Researchers Call for ML Transparency, Spotlight Energy-Intensive AI Content Creation; Image Generation Leads, Text Classification Is Lowest

Teaming up with Carnegie Mellon University, the brainiacs over at AI startup Hugging Face have stumbled upon a real eye-opener about the eco-impact of artificial intelligence.

When it comes to whipping up images with AI, whether it's for your run-of-the-mill stock photos or those fancy ID snapshots, it's like a gentle nudge to your smartphone's battery. Surprisingly, though, the script flips when you dive into the text-generating realm—turns out it's way thriftier on the energy front, clocking in at just 16% of a full smartphone charge.

Nope, the study's not just about pixels and paragraphs. It's a whole shebang of 13 tasks, from summing up stuff to sorting text. The brainy bunch kept it real by throwing experiments at 88 different models and giving them a spin with 30 diverse datasets. Each task got a grand treatment of 1,000 prompts, all in the name of cracking the code on carbon and figuring out the energy and carbon output during these digital back-and-forths.

The gist of their findings zooms in on the heavy lifting when AI's asked to whip up fresh content—be it words, summaries, captioning pics, or just churning out images. Surprise, surprise! Image-making takes the cake for emissions, while text sorting is the low-energy superhero in this tech showdown.

The researchers aren't pulling punches. They're waving the transparency flag in the machine learning arena, urging the brainy squad and the tech wizards to spill the beans on their models. Why? Because understanding the ins and outs of the AI's environmental ripple effect is key. Sure, charging your phone for a single AI image doesn't seem like a big deal, but when you throw in the crazy usage of models like ChatGPT—10 million users a day and a whopping 100 million monthly users—it's clear that the green impact of AI is no small potatoes.

Read next: AI Will Reduce Work Week to 4 Days by 2033
by Irfan Ahmad via Digital Information World

Meta Grapples with Escalating Child Exploitation Scrutiny amid EU Probe and Legal Challenges

Social media giant Meta grapples with a grave issue—its struggle to curb the use of its platforms for promoting child abuse content.

A recent Wall Street Journal report brings this unsettling reality to light, revealing instances of child exploitation flourishing on Facebook and Instagram. European Union regulators intensify the scrutiny on Meta's child safety protocols in the wake of this revelation.

Tests conducted with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection expose how Meta's algorithms inadvertently facilitate the promotion of child exploitation. Shockingly, the recommendations include Facebook Groups and Instagram hashtags used as conduits for sharing such reprehensible material. Meta's delayed response to reports on this content allows the nefarious network to persist. The report unveils a disturbing scenario where Instagram accounts with millions of followers brazenly live-stream videos of child abuse, continuing despite prior reports.

One glaring example of Meta's inertia emerged when it initially dismissed a user report about a Facebook Group named "Incest." Only persistent pressure forced Meta to take down this group and others of a similar nature. European Union regulators, seizing this moment, employ a new law to scrutinize Meta's handling of child abuse material, imposing a stringent deadline of December 22 for data submission.

Meta, in response, asserts its commitment to fortifying defenses against predators, acknowledging the relentless determination of these criminals. The company claims improvements to internal systems and an expanded lexicon of child safety terms. Technology is deployed to identify and sideline potentially suspicious adults within Facebook Groups, disrupting their connections and content.

As the storm brews, Meta finds itself entangled in legal challenges, facing lawsuits from states accusing it of harming young users' mental well-being. Mark Zuckerberg prepares for a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on child safety online. Simultaneously, regulators across the Atlantic invoke a new law to scrutinize Meta's handling of child abuse content.

The narrative unfolds against a backdrop of growing discontent, demanding accountability from Meta, once perched atop the digital pinnacle, now facing real-world consequences of its platform's inadequacies.

Photo: Dima Solomin / Unsplash

Read next: TikTok is Set to Invest 12 Billion Euros to Start Working on European Data Centers
by Irfan Ahmad via Digital Information World

AI Will Reduce Work Week to 4 Days by 2033

AI can be seen positively or negatively based on who you might be asking at any given point in time, but in spite of the fact that this is the case, it appears that there is a high level of likelihood that it may reduce the work week. According to a study conducted by the think tank, Autonomy, it appears that AI will enable workers to work only 4 days out of the week instead of 5 and earn the same income.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that this change will mostly impact workers in the US and the UK, and we can extrapolate that these advantages would extend to other developed nations as well. The findings presented in this study seem to suggest that as many as 35 million workers in the US and 8 million in the UK will get the chance to work 4 days a week if the trend holds true for the next decade.

This would mean that a fairly significant proportion of the population would be working considerably less than might have been the case otherwise, and the wider economic impact of this change is likely also going to come into play. What's more is that 71% of workers based in the US could see their work hours reduced by 10%, and 88% of UK based workers will be able to avail the same benefits with all things having been considered and taken into account.

Reducing the work week could be significant because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up giving workers more free time. There have been many indications that human beings are extremely overworked in the modern age, and AI might make it possible to reverse this trend once and for all.

However, it bears mentioning that workers living in poorer parts of these countries would be less likely to enjoy a shorter work week. For example, the town of Boston in Lincolnshire, England will only see 15% of its work force get the chance to work four days a week. It will be interesting to see where things go from here on out, since there are a lot of different outcomes that could occur.

Photo: DIW - AIgen

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

TikTok is Set to Invest 12 Billion Euros to Start Working on European Data Centers

TikTok recently announced that it is going to invest a whopping 12 billion euros to win over European regulators. TikTok claims that it has established its own Norwegian data center and all of the TikTok data of Europeans is being regulated there. TikTok is the world’s top social media application that is being used and liked by millions of people. The app was launched by ByteDance in China in 2016. In the last few years, critics have been saying that TikTok shares its users’ data with the Chinese company but TikTok tried many times to convince law makers that the app isn’t completely bound to ByteDance. These reassurances didn’t work because a news broke that the Chinese employees of TikTok have access to data of USA and European users.

But TikTok is looking out for the concerns of its users. So, it has decided to launch Project Clover, which will open many data centers all over the Norwegian region to regulate and protect users' data. This project is partnered by Europe’s Digital Services Act (DSA) that will help TikTok control the data transmission in Europe. The 10 billion euro investment is for the next 10 years and TikTok will make 3 data centers from the investment money. A third-party security company called NCC Group will also help TikTok as the company will give audits on data and its transmission.

TikTok was kind of slow in shifting its data centers in Europe. When the first TikTok data center was built in Ireland in September, TikTok started to shift Europeans there as it was the most convenient at that time. Now, the European data in Ireland data center isn’t entirely shifted but the process is said to be complete in 2024. Second data center in Ireland has also been announced, followed by a third one in Norway (Hamar Region). The data center in Norway will operate on renewable energy sources entirely.

TikTok says that it has held over these 3 buildings entirely and the data transferring work of the European data center will get completed sometime in 2024. The European users will have their data transferred to their own European data centers. That will take away any doubt they have of their data getting to Chinese through TikTok headquarters.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Top Politicians Accused Of Using Extreme Weather Events To Promote Climate Change Misinformation, New Study Reveals

Climate change has been a subject of debate for years and the fact that many tech giants have been called out for not doing enough to curb misinformation regarding it cannot be denied either.

But keeping that same theme in mind, a new study is accusing some of the world’s leading politicians and their respective followers of passing out misinformation whenever serious natural disasters strike.

The report in question comes with alarming figures and is worth mentioning because of the fact that close to a million individuals situated in places like Latin America and even the Caribbean region were forced to leave their homes in 2021 after getting displaced due to the worst form of climate change imaginable.

Seeing not enough attention being generated on the matter was even more disheartening as a lack of policies surrounding the subject led to greater chaos and misery and can even cause bigger displacement, the study added that was published last week.

In terms of the bigger picture, misinformation on the topic is peaking in various locations around the globe after so many weather events took center stage. So many top-of-the-line researchers looked at the extreme weather events in Latin America for instance and compared it to what was seen this year and the destruction from the previous one.

The latest report was launched on Wednesday where experts took into consideration nearly 14 extreme weather-related catastrophes like cyclones leading to flooding in Rio Grande where casualties included 40 people, not to mention major damage to the area.

Without giving the matter a second thought, top lawmakers and influencers in the country blamed the matter of flooding on poor infrastructure such as irreparable dams, and that false matter spread at the speed of light in no time.

They did not even provide evidence and since they’re big names in the industry, people did not even blink an eye before believing everything they had to say. Then we heard about wildfires hitting Chile during that time as well and again, the blame game began where accusations headed in the direction of arson instead of massive drought that really led to the destruction of forest fires.

Authorities were hence seen arresting individuals that they felt were involved in the crime, accusing them of carrying out fire-related crimes but top research experts proved how there was more than meets the eye, citing climate change and its associated drought that caused wildfires to arise.

So as this study proved, climate change and the world of politics go together so well that it’s scary to assume how such a serious topic is pushing curbs without ever thinking about the consequences it is having on the world.

Many have gone as far as calling the act out as weaponizing climate change events to try and launch an attack against people having opposite political views. And nothing can be worse than it arising at the cost of humanity.

Brazil is one of the leading nations of Latin America and it’s all set to play a key role with its attendance at COP28 where the president’s major objectives involve environmental policies that serve as cornerstones for his terms as a leader of the country.

The scheduled conference will arise in Dubai and seeing him be one of the top advocates for the need to do more to assist with the hazards of climate change is proof of how there are people that do exist and wish to find a solution instead of turning a blind matter to the matter.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

ChatGPT Celebrates Its First Anniversary With A Bang As Revenue Hits $30M With 110M Mobile App Downloads

As the tech world gears up to wrap up 2023, OpenAI is celebrating its one-year anniversary for its revolutionizing ChatGPT technology.

We’re celebrating a happy first year of ChatGPT. Here’s hoping for many more! 🥳🎂 pic.twitter.com/qtwqQQ3HTy

— ChatGPT (@ChatGPTapp) November 30, 2023

The incredible offering has really caused a storm in today’s modern world and seeing it achieve nothing but massive success over such a short period is a wakeup call for many regarding no plans of stopping.

ChatGPT is turning 1! 🥳🎂

Today we’re celebrating our users around the world who are doing amazing things. pic.twitter.com/4kqqMaigTw

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) November 30, 2023

The anniversary is also a huge deal because ChatGPT is celebrating more milestones as we speak as revenue for the service reached $30 million recently while the figure for mobile app downloads attained a massive 110 million since the launch.

Now if that’s not what you call fabulous then we’re not quite sure what is, experts recall.

What the firm may have rolled out as a preview for research turned out to be a popular sensation for everyday use and seeing AI technology entering into the realms of mainstream usage signals big things.

A huge part of such efforts has to do with the fact that ChatGPT is now up for grabs through a click of a button on mobile phones. So you download it and make the most of it. Remember, the leading mobile app was first rolled out for iPhone users in May and the response blew the company’s mind.

So many more users had greater access to the service, not to mention the huge rollout in July for Android devices too. To celebrate the mega one-year anniversary of the incredible technology, the latest stats on this front prove how nothing can be better than seeing consumer spending at its peak as per DataAI’s recent mobile intelligence study.

The firm’s mobile apps are really making big bucks, especially after the rollout of ChatGPT Plus whose subscription through in-app purchases is another milestone altogether. For nearly $20, users get a wide array of perks that entail major access at peak moments, not to mention quicker replies when on the go, and immediate access to the latest list of features and enhancements.

But it was not just locally that the uproar was heard. We saw it go international too in February of this year and people all praised OpenAI’s efforts in this regard. But we have to remind many that it’s not as cheap as your everyday in-app buy.

It actually is worth so much more than any kind of music or streaming service found today. But the fact that so many people have great interest in services like ChatGPS Plus continues to remind many that they might be doing something right.

The apps from ChatGPT have surpassed the $28 million mark in terms of people spending across their smartphones but so many more people were seemingly likely to be spending through the internet.

Some could have attained subscriptions via AI chatbot platforms while a majority would be inclined in terms of making use of the company’s API. For instance, we’ve seen demand peak for Poe which enables users with ChatGPT and other types of similar chatbots to play using a single interface. So that’s what we call convenience at its best.

The data might fluctuate as we speak but that still does not remove the fact that it's one of the world’s best and biggest chatbots when you consider revenue. There’s tough competition as we just saw Ask AI edge ahead in mobile, putting out a long list of lower-costing options for exclusive features. It also has many price plans so users can benefit from something that better suits their interests and budgets.

Read next: ChatGPT's Journey In Stats — Key Achievements Since Its Inception
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Facebook And Instagram Users Allowed To Opt Out Of Data Tracking After New EU Privacy Challenge Heads In Meta’s Direction

Meta is not going to be happy to hear this next piece of news after the EU recently rolled out a new privacy challenge in the tech giant’s direction.

Consumer groups across Europe recently united and put out a complaint against Facebook’s parent firm and how its system was giving users a chance to step back from data tracking. And for those wondering, it’s the second challenge of this kind to arise in just a week.

The leading firm sells data belonging to its users to a wide range of advertisers but for so many years, it has simply failed at justifying the act as it does not fall in the data privacy domain.

The leading firm from Silicon Valley first gave users the chance to jet out around ten to thirteen Euros monthly to take a step back from sharing their data at the month’s start.

However, many consumer groups claimed such a decision failed to fall in the jurisdiction of their regulations, dubbing it unfair for obvious reasons. They similarly ordered it to stop as mentioned in a leading system from the BEUC.

Now, we know that close to 19 members rolled out a united complaint with the region’s consumer protection leaders relating to the network in Europe. They similarly mentioned how close to 19 members rolled out a complaint on the subject recently with the region’s authorities who handle such matters.

The BEUC’s head called out Meta for the act and even confirmed how it was a deceptive practice. Similarly, we saw how the privacy group in Austria mentioned that such complaints regarding data protection arising over a similar issue were at an all-time high in this part of the world as well.

And that’s why more complaints were launched in Vienna by such groups that were based in Austria.

We’ve seen the NOYB succeed when it came down to beating Meta at so many kinds of similarly themed legal cases, adding how the tech giant’s latest system was just wrong as it failed at providing people with the freedom to make their own decisions and opt out of data tracking as the only other option was to pay to gain their own privacy.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World