Water Consumption By American Data Centers Jumps To Record High As Environmentalists Warn Of Devastating Consequences

We’ve been hearing a lot about data centers consuming alarming amounts of water but the situation has reached a dangerous figure.

Experts at the Financial Times have brought to attention how the situation is getting worse and can have dangerous consequences. Each year, more and more data centers pop up and the amount of water they consume is on the rise.

When figures were compared to previous years, it was just shocking to see how big names in the tech world such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft led the pack. Levels have gone up by nearly two-thirds that seen in 2019.

By the next decade, it will pose a serious threat to the world’s natural resources and the arrival of AI is not making things any better. Most computing infrastructure located in Virginia used 1.8 billion gallons of water last year. The trend is similar across different parts of America.

As a whole, data centers continued to consume more and more water, close to 75 billion gallons last year. This is what the capital of the UK uses over four months.

The news is devastating in terms of the effects it will have on the future as the matter keeps getting worse with time as more data centers arrive. Remember, water is used for cooling equipment and it’s not labeled as energy-efficient. Even if companies continue to reclaim it as recycled, the reality is far from it.

For example, we saw search engine giant Google speak about the advantages linked to Generative AI but it went on to admit how the latest effort does come with a cost to the environment. This is water consumption that has gone up by 14 as more water supplies are needed to cool data centers.

Meanwhile, let’s not forget another very important factor here. That is related to electricity supply. Today, data centers are using power supplies equivalent to supplying 6.5 million residences in the country. These figures were attained from Carbon Collective who raised concerns on the issue. Meanwhile, The Bank of America spoke about data centers in the US being the 10th biggest user of water in the country.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Google Tests New Security Feature That Removes All Sensitive Details During Screen Sharing On Chrome

Google Chrome is working on a new security and privacy feature that’s designed to disguise all sensitive credentials of users during screen sharing/recording.

The tech giant’s latest offering will ensure all passwords, credit card information, and other sensitive details on Chrome mobile remain hidden. This will be applicable when the user shares their screen or carries out screen recording through Android devices.

Currently, Chrome browser disables screen recording when done through its incognito mode. Now, that won’t be necessary when you’re using regular tabs. Moreover, screen recording and sharing will be equipped with an added security layer to fix previous issues.

After it’s enabled, Google says any sensitive field featuring credit cards and passwords on the same page will disappear entirely. However, the feature would only work for Android V or any other Android device, as confirmed by Google in its latest description.

At the moment, the feature is yet to go live. It’s designed to disguise all kinds of sensitive information present on a page by completely disguising all the information on the screen. For now, it’s not quite clear when this feature will launch for Chrome users on Android. However, as per browser research expert @Leopeva64's finding, we know that users on Chrome Canary can make the most of it in the next few weeks.

In other news, we did hear about Leo spotting a new option across Chrome Android. This allows users the chance to shut down any incognito tabs that they have open at the time.

The news of the latest test comes out at a time when we see Google vowing to provide more security and privacy to its Gemini chatbot users.

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• How to Customize YouTube Kids for a Safer Viewing Experience: A Step-by-Step Guide

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

How to Customize YouTube Kids for a Safer Viewing Experience: A Step-by-Step Guide

YouTube Kids is specifically made for children not reached their age of puberty and designed to keep parents in total control of the content that will be viewed by their children. So the children could only watch what they are supposed to watch at that age and are not exposed to adult or violent content.

But due to the search-option still available and all types of content recommendations still roaming the internet, unwanted material still pops up occasionally in YouTube kids streaming. To counter this digital problem, parents can take precautionary steps beforehand by changing the settings manually to limit and scrutinize the content for their children.

Apply the following changes in your YouTube kids version to carefully choose YouTube videos and block any inappropriate material:

Manually Choose the Built-in Settings

1) Open your YouTube kids app and click on the privacy option at the bottom-right corner of the page. It will lead you to a red screen displaying a simple mathematical equation to be solved by a parent. Do the math and click on submit.

2) Select settings from the given list and then the account of your child created by you.

3) Enter your Gmail password to verify that it is really a parent, not a child or someone else.

4) You will see content settings as the first option. Click on edit settings and now choose the age range in which your child falls. If you selected one before and now think that videos recommended for children of that range do not feel suitable for your child, just relegate your choice to the lower age range.

5) Go back and just below content settings, you will see the search feature. Just swipe the toggle to the left to hinder your child or anyone else from searching videos.

6) Just below search, clear history is given. Clear all the previous search and recommended history to make sure nobody uses this loophole to escape the guarded and safe setting.

7) Scroll down a little to pause watch history. Swipe the toggle to the right to enable YouTube kids not to recommend any new videos based on your child views, especially if those videos are not in line with the age-recommended videos

8) Next you have pause search history. If you do not wish to block the search option, then swipe this toggle to the right to enable YouTube not to recommend any new content based on search history.

9) At the end, you will find clear shared content. If you happen to find shared content not abiding by the rules set by you, you just just click on clear shared content to clear your child’s profile from all shared material.

10) Go back and just below the profile, you can find downloads. Click on it and swipe the toggle to the left to block downloading, so your child has limited material available only on his/her YouTube profile. Also, delete all manually downloaded videos, if you deem the action necessary.

11) If some unwanted material is still escaping your precautionary measures, then you better choose selective channels to become the only source of content on your child’s profile.

Go to content settings and click on edit settings. Now choose the option approve content yourself. Different categoric collections of channels will be given there. Choose the ones that suit your child the best by clicking on the plus sign at the top-right corner of a collection.

Instead of choosing the whole collection of the same category, for example strong female characters, you can also choose a few from each collection. Open a collection by tapping on it and select as many or as few as you like.

But do remember that the channels keep receiving new content every now and then, so you must also keep visiting channels approved by you to keep a check on them for any material that might not be in line with your regulations.

As an additional step and for the safety of your child, go back again to click on set timer. You can set a time period before letting your child have the smartphone to limit his daily watching experience. It is a good step, for prolonged periods on YouTube not only is bad for your child’s eyes, but also creates a precarious bond between a smartphone and a child.

The aforementioned settings allow you to be in total control of what your child would be viewing on the YouTube kids app, making the app safer to use for your child and taking away the burden of worrying from parents.

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by Ehtasham Ahmad via Digital Information World

What Are the Most Used Mobile Phone Brands Among US Consumers?

According to the data by IDC, 40% of the smartphones out of 1.4 billion that were shipped worldwide in 2023 were produced by Samsung and Apple. Apple produced 8 million more devices than Samsung and this marks the first time a US company has taken over a South Korean company in the mobile phone segment. Even though Apple’s iPhone pricing is increasing with each model, it is still the most popular mobile phone company among young people in the US.

Statista Consumer Insights did a survey to find out what are the most popular phone brands in the US. According to the survey, 67% of the people born between 1995 and 2012 prefer an iPhone over any other phone. Only 16% of these people are Samsung users in the US. Samsung is the second most popular choice for mobile phones among US millennials. Almost half of the millennial participants who were surveyed use an iPhone as compared to 30% who have phones made by South Korean company, Samsung.

If we talk about Gen-X and Baby Boomers, there is not much difference between Apple and Samsung users. 38% of Gen-X use Apple while 37% of them use Samsung. 39% of Baby Boomers are Samsung users while 36% of them use Apple’s iPhone. Motorola is also a popular choice for Baby Boomers and Gen-X. 11% of Gen-X and 9% of Baby Boomers also use Motorola. Google’s Pixel 9 family hasn't become a favorite among any of the generations yet.

Smartphone Preference by Generation	Apple	Samsung	Google	Motorola	Other
Gen Z (1995-2012)	67%	16%	4%	3%	10%
Millennials (1980-1994)	49%	30%	5%	6%	10%
Gen X (1965-1979)	38%	37%	4%	11%	10%
Baby Boomer (1946-1964)	36%	39%	3%	9%	13%

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Employees are Getting Comfortable with Use of AI and Soon AI is Going to Become Mainstream in Organizations, Gartner

According to Gartner, Inc. Hype Cycle for Digital Workplace Applications, 2024, AI and Digital Employee Experience (DEX) are going to go mainstream in the upcoming two years. Matt Cain, the VP Analyst at Gartner, says that AI is helping a lot of employees research, write, create and collaborate on different mediums, and employees are getting comfortable with the technology. The digital friction employees were feeling with AI is wearing off and it is resulting in improved workforce digital dexterity.

2024 is giving a hard time to digital workplace application leaders as hybrid and remote work have been trending. Moreover, AI is also becoming an important part of workforces so leaders are also busy in making strategies and plans for generative AI and how it can be possibly advantageous to their organizations.

AI is infiltrating the system and now works more as a collaborator, than a mere tool in different organizations. Employees are able to do their work more quickly, comprehensively and confidently because of AI. As AI is far from traditional applications and tools, employees can feel themselves be more productive while working with this technology. With each passing day, AI is becoming more sophisticated and is a huge part of workforce productivity.

• Also read: ChatGPT Leads AI Search Traffic with 5.7 Billion YoY, Yet Traditional Engines Outperform

Nearly all of the employees are becoming digital employees because of how much time they spend working with technology. Organizations should make strategies to improve DEX so it can attract more employees and they can give their best. If organizations want to increase the appeal around DEX, they should collaborate with IT and non-IT partners to build an environment for employees where they can learn and grow with new ways of working with AI.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

A New Survey Shows that Many Companies are Adopting AI But Only Some of them Are Aware of Its Risks

PwC surveyed 1,001 US based business executives and techs to find how these businesses are planning to use AI in their workplaces. According to the survey, 73% of respondents are all ready to apply AI tools in their businesses but 58% aren't aware of the risks that come with AI implementation.

US AI Assurance Leader at PwC, Jenn Kosar, explains that six months ago many companies were ready to make use of AI but now is the time to make them aware of all the potential risks and responsibilities one need to see before adopting generative AI. Many gen AI Pilot Projects are informing companies about AI adoption and how they can use AI that works best for their teams and workplaces.

Recently, Elon Musk has announced a new image generation service through its Grok-2 model which appears to have no restrictions. This is going to allow users to create any controversial or problematic content including violence, deep fakes and criminal stuff. The model has no filters and can generate any type of image the user wants it to create.

The survey by PwC asks the respondents what are the top ten capabilities they want their organizations to have. Data Privacy, Model Management, Periodic Training, Upskilling, Specialized Software for AI Risk Management, Data Governance, Getting Embedded AI Risk Specialists, Monitoring and Auditing, Cyber security, Third-Party Risk Management and Model Testing were the top answers which were recorded. 80% of the companies reported that they are implementing these capabilities while 11% claimed that they have already implemented all of these capabilities in their companies. The survey found that AI implementation is being a little tricky for some organizations.

The companies who are undergoing AI implementation should make responsible AI strategies. Jenn Kosar says that companies should ensure ownership and accountability for responsible AI use by hiring a responsible AI leader or chief AI officer. AI should also be value creative for organizations as it is adding commercial value to many organizations.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Poll Reveals Gen-Z Feels Stressed After Social Media Use; Facebook, TikTok, Instagram Blamed For Anxiety

According to a poll of 2,000 Gen-Z Americans commissioned by LG Electronics and conducted by Talker Research, one in four Gen-Z believe that social media is ruining their mental health. The Gen-Z in the survey named Facebook (13%), TikTok (20%) and Instagram (20%) as social media apps that are negatively impacting their mental health.

When asked why they use these social media apps despite their negative effects, 59% said they want to laugh, 44% said they want to get updates about their friends, 66% said they use social media out of boredom and 49% said they want to be up-to-date with the news. 49% of the Gen-Z said that they feel stressed and anxious after they are done scrolling on social media.

The survey reports that Gen-Z only needs to scroll 38 minutes on social media to start feeling negative emotions. 51% of Gen-Z who were surveyed said that they feel bad after watching some upsetting content, 49% said they feel unproductive because they waste their time on social media and 36% said that they feel anxious because they experience FOMO (fear of missing out). 45% of Gen-Z said that they feel that they spend more time on social media than their friends.

The results of the survey also found that 62% of the Gen-Z want to start over on social media because their feeds don't show them what they want. 53% feel anxious after using social media because their feed doesn't have content they want to see. 54% of the respondents said that they feel little to no control over what they see on their social media feeds. Only 16% of the Gen-Z who were surveyed said that they feel control over their social media feeds.

Watching content related to animals (48%), prank videos (34%), comedy (65%) and beauty (40%) makes Gen-Z feel happy, according to the survey. The content that leads to negative emotions is politics (40%) and physical violence (50%). 65% of the Gen-Z reported that their bad day turns into a good day if they see something good on social media. 70% of the Gen-Z respondents said that they are more likely to use social media when they are feeling good and less anxious, with 44% Gen-Z believing that social media can bring some positivity to their lives.

Louis Giagrande, head of U.S. marketing at LG Electronics said that social media is an important part of our daily lives now. If we want to feel less anxious while using social media, we have to be conscious of what we see and only engage in the content that makes us feel happy and inspired. He also added that your engagement on a post can help you build your feed according to how you want. If a post makes you smile, leave a like and comment on it so you can see content similar to it on your feed.

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