App Spending Soars to $288 Billion by 2030, 2.9 Trillion Downloads Expected

According to a new report by Data.ai, the app spending in app stores will grow about 267% in this decade (2020-2023) and there will be an increase in app downloads too. The data shows that $288 billion are going to be spent on apps in 2030 alone which suggests that 2.9 trillion apps and games are going to be downloaded within these ten years. This will ultimately result in advancement and usage of mobile devices. Consumers all over the world spend an average 16 billion hours on mobile phones but these numbers are going to reach 58 trillion in this decade.

The apps on mobile phones have direct spending revenue of $2.2 trillion, excluding the amount earned by in-app spendings, which was $362 billion in just 2023. The report shows that the app economy has declined by 2% in the last 15 years and there are various factors that became the reason for it. Inflation, limited income, privacy changes and global pandemic are some to name. Even with this slight decline, apps generated $171 billion in consumer dollars in 2023. This is because the mobile users are increasing and apps are making the experience of users on mobile phones more useful and interesting.

If we talk about what the rest of this decade is going to bring to the app market, it is expected that apps are going to earn more than games. Previously, games were the top contributors in the app market but by 2030, apps are going to contribute 50.3% to the market as compared to 37% in 2023. The apps containing streaming and short video will make 18% of the annual apps spend by 2030. These apps will grow 120% from 2023 to 2030. Streaming app called IQIYI surpassed $3 billion in player spending globally in 2023 and made it to the $3 billion club alongside Max, Tencent Video and Disney+. But even these streaming apps cannot compete with video apps like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. The social and entertainment apps including these three are expected to reach 4.8 trillion hours in 2030.

Countries like the United States, Japan, China and Korea will make two-thirds of consumer spending by 2030 but major growth is expected to be seen from other countries from Central America (12.0%), South America (10.9%) and Africa (10.8%). In conclusion, this decade is going to be the turning point for the app market all over the world.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

How Much Do Tech Workers Earn? Here’s How It Varies From City to City

The tech industry is well known for providing exceptional salaries to the people working in its various corporations and concerns. In spite of the fact that this is the case, the type of salary that a tech worker can command is largely contingent on where they are living at this current point in time. Business Name Generator recently did an analysis to figure out where they can earn the most cash.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that Doha, Qatar came out on top with an average of $160,000 per tech employee. One might think that the top ranking city would be American, but Qatar has done a good job of attracting tech investment into the area. Data scientists working in the city can earn upwards of $450,000 per year with all things having been considered and taken into account.

Of course, American cities were undoubtedly going to make an appearance. San Francisco is ranked second with an average tech salary of $135,500, which makes sense considering this is where Silicon Valley happens to be. Los Angeles and New York weren’t far behind with $117,00 on average, followed by DC with $110,000, Chicago with $103,000 and Las Vegas with $100,000.

On the other end of the spectrum, tech workers in Rome only manage to early a paltry $36,000. Italy actually offers some of the lowest tech salaries in the world, with Milan offering $40,000. The same trend can be seen across Europe, with Madrid’s average tech salary hovering at around $40,000, and Barcelona, Budapest and Paris all staying within $40,000 to $50,000.

However, it bears mentioning that cost of living plays a role here as well. $117,000 in New York doesn’t go as far as $160,000 in Doha, mostly due to the latter’s far lower cost of living. It costs just over $32,000 to live a decent life in Doha, whereas people in New York need to spend $64,000 at the very least. Either way, tech workers can still save a decent chunk of change every year.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Over 30% of Jobs Openings in Creator Economy Startups Are for Engineering Roles in 2024

The creator economy will be worth an estimated $480 billion by 2027 according to Goldman Sachs, but this has to do with more than just the creators who represent the face of the industry. In spite of the fact that this is the case, there have been widespread layoffs in the industry that are quite similar to the layoffs seen in other industries around the world.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that engineering jobs in creator economy startups are still in high demand. According to a new report released by Creator Economy Jobs, 30.3% of the jobs that were posted in the first quarter of 2024 were engineering roles. The rise of AI might have something or the other to do with this.

The second highest number of job openings was for sales roles, which represented 16.1% with all things having been considered and taken into account. Marketing roles also comprised 12.7% of the sum total. It bears mentioning that a significant proportion of the jobs that are available in the creator economy are mid-level roles. 43.8% of the positions that were listed in the first quarter of 2024 adhered to the mid-level label, with 22.5% being experienced roles.

21.8% were for managerial positions, whereas 5.8% were for directors. Interestingly enough, entry level positions were some of the lowest out there, with just 4.6% offering roles to people who are still rather new to the industry.

Another fact that was presented within these findings was that 40% of all jobs came from the US. The second highest proportion came from remote roles, or 11.5% to be precise. After that, Germany and the UK tied for second place with 5%. As for the city that had the highest percentage of jobs in the creator economy, San Francisco came out on top with 7.6%, followed by Los Angeles with 6.5%. New York came in third with 4.2%, followed by London with 4.1%, and then Jakarta rounded off the top 5 with 3.2%.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

GPT-4 Outperforms Humans in Persuasion by 82% in This New Study

A recent study conducted by researchers at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, or EPFL for short, suggested that GPT-4 is better at persuasion than human beings by a margin of just under 82%, or 81.7% to be precise. The study involved conducting debates between 820 people around a wide range of topics. These topics included highly charged subjects such as whether or not race should be considered in the admission criteria of colleges, as well as low risk topics like whether or not the penny should continue to be circulated as legal tender.

It is important to note that the people that participated in this study were often paired up with an AI. This resulted in the finding that AI was able to more effectively provide persuasive arguments. When personalization wasn’t factored into the equation, AI was able to be more persuasive by 21.3%, but personalization took this all the way to 81.7% with all things having been considered and taken into account.

It bears mentioning that the participants were often able to tell when they were speaking to a chatbot in some way, shape or form. In spite of the fact that this is the case, this did not change how persuasive they found the LLM using chatbot’s arguments to be at this current point in time. One thing that can be gleaned from this is that these writing patterns are rather easy to pinpoint, since 75% of the people that participated in the study were able to discern the true identity of the chatbot.

The relative simplicity of the prompts seems to suggest that LLMs will have no issue being persuasive to humans in the near to distant future. This also indicates that malicious actors may be able to use them for their own nefarious purposes, including situations wherein they are attempting to conduct a social engineering attack. As a result of the fact that this is the case, people must be educated about the dangers of believing what they read online.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Learn These Tricks For Financial Management As soon as You Turn 18 Because They are Going to Help You a Lot

Not everyone can say that they have knowledge about finance management. Even though some people think of it as something simple and not important, financial management is everything but that. As soon as people turn 18, they should know how money works and how to manage it so it can help them in future. This article is going to talk about some points that everyone should know when it comes to their money. So let’s start.

Top 10 Lessons that Can Help you with Money Management

Following are the top 10 lessons that undergraduate students should know when it comes to their money and which things they should invest their money on.

1- Evaluate Your Money and Things You Want to Do With It

Before you start planning financial management, evaluate everything on your own. What do you want to do in your life with the money you have? Most young people dream of buying a house with their money. Don't feel pressured if buying a house is not your goal. If you want to save money to travel the world, that's okay too.

2- Investing is the Best Option

Start investing as soon as possible. This is called Compound Interest. The longer your money is being invested, the more compound interest works its magic. Even if you can only contribute a small amount of money at first, it’s okay because your investment matters.

3- Do Not Waste Your Money on Unnecessary Things

Only buy things that you need and do not spend on extra items. Take your time and think about whether you really need a thing or you are just wasting your money. Note down what you spend in a month as it will help you identify how you are spending your money.

4- Discuss Your Finances With Everyone

Talking about money used to be taboo, but not anymore. Talking about finances openly is helping to break down barriers and gaining knowledge.

5- Learn to Bargain when Needed

Bargaining is a skill that is very important if you want to save some of your money. You might be surprised how much you can save by simply asking for a lower price or requesting utilities to be included in your monthly rent.

6- Don’t be Afraid to Ask Questions About Money

Don't be afraid to ask questions about money and finances that you don’t understand. Have you ever seen unexpected charges on your bank statement or doctor's bill? Asking about them can help you a lot in making sense of money.

7- Learn from Your Past Financial Mistakes

Financial mistakes happen sometimes when people are learning to manage their money, but don’t let them empower you. Use your financial mistakes as lessons and learn to manage well from them.

8- Make Friends who Have Some Financial Goals as You

Make friends with people who share the same financial values and goals as you. Make friends who have the same financial status as you and discuss you money with them.

9- Plan Some Low Cost Activities for Yourself

Keep your budget in mind and plan activities that don’t take huge amounts of money from you. There are many free and low cost activities that you can choose from and they will not leave a dent on your budget.

10- Wealth Isn’t Always About Money

Your happiness shouldn’t only revolve around money and its management. It doesn’t matter how much money you own and how good you are in managing it, what matters the most if your happiness and comfort.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Top 10 Freelance Jobs That Are Getting Popular in 2024

We all know that freelancing is getting popular with each passing day. According to a survey, about 64 million Americans did freelance work one way or another. With these large numbers, the future of freelancing and freelancers seems bright. There are a lot of advantages of freelancing like working from home, great employee rates, better pay, etc.

Many people like to freelance because they have jobs in various fields. According to the State of Remote Freelance Jobs Report by FlexJobs, remote freelance jobs have grown about 20% in the last year. For your better understanding, the following is a list of some remote freelance jobs that you can start doing anytime with the right skills.

1- Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants are getting very popular among small businesses and entrepreneurs. These people hire freelance assistants who handle all their administrative tasks virtually. The role of a virtual assistant is just like any other assistant as they coordinate calendars, respond to emails, and perform other admin-related tasks. The annual salary of a virtual assistant ranges from $43,043 to $50,640.

2- Graphic Designer

If you are creative and know how to create beautiful designs using graphics designing softwares, freelance jobs for graphic designers are also seeing a rise. A freelance graphic designer designs logos, brochures, or any other visual media that represents a job or organization. The average salary of a Freelander graphic designer is $44,460.

3- Bookkeeper

A freelance bookkeeper keeps up with all the account details of a business or an organization. A bookkeeper helps business owners to manage their resources and make an estimate of their profits and losses. They also help with taxes. The average annual salary of a bookkeeper is $83,728. With more expertise in the work, the individual can get a higher salary.

4- Project Manager

A project manager is responsible for managing a project for a business or organization. These freelancers mostly work on a contract basis and provide management services from the comfort of their homes. The average salary for a project manager is $87,750 in the US.

5- Copywriter

If you are someone who loves writing, there are many freelance jobs available that seek individuals for copywriting opportunities. Freelance copywriters can write for websites, email marketing, campaigns, digital marketing, and much more by using your writing skills. As a freelance copywriter, you can earn $58,644 on average.

6- Customer Services Representative

If you love representing people and organizations, you can work as a freelance customer services representative. There are many jobs available for them on different freelancing websites. You can work as a freelancer as well as a contract employee, and can make $49,966.

7- Social Media Specialist

If you have a background in social media or digital marketing, you can work for multiple clients by freelancing as a social media specialist. As a social media specialist, you will have to make different kinds of social media campaigns and help your clients optimize their social media profiles and pages. It is a freelance job that pays well with an average salary of $48,447.

8- Video Editor

A video editor reviews and transforms raw videos from clients into edits and changes their sound, arrangement, and cuttings to make the video more pleasing to watch. Video editors are also one of the freelancers who are in high demand in the freelance market. Its average salary is $88,706.

9- Marketing Manager

Marketing managers plan out strategies for different clients to engage the target audience toward a certain product. Although marketing managers are mostly seen as full-time employees in different organisations, there are also freelance opportunities for them that they can perform remotely too. Being a freelancing market manager can get you a $92,674 salary on average.

10- Communications Specialist

The role of a communications specialist is to communicate with the public on behalf of the head by making press releases, media content, and social media advertising. It is a great job to build awareness for a company before the whole world. A freelance communications specialist can make $94,191 on average in America.

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A New Study Suggests that AI is Capable of Taking Over Managerial Roles in Large-Scale Research Projects

A new study by ESMT Berlin shows that AI is taking over many key roles in a lot of organizations and it feels like AI is capable of doing tasks that require a lot of cooperation, allocation and motivation. There are many studies and researches talking about how AI is taking people’s jobs but now researchers have also found out that AI can work efficiently as a manager too. The researchers from ESMT studied AI not as a regular employee but as a manager. They found out that AI is good at managing tasks such as data collection and data analysis. Algorithm Management (AM) is a good example of it as it is changing the way research projects are being conducted.

The study published in Research Policy says that AI can not only take over the work of human managers, but can also do it way better than them. The researchers studied algorithm management and concluded that AI performs five most important functions that make it a good candidate for managerial positions. These functions included planning, organizing, coordinating, directing and support learning.

The researchers got to know more about the AI capabilities by discussing it with AI developers, project participants and interviewing some organizers. The aim of all of this was to understand how AM works and how much more effective it can be in management functions. It was soon found out that adopting AM can improve research productivity by managing large-scale and complex projects better than humans.

The study also found out that projects that use AM are larger than the projects that do not use AM. These projects also have access to AI tools so this means that AM requires technical infrastructure for the projects to scale. Even though AI can take over managerial roles, it doesn’t mean that roles and positions of managers in the companies are going to end. Managers and human leaders will still be required to make strategies and to perform social tasks that AI is still unable to do.

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