New AI-Based Decoder That Enables People’s Minds To Be Read Non-Invasively Has Been Created For The First Time

The power of AI technology cannot be denied and it appears that with each passing day, we’re getting to hear more about developments.

A recent breakthrough in this regard is now being spoken about that translates brain function into a long stream of continuous text that continues to be created. It’s a massive development that enables a person’s thoughts to be read in the most non-invasive manner and that too, for the first time.

This innovative decoder may even end up reconstructing speech with the help of great accuracy when people are busy listening to stories or imagining them in their minds, silently. And that too, only makes use of fMRI scan data. Meanwhile, decoding systems of the past now require surgical implants and this latest advancement puts up the prospect of how new ways are restoring speech in some people and these are struggling in terms of making communications due to strokes or other kinds of motor neuron conditions.

One neuroscientist mentioned how such a development is truly shocking because it’s working out so well too. And working on something like this for 15 years and now finally seeing it happen before your eyes is really something.

Such achievements go above the limitations that arise with fMRI which means that while such methods may map out your brain’s activity at a specific area with great resolution, there might be some kind of time difference that does make the whole concept of tracking in real time not a very fruitful ordeal.

This kind of lag does exist because the fMRI scans are designed for measuring the kind of response in terms of blood flow to your brain’s functions. And that would peak and go back to the baseline over a period of 10 seconds. Therefore, it means this is the most powerful type of scanner that can’t improve on something like this. It’s not only very noisy but sluggish in terms of neural activity.

Such limitations do make it so much harder to evaluate your mind’s overall activity in terms of natural speech as it provides a huge mishmash of data that arises over a timespan of a few seconds.

But with the development of such huge language models, you’re representing speech and giving some scientists the chance to evaluate various neuronal patterns that correspond to words having a certain type of meaning instead of attempting to read things out, one word at a time.

Certainly, it was not very easy or straightforward. You really had to undergo a very intensive learning process for this study, three volunteers needed to be inside a scanner for a span of 16 hours each. And they were busy listening to podcasts. Then the decoder underwent training to match your brain’s activity and that meant saying hello to huge language models like GPT-1 which happened to be a precursor for ChatGPT.

In terms of non-invasive technology, experts are calling this a huge development when compared to what was done in the past.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Instagram’s New Features: Enhancing User Experience with the Ability to See Who Liked Your Story, Add Captions, and Post Comments

Meta-owned Instagram has become a popular social media platform with over one billion active users globally. The platform has evolved itself over the years with new features and updates. According to the tweets posted by Alessandro Paluzzi, a mobile developer and leaker, as well as Hammod, the platform is currently working on three new updates that are meant to increase engagement among users.

One of the newest features that Instagram has rolled out is the ability to see who liked a story after 48 hours. Previously, users were only able to see who viewed their story and who reacted within the first 24 hours of posting it. However, with this new update, users can now see a list of everyone who liked their story, even if it has been more than 24 hours since it was posted.

Another feature that Instagram is currently working on is the ability to add captions to stories. Currently, users can only add text overlays or stickers to their stories, but with this new feature, users will be able to add longer captions that appear at the bottom of their stories. This will allow users to provide more context or information about the content they are sharing, making it easier for their followers to understand the purpose of the story.

Lastly, Instagram is also working on the ability to post comments on Stories. Currently, users can only react to stories with emojis or send direct messages to the user who posted the story. However, with this new feature, users will be able to post comments directly on the story, making it easier to have conversations and engage with their followers.

These new features are a clear indication that Instagram is committed to enhancing the user experience on the platform. With the ability to see who liked your story after 48 hours, users can have a better understanding of their audience. The ability to add captions to Stories will also make it easier for users to provide more information about their content, while the ability to post comments on Stories will foster more engagement and conversations between users.

Hence it can be said that Instagram will continue to be a leading social media platform with innovative features that keep users engaged and connected. With the introduction of these new features, people can expect to see more engagement and better insights into their audience. It is visible that Instagram is committed to providing its users with the best possible experience and will continue to roll out new features to ensure a better experience.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Israel Is Making Use Of New Facial Recognition Technology For Surveillance Of Palestinians, Warns Amnesty International

The state of Israel is doing everything in its power to keep Palestinians at bay. And if that includes constant monitoring then so be it.

The country is currently making use of trial-based facial recognition systems to undergo surveillance of Palestine so it can get more intelligence reports. These confirmations were recently put out by the general secretary of Amnesty International through a chilling warning revealed today.

The liberal charity announced how it was working hard in terms of growing its surveillance network and dousing down deep into the nitty and gritty details of another country that it sees as enemies. And this behavior was not okay as it just strengthens the grip that the Israeli Government has over Palestine.

More details mentioned how both Hebron and the occupied East Jerusalem were making use of facial technology for the sake of recognition. It supported a dense network comprising CCTV cameras that kept all Palestinians at bay and under a state of constant observation.

This sort of surveillance further leads to the creation of hostile environments, the firm continued to explain.

Such systems dubbed Red Wolf are designed to track Palestinians' moves and also automate the restrictions regarding their movements, it continued to explain.

So when Palestinians end up going through checkpoints at the level where such a group operates, their face gets scanned without them even knowing this. And when compared to biometric entries seen on databases that are exclusive and reveal information about Palestinians, it’s just a matter of invasion on Israel’s part.

This facial recognition system makes use of data to see if individuals may pass checkpoints and carry out a biometric enrollment of any new facial scan. If there is no entry for such an individual, they would be denied any passage.

This sort of monitoring is now getting dubbed as gamified while another system called Blue Wolf which is controlled through a platform and gives out rankings based on a figure related to the number of people in Palestine that get registered.

Commanders from Israel have sent out presents to battalions that get the highest score. This would provide a great incentive in terms of keeping Palestinians under control. Moreover, such an app also gives soldiers of Israeli troops the chance to get details about Palestinians present on another major database dubbed Wolf Pack.

The general secretary adds how they were able to document how a new kind of facial recognition system could ensure the draconian type of restrictions that would limit the movements of Palestinians that use biometric data in an illegal manner.

Additionally, there is a huge threat they have in terms of providing massive force and arbitrary arrest. Such Palestinians would now be forced to contend with the huge risk of getting tracked down through modern technology and algorithms that bar them from entering the neighborhoods depending on data stored across surveillance databases.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

This Report Reveals Widespread Government Crackdowns on Twitter and Facebook

Certain governments around the world are prone to blocking or banning social media sites because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up informing citizens about their rights. Such social media sites can allow people to exchange information and communicate with each other in a way that authoritarian governments might not want, since it can make their power weaker than might have been the case otherwise.

Accessnow recently conducted a study that shed some light on which platforms ended up getting blocked the most. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that Twitter and Facebook ended up being the most frequently targeted social media sites of all. They were both blocked thirteen times each over the course of 2022, largely due to their immense popularity among users around the globe.

Countries like China, Iran and Russia blocked both of these sites, and Turkey and Sri Lanka joined them as well due to the protests that were occurring in those countries caused by economic mismanagement. Myanmar and North Korea were also in this list, which just goes to show that countries that lack democratic norms are far more likely to try to ban Twitter and Facebook.

Instagram and WhatsApp were tied for second place, with each platform having been blocked at least ten times last year. They were followed by Google Services with nine bans, Telegram with eight, and the discreet messaging service Signal with a total of five bans.

TikTok also saw several bans, more specifically four. In spite of the fact that this is the case, America’s recent attempts to enact their own ban on the rapidly growing social media site might lead to a domino effect that would result in it getting blocked far more times by other countries that might want to follow suit.

The state of internet freedom is perilous right now. Steps must be taken to ensure access to social media sites, or at least prevent governments from enacting blanket bans that can restrict access among their citizens.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

New Survey Says US Consumers Don’t Understand Common Terms Users To Describe AI Products

Ever since we saw the makers of ChatGPT release the widely popular and revolutionary language model chatbot, the fascination of the general public toward AI models began to skyrocket. And that’s when we saw the private sector generate responses of that kind.

All types of firms arising from different sectors across the board were seen entering into a new kind of race that includes such technology and its various benefits. Did we reveal how the number of AI mentions in earning calls that were released for the quarter featured at a whopping frequency of 75%?

But with all the good, we forget to mention one basic thing. There’s a major issue in terms of firms marketing the ordeal in a boastful manner. It’s leaving a lot of people confused because the terminology is not something that a lot of people may relate to. And as you can imagine, that could be a problem.

The results come to us thanks to a new survey conducted by Morning Consult that proved how despite the huge frenzy linked to AI, many US consumers are not too sure what exactly some phrases mean and the fact that they’re being blown out every second is daunting.

A total of ten common marketing terms were outlined including Powered by AI and Includes AI. in addition to that, we saw the survey reveal how several firms provided support in terms of making use of AI produced spokesperson, online avatars, or social media influencers to better their marketing approach. And this was variable in terms of generation and gender too.

A whopping 46% of men and 52% of millennials claimed to show approval for the practice as compared to women who stood at 28% and baby boomers who stood at 20%.

So many Americans claim to be just so confused with the ordeal and don’t know what else to say about these buzzwords. They’re just used too commonly and that can be a problem. And it’s just younger men who are seemingly the most confident about the words used while the rest are just not sure anymore.

Meanwhile, the survey proved that the word AI Image Generation was the word having the greatest level of comprehension confidence in all demographic groups, other than Gen X and females.

Furthermore, words and phrases like AI-enhanced productivity and AI task automation turned out to be least understood in terms of demographics. Among those, Gen Z adults, males, and millennials produced the best results in terms of understanding the tested phrases.

On the other hand, the survey’s results show how respondents were split up in terms of supporting and opposing firms making use of AI spokespeople, avatars, and social media stars.

Are we really surprised at the results? Not really, and that’s because a lot of companies have previously spoken about how they feel at a certain level of discomfort in terms of AI. Therefore, they’re taking the needed steps to communicate the technical use through language that’s more familiar.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Bluesky and Mastodon are gearing up to face each other as rival apps

According to the App Figures' latest report, Mastodon and Bluesky are going head-to-head as both platforms intend to compete with each other. Mastodon made its debut seven years ago, in 2016. After a period of time, the stable release was finally rolled out globally on April 4, 2023. The platform became famous for running self-hosted social media services. The application is based on decentralized servers that can be joined according to anyone’s interests, and they can interact with other users.

Similarly, Bluesky, another decentralized social media app, has also entered the arena. The platform was initially announced four years ago, in 2019, and officially started hiring in 2021. Jack Dorsey, the former chief executive officer and cofounder of Twitter, was the one who created Bluesky as well. At the time of Musk’s takeover, it was announced that the platform would become independent and start working on its own.

Since its release, Bluesky has successfully managed to get 360K downloads from both Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store. Since the iOS version was released earlier, the App Store had the most downloads. However, it works only for those who have received an invitation from Bluesky users.

Once the invitation is accepted, users can see the similarities between Twitter and Bluesky. Not just the appearance, but even the features are quite similar, such as sharing media items, engaging with other people’s posts, and sharing them on a timeline. As compared to Bluesky’s 360K downloads, Mastodon was able to receive somewhere around 150K downloads in the same period of time.

Initially, it was believed that both Twitter and Bluesky would be facing each other as rivals; however, based on Twitter’s number of users, it is too early to compare the two social apps, while the downloading figure shows how Mastodon is going to give Bluesky a tough time.

After a long period of waiting, the App Store finally has something new that works in invite-only mode, just like Clubhouse, which became famous for hosting audio-only chat rooms in which users can talk about different topics.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Instagram Experiments With New Option To Assist Brands In Discovering Relevant UGC On The App

Instagram is busy carrying out new tests to try and provide brands with the chance to discover new UGC through its platform. They can then share this as an example to market their goods and services in-stream.

As seen in examples that were shared by one LinkedIn user, the feature has the app encouraging shop managers to include ‘Add user-generated content’ as a great addition to product listings that encourage people to purchase more.

When you click on such a prompt, the app’s system ends up highlighting posts that your specific brand might be tagged in. Therefore, you can associate that with other product listings.

As per a recent notice set out by the platform, users who tag the brand in such a post will allow the brand to ask for permission to feature such goods in the post. Hence, those users that tag the brand will appreciate the fact that your brand is interested in featuring its products in all of their posts. This will enable the content to appear on specific brand-owned locations like the shop on the app or the good’s own PDP.

Meanwhile, brands can then request direct tagging within any type of post where they might be mentioned. There are some exceptions like private accounts and when you have several products tagged at once or in cases where the user turns off the request for permission too.

This might be a great means to gain more UGC and really give brands a chance to take off from this platform. As far as firms seeing a lot of tags is concerned, it might be a huge factor in terms of promoting efforts.

For those that might not be aware, UGC really can affect purchasing behavior big time as more and more people are going to be trusting the experiences of others as compared to marketing campaigns that look too good to be true.

Let’s not forget how there are so many scams in the industry today with an equal number of misleading ads and marketing strategies that make it hard to trust anyone promoting anything now.

Therefore, in such a context, this serves a valuable purpose and fuels legitimacy. So we feel it’s definitely worth exploring and such prompts are now showing up to customized brand account managers on the app.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World