beyond just the financial sector.

Earlier this year, the IMF itself experienced a cybersecurity breach where eleven of its email accounts were compromised. This incident highlights the ongoing vulnerabilities even within major financial institutions and underscores the growing risk of such threats.

In response to these challenges, the IMF is urging financial firms to improve their cybersecurity measures. This includes conducting stress tests and establishing better information-sharing protocols. Additionally, the IMF is calling on governments to develop robust national cybersecurity strategies to better protect against and respond to these threats.

Similarly, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has noted the increasing vulnerability of all sectors to cyberattacks, not just the financial industry. The WEF has also highlighted a significant skills gap in the cybersecurity field, estimating a global need for five million cybersecurity professionals.

This shortage is particularly acute in public organizations, where over half report that a lack of resources and skilled personnel is their biggest hurdle to enhancing cyber resilience.

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Read next: OpenAI and Reddit Unite to Revolutionize AI-Powered Community Interactions
by Mahrukh Shahid via Digital Information World

OpenAI and Reddit Unite to Revolutionize AI-Powered Community Interactions

While it may not have been the collaboration that many saw coming anytime soon the makers of ChatGPT have just unveiled a strategic partnership with the popular social media app Reddit.

The deal is said to revolutionize how users are interacting online with different communities while experiencing success linked to AI-based features. Such a collaboration is major news for Reddit which is a top-of-the-line platform for news and forum discussions.

It comes just days after Reddit entered into a deal with Google regarding content licensing that would leverage strengths linked to both firms to produce unparalleled experiences for users while driving innovation in the world of AI.

Such partnerships would give OpenAI access to Data API from Reddit that’s real-time and more structural in design, not to mention major access to content produced by communities on Reddit.

There’s a lot of enthusiasm here and excitement in terms of this new deal from both ends as OpenAI revealed in its latest statement that users can not avail of the best and timely data in ChatGPT while Reddit benefits from an exclusive array of AI endeavors.

The combination of Reddit’s data with OpenAI’s latest tools offering would greatly enhance AI comprehension and display content from the app that’s new and happening.

The app has really transformed into one of the firm’s biggest open archives featuring data that’s not only up to date but relevant in context so humans can benefit. In this way, it’s the users who can benefit from both ends as they get more of a taste of what they might be in search of. So as you can tell, it’s a win-win situation from both ends.

The collaboration is said to make a serious milestone in combining AI with social media while paving the way for apps like Reddit to roll out the finest form of AI features that can be used by moderators and more.

While building more on OpenAI’s latest lineup of models, we can see how Reddit could bring a vision of the entire AI experience to life while rolling out content that’s more personalized in design including recommendations and other forms of innovation. So what you get is a more immersive and wholesome user experience.

What is interesting is how major of a move this happens to be, considering the stiff competition in the industry today. Both tech giants have made quite an impact in the market. Their revenue streams are doing great and you can see apps like Reddit now being compared to the success of TikTok and Meta’s Facebook.

Such collaborations of Reddit with the AI giant and others like Google just prove how committed Reddit is in terms of leveraging the content of the past to ensure innovation and growth take place.

Meanwhile, OpenAI is here hoping to benefit from such deals by attaining access to the most real and latest content that really could assist in refining its model's lineup. Remember, OpenAI is seeking to diversify ChatGPT and beyond using training data that goes above and beyond the usual information that is seen on the web.

Remember, the company’s legal challenges on this front are another worrisome factor as copyright matters keep on peaking and this can provide the most sustainable and fruitful approach to the firm in the world of AI.

But again critics are expressing concerns about the collaboration including how it could bring forward issues linked to user privacy which both sides realize and are trying to combat. Reddit went public with its content policy and how users were assured that existing arrangements linked to this new deal would not compromise any other Terms of Service in place. So that means no content can be used by users that is accessed via API without Reddit approving this front.

Meanwhile, as this collaboration continues to unfold, we’re seeing more anticipation on the users' end in terms of how they can benefit from fruitful AI experiences where innovation is key and better user experiences set the stage for evolution in AI and social media alike.

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Read next: Study: Chatbots Found to Restrict Information, Echo User Biases, and Hinder Independent Thought
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Study: Chatbots Found to Restrict Information, Echo User Biases, and Hinder Independent Thought

A new study by Johns Hopkins University finds that chatbots have limited information and they reinforce ideologies on users. The research discusses how the use of AI chatbots is constricting people from forming their own opinions, which can make them vulnerable to manipulation. When people ask ChatGPT to write a summary of a book, research or any other form of content, ChatGPT just uses the information that has already been stored in it to form an opinion. This prevents people from discerning what’s right and what’s wrong.

The lead author of the study, Ziang Xiao, says that chatbots aren’t designed to be biased but their answers reflect the biases of the person who designed them and the type of questions users are asking them. So, this means that chatbots are only giving the answers users want to hear from them. Ziang Xiao wanted to study how online searches are influenced by chatbots and how much difference people felt in answers from search platforms and Chatbots. For the study, the researchers asked 272 members to write about different topics like healthcare, student loans or some other things and look for more writing material from ChatGPT and ordinary search engines especially built for this study.

When the search results came, participants of the study wrote their essays for the second time and also answered some questions about their topic. The researchers also made participants read two contradicting articles about the same topic and also asked them questions about which article has the accurate information in their opinion. The results also showed that chatbots had limited information about the topics as compared to ordinary search engines and chatbots were also only reflecting the attitudes of the users. Xiao said that people only look for information that is similar to their viewpoints.

There is also a difference in the way people seek answers from an ordinary search engine and a chatbot. People tend to only write keywords in the search box while they write full questions on chatbots. Chatbots use this form of communication to their own advantage and look for clues and attitudes from which they give answers according to what the user wants. Researchers also created a chatbot which was designed to agree with whatever the user says. It was more powerful than the other chatbots. But there was also a chatbot which was designed to disagree with whatever the user says. But it was not powerful enough to change people’s opinions.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

TikTok Creators Unite To Legally Challenge US Government Over New Bill Banning The App

The news about President Biden signing the TikTok divestiture bill into the country’s law has not been appreciated by many around the country.

This is why creators are now joining forces to legally challenge the American Government with a new lawsuit that was filed inside the Federal Court on Tuesday.

The company’s CEO has already mentioned time and time again how they would fight back as the law failed to follow America’s own First Amendment. And he even went as far as to conclude that it was unconstitutional and must be removed.

Remember, the app has a user base of close to 170 million individuals in the US who make use of this platform to generate a living. So to scrap it entirely for a reason that many feel is unlawful is causing massive concern.

The bill first came into play last month after the country’s head of state signed it. It states that the platform must be separate from its parent firm which is based in China, called ByteDance. However, the latter has argued and confirmed that it would rather lose functions in the US markets than go about selling off its algorithms to other US-based sellers.

In this particular legal case, creators argue that this law is undermining the country’s own principles and stops it from being an area where creativity stems. The news regarding the latest lawsuit was first broken by a legal company that represented all those who had signed a petition against it.

They hope to block this ban from coming into effect, filing the case as a First Amendment legal challenge that is on behalf of several creators.

The company that has pulled out the lawsuit has close to 600 legal experts that span around the country in seven different American cities. And it’s safe to say that it’s a force to reckon with.

Both TikTok and ByteDance rolled out their own separate lawsuit on this front to block all claims generated for those taking place on May 7th. They felt such a ban was designed for destruction and intense manipulation.

It was also said to silence many American citizens and that was not going to go unnoticed. So now, they’re putting up a fight and failing to back down.

TikTok says it has over the years spent a huge sum of funds that go into billions, just so that it could ensure users’ privacy and safety were never compromised. They wished to make sure the app was far from being implicated and manipulated by authorities in China. But the way things have unfolded recently and the accusations that have been labeled against the app are just devastating.

For those who may have missed it, security officials at the White House accused TikTok of colllecting mass amounts of sensitive data and sharing that with China’s government. This is why the platform was called out as a huge national security threat.

Lawmakers called TikTok a surveillance and security nightmare that must be curbed before it’s too late. Meanwhile, not everyone in the country feels a ban was necessary or the right decision.

A poll carried out before the decision for the ban came into play had the majority of the country’s population holding a belief that a ban and separation of the app from its parent firm was not the right decision or even possible.

Meanwhile, content creators in this regard are arguing and fighting for their rights to freedom of expression. From making content to selling things through the app, many are being stripped of their basic rights and that’s not something they’re willing to accept silently.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

New Research Shows Strategies for Parents which Can Help Decrease the Smartphone Overuse in Adolescents

A new research published in a journal named Addictive Behaviors talks about how excessive use of smartphones can affect behavioral patterns which can interfere in our personal, social and professional lives. The overuse of smartphones also results in disturbed sleep patterns, strained personal relationships and decrease in productivity. The research talks about how parents can take part in making their children use smartphones as little as possible. The study also explains that parents should focus more on participation and less on supervision when it comes to their child’s use of smartphones.

For the study, the researchers surveyed 1187 families which consisted of a mother, father and their adolescent child of ages between 14 to 18. The researchers collected the data at two points, one from baseline and other from six-month follow up. The researchers observed the family dynamics of researchers, focusing on how parents discussed smartphone usage to their adolescent, their general communications and how they spent their quality times together. Efrati, the lead researcher, and his team of other researchers found out that there was improvement in communications between parents and their adolescents about smartphone usage. The research also found out that communication with only fathers and adolescents also played an important and more effective part in reduction of smartphone use.

The researchers also talked about four main parental strategies that can help in the smartphone usage reduction of their adolescents. The first strategy is restrictive mediation that involves setting rules and timings on smartphone use. Parents can impose these rules and timings to their adolescents on their child's phone to limit its use. This method showed a decrease in PSU and social pressure on adolescents. The second strategy is negative active which means mediation of parents to disapprove of their adolescent's certain smartphone activities. In this strategy, parents often criticize their children’s overuse of smartphones in front of them. But a negative active strategy has negative effects like increased PSU and social pressure.

There is also a positive action strategy which is opposite to negative action where parents tell their children beneficial and advantageous use of smartphones. This helps the children focus on using smartphones for better purposes. As opposed to negative active, adolescents felt free from getting emotional gain from smartphones and connected emotionally with their parents. The fourth strategy is co-use where parents can get involved in smartphone activities with their children like playing games or exploring the internet. When parents used smartphones with their parents, it also resulted in decreased social pressure about smartphone overuse.

This study altogether found out that communication, support and limited mediation of parents with their adolescents can help decrease their smartphone use. However, this study is also limited to only one area and the researchers are not sure if these type of strategies can be used everywhere in the world.

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Read next: Unconventional Ideas Gain Popularity on Social Media, Binghamton University Study Shows
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World