Study Reveals AI's Growing Role in Job Loss Across Writing and Design Fields

New research by Imperial College London highlights growing concerns about AI's impact on the labor market. While a decade-old Oxford University study examined technology's effects on employment, these concerns have intensified with AI's increasing integration into everyday life. The study by Imperial College looks at effects AI can cause in the freelance market such as graphic designing and content writing. For the study, the researchers looked at 1.4 million freelancing jobs posted on different websites from July 2021 and July 2023. The results of the study showed that there was a 30% drop in jobs related to content writing because of artificial intelligence. Even though there is only a slight drop in jobs related to web development and software development due to AI, the jobs are still less than what they were before AI. There was also some drop in jobs related to graphic designing and 3D Modeling after AI models like DALL-E-2 and Midjourney got introduced.

The researchers say that this drop doesn't seem to be temporary because now companies are experimenting with newer technologies which can make their work easier and automated. The researchers compared this decline in jobs caused by AI to the loss of factory jobs during the automation era, when robots replaced human workers. But the drop because of robotic implementation in factories wasn't as much as drop in jobs due to current AI wave. One of the researches show that when there was a 20% increase in robots adoption in France, there was only a 3% drop in jobs in industries and factories. This is actually concerning, especially the drop in content writing jobs because it makes us question our capabilities as AI is more than enough to write content. But there are many problems regarding ChatGPT’s research on various topics and the content it produces doesn't stand out too much.

• Related: The Hidden Cost of Innovation: How Tech Giants Are Funding the Backbone of AI

University of Alberta names content generated by AI as “botshit” and University of Zurich says that AI generated content is less trustworthy to readers if it is labeled as AI generated. Instead of completely relying on AI, organizations are asking writers to oversee AI generated content and make it more human-like. This means a pay cut for writers and they cannot show their capabilities and creativity fully, as well as their identity and motivation. Employees are not happy with this deployment of AI because it is adding no value to the work and they cannot engage fully with what they work for.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: Global Survey Unveils Influencer Aspirations, Social Media Trends, and AI's Growing Role in Content Creation
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

From Algorithms to Cancellations: Why Streaming Services Leave Subscribers Overwhelmed

A survey of 2,000 American streaming subscribers by UserTesting reveals 20% find it harder to choose content today than a decade ago. A total of 120 hours per year are spent by scrolling through streaming services because users cannot find something to watch. Even though there is too much content on streaming services nowadays, subscribers seem to be overwhelmed with the amount of content that they end up watching nothing at all. 26% of the respondents said that there is too much original content that is being produced while 41% said that they get confused about what to watch because there is too much to watch in content libraries.

75% of the respondents said that the algorithm of their streaming service is helpful for them as it recommends things to watch according to their taste, but 51% admitted that they get overwhelmed with the recommendations because they want to watch everything at once. 48% of the respondents of the survey admitted not having traditional cable TV now, with 43% saying that they choose to watch content on streaming services because it has variety and 34% said that the content they like to watch isn't on traditional TV. 29% also said that it is also easy to watch content streaming services while on-the-go as compared to traditional cable.

Even though many people are choosing streaming services, 51% are still dissatisfied with it and say that they should have more options and the streaming services. 40% defined their dream streaming service as the streaming platform with premium channels with no additional cost and 39% defined it as a platform where they can easily navigate through content. There were also respondents who said that they like it when a streaming service has an easy to navigate interface (52%).

11% of the respondents said that they are willing to pay more than $100 for a streaming service if it has all the features and content they want, while most of the respondents said that an average $46 a month is best for streaming service subscription. 79% of the respondents said that they feel extreme frustration if the streaming service they are using charge extra for some selected content, with 59% saying that it is very unlikely that they pay for that additional content and 77% saying that they watch something else instead. 19% also said that they often subscribe to the free trial of a platform if it has the content they want to watch.

69% of the respondents reported opening an account on a streaming service and subscribing to it only to find out that it doesn't have the content they were looking for. 56% said that they cancel their subscription on a streaming platform as soon as they finish the show they were watching, but 23% said that they have faced difficulties while cancelling the subscription. 36% said that they found the cancellation process of subscriptions on streaming platforms too difficult and with multiple steps.

Read next: Mobile Addiction Soars, Americans Check Phones 205 Times Daily, Survey Reveals
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Global Survey Unveils Influencer Aspirations, Social Media Trends, and AI's Growing Role in Content Creation

IZEA’s Influencer Aspirations report is here which provides some insights for different influencers, who have already become one and the ones who are aspiring to become one, and how influencer marketing is playing an important role in the lives of many consumers. For the report, a total of 6,000 social media users were surveyed from 6 countries, 1,000 each from one country. According to the survey, 25% of the respondents who use social media consider themselves influencers, with most of it seen in China (45%), followed by the US (27%) and UK (21%). Only 7% of the respondents who were surveyed had over 500k followers. Most of the respondents had less than 1,000 followers.

Respondents were asked if they personally know someone who makes money from social media influencing, and 43% respondents answered with yes. Most of the respondents who said that they know someone who earns money as a social media influencer were from China (68%), followed by Mexico (41%) and the US (40%). China also leads with most respondents aspiring to become influencers (60%), followed by Mexico (45%) and Canada (28%). This trend was not seen much in the US and it seems like not many people in the US aspire to become influencers.

63% of the respondents of the survey were also ready to quit their jobs if they can make a living as a social media influencer. 79% of the respondents from Mexico said so, followed by 62% respondents from Canada and 61% from China. When influencers were asked what their employment status was, 68% of the influencers said that they work full time, with most of the influencers from China working full time (83%). The survey also found that most of the influencers are more likely to be self-employed than general social media users.

• Also read: Stop Guessing, Start Knowing: The Social Media Tools You Need for 2025

When respondents were asked if they would accept payments or free products from brands to promote their products, 78% answered with yes. 45% of the influencers from China said that they received payment from the brand for a sponsored post. As it's the era of technology, respondents were also asked if they use AI for creating content they post on social media. 59% of the social media users said that they use AI tools for their posts, with 48% of the respondents from China saying that they use them often, followed by 36% from Mexico and 27% from the US.

In case of most hours spent on social media, Mexico led the list with respondents using social media for an average 6.8 hours, followed by average 6.4 hours a day spent by respondents in China and 5.8 hours average spent by respondents in the US. The survey also found that social media users who spent more than average 5 hours on social media are 3.2 more likely to get paid by brands to promote their products.

Read next:

• Clickbait, Chaos, and Burnout: How This Year Redefined Our Social Media Experience

• Mobile Addiction Soars, Americans Check Phones 205 Times Daily, Survey Reveals

by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Did Apple Keep You in the Dark About Data Sharing in ‘Enhanced Visual Search’?

Tech giant Apple is known for its stronghold on privacy measures and ensuring users’ data remains safe. However, a recently published blog by Jeff Johnson is raising the curtain on a feature for iPhone users that might be doing more than promised.

The feature in question for iOS users is called ‘Enhanced Visual Search’ and when this toggle is on for the device’s Photos app, usually by default, it’s giving the phone permission to share information from the saved photos with Apple.

Image: lapcatsoftware

Many were quick to check if that was indeed true and they were amazed how they had no idea. The feature allows users to search for some top-notch landmarks that they’ve previously captured and even explore more pictures using the same names. All in all, it does make the search process much more defined but the cost is users’ privacy.

This is not the first time that we’ve seen Apple turn back on its own claims. It previously tarnished its reputation of being a strong privacy enthusiast when collecting users’ interactions with voice assistant Siri.

If you want to experience it too, simply swipe on an image that you took of a building and click on ‘Look up Landmark’. You’ll find a card pop-up that really identifies you. Several examples were also shared to prove the point.

For many, a first glance shows nothing alarming. It’s a simple and very convenient expansion for the already popular Visual Look Up that was rolled out on iOS 15. However, the latter never required additional permission to share more information with the iPhone maker but this one does.

You can find descriptions under every toggle that speak about Apple providing permission to silently match locations in the images with global indexes that are covered by Apple. You can get more information through the blog including how the feature really works to give you regions of interest related to the landmark you’re in search of.

As per this blog, the embedded vector gets encrypted and shared with Apple so that it can be compared with the database. You’ll see the iPhone maker provide its fair share of explanations on this front through technical means. This is a part of Apple’s research blog and if you ask us, not a lot of it makes sense.

For now, we’re in search of Apple’s response on this front. They didn’t provide any immediate reply on whether the accusations of data sharing were true or not. For now, it appears the firm went to long lengths to ensure information remains private.

We feel that making this toggle a feature where users could opt-in was a better way to go about the whole situation. Right now, it seems like Apple tried to keep the fact that data was shared with the company under wraps, and for any company, that’s never a good look.

Read next: The Hidden Cost of Innovation: How Tech Giants Are Funding the Backbone of AI
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

The Hidden Cost of Innovation: How Tech Giants Are Funding the Backbone of AI

With more usage of AI tech and new technology, many tech giants are investing billions of dollars for AI data centers so they can meet the demand for computational energy that can handle the latest AI infrastructure and workload. Data centers have hefty operating costs but they make the running of AI data centers possible. Data from JP Morgan and New Street Research shows how much big techs are spending on AI data centers, including software, operating expenses, depreciation and electricity.

The most investment on AI data centers is being done by Microsoft, with most spent on GPUs($20 billion) and other AI spend ($20 billion) which makes total capex of $40 billion. The cost spent on training and R&D by Microsoft is $3 billion, cost on inference is $3 billion which makes total operating cost of $6 billion. This makes a total of $46 billion that Microsoft is spending on AI data centers. The second most spendings on AI data centers is by Google, with a total of $33 billion. The total capital expenditure by Google is $29 billion while the operating costs are $4 billion.

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

Followed by Google, Meta is spending the third most on AI data centers, with $23 billion total capex, $11 billion on GPUs and other chips while $12 billion on other AI spend. The total operating cost of AI data centers that Meta is spending on is $4 billion and this makes a total of $27 billion that Meta is spending on AI data centers. Amazon is also investing a lot on its AI data centers, with a total of $19 billion. $8 billion are spent on GPUs and other chips, while $8 billion is the other AI spend. The total capital expenditure on AI data centers by Amazon is $16 billion while $3 billion is the total operating cost. Google and Amazon are spending a lot on training their AI models and the training cost for AI models is getting more and more expensive.

• Also read: Data Center Surge: USA Tops Global List with 5,388 Centers, AI Adoption Fuels Growth

The most data centers are owned by Microsoft (300), followed by 215 data centers of Amazon. Microsoft has partnered up with BlackRock to start a $100 billion plan through Global Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure that will focus on developing AI data centers and provide energy which will support those AI data centers.

Company	Spending on GPUs and Other Chips	Other AI-related Expenses	Total Capital Expenditures	Spending on Training and Research	Spending on Inference	Total Operating Costs
Microsoft	$20 billion	$20 billion	$40 billion	$3 billion	$3 billion	$6 billion
Meta	$11 billion	$12 billion	$23 billion	$2 billion	$2 billion	$4 billion
Google	$14 billion	$15 billion	$29 billion	$3 billion	$1 billion	$4 billion
Amazon	$8 billion	$8 billion	$16 billion	$2 billion	$1 billion	$3 billion

Read next:

• New Research Shows ChatGPT Uses Too Much Water to Keep its Data Centers Cool Which Can Have Harmful Effects to Environment

• Mobile Addiction Soars, Americans Check Phones 205 Times Daily, Survey Reveals
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Mobile Addiction Soars, Americans Check Phones 205 Times Daily, Survey Reveals

Mobile phone use has increased and a lot of people need to check their smartphones every five minutes for an update, email or message. But this surge in smartphone use raises serious concerns, similar to the overuse of other technologies. ReviewsOrg conducted a survey to analyze the annual smartphone usage habits of the average American. Talking about the daily basis, the survey shows that an average American checks his phone at least 205 times in a day. Checking every five minutes totals 2.5 months yearly. But how drastic is this year’s growth?

The data from the survey shows that there has been a 42.3% increase in mobile usage since last year. The same survey conducted in 2023 found that people used to check their phones 144 times on average in a day. In the survey conducted in 2024, there were 80.6% respondents who said that they check their phones within 10 minutes after they wake up, while 65.7% admitted to using phones while on the toilet. There were also some respondents who said that they have texted someone even if they were in the same room as them (53.7%) and some respondents also said that they checked their phones while they were on a date (38.1%). 27% of the respondents also said that they use their phones when they are driving.

There were 43% of the respondents who considered themselves as mobile addicts. When some mobile phone users receive a notification, they check it within five minutes (76%). The highest score was of millennials (89.5%) who check notifications within ten minutes of receiving them, followed by Gen-Z and Gen-X (84% each), Boomers (69%) and Silent Generation (53.3%). Unsurprisingly, Gen-Z have the most screen time, with average 6 hours 18 minutes spent on their phones daily, followed by Millennials who spent average 6 hours 2 minutes on their phones every day this year. Generation-X spent an average 4 hours 54 minutes on their phones, followed by Boomers who spent 3 hours 18 minutes on their phones. The only generation with little to none mobile phone use was Silent Generation with an average 1 hour six minutes spent on mobile phones daily. Millennials picked their mobile phones the most with an average 324 times per day.

In addition to being anxious about missing any notifications, 80% of millennials are also anxious about losing their mobile phones, which is way more than other generations.

Read next: Global VR Shipments Decline, Meta and Apple Face Shifts in Consumer Preferences
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Clickbait, Chaos, and Burnout: How This Year Redefined Our Social Media Experience

2024 was a draining year for users who struggled to navigate through many of the popular social media platforms. Some faced incredible challenges while others just couldn’t wrap their heads around what was going on.

It’s clear that the goal of many platforms is to attract the masses but despite knowing this, it wouldn’t be wrong to mention that this realm has transformed into a bizarre beast.

You enter a platform and feel like you’re getting sucked into a stream of material that’s designed to trap people. This includes relentless amounts of shopping ads that you’ve got little to no interest in. It’s safe to say that many including us didn’t have fun.

Let’s take a look at Instagram for instance. You open up that platform and get greeted by ads for bizarre products like bidets. Once you ignore and start scrolling, you’ll see even more alarmingly weird ads about lingerie, shoes, and explicit toys. Most of the sellers are from AliExpress and then you question how you landed up here in the first place.

Soon after that, the misery isn’t over as you’re facing Reels from unknown sources featuring off-target topics. After that, you do see a post or two from your list but then realize that you need to switch off the ‘suggested posts’ feature again which is a must every month. If not, be ready to face the consequences of seeing the most random things getting published on and off.

We won’t lie, we do get distracted more often than not. It could be an adorable cat making cute expressions or a famous chef stirring the pot with another delicious recipe. All in all, we’re in love all over again and forget the misery that brought us here in the first place.

Before we know it, we’re at a popular influencer couple’s page who are trying to make the audience laugh with some of the most bizarre routines. You might even see a woman bombarding herself with makeup but the transformation is so severe that some argue that it’s catfishing and illegal to do this.

We’d like to confirm that this issue isn’t solely on Instagram only but on TikTok as well. The only difference here is that its For You page is more rightly adapted to showing you things that you’ll actually love and not just hate.

Sometimes, procrastination gets you here and all sucked up into something that steals a good few hours when you could have been more productive. Nevertheless, we have to admit that getting caught up in the social media trend isn’t fun anymore.

Some videos aren’t even real and that makes you distrust society even more now than before. There are times we feel we might get trapped while scrolling mindlessly and watching content that we never liked or will like. And it happens so frequently.

It’s no wonder Oxford shared the word for 2024 was brain rot which is the devastating consequence of spending long hours online, watching some stupid things that you shouldn’t be. It’s similar to the word that Australia spoke about called enshittification which explains how apps ruin over time as different firms continue to chase profits.

If we had to sum it up, social media apps were once curated with the idea of promoting connections and friendship. Today, it’s as far away from real human interactions as we are from the moon. Another example is Facebook where you could end up if you’d like to an update from a loved one or people you adore. But even that is now filled with unwanted reels and useless AI slop and low quality click-bait clutter.

Next comes Elon Musk’s controversial X app which fails to hold any of the roots of the old Twitter app. It’s not fun anymore when you’re slammed with politics and propaganda from all directions.

Moving on to Meta's Threads, it’s definitely a better version of X and a hotspot for many who are sick of Musk and his erratic behavior. But it’s causing concern amongst many for uncredited videos and provocative content. There are custom feeds now that feature the chance to explore certain topics but some pages are full of nothing but engagement-bait posts. Another thing that bothers some people is the follow feed for users does not have a default view and no option exists for changing it. Threads, despite its millions of active users, includes few creators or content producers from diverse industries. Similarly, platforms like Mastodon and Bluesky, though smaller in user base, give off an "in-crowd" vibe. For many, engaging with these new social networks feels like stepping into a room full of familiar faces where they remain the outsider. Unlike Threads, which may soon introduce ads, neither Bluesky nor Mastodon serves as a thinly veiled shopping platform—at least for now.

To sum it up, social media is not worth it anymore for many who feel we’re reaching that burnout stage of taking in too much. We need someplace that feels more human and inviting, not robotic. Let’s hold a positive mindset for 2025 and hope more change happens but this time, for the good.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: The Future of Social Media: Meta’s AI Personas and the Shift Toward Digital Engagement
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World