Anthropic’s New Powerful Claude 3.5 Sonnet AI Model Set To Provide Serious Competition To Other AI Archrivals

The AI competition is heating up as more generative AI models pop up at the speed of light.

The recent entry seems to be from OpenAI rival Anthropic who just rolled out a new and powerful offering called Claude 3.5 Sonnet. However, experts claim the upcoming release might be more of an incremental step than a major leap in the forward direction.

The model can carry out analysis of text and images alongside text generation. And to date, it’s believed to be the company’s best offering so far.

When we look at the statistics, the Claude 3.5 Sonnet does a better job in terms of performance for this model than it would replace which is the Claude 3 Sonnet. It ends up beating the company’s former flagship model which is Claude 3 Opus.

While benchmarks are not usually dubbed to be the most useful means for determining progress and performance, it’s being used here and experts feel it might be slightly better than its older variant and greater in performance to OpenAI’s famous GPT 4o which is major news as it was tested against both of them.

Other than this new model, the company is rolling out another exciting workspace endeavor called Artifacts where users could edit and add to written content such as codes and documents that are produced by models from Anthropic. While it’s in the stage of preview for now, this will soon gain more features including ways for collaboration with bigger groups and storing knowledge bases for the future.

The company’s main goal right now seems to be efficiency. The latest Generative AI model is doing great in terms of performance, the company adds, and is understanding better when complex instructions are rolled out in its direction like humor.

The speed is another great factor worth mentioning. The model’s speed of rolling out prompt responses is touching the sky as it’s nearly twice as fast as the model from the past, the company adds.

Other points worth a mention include spectacular vision where photo analysis is done so well in one place while chart and graph interpretation is more accurate text transcription is also carried out from images that might not be so great like distorted graphics or those featuring artifacts.

So how come so much difference between it’s older model? The product head at Anthropic says major enhancements are arising due to changes in architecture and making use of new training data like AI-generated material which the company is yet to disclose what the real source is.

The secrets linked to training data here have to do with competition and also to prevent the company from getting targeted legally by others. Remember, there are plenty of competitors in the industry such as Amazon, Google, and even OpenAI. So getting the right source of training from copyrighted content belonging to others without giving compensation is really turning out to be a problem right now.



Read next: YouTube’s New App Tracking Transparency Prompt To Soon Ask iOS Users If They Want Personalized Ads
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

YouTube’s New App Tracking Transparency Prompt To Soon Ask iOS Users If They Want Personalized Ads

With the launch of iOS 14.5, we saw tech giant Apple force developers to inform users about an opt-in if they wished to track them down. But then in 2021, all apps from Google stopped indulging in certain kinds of tracking for compliance and also rid of that prompt altogether.

Now, the latest on this front is that popular video-sharing app YouTube is once again rolling out a new ATT prompt where users would first be asked to opt in to enable personalized tracking for ad purposes.

The app explained how it hopes to include the one-time permission feature where YouTube is giving users the chance to ‘allow’ the platform to track their activity via two options.

The first one says Allow and that means when selected, all activity from the app would be linked to that from non-Google platforms and pages to showcase personal ads and enable ad measurements. The user’s selection would apply to all on the app when turned on.

The second option says ‘Ask App Not to Track’ where if the setting isn’t turned on, no activity would be linked through non-Google platforms and pages for personalized ad sharing and measurements. This would give rise to a lower frequency of relevant ads and those that are repeated more often than others.

Such prompts aren’t going to be a part of the Premium subscribers and those having child accounts on the app would also not see this.

When you click on ‘Allow’, the platform claims users would expect to see better or more useful ads which were of greater quality. For instance, the ads popping up on the app could better display what they believe in or what their interests are aligned with.

On the other hand, the app says the feature will soon be up for grabs to all iPhone and iPad users who will now have the chance to be tracked in a more sophisticated manner which not only benefits the company but also is more aligned with the users’ interests.

Furthermore, the user can opt to switch that feature off whenever they want by going to their settings and then clicking on the privacy and security tracking tabs.

We don’t see how this setting could impact the linking of user activity via other apps from Google and its respective pages so it’s going to be welcomed in our opinion. What do you think?

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: Researchers Raise Alarm Against Instagram’s Algorithm For Serving Sexual Content To Young Teens
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Researchers Raise Alarm Against Instagram’s Algorithm For Serving Sexual Content To Young Teens

A new study is unraveling the dark side of Instagram and its algorithm where alarming statistics proved how young teens are being recommended sexually charged content.

The recommendations feature creators in ‘barely there’ attire where underage viewers as young as 13 were a part of the audience.

The news arose in the latest study from WSJ and another Northeastern University which says it’s about time Meta took notice and serious action against the behavior while calls for banning such accounts were also made by activists noting down the issue.

On the first visit, researchers saw how young viewers’ recommendations were mostly from females dancing around in revealing clothing where their cleavage was completely visible.

The fact that viewers were seeing these posts more often meant that graphic content kept on becoming a part of the algorithm’s recommendations which many feel is just not okay. Most of the videos were a part of the app’s Reels feed and suggestions were mindblogging for some.

Other alarming content featured sex workers promising viewers nude pictures in their DMs. And that again was happening so frequently, the published study explained.

In another set of fixed tests carried out in June, the Journal began explaining how content after content became more graphic in nature including anal sex being openly promoted to those as young as 13, provided the viewer saw Reels related to women on their feed.

Seeing the algorithm go to this extent to serve content of this kind where females caressed their bodies and did everything from flashing private parts to more was just a lot for the authors to handle, adding how Instagram’s algorithm needed a big-time clean-up before matters became worse.

• Also read: Cracking Passwords Has Never Been Easier Thanks To This Smart Guessing Algorithm

Meta has pushed back on those findings of the report, where the spokesperson brushed the matter off as just an experiment conducted that didn’t match up in real-time with what youngsters were being exposed to.

Meta says it has time and time again managed to reduce sensitive themed content linked to teens to such an extent that it’s at a bare minimum, completely eliminating what the research had to say.

The fact that this study was carried out for seven months is again alarming as Meta keeps denying how the results were just part of an artificial experiment and nothing more. While the test was certainly carried out to see how the app responded to illicit recommendations, it’s mind-boggling how so much is being ignored and for so long in that experiment.

Over the years, the app’s algorithm has been questioned in the past too but the tech giant keeps claiming it’s rolling out stricter measures to ensure underage users remain safe at all times on the app.

One example of that is those below the age of 16 are automatically blocked from viewing explicit content and recommendations.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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• Which Global Airports Have The Fastest Wi-Fi Speeds? The Answer Might Surprise You
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Which Global Airports Have The Fastest Wi-Fi Speeds? The Answer Might Surprise You

When traveling, having great internet speed and connectivity is of the essence. And that’s why we thought it would be interesting to decipher which global airports beat others in this respect.

Believe it or not, internet speeds at various airports vary significantly. But when we look at the US, the average decent rating is said to go beyond the 100 Mbps mark as per a new report by Ookla.

Seven American airports are said to hold this honor and it’s not wrong to add how those near Silicon Valley reigned supreme against other arch-rivals competing for the top spot. This is why San Francisco makes the top of the list, beating 15 other components.

As far as download speeds are concerned, it’s an average of 173Mbps to 233 Mbps which is deemed to be the fastest internet.

On the other hand, New York’s Newark and JFK tied for second place, coming in at 166Mbps and 152Mbps respectively while JFK was 151Mbps and 131Mbps.

In third place, Arizona’s Harbor Airport saw download speeds hitting the 151Mbps and 187Mbps mark for downloads and uploads. Next, Seattle, Dallas, and Las Vegas must be appreciated for similarly fast internet speeds that crossed the 100 Mbps mark.

Faster networks are said to ensure faster uploads on social media, not to mention smooth like butter video calls, and the best media streaming options. So basically, you need great speed for functions that go above and beyond the usual texting and web browsing done on a routine basis.

When we talk about the other end of the spectrum and take the slowest internet speeds into consideration, Mexico hails as the slowest in the North American region. On average, the upload speed hits just 5 Mbps while downloads are stuck at just 3 Mbps so the entire airport experience is never a great one.

When we look at America, Houston’s George Bush Airport is quite slow compared to other counterparts as is Boston’s Logan International. The figures are 19Mbps and 25 Mbps respectively for downloads while uploads range between 25 to 40Mbps.

Experts have spoken about how server latency could even affect the Wi-Fi network feeling with states like Atlanta and Seattle providing the lowest ones of them all in American airports.

While this report has not provided all comprehensive findings for each city around the globe, it’s quite evident from the stats how it’s hard to find median speeds for downloads exceeding the 100Mbps mark in cities outside the US.

We’re talking about some of the busiest airports in the world, including those in London, Madrid, Frankfurt, Barcelona, and even Amsterdam all being stuck at speeds below the 100Mbps mark. And if you’re in Spain, it might be painful to see speeds hitting just 18Mbps!

Meanwhile, it’s refreshing to see Toronto’s Pearson International giving download speeds of 94Mbps while Paris also saw figures go slightly above the 100Mbps mark.

China’s Hangzhou and Shanghai Airports were close behind with speeds going above the 100Mbps figure in Asia so that was nice to see.

We agree that great Wi-Fi is never the only thing needed for a wonderful traveling experience but it always helps when you need to do work on the go. Meanwhile, experts also mentioned how things do vary from one person to the next, not to mention how the total connections up for grabs also play a pivotal role in the kind of Wi-Fi speed you can expect.

Hence, always proceed with caution and never trust public Wi-Fi without the use of VPNs because as security experts say, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Elon Musk Feels An AI Disaster Might Be Inevitable While Showing Support For Free Speech Against Demands For Censorship

Tech billionaire Elon Musk says there is a high probability that AI-based disasters are unavoidable, giving an estimated likelihood of 10% to 20% that they will happen.

Furthermore, the Tesla CEO added that freedom of speech is a fundamental right that he stands by closely and that no form of demand over censorship made by an advertiser would be taken into consideration any longer.

While he failed to specify what the term terrible means, he gave a bizarre example of how the glass always seems to look 80% full most of the time and it’s important to consider the brighter side of things.

Musk feels the most likely ending of this AI-based world would be abundance where products are up for grabs to anyone and everyone out there today. The hike arising would be universal and the work would end up being optional.

Musk also highlighted how the greatness of AI has to do more with an existential crisis where AI does everything that the human can do, but at a better pace and greater quality so why would a human be hired in the first place, he added.

Calling it the worst possible case, AI annihilating humans could mean devastation but still, it’s getting fame and trending. Right now, we’re at a significant point in history where people are told to enjoy the ride, Musk explained.

Sitting at the Cannes Lions with the head of WPP, Musk says AI continues to reshape creativity and all of society. This includes his social media app.

He even doubled down on commitments linked to freedom of speech regarding this platform of X and how he’s had to overcome a wide array of hurdles to reach this point today.

While Musk reiterated how the goal of speaking about advertisers offering censorship did not target everyone, he stands by his freedom of speech claims. And he would select freedom of speech over profits any day. If that means losing money, then so be it.

Musk says every advertiser has the right to pop up near content that it shares great compatibility with. This is totally fine in his eyes but he added how they shouldn’t be disagreeing with content present on his app.

The billionaire says X is the public square of this world and therefore free speech is quintessential so people know that they can speak anything and at any time.

When Musk was questioned about his regrets related to the app, he commented on how he does make errors that cost him big time. But he would rather be considered real than a fake personality who has many filters.

As per Musk’s words, reaching people deemed to be influential can only be possible in today’s day and age through his X app which he obviously says is the best gateway to connecting with the world.

People are not only watching television and taking part in TikToks but really wish to gain insights and knowledge of the world and according to him, X is your best bet for doing just that.

Moving on to a discussion about the upcoming American elections, Musk says he welcomes debates of all kinds on his app. He did not wish to lean into discussions related to politics but contenting himself with claims like how it would be interesting is a point worth mentioning.

Seeing him offer people to conduct political debate was certainly news. There were also other notable names present at this year’s Cannes Lions such as the likes of Queen Latifah and John Legend’s wife Chrissy Teigen.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: New EU Law Could Allow Bulk Scanning Of Digital Messages (Update: Postponed)
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

New EU Law Could Allow Bulk Scanning Of Digital Messages (Update: Postponed)

The EU is getting one step closer to passing a new set of rules and regulations that mandate scanning of digital texts including those which are encrypted.

EU government officials are said to adopt a plan and position on that specific legislation that’s aimed at detecting child abuse material. This particular vote is going to determine if such a proposal has the right kind of support to move forward in this entire EU law-making endeavor.

This particular vote is going to see if the proposal has the right kind of support or not when moving forward in this entire process of making laws across the EU.

This law was first launched in the year 2022 and it’s said to roll out the right type of uploading moderation that goes through messages like links, pictures, and videos. Moreover, every service is needed for installing a new vetted type of monitoring technology that needs the user’s permission for scanning of texts. In case you don’t feel like agreeing, you will not be able to share pictures or any URLs.

It’s quite wild when you actually come to think of it. Such proposed legislation seems to promote and then reject all E2E encryption at the start. Initially, it would highlight how the E2E is required to protect a user’s fundamental rights. But that goes on to mention how encrypted text services could turn into secure zones where child abuse could be promoted or shared across the board.

The goal appears to be leaving texts open for the purpose of scanning but also ensuring the privacy layer isn’t impacted via E2E encryption. Such moderation systems might achieve this through the messages’ content before platforms such as Signal, Messenger, and WhatsApp go on encrypting.

As a response to this, the head of Signal claims the platform would stop working in this region if the rule is transformed into a law. They feel such proposals undermine the likes of encryption, no matter if it’s scanned before the encryption takes place. Some refer to it as the backdoor while others call it the front door.

Signal strongly condemns the act and deems it to be a form of vulnerability that could get exploited by so many hackers and hostile countries. Hence, this removes the safeguards related to unbreakable math and puts things in the right place, giving rise to major dangers.

So many companies such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation would sign a joint statement urging the European Union for proposal rejection that scans the material.

Now, privacy advocates don’t seem to be the sole individuals ringing the alarm bell before such a proposal comes into play. This past week, dozens of members of the Parliament were seen writing to the European Union Council about how they wished to express opposition linked to proposals.

Other leaders from Germany’s Parliament feel the same way about such bills and they feel indiscriminate searches and leaks linked to private chats and personal images destroy an individual’s right to privacy.

For now, experts feel discussions linked to chat control laws didn’t just come out of the blue. It was cleverly timed because the upcoming EU elections would have a significant role to play here.

If such a law does end up gaining support, more discussion on this front will begin between the Parliament, Commission, and others to have the final law come into play.

So many lawmakers do understand how such rights end up carrying out mass surveillance but they don’t wish to be seen as the opposing scheme which is framed on combatting child abuse and other explicit content.

Update:

The EU’s “chat control” regulation, which aimed to combat child sexual abuse by scanning all digital communications, has been delayed. A win for digital privacy advocates. The Belgian Council presidency has blocked the adoption of measures that would have compromised private messaging and encryption. Many Europeans have been opposing this for a long time. Patrick Breyer, MEP and Pirate Party digital freedom spokesperson, welcomes the delay: “The resistance has protected digital privacy and encryption from mass surveillance.” He calls on critical governments to rethink their approach and come up with a new strategy that protects children without mass surveillance. Breyer outlines four key points for revision: no chat control, protect encryption, protect anonymity, no app censorship for minors. The proposal has been heavily criticized for violating fundamental rights and enabling mass surveillance. Now is the time to come up with a more balanced child protection strategy.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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• Top Six Economies: How Their Global Shares Have Changed (1980-2024)

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Top Six Economies: How Their Global Shares Have Changed (1980-2024)

We gathered the data from six global economies to narrow down how their GDPS have changed over time from 1980 to 2024. From 1980 to 2024, world GDP has undergone many changes and these changes are going on until now. There are many reasons for change in global GDPs like political changes, economic policies, advancements in technology and changes in demographics. From 1980 to 2024, six biggest economic powers that have been dominating the world in terms of GDP shares are the US, China, Japan, EU, India and the UK.

If we talk about the GDP share of the USA, it has decreased a little over time. In 2011, the USA recorded its lowest global GDP share at 21.1%, but it started increasing after that. The IMF has predicted that the USA will have 26.3% share in global GDP in 2024.The data given by IMF’s World Economic Outlook also shows that USA has recovered from covid-19, and has been slowly going up in their global GDP share since 2020. Every other economy is still suffering from after-effects of covid-19.

China didn’t see much growth in the last two decades of the 20th century but its share in global GDP increased quickly in the 2000s. One of the biggest reasons why China’s global GDP share suddenly rose is because it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. Japan saw a relative decline in its global GDP share. It was once the second largest economy after the US in 1994 and 1995 and had 17.8% share in the global economy. The reasons why its economy declined is because of an aging population and stagnation of economics.

Share of GDP (%)	China	India	Japan	UK	US	EU
1980	3	2	10.1	5.4	25.4	28.6
1981	3	2	10.8	5.1	27.8	24.7
1982	3	2	10.2	4.9	29.6	24.4
1983	3	2	10.9	4.6	31.3	23.2
1984	3	2	11.2	4.2	33.6	21.6
1985	3	2	11.4	4.3	34.6	21.3
1986	2	2	14.3	4.4	31	24.7
1987	2	2	15.2	4.8	28.5	26.3
1988	2	2	16.3	5.2	27.3	25.9
1989	2	2	15.4	5	28	25
1990	2	1	14.1	5.3	26.3	27.4
1991	2	1	15.4	5.3	26	28
1992	2	1	15.7	5.1	25.7	28.8
1993	2	1	17.4	4.4	26.3	25.6
1994	2	1	17.8	4.4	26	25.3
1995	2	1	17.8	4.3	24.5	26.5
1996	3	1	15.3	4.4	25.1	26.2
1997	3	1.3	14	4.9	26.8	24.1
1998	3.2	1.3	12.9	5.2	28.4	25
1999	3.3	1.4	14	5.1	29.2	24
2000	3.5	1.4	14.6	4.9	30.1	21.3
2001	3.9	1.4	12.9	4.9	31.3	21.8
2002	4.2	1.5	12	5.1	31.3	23.1
2003	4.2	1.5	11.5	5.2	29.2	25.3
2004	4.4	1.6	11.1	5.5	27.7	25.8
2005	4.8	1.7	10.1	5.3	27.2	24.9
2006	5.3	1.8	8.9	5.2	26.7	24.5
2007	6.1	2.1	7.8	5.3	24.7	25.2
2008	7.1	1.9	8	4.6	23	25.4
2009	8.4	2.2	8.7	4	23.8	24.3
2010	9.1	2.5	8.7	3.7	22.6	21.9
2011	10.1	2.5	8.4	3.6	21.1	21.3
2012	11.3	2.4	8.3	3.6	21.6	19.5
2013	12.4	2.4	6.7	3.6	21.8	19.7
2014	13.2	2.6	6.2	3.9	22.1	19.7
2015	14.8	2.8	5.9	3.9	24.4	18
2016	14.7	3	6.5	3.5	24.6	18.2
2017	15.1	3.3	6.1	3.3	24.1	18.2
2018	16	3.1	5.8	3.3	24	18.5
2019	16.4	3.2	5.8	3.3	24.6	17.9
2020	17.4	3.1	5.9	3.2	25	18
2021	18.3	3.3	5.2	3.2	24.3	17.9
2022	17.7	3.3	4.2	3.1	25.6	16.7
2023	16.9	3.4	4	3.2	26.1	17.5
2024	16.9	3.6	3.8	3.2	26.3	17.3

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World