New Study Proves How The NFT Bubble Has Burst With 95% Being Worthless

An interesting analysis was recently conducted and it shed light on how the majority of NFTs were worthless- a clear reminder to us all about how the NFT bubble has burst.

The study took into consideration a whopping 73,257 collections and out of those, 95% were said to be of zero value in today’s day and age.

For those who may not be aware, the market and trend for Non-Fungible Tokens really came down to crashing as per a new report from experts at dappGambl.

Thanks to data outlined by the reliable NFT Scan, it was proven that out of the figure outlined above, a whopping 69,795 entailed a market cap featuring 0 Ether.

This particular report highlighted how 95% of those interested in collecting such tokens must be aware of their zero worth so there is no point in this.

Out of the respective tokens that are rumored to be worth a small figure, 41% of those cost as low as $5 and as high as $100. And you’ll be amazed to learn how 1% and even less than that figure had sales at a price tag of $6000. So in case you were searching for that million-dollar era where the NFT was once booming, that’s very much over.

This report highlights something very important and that is linked to how unpredictable and risky this entire NFT market has turned into in today’s day and age. Moreover, it also proves to us how there is a much stronger need to be careful and practice diligence, right before you take the leap and make a huge buy especially one of greater value.

As experts mentioned, the daunting reality that we’re highlighting is a huge reality check for the world about the euphoria linked to NFTs and how the space is far from what many had once predicted or perceived it to be.

It’s actually really disappointing when you come to think of it. Who knew that such stories about digital art being sold for millions and many getting rich overnight would ultimately end with this final outcome?

Yes, today’s market continues to shift as we speak. Trends are never stagnant but the pitfalls and losses seen here are worth a mention.

Today, researchers feel that one out of five NFT collections are under the ownership of someone else. Moreover, they reflect the real demand for such assets in today’s ever-changing landscape.

Furthermore, when you consider the changes arising nearly two years back, it’s huge. At that period of time, we saw the NFT market at its peak and the trading volume happened to be close to $2.8 billion.

Therefore, both artists, as well as other big names from the industry, saw users jump on the bandwagon linked to the latest tech trends where people were super eager in terms of capitalizing and making the most of this opportunity.

One firm started to launch frames and NFT enthusiasts really worked hard in terms of selling digital art that was unique and truly one of a kind.

Today, the figures prove to us how the entire block show comprising of traded values fluctuates on a daily basis. It’s at $80 million today, close to 3% of the height it attained two years back.

Whatever the case may and no matter how grim these facts and figures are in this new analysis, there was a conclusion made that perhaps a future does still exist for the world of NFTs. But we’re very skeptical about this front. What are your thoughts?

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

iOS 17 Strikes Back with a Privacy Adventure

What do you prefer the most, privacy or publicity? Sure publicity would keep some privacy along. Ladies and gentlemen, brace yourselves because iOS 17 is here to challenge your privacy settings! It's like the mischievous younger sibling of the iOS family, always up to some digital antics. Reports are pouring in about unexpected privacy shuffles, and Apple, the responsible older sibling, is trying to sort it all out.

According to the watchful 9to5Mac, a group of iOS engineers known as Mysk decided to spill the virtual beans on X (Twitter) over the weekend. "PSA: iOS 17 turns these sensitive location options back on," they announced nonchalantly. Assuming that you deactivated focal areas and added area information to your iPhone examination prior to moving up to iOS 17, iOS 17 will empower the choices as shown in the screen capture." Isn't that an impromptu get-together that nobody needed to join in?

🚨PSA: iOS 17 turns these sensitive location options back on. If you have disabled significant locations as well as adding your location information to your iPhone analytics before upgrading to iOS 17, iOS 17 will turn the options on as shown in the screenshot.

While significant… pic.twitter.com/ROVEgPqw08

— Mysk 🇨🇦🇩🇪 (@mysk_co) September 23, 2023

Let's decode this tech jargon for you: Significant Locations is like that overenthusiastic friend who always knows where you are and occasionally sends you location-based reminders, like, "Hey, you're near a grocery store, remember to buy milk!" On the flip side, iPhone Analytics is like Apple's undercover agent, where you occasionally spill the beans about how you use your iOS device.

Now for the main twist, as explained by Mysk: They expressed that while significant areas are held inside your iPhone, they might possibly be manhandled in light of the fact that they unequivocally record your routinely visited objections. Then again, iPhone investigation play an alternate game since they are imparted to Apple. Regardless of whether the reports uncover your name, remembering your area data for these investigation reports might have protection results. It's like discovering that your prized secret recipe collection drew more attention than you intended at the community bake sale.

In any case, pause; there's something else! In its standard mysterious style, Apple guarantees us that "your Huge Areas and assortments are encoded end‑to‑end so Apple can't understand them. What's more, when you share your estimated time of arrival with different Guides clients, Apple can't see your area." Indeed, that is soothing. Be that as it may, clutch your computerized caps since there's a contort in this protection plot!

As per a similar 9to5Mac story, Apple guarantees that these settings shouldn't change independently when you redesign from iOS 16 to the puzzling iOS 17. Maybe your dearest GPS concludes that a beautiful way through a corn labyrinth is the fastest way home.

So we're in the middle of a digital mystery, with Apple wearing its detective hat and magnifying lens and "investigating the issue." Who would have guessed that updating your phone's operating system could be a privacy nightmare?

Stay tuned, iPhone users, because the iOS 17 saga is unfolding, and it's likely where this privacy rollercoaster will take us next. Until then, keep an eye on those settings, and remember, Siri might be listening, but let's hope she's not planning any surprise parties of her own.

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by Rubah Usman via Digital Information World

Snapchat and Microsoft's Spectacular Ad Odyssey in My AI

Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for a partnership so epic it's like the Avengers joining forces with the Justice League - only in the advertising universe! Snapchat and Microsoft are teaming up to bring you the mind-blowing phenomenon of "highly relevant" sponsored links in Snapchat's My AI, courtesy of the all-powerful Microsoft Chat Ads API.

Picture this: You're having a casual conversation with Snapchat's My AI, simply trying to get some answers. Then, like a ninja in the dark, a sponsored link pops out of nowhere, giving just what you wanted but didn't realize you needed. It's similar to having a personal shopper, except this one doesn't pass judgment on your fashion choices.

Snapchat's My AI is the blockbuster movie everyone discusses, with over 750 million monthly users globally. And now that Sponsored Links are in the mix, it's an advertising haven. Advertisers may directly interact with the elusive Gen Z audience, the social media gurus who are notoriously difficult to reach.

Yet, how might advertisers get on board with this temporary fad, you inquire? It's more straightforward than excelling at selfie points. Advertisers have to prepare some versatile wizardry inside their Microsoft advertiser's campaigns. Then, in the Gadget focusing on settings, they ought to make portable traffic their BFF by setting those positive versatile bid modifiers across all promotion gatherings.

"How do I know if my Snap traffic is working?" you might be wondering. Not to worry, Microsoft Advertising has you covered with the publisher report. It's like having a GPS for your ad journey but without the obnoxious voice reminding you that you can't do a U-turn.

So, what's the latest on the results? Advertisers reported a year-over-year rise in mobile traffic throughout the Microsoft network during testing. They found an average 15% increase in mobile impressions from Microsoft sites. It's like discovering that your avocado toast has free Wi-Fi.

But wait, there's more! Microsoft is gearing up to unleash this advertising marvel on even more partners soon. It's like they're throwing a party, and everyone's invited. Interested parties can fill out a partnership application form and choose between "algorithmic organic results and ads monetization" or "ads monetization." It's like picking your party theme - disco ball or neon lights?

In terms of Snapchat's perspective on the problem, a spokeswoman for the company stated that their platform is powered by Microsoft Advertising's Ads for Chat API. They emphasized the importance of Sponsored Links in linking their community with partners relevant to ongoing conversations while also assisting partners in reaching Snapchatters precisely when they've shown potential interest in their offers. It's similar to the role of a matchmaker, seamlessly connecting advertising and chatbot users. Swipe right to be relevant!

Finally, the powerful pairing of Microsoft and Snapchat's My AI is ready to revolutionize chatbot advertising. Advertisers can reach their target audience in style by effortlessly weaving Sponsored Links into conversations. It's a win-win situation for everyone, and it's playing out right in front of our eyes in this stunning ad odyssey.

Read next: More Success For Snapchat+ As The Popular Paid Subscription Model Reaches 5 Million Users
by Rubah Usman via Digital Information World

Getty Images Unleashes Its AI Image Wizardry

Getty Images has entered the world of artificial intelligence (AI) by creating an image generator, as announced on Monday. Getty Images is presenting itself as a severe challenger among AI titans such as OpenAI's Dall-E and Google while also putting down the gauntlet to startups such as Midjourney and Stable Diffusion.

Midjourney rose to prominence earlier this year as the program behind famous photographs of Pope Francis in a white puffer jacket and a false arrest of former US President Donald Trump.

Getty Images is calling its groundbreaking product "Generative AI by Getty Images," and it has been crafted in collaboration with the AI chip giant Nvidia. However, it is essential to note that this innovation is reserved exclusively for clients and is not available to the general public.

According to the press release, the service will be subscription-based, with price structures based on the quantity of questions filed by each subscriber.

Getty Images, which has distribution agreements with AFP and other news and photo agencies, emphasizes that its AI efforts are entirely fueled by its extensive stock photo archive. Notably, the firm aims to reward photographers whose photographs were used in the development of this groundbreaking program, ensuring that they earn a share of the cash generated by this innovative tool.

Grant Farhall, Getty's Chief Product Officer, expressed the company's dedication to developing these tools responsibly, ensuring that the benefits flow back to creators and do not impose risks on customers. He remarked that the collaboration was a testament to the possibility of achieving that goal.

It is worth noting that many firms involved in generative AI development have been sued by artists, coders, and writers who claim that their inventions were used to produce productive technology without sufficient consent or remuneration.

Getty Images has openly established its presence in the world of AI-powered pictures. The business has announced "Generative AI by Getty Images," a pioneering picture generator that is expected to make ripples in the industry, armed with a tremendous collection of stock photos and the backing of AI chip giant Nvidia.

Unlike the splashy, eye-catching launches favored by some of its competitors, Getty Images has chosen to make this innovation accessible only to its esteemed clientele, shying away from the glitz and glamour of public availability. The service will follow a subscription-based model, with pricing intricately linked to the number of queries made by each user. A spokesperson, in discussions with AFP, elucidated this pricing strategy.

What distinguishes Getty Images is its unrelenting dedication to its own stock photo library as the primary source of nutrition for its AI goals. In a novel twist, the company has pledged to reimburse the photographers whose photographs were crucial in the development of the software. This decision demonstrates Getty's willingness to share the benefits of its success with individuals who helped it expand.

Getty's Chief Product Officer, Grant Farhall, described the company's concept behind this project. He emphasized the necessity of responsible development, which prioritizes the well-being of creators while protecting the interests of customers. He stated that this collaboration exemplifies the feasible balance between benefitting creators and protecting customers.

However, the history of this astonishing achievement is not without controversy. Many AI businesses have found themselves entangled in legal challenges, accused by artists, coders, and writers of copying their works to produce generative technologies, frequently without getting the necessary permits or providing fair remuneration.

Getty Images has emerged as a prominent player in the field of AI-generated imagery. With a plethora of stock photographs at its disposal and the formidable help of Nvidia, Getty Images has announced "Generative AI by Getty Images." This revolutionary image generator promises to have a significant impact on the industry, but there's a catch: it's only available to a few clients rather than the whole public.

The pricing model for this service is subscription-based and intricately tied to the volume of queries submitted by individual users. An AFP spokesperson delved into the specifics of this pricing structure, shedding light on how it will function.

Getty Images has committed to relying only on its own enormous stock photo library to feed its AI goals, which is a significant shift from the norm. What sets Getty apart is its dedication to ensuring that the photographers whose work led to the development of the program earn a fair share of the cash generated by this new tool. This demonstrates Getty's commitment to equitable collaboration and responsible AI development, as expressed by Grant Farhall, Chief Product Officer.

The field of generative AI has had its fair share of controversy. Numerous companies have faced legal challenges from artists, coders, and writers who claim that their creative works were used in the development of generative technologies without permission or proper remuneration.

Read next: Are Gen Z More Susceptible to Online Scams Than Baby Boomers?
by Rubah Usman via Digital Information World

Are Gen Z More Susceptible to Online Scams Than Baby Boomers?

Conventional wisdom dictates that people that have only recently started to adopt a particular type of technology would be far more likely to fall prey to scams related to that technology than might have been the case otherwise. In spite of the fact that this is the case, there is no age limit to getting scammed online, with members of Gen Z turning out to be surprisingly easy to trick by scam artists trying to pull the wool over their eyes.

According to a recent survey conducted by Deloitte, Americans that belonged to gen Z, which is to say people born between the 1990s and the 2010s, had triple the likelihood of getting scammed as baby boomers. A report on catfishing scams also revealed that people under the age of 20 lost a whopping $210 million in 2022 alone through various scams. This is several times more than the $8.2 million that was reported in 2017 with all things having been considered and taken into account.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that Gen Z is also the most online generation of all. Using the internet more can lead to more scams because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up connecting you with a larger quantity of malicious actors.

Baby Boomers, on the other hand, don’t really tend to use the internet with all that high of a degree of frequency. Gen Z will do much of their shopping online, whereas Baby Boomers might prefer to just go to the store instead. Furthermore, many of these scams occur on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok.

This puts Gen Z directly in the line of fire, and many of them are still too young to be able to tell the difference between a genuine offer and one that seems too good to be true. More effort needs to be put into educating Gen Z so that they can keep themselves safe from all kinds of harm.

Chart: CybSafe

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Buying A New Smartphone Is A Huge Investment And This New Survey Proves How Americans Are Doing It

Keeping in mind today’s costs of inflation that continue to reach the skies, thinking about investing in big purchases usually puts people in a dilemma.

And that’s especially true when it comes down to smartphones. After all, gone are the days in the US when people could get something in the $1,000 barrier.

Today, plenty of options are up for grabs that come at a price tag that’s greater than that. Moreover, the latest iPhone 15 Pro Max was just launched and many hoped it would come in their budgets. But clearly, that was a far-fetched dream.

The cost nears the $1600 target, including the huge sales tax attached. This goes above and beyond the average earnings for all employees across the US by a whopping 40%. So as you can imagine, Americans really want to make sure they’re doing it right.

With these figures in mind, it’s obvious that most individuals cannot afford to buy new devices, and that might be one of the main reasons behind the ever-so-glistening second-hand market for used devices.

As per the latest findings arising from Statista, most American smartphone users are still purchasing the primary device at a retail price. This includes phones that are loaded with mobile subscriptions which makes them one of the top options worth consideration.

Interestingly, just 5% of the 9500 users of these devices were surveyed and they claim to have made the secondhand purchase. Other than that, 6% also spoke about receiving it as a hand-me-down tradition. So friends and loved ones were kind enough to do the deed.

Whatever the case may be, we’re jotting down what the survey revealed for your absolute benefit and perhaps you can take a pointer or two about the share of smartphone users in the US who actually make the purchase.

Those buying at the retail price were 61%, whereas those getting it as part of mobile subscriptions were just 18%. Hand-me-down traditions comprised 6% while 5% took on the secondhand market approach.

2% did admit to buying from employers and the rest just had no clue.

A total of 9,522 American smartphone users who were between the ages of 18 to 64 took part in the survey from January to December of this year.

Read next: Here's How Many Of Us Delete Apps Before Using Them, And Why
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

AI May Be Leaving A Bigger Carbon Footprint Than Humans Could Ever Imagine, New Controversial Study Claims

Climate change is a scary situation and no matter how much the world is doing to try and bring an end to the growing carbon footprint, it’s just a never-ending battle.

And in case that news was not daunting enough, a new controversial study is raising plenty of eyebrows across the board linked to how AI might be consuming way more energy than anybody may have ever imagined.

Yes, we’re talking about those generative AI models that continue to be debated in terms of how beneficial they really are for the human race. But what many people may have overlooked is how big of a carbon footprint they emit and how much energy they use.

This week, a team of top research experts sat down to look at the matter closely. According to them, AI systems that use ChatGPT manage to roll out close to 130 to 1500 times less carbon when compared to humans.

The same goes for producing pictures and they took the latest DALL-E-2 into consideration and rolled out nearly 310 to 2900 times less carbon.

This paper then came up with the conclusion that using AI has the ability to accomplish a few major activities including much less carbon emissions than when humans are at work. Now it all sounds like a picture-perfect ending, but wait, there’s a lot more to the story than just that.

Not everyone is happy and more dialogue is necessary, experts claim who feel the study needs to be rechecked because the challenges that such technology poses in terms of devastating effects on the climate may be overlooked.

On the other hand, we had one top scientist put down his two cents on the matter. He alongside experts from MIT and the University of California added how the matter is not so simple. And to get a better understanding of what’s going on, both the world of AI and Blockchain needs to be looked further into detail.

Today, there is plenty of existing data that proves the environmental effects that AI systems have and how they can impact the environment. The text compares yearly carbon footprints produced by humans to those produced by AI models generating images and text.

And that’s when researchers signaled the significance of taking carbon emissions into consideration from other leading activities such as AI to ensure the right type of policies are in place regarding sustainability.

This is why experts felt that authors cannot make any such claims about AI being less harmful to the environment and proving to be more sustainable. There is no ground information that proves this and that’s super necessary.

Man, this preprint is really the gift that keeps on giving.
In case people missed my previous PSA : you can't compare the carbon emissions of people and objects. Humans are more than just the work that they do.
(Also, that paper makes a lot of false assumptions in general) https://t.co/bZA414J9YI

— Sasha Luccioni, PhD 💻🌎🦋✨🤗 (@SashaMTL) September 19, 2023

Remember, using AI as the most creative means without considering its damaging effects and incredible harm will truly be super irresponsible. And if it does end up doing this much harm, it’s time people reevaluate whether or not it’s worth taking the leap into this field.

Some context was also put forward regarding the former analysis linked to the blockchain domain. Then another point worth discussing was rebound effects and how more efficiency led to greater usage.

Other experts that it was controversial to compare humans to objects and therefore the findings cannot be taken.

See, it’s all a very complex matter and something that cannot be avoided, no matter how hard you try. It’s a blend of climate, AI, and society. So yes, it’s an ongoing debate and one that will need more answers with evidence from literature studies to weigh out all the benefits from the drawbacks.

Read next: New Survey Says AI Implementation Sees A Surge In Investments With Positive Responses From Employees
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World