eSIM Awareness Rises, But Reluctance Keeps Adoption in Check

According to Counterpoint’s Consumer eSIM Awareness Survey, 35% of the respondents are aware of eSIM. This shows that eSIM is slowly being adopted even though there are no efforts from network operators and eSIM vendors to raise awareness about this emerging tech. The survey also found that respondents who are aware of eSIM are also owners of eSIM compatible devices which means that compatibility is a big factor in awareness of adoption of eSIMs. The survey was conducted among 3,535 respondents from countries like Germany, Japan, US, Poland, France, UK and Canada. The survey also found that 39% of the respondents of the survey are using eSIMs on their devices. This shows that even though people are aware of eSIM and know its importance, there is still low adaptability of eSIM.

Research Director at Counterpoint, Mohit Agrawal, said that there are very clear advantages of eSIM like its flexibility and multi-SIM functionality, but it seems that people are still not using it. Using eSIM is a great way to not use multiple SIMs in a single device because eSIM can do the functions of two or more SIMs at a time smoothly. The survey also revealed that 61% of the respondents say that they do not prefer eSIM as their SIM connectivity option, showing people's reluctance. As there are also device compatibility issues in the adoption of eSIM, many people use their SIM cards or hybrid models as they use devices that are not compatible with eSIM. By continuing efforts to raise awareness about eSIM, some individuals might reconsider their perspective on the technology.

The respondents who use eSIMs agreed that their eSIM adoption process was smooth and friendly and only a small number of people said they find the eSIM adoption process difficult and complex. The biggest challenge eSIM vendors are facing is lack of promotion and awareness about eSIM. If efforts are made for the awareness and adoption of eSIM, it can result in mass adoption but it still seems impossible. Research analyst at Counterpoint, Siddhant Cally, said that eSIM adoption can become more widespread if it starts getting compatible with budget mobile phones as they are currently dominating the smartphone market. 90% of the respondents who are currently using eSIM said that they are satisfied with it and this means that once there is awareness about eSIM and people start using it, they will be satisfied with this change.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

AI-Powered Replies and Business Platform Connectivity Arrive on WhatsApp iOS

WhatsApp Beta for iOS 24.25.10.84 update is here. The messaging app has added two features, AI replies and connection for business platforms. Earlier, WhatsApp had announced these two features for WhatsApp business app for Android and it was about time that iOS got these features too. This new update for iOS will surely facilitate business owners who manage their businesses through WhatsApp business app. Soon, WhatsApp business users on iOS will be able to connect their business app to AI. AI integration will happen on WhatsApp business after users will scan a QR code which will activate AI on the app.

AI replies is a handy feature for WhatsApp business because sometimes customers message out of business hours or when a team member is unavailable, so AI can help reply to the customers in the meanwhile. Sometimes there are also some frequently asked questions for which the replies are almost the same, so the AI integration can reply to those frequently asked questions too. Another thing is that AI replies on WhatsApp business can also provide customers all the information in detail and can even give them answers according to the customers’ needs and wants. In addition to that, AI can also tell customers prices and specifications of the products and services, which can facilitate customers in their decision making process.

AI replies will automatically become inactive when the business decides to answer them manually so there is a smooth transition between the queries and replies. Customers will be informed beforehand that they are being AI assisted so transparency remains. As AI answers may not always be accurate, businesses can provide Meta their feedback so the company can improve their AI so the businesses can run smoothly.

Another feature that WhatsApp for iOS is getting is the business platform connection feature which will allow users to connect their Business Platform to their WhatsApp Business app. This way businesses will be able to manage both of their accounts on each platform simultaneously. After scanning the QR code, businesses will have the option to share their six month chat history to WhatsApp business which will provide important context to customer interactions. These two new features are available for some beta testers right now and will be soon available for other users through WhatsApp update on App Store.

Image: WABetaInfo

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Trump Asks Supreme Court to Postpone TikTok Ban Ahead of Inauguration

With just days until his inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump has requested the Supreme Court delay a law that could ban TikTok in the U.S. The law, scheduled to take effect on January 19, 2025—just one day before Trump’s inauguration—has been described by his legal team as “unfortunately timed.”

In an amicus brief submitted to the court, Trump’s attorney, D. John Sauer, argued that the incoming president should have the opportunity to address the issue “through political means.” The brief emphasized Trump’s extensive experience in dealmaking, citing his ability to negotiate a solution that balances national security concerns with preserving TikTok’s presence in the United States. Sauer’s filing also referenced Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, as a testament to his understanding of digital platforms and their implications.

TikTok’s legal team has also raised concerns over the timing of the ban, describing it as potentially disruptive and advocating for a delay to allow further dialogue. The company has sought to engage with policymakers to resolve the government’s national security worries, a sentiment echoed by Trump’s legal filing.

This marks a notable shift in Trump’s stance on TikTok compared to his first presidential term. In 2020, he actively pursued a ban on the platform, even suggesting that Microsoft could broker a deal to acquire TikTok in a way that would benefit the U.S. Treasury. However, his position has evolved in recent years. Speaking to CNBC in March, Trump criticized the idea of banning TikTok, arguing that it could inadvertently strengthen Facebook, which he has labeled “an enemy of the people” and a competitor to his own platform.

The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments regarding the TikTok ban on January 10, 2025, just days before the law’s enforcement. The outcome of this case may determine whether the incoming administration will have the chance to broker a deal that avoids a ban while addressing concerns over national security.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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by Asim BN via Digital Information World

Unchecked Sharing of Political Content Fuels Misinformation on Social Media

A new study published in Nature Human Behavior finds that most of the social media users share posts without reading and confirming the whole content. The analysis was made on 35 million Facebook posts and it was found that 75% of the users didn't engage with the post completely before sharing it. The aim of the study was to find out how and why people share posts on social media without reading them first. To investigate all of this behavior, the researchers took a dataset of 35 million URLs shared on Facebook from 2017 to 2020. The researchers focused on 4,617 domains from The New York Times, CNN, BBC, Fox News and their URLs during the four year period.

The research included two areas – the patterns of sharing content related to politics and sharing content without clicking on it or reading it completely. A machine learning classifier separates political content from non-political content with the help of keywords used in them. Different user behaviors from political views like neutral, liberal and conservative were analyzed to find if there was some connection between the political views of users and the content they share without reading it. Among all the URLs which were analyzed, 75% of them were shared without checking the full content and the trend was stronger in the content related to politics. The URLs which had incorrect or false content were also likely to be shared more than the content with correct and true information.

Users simply glance at the highlight, blurb and the news network the content was shared by and hit the share button which then spreads misinformation to other people too. The researchers also found that the content which had more politically extreme information was more likely to get shared without being clicked or read completely. Users shared the content which aligned with their political beliefs the most and that's why their shared content was biased. Conservatives share links five times more than liberals before completely reading them, and this shows a concerning trend about how social media users are engaging with posts.

The study has some limitations too like how the study was only done on the basis of aggregated data and not on individual behavior, and the study also just focuses on Facebook. If we need to know more about user behavior when it comes to sharing content without reading or clicking on it, we need to analyze different social media platforms as well as behavior of users individually and on different devices.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

OpenAI Eyes For-Profit Model Amid Strategic Discussions with Microsoft

Tech giant OpenAI appears to be on the move to transform into a ‘for-profit’ company amid serious discussions with top investor and software giant Microsoft.

It’s a move that many saw coming for a long time and also one that tech billionaire Elon Musk wished to block from day one. But from what can be seen in new reports published by The Information, it’s finally happening.

Both tech giants have been conducting discussions since the start of October about restructuring the entire AI firm. It’s no surprise that Microsoft is in on the deal as it’s already invested a whopping $13B in the company.

One source familiar with the whole matter was quick to delineate more about how most discussions revolved around four leading topics. This entails details about the equity stake that Microsoft holds if the software giant will continue to be the sole cloud provider, the timeframe Microsoft can maintain rights over OpenAI’s intellectual goods, and if the company will carry on and take close to 20% of the overall revenue.

While both companies are staying rather hush on the matter, it’s definitely not any major secret at this moment in time. The tech giant made it clear how it hopes to replan the entire ‘for-profit’ company that will not be controlled by the nonprofit board.

When asked to detail more about the report, the representative for OpenAI said the company is just focusing more on bringing benefits to all. They hope to work alongside the board to make sure that they’re in the best position to succeed with that mission. Remember, nonprofit is still the core of the company’s main objectives and it hopes to continue with that.

Meanwhile, the entire process of restructuring does not come too easy for the tech giant. That’s all thanks to Elon Musk and his legal woes that keep holding this company back.

The tech billionaire and Tesla CEO wants to prevent OpenAI from converting into a for-profit organization. His lawyers argued that it needs to be barred from getting benefits of a wrongful deal which includes very sensitive data through its partnership with Microsoft.

On the other hand, the company is also making room for more sales personnel in what it feels is the new paradigm shift inside the corporate AI sector. Remember, the is continuing to sign new documents with different industries like health, law, manufacturing, and more.

OpenAI wants the world to know that AI is the future and that’s why a shift is necessary. They are achieving that by unlocking some wonderfully unique and new working ways.

Image: DIW

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

How AI is Revolutionizing Executive Coaching: A New Era of Leadership Development

Source: Pexels

Leadership has quickly become an integral part of modern businesses as it is a key aspect of success. Its importance has risen executive coaching to the highest degree as a must-use tool for all businesses. Through it, individuals can refine their leadership skills and improve their overall productivity benefiting both the party and business. However, in the trend of ever-evolving markets, executive coaching is undergoing a significant development. This is of course referring to the rise of artificial intelligence and its application in various systems.

Here we will cover how AI has made its way into executive coaching and what this means for businesses and individuals alike. With that said let's take a look at the ways AI is reshaping the system and benefiting leadership development.

AI Personalization

If you are not familiar executive coaching is personalized coaching aimed at improving the skills and thought processes of an individual. The system functions through regular meetings between a leadership coach and an individual. In these sessions, they work together to identify and improve the flaws and virtues of the individual. This system has proven to be incredibly successful as a tool to prepare leaders for upcoming challenges.

Through the introduction of AI, executive coaching has gained the benefit of even further personalization. By using data analysis and machine learning artificial intelligence can assist in determining an executive's performance, communication style, virtues, and areas of improvement. This eases the process of traditional executive coaching by speeding up the introductory process and allowing users to ease into the experience.

Furthermore, through artificial intelligence leaders get the ability to bounce their ideas off of chatbots in between sessions. This opens up a whole new space for personal growth and improved results during executive coaching. On the other hand, coaches can utilize AI to more easily develop personalized plans for their clients. Overall, the introduction of AI does much for the space of executive coaching and will continue to be a useful tool.

Real-Time Feedback

As we already briefly mentioned, artificial intelligence is very useful for its implications of real-time feedback. These snappy insights are key as they will empower those undergoing executive coaching to grow. This data created and gathered by AI tools can also assist the system by getting a deeper understanding of the leader. Which directly results in better and more personalized plans that focus on the needs of the client. Additionally, this will allow leaders and their coaches to track their progress on certain goals. The immediate feedback is a unique way to gamify the course and keep leaders engaged for longer periods.

Artificial intelligence's applications in this manner also allow for a degree of accessibility in a previously narrow space. As these tools can be utilized anywhere individuals can act independently from their coaches. From here they can grow and prepare for their next session without any issues.

Scalability and Efficiency

Executive coaching is an incredibly popular tool that many businesses can utilize. Its application is much simpler for smaller organizations compared to larger ones. With this comes a significant time cost that takes up a lot of funds and human resources. However, with the integration of artificial intelligence and specialized tools, this problem is almost completely solved. These tools are effective and scalable solutions for any business. Through their ability to uniquely cater to any number of employees, they are the perfect tool for larger businesses.

Furthermore, AI tools are the best way to get consistent coaching experiences across a wide workforce no matter their location. This ensures that everyone gets the same and best treatment possible. These traits create a unified experience and leadership culture within the business at no cost to the employees. Moreover, the accessibility and cost-effectiveness of AI tools make them the best way to execute executive coaching on a large scale.

Enhancing Decision Making

Among all of the virtues executive coaching fosters its most impactful area is improved decision-making. This is a skill that is fundamental for all executives to have as it is considered a critical skill for the role. Without it, executives are not prepared to make the best choices in the ever-evolving state of modern industries. By partaking in executive coaching consistently and preemptively executives can be prepared for any changes and crises that may come up.

Furthermore, this improved decision-making will reduce the risk at all levels of business. Be it navigating internal affairs or organizational changes, executive coaching will ensure productivity. With the integration of more tools such as AI, we are sure to see more benefits come from executive coaching. This makes the future of business very promising and signals a slight shift in the way employees and executives will be trained. However, only time will tell how these systems truly reshape the landscape of business.

by Asim BN via Digital Information World

Study Explores How Digital Maturity Shapes Social Media Connections in Teens

According to a new research published in Computers in Human Behaviour, digital maturity in adolescents can lead to how connected they feel on social media. The research says that teens that are more digitally mature can make more deep connections on social media and it doesn't mean that they have to be more active on social media. This can help them make more friends inline as well as make goals in their social interactions. This raises many questions about social connectedness in adolescents and the use of digital media in their everyday lives. There has been much research done on the use of social media and its effects on the personality of adolescents. But there were only a few studies which talked about digital maturity and its role in social connectedness.

The author of the study, Teresa Koch, said that she aimed to provide an insight about how young people are using social media and digital literacy to form connections in the online world. Many young people are using the concept of digital maturity to learn new things about themselves and the world on the internet. The researchers did two studies, cross sectional one and longitudinal study. In the cross sectional study, there were 257 adolescent participants from Spain and the researchers studied how these adolescents are engaging with their real life friends and holding their goals between social connectedness and digital maturity. The second study was longitudinal study with 316 adolescents and their parents. The study spanned over one year and the researchers studied respectful online behaviour and emotional regulation in adolescents. Parents help in the evaluation of their teens’ online activities like scrolling, posting or commenting.

Digital Maturity Inventory, which assesses respect towards others, regulation of negative emotions and individual growth in digital settings, was used and all the participants in the research were given scores. The adolescents who scored high in the test were found to have more digital maturity, and used online platforms to make their relationship stronger with their in real life friends. This shows that adolescents who are digital mature can keep up with their offline relationships all while being online. It was also found that adolescents who had high scores in digital maturity were also likely to have compassionate goals as they aim to provide emotional support to others. Researchers also found that digital maturity isn't linked with active use of social media, and doesn't always lead to social connectedness.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World