Tuesday, May 14, 2024

Unleashing Visual Learning: How VistaCreate Transforms Education

Projects, countless books, lectures, seminars, webinars, course works, reports – though higher education is a conscious choice of the future, its educational load seems to be breaking records. Skills and knowledge shape the professional performance of every graduate, however, the volume of information seems to be insurmountable.

According to research, 60+% of students are visual-spatial learners, thus, the most understandable form of educational content is visuals – presentations, images, graphs, infographics, videos, leaflets, etc. Though it is the most workable solution, it takes time for professors and students to elaborate on the images, moreover, just a minority can boast appropriate creative skills and imagination.

When there is a need for professional visual content, there is a solution – VistaCreate – an online graphic design platform and the first-to-consider creative assistant. Let’s see what they offer, and what are the perks for educational institutions.


What Is VistaCreate?

VistaCreate is an online graphic designer with an unlimited library of visuals to cover individual, educational, or business needs. It's a professional assistant for non-professionals who need more creative skills and help with turning their ideas into tangible content.

VistaCreate may seem to be one of many graphic online designers, yet, it is the only one to combine countless functions within one space. Let’s look at it in numbers:

  • 150 000+ professionally-designed templates
  • 70 M+ photos, videos, and vectors
  • 75,000+ professionally designed templates
  • 80 design formats
  • 10,000+ animated templates
  • 50,000+ static and animated design objects
  • 9,000+ animated objects
  • 1,800 backgrounds (1750 static, 299 videos)
  • 680+ fonts in 25 languages
  • 80 text styles
  • 8,500+ music tracks

With such a choice of options from VistaCreate, educational content will undergo a magic makeover – from endless texts to substantial and easily memorable images.

What Are The Major Benefits of VistaCreate For Education?

  1. The choice

VistaCreate never fails to impress with the choice of visuals; what’s even more, the library keeps growing at an exponential rate. The variability of visuals allows creators to fit any kind of information (regardless of the subject) into a more comprehensible form.

Sociology, Psychology, Language Learning, History, Geography – every topic can be explained and delivered much easier with engaging images, presentations, animations, videos, etc.

  1. The time

The majority of students and professors are aware of the advantageous nature of visuals; however, their main drawback is related to time, as the whole creation process requires too much time for preparation.

Instead, both the students and teachers can benefit from readily available templates. In just a few steps, one of the thousands of templates is adjusted with text, colors, and enhancers, and the visual content for the lecture or report is ready.

  1. The student’s engagement

Let’s admit it, the majority of our population has changed the way of information consumption preferring images and videos to texts. Even the most boring subject can be turned into valuable pieces of information with carefully outlined ideas and properly highlighted key conceptions.

The usage of visuals will serve two purposes – effective informational exchange and elevated student engagement.

  1. The assistance

The availability of social networks brought students and teachers closer, allowing them to maximize the knowledge exchange through groups and communities. Social media management requires additional attention and time, but VistaCreate takes the graphic design platform performance to a new level offering a new feature – scheduling.

Instead of waiting for the proper time when the visuals should be sent to the group of students (before, after, or during the lecture), teachers can create the visual and plan their automatic posting with VistaCreate.

  1. The all-embracing nature

VistaCreate is a creativity hub and has everything its users might require. There are tools for photo, image, and video editing all being accessible from a single website. Such a convenience allows users to get everything they need (regarding visual design) while staying in one place, instead of getting bits and pieces from other websites.

What Are The Perks For Education Sphere?

VistaCreate aims to bring available design services to every user at an affordable price – the Free Plan and Pro Plan ($10-13 per month). Basically, every user can reach the tools for professionals at the price of one McDonald's Dinner Box.

However, educational institutions and NGOs can get even more benefits – free access to Pro features. They need to fill out the forms on the website and present the required documentation; after the application process is over, the member of the institution will be granted access to all the features.

The Final Thoughts

VistaCreate is a global provider of professional graphic design to all non-professionals. The platform contains a countless number of readily available templates, visuals, and graphs that can all be used for enlightening learners of educational institutions and making their education more comprehensible.

VistaCreate is an affordable tool for individual users, as its price will not stretch even the tightest budget; it is also available as a free tool for educational institutions, provided they proceed with the requested information.


by Web Desk via Digital Information World

OpenAI Introduces New Conversational GPT-4o Model With Fresh Upgrades For ChatGPT During Live Stream Demo Event

The cat is finally out of the bag and the announcement that’s been building up anticipation from OpenAI for weeks is finally here.

The company just made a huge ‘Spring Update’ during a live stream demo session. This was the rollout of a new conversational flagship model called GPT-4o. The company says this venture would seek to bring forward GPT-4 level tech to the world and that includes those who are free users.

The latest GPT-4o model whose o represents Omni is designed to provide reasoning in real-time for all kinds of content like text, videos, voice, and vision. This livestream event was kicked off today by the company’s CTO Mira Murati.

The famous makers of ChatGPT also made some serious upgrades to the current GPT tool in the works while rolling out ChatGPT technology for desktops like macOS and another refreshed UI that’s designed to ensure this chatbot is so much simpler in usage and natural in design.

The company admitted how models do tend to get so much more complex as days and time pass by but their goal right now is to ensure the whole collaboration and not any UI process.

This latest design ensures enhanced quality and speed in different types of languages, going up to a limit of 50. So that means the masses can benefit from the entire experience as so many people are involved.

It’s also said to provide the most real interactions between humans and PCs as it can accept a combo of various content styles as released by the company recently.

Remember, this would be the first chatbot based on AI that can copy human chats to the core and that’s something OpenAI has been trying to achieve for a while now.

As demonstrations proved through the live screening event, the CEO added the term ‘Her’ in reference to a famous Hollywood movie. And it was amazing to see the response that the new model was able to generate through another new window that matched the speed of the GPT-4 Turbo.

This particular chatbot is designed for even the smallest variant of audio inputs that entails an average duration of 320 milliseconds.
We know that users can talk to it and attain replies in real time but what was another cool feature worth a mention is how the chatbot could be interrupted while it starts talking.

So some compared it to the likes of speaking similar to AI from films. For many, Altman admitted that speaking to a computer was never real or life-like. It just felt fake but today, that’s not the case and this kind of interaction is what they’ve been in search of for so long.

Plenty of other examples were demonstrated to just prove how great of a chatbot this new conversational variant is and how it all happens naturally, bringing out great efficiency for all to follow.

The tool is free for all and will be up for grabs to a bigger audience very soon including the likes of developers, OpenAI confirmed. This would give them great intuitive processes to benefit from.

The fact that there are vision abilities built into this tool means users could put up images, documents, and even screengrabs that feature not only text but graphics along the way. And through such means, you are being chatted with the tool.

There is also an inherent memory quality that gives users a shot at continuity that can be availed on all chats including the chance to browse so users can find real information in certain chats.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: Unconventional Ideas Gain Popularity on Social Media, Binghamton University Study Shows
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Emerging Trends in Computer Engineering: How AI and Machine Learning Are Shaping the Future

Computer engineering is evolving at a breakneck pace, with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) driving some of the most significant innovations. From healthcare and finance to transportation and entertainment, these technologies transform how we live, work, and interact. Understanding emerging trends in computer engineering and their impact on various sectors can help professionals stay ahead in this competitive field. In this article, we'll explore how AI and ML are shaping the future of computer engineering, highlighting key trends and their implications.

Discover how AI and ML revolutionize computer engineering, shaping sectors like healthcare and transportation. Stay ahead with insights.
Image: John Schnobrich / Unsplash

1. AI-Powered Edge Computing: The Shift from Cloud to the Edge

Edge computing is emerging as a game-changer in computer engineering. It processes data closer to its source rather than relying solely on centralized cloud servers. This approach reduces latency and improves data security. AI at the edge enhances efficiency, enabling real-time analytics in applications like autonomous vehicles, smart cities, and industrial automation.

By integrating AI and ML algorithms into edge devices, engineers can create intelligent systems that adapt and respond to their environments. This trend will continue as more industries recognize the benefits of decentralized computing, making it a pivotal area for innovation.

2. Online Education and Specialized Degrees: Preparing Engineers for the AI Future

As AI and ML redefine computer engineering, professionals need advanced education to stay relevant. An online MS in electrical and computer engineering offers a flexible way to gain specialized skills in these areas. This program blends theoretical knowledge with practical applications, covering topics like deep learning, neural networks, and robotics.

Graduates equipped with this expertise can tackle complex engineering challenges and develop cutting-edge AI solutions. Additionally, online programs offer the flexibility needed for working professionals to upskill while continuing their careers. Investing in advanced education ensures engineers remain competitive in this rapidly changing field.

3. Deep Learning Advancements: Revolutionizing Data Analysis and Prediction

Deep learning, a subset of machine learning, uses artificial neural networks to analyze and predict complex patterns in data. Recent advancements in deep learning have unlocked unprecedented capabilities in image recognition, natural language processing, and predictive analytics.

Computer engineers leverage these advancements to build intelligent systems that outperform traditional models in accuracy and speed. For example, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have revolutionized computer vision, enabling applications like facial recognition and autonomous navigation. Similarly, recurrent neural networks (RNNs) excel in speech recognition and language translation. Deep learning's potential remains vast, promising continued innovation in AI-driven analytics.

4. AI Ethics and Bias Mitigation: Building Fair and Transparent Systems

As AI becomes more integrated into daily life, ethical considerations around bias and transparency grow increasingly important. Biased algorithms can lead to discriminatory outcomes in hiring, lending, and law enforcement. Addressing these challenges requires computer engineers to prioritize ethical design principles.

Efforts to mitigate bias include diversifying training data, developing explainable AI models, and implementing fairness metrics. Engineers also need to ensure transparency in AI systems, making decision-making processes understandable to users. Incorporating ethics into the AI development process builds trust and ensures technology benefits all segments of society.

5. AutoML: Democratizing Machine Learning for All Users

AutoML, or automated machine learning, is simplifying the complex process of developing ML models. It automates tasks like data preprocessing, feature selection, and hyperparameter tuning, allowing users with little programming knowledge to build effective models.

This trend democratizes ML by enabling professionals in non-technical roles to harness its power. AutoML tools can help organizations accelerate ML adoption, making data-driven decision-making more accessible across various departments. However, computer engineers still play a crucial role in designing and refining these tools to ensure they produce accurate and reliable models.

6. AI in Cybersecurity: Enhancing Threat Detection and Response

Cybersecurity is an ever-evolving challenge, with new threats emerging daily. AI and ML provide innovative solutions for detecting and mitigating these risks. ML algorithms analyze vast amounts of network data to identify patterns and anomalies that may indicate cyberattacks.

For instance, anomaly detection models can flag unusual login attempts or data transfers, while AI-driven threat intelligence platforms predict future attack vectors. Additionally, AI enhances incident response by automating threat containment and recovery processes. As cyber threats grow in sophistication, integrating AI into cybersecurity strategies becomes essential.

7. Federated Learning: Collaborative AI Without Compromising Privacy

Federated learning is a novel approach that enables AI models to learn from decentralized data without transferring it to a central server. This method enhances data privacy and security by keeping sensitive information on local devices.

In healthcare, for example, federated learning allows hospitals to collaboratively train AI models on patient data without sharing it directly. This collaboration improves diagnostic accuracy while safeguarding patient privacy. Computer engineers working on federated learning face challenges like model optimization and communication efficiency, but the potential benefits make it a promising trend for AI development.

8. Explainable AI (XAI): Making AI Decisions Transparent and Understandable

Explainable AI (XAI) aims to make complex AI models more interpretable, allowing users to understand and trust their decisions. As AI systems become more sophisticated, they often act as black boxes, providing accurate predictions without clear reasoning.

XAI techniques like feature importance analysis and visualization help demystify these models, revealing how inputs influence predictions. For instance, in healthcare, XAI can explain why an AI model diagnosed a particular condition, enabling doctors to validate and refine treatment plans. Building transparent AI systems strengthens user trust and facilitates adoption across sensitive applications.

Conclusion

AI and machine learning continue to reshape computer engineering, driving innovation across various industries. From edge computing to AutoML, these trends unlock new possibilities while presenting unique challenges. Computer engineers equipped with advanced skills, ethical principles, and a collaborative mindset can navigate this evolving landscape successfully. By understanding and embracing these emerging trends, professionals can contribute to building a future where AI empowers businesses, improves lives, and drives sustainable growth.


by Web Desk via Digital Information World

Monday, May 13, 2024

Unconventional Ideas Gain Popularity on Social Media, Binghamton University Study Shows

A recent study from Binghamton University in New York has discovered that on social media, the more unusual an idea is, the more likes it tends to get. This study looks at a variety of topics, not just the typical issues like politics or religion.

It even included everyday choices like food or lifestyle, showing that any subject can become polarizing online.

The research team used two main methods to gather their data. First, they set up online experiments at a U.S. university with students. These students participated in tasks designed to mimic activities on social media platforms similar to Twitter. They worked on creative projects like writing marketing taglines for laptops and crafting short stories, both of which required different levels of collaboration. This controlled setting allowed the researchers to observe how ideas were shared and received within a specific group.

The second method involved analyzing posts from GAB, a social media site known for its far-right user base, using data from 2016 to 2021. This part of the study looked at around 147,000 posts from about 3,000 users. The researchers cleaned up the text from these posts and used a technique called Doc2Vec to study the content in depth. They were looking for ideas that stood out as different from the norm within that community.

In both the university experiments and the GAB analysis, the results were consistent: the more an idea strayed from what was common in that group, the more engagement it received. On GAB, this was particularly evident, where the most liked posts were those that were farthest from the average discussions on the platform.

The study's findings indicate that on social media, sharing more distinctive or radical opinions can make a person more popular. This trend could lead people to gradually shift their views to become more extreme over time. As these views get more attention and likes, they begin to seem more normal to the community, potentially leading to a cycle of increasingly extreme content.

This research highlights the need for more studies on how these dynamics develop and what might be done to address the negative effects they could have on society. The study was a comprehensive effort to understand how the desire for social acceptance and influence could drive people to adopt and express more radical opinions online.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: Most AI Systems Have Become Experts At Deceiving Humans, New Research Proves
by Mahrukh Shahid via Digital Information World

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Urges International Agency for AI Regulation Amid Growing Concerns

The fast-paced development and adoption of AI have led to much concern in the tech world today.

This is why companies have been calling for stringent laws with regulators to come into play and ensure the moderation of AI continues before things get out of hand,

In a recent discussion, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman made it very clear how he feels the need for an international agency to be developed to better moderate AI. According to him, this is your best bet for the approach as compared to laws that are not only poorly curated but inflexible too.

Altman further explained how AI was like an airplane where frameworks for appropriate safety needed to arrive at a quicker pace than what was taking place right now. And the fact that the makers of ChatGPT were keen on fostering this idea was serious news.

OpenAI CEO urges for international AI agency to prevent potential harm from inadequate regulation, stressing importance of swift action.
Image: All-In Podcast / YT

This is not the first time that we’ve heard him speak on the concerns that AI systems are bringing forward in the future. Altman mentioned that serious harm could arise, decades from today, due to improper regulation of AI while discussing the matter during a podcast last week.

The fact that systems can give rise to serious negative impacts that are beyond the realms of a single nation means big things. This is why they are calling for more stringent regulation by one agency that looks at these powerful systems and ensures the right kind of safety testing ensues.

Only with the right type of oversight in place, the world can see using AI as a balancing act, Altman added and it does make sense, when you think about it, where he was coming from.

Regulatory overreach seems to be the issue in OpenAI’s eyes. Either a lot is being done or too little too late. And when that’s the case, things can really go in the wrong direction.

And in case you’re still wondering, laws for AI regulation are currently underway. We saw in March of this year how the EU gave the green signal to the AI Act. This would better categorize the risks that AI brings and ban uses that aren’t acceptable.
We even saw Biden sign executive orders in the past year where calls were made for more transparency on this front and where the creators of some of the biggest AI models would be held responsible for such acts.

Now, we’re hearing more about how American states like California are taking charge of AI regulation as moves are made to approve close to 30 bills for more regulation in the country, as confirmed by Bloomberg recently.

But the OpenAI CEO says no matter what, the only solution he sees on this front has to do with international agencies offering greater flexibility than local laws, given how fast the world of AI is evolving.

Meanwhile, the reason why agencies are giving rise to these types of approaches is simple. Even the best world experts can only give rise to policies that correctly regulate such events once or two years from today.

Simply put, Sam Altman knows exactly what he is talking about. AI needs to be regulated just like we’re dealing with the likes of aircraft where poor safety can be detrimental.

Remember, any loss of human life is never wanted, and the fact that AI can make that a possibility is scary for obvious reasons. It’s similar to an airplane or any kind of example where many feel they’re happy to have any kind of experimental framework in place.

Read next: Elon Musk Questions Security of Signal
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Google Search Users Opting Out of AI-Generated Results: Traditional Search on the Rise?

Data from BrightEdge reveals a significant increase in Google search queries without SGE (Search Generative Experience), rising from 25% in April 2024 to 65% before May 2024. This spike coincided with speculation surrounding SGE's potential launch before or during Google I/O. The surge in queries without SGE correlates with Google's opt-in results type, suggesting users' preference for traditional search results over AI-generated content.

Concerns among SEOs heighten as Google SGE transitions from an opt-in experiment to the default experience. Google's strategic testing aims to enhance search results, evidenced by the decrease in SGE size from approximately 1200 pixels in April 2024 to under 1050 pixels in May 2024.
Furthermore, the format of SGE experienced a decline in April, while apparel carousel results saw an uptick. Although classic search remains pivotal, the emergence of Artificial Intelligence Optimization (AIO) signals a shifting landscape in search dynamics.

As Google continues to refine SGE for optimal user experience, marketers must adapt to the evolving landscape of generative AI search to provide a good search experience to users. But now users have to also adapt to generative AI search.


Read next: Meta Shifts Away From News As Facebook Publisher Referrals Drop 50%
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Sunday, May 12, 2024

DRAM Prices Set to Surge 13-18% in Q2 2024, TrendForce Forecasts Amid AI Chip Demand

According to market research company, TrendForce, Q2 of 2024 will see a 13-18% increase in DRAM prices. A while back, TrendForce also said that there will only be a slight increase in DRAM prices by 3-8% in Q2 of 2024. But after seeing a 20% increase in DRAM prices in Q1 of 2024, they estimated the prices again. The prices of NAND flash memory were also predicted by the same company but there was only a slight difference in the predicted and actual price. The company had predicted an increase of NAND prices by 13-18% in Q1 of 2024, but they were increased by 15-20%.

There are some of the reasons why there is an increase in prices but the biggest reason is that many companies are now putting their resources to use HBM in AI chips. The thing worth noting here is that DRAM is a lot cheaper than HBM and five times more costly than DDR5. There are many crowding out effects on HBM capacity so many marketers have increased the prices of their stock in Q2 because HBM is expected to get a shortage.

TrendForce also reported that the fastest type of GBM memory which is Samsung’s HBM3e is only going to use 60% of their maximum capacity by 2024 which will constrict DDR5 suppliers. HBM3e production is likely to be increased in Q3 of 2024.

HBM used in AI chips has been sold out for 2024 as well as the majority of 2025 as reported by Nvidia supplier SK Hynix. Micron also reported similar supply constraints for their HBM products in 2024 and 2025. The annual demand of HBM is going to reach 200% in 2024 and 400% in 2025 if this trend continues.


Read next: Counterpoint Research Shows Smartphone Shipment in the US Has Declined in Q1 2024
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World