Digital world

  It’s a brave new world: we’ve got self-driving cars, airport robots helping you find your gate, and refrigerators that can tell you when you need milk. Regardless of their purpose, smart tech has more Americans attuned to the artificial intelligence (AI) landscape these days. For many, that means excitement about the growing cache of AI jobs out there. It’s true that opportunities in AI are taking off, and a  new study  by moveBuddha shows hotspots where this niche job market is booming. With California’s long-time dominance in tech and startups, it only makes sense that almost 25% of the country’s AI jobs are in the Golden State. But there’s plenty of gold to go around. Up-and-comers are competing for dominance, and two states even have more AI jobs per capita than California: Virginia and Maryland each have 6 jobs available for every 10,000 residents. The study shows where AI jobs are taking off — and where job seekers might want to take off and relocate. This post sh...

  Hiya, which is a Voice Security Firm, says that fraud calls have increased a lot in the last quarter of 2023 in America. But this isn’t something to be happy about because fraud through AI calls is going to start soon all over the world. These calls can use AI generated voices of someone you know and can fool the people easily. When people hear the voice of their acquaintance or loved one, they are likely to believe that call more. The study by Hiya shows that 29% of calls that Americans received were all spam calls and only 1% of these calls were fraud. The President of Hiya, Kush Parik, says that scam calls are increasing day by day and no phone user is safe from it. It is a global issue so all the people related to the telecommunication industry should start raising awareness and they should take measures to make calls safe and trustworthy to people. If a serious measure isn't taken, then the goal of telecommunication will no longer be achieved. Hiya’s data  in its  ...

  Ding! There’s your phone again, telling you another message just came through. We’ve all been guilty of taking a look at a new notification and thinking, “I’ll get to that later.” Then later turns to hours or days, and that text from mom or email from a coworker is still unanswered. Maybe you were busy or just didn’t feel like replying—but a  new study  by Secure Data Recovery suggests there might be something more going on. Almost half of Americans report that the notification bubble or bell makes them feel overwhelmed. If your phone is stressing you out, it might be easier to put it face down on the table and let it buzz than try to sift through all your new messages. So, is ignoring our messages a valid way to cope in an often too-fast-paced world? Or are we just hurting our friends’ feelings when we leave them “on read”? Secure Data Recovery’s study answers these questions and more, and this post offers some insight into people’s habits with this practice as well as...

  OpenAI’s ChatGPT tool has been the rage for a while now. The company just celebrated one year of success and the rollout on mobile devices in May brought about a massive on the App Store too, alongside Google Play. So while the revenue continues to surge, the same cannot be said about downloads as they are stumbling downwards. Yes, fewer people are installing the tool and that’s shocking considering how the company had to actually suspend growth and bar downloads for the premium subscription as they simply could not handle what was taking place. According to  AppFigures  data, the month of November had the company barring signups but the suspension did not last a long time. While many thought the temporary fall in downloads would not last long, recent stats prove otherwise. It’s just a matter of a few months, not! As per recent estimates coming from App Intelligence, the revenue for ChatGPT started to rise quite fast after subscriptions went back to normal. In October, ...

  In 2023, ransomware hackers made more money than ever before. They earned $1.1 billion, setting a new record. This is a big increase from the $567 million they got in 2022.  Chainalysis , a company that watches blockchain activities, shared this information. The rise in earnings comes after a year when the money from ransomware dropped. But in 2023, things changed. More hackers joined in, and some big attacks brought in a lot of money. One hacking group, CL0P, made over $100 million by finding a way to break into a file-transfer service called MOVEit. This service is used by many businesses and governments. CL0P's attack on MOVEit made it the top ransomware for a while. More people are trying ransomware because it can be very profitable. For instance, a group called Phobos lets other hackers use its ransomware. This makes it easier for more attacks to happen, even by those who are not very skilled. Ransomware-as-a-service gangs, like LockBit and ALPHV, have made ransomware a...

  The rise of AI has made it so that countless marketers are relying on these tools in order to create content for their clients. This begs the question, how transparent are marketers about this practice? Filestage conducted  a survey  back in December 2023, and it shed some light on the level of transparency that can currently be seen in the industry with all things having been considered and taken into account. It bears mentioning that the proportion of marketers that tell stakeholders about their use of AI depends on who these stakeholders actually are. For example, 77% of marketers working for start ups told their superiors about using AI, but just 46% of marketers employed at production companies said the same. The proportions for agencies, established brands and freelancers were 61%, 59% and 55% respectively. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that start up marketers also used AI a bit more frequently than might have be...

  Social media trends are always evolving and now with the use of VR, AR, and other AI technologies, users are finding different ways to engage with each other online. Surely, these new trends of online engagements are going to impact the next generation of young consumers.  A report by Qustodio   shows  how the young generation of people are engaging themselves in new trends on different social media platforms. The report is based on a survey of 40,000 US families with kids ages between 4 to 18 years. The report outlines the social media platforms where kids spend their time. It was revealed that kids are spending an average of 2 hours daily playing Roblox, a popular online game. Kids are also spending another 2 hours on average of their day on TikTok. However, in 2023, TikTok remained the most-blocked social media app for its influence on mental health and security concerns. Parents worldwide restrict access due to its controversial challenges, marking its second c...

  merican Gen-Z is currently using three of the biggest social media apps, namely Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. However, this trend isn't seen among US adults as they are mostly using YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. According to a  Pew Research Report , 84% of the US adults said that they frequently use YouTube, followed by 68% who use Facebook. 47% of adults said that they use Instagram to see content about different things. Another app that adults in the US use to see pictures other than Instagram is Pinterest and this comes as the fourth most used app in the list with 35% of adults using it. TikTok is the fifth one with 33% and LinkedIn the sixth with 30% of adults using the apps in the US. WhatsApp and Snapchat reported 29% and 27% usage respectively. X (Formerly known as Twitter) and Reddit had a tie with 22% usage. BeReal was added to the list for the first time that only 3% of US adults have used. If we compare these stats with Pew’s 2021 survey, TikTok saw a ...

  Ransomware gangs have been a prime concern for quite some time now, with victims across several industries getting targeted by their unique form of malware. Unfortunately, paying the demanded ransom isn’t really a way out because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up leading to re-victimization. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that the proportion of people that have acquiesced to the demands of ransomware gangs has plummeted in recent years. Based on data provided by the cybersecurity company  Coveware , just 29% of ransomware victims paid the demanded ransom in the fourth quarter of 2023, which indicates that 71% refused the demands with all things having been considered and taken into account. This is a steep decline from three years ago, when a whopping 60% of companies would give the malicious actors whatever they asked for in the hopes that this would enable them to regain access to the...

  Up until the mid 2010s, the general trend around the world was that corruption had started to decline somewhat, which led many to assume that it would soon become a thing of the past. In spite of the fact that this is the case, a general decline in law and order that has been going on since 2016 has led to corruption making a comeback, and it might even get far worse than might have been the case otherwise. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that 23 countries have seen their corruption levels become the worst they’ve ever been in the past 30 years or so.  This data  is  coming   out of   Transparency   International , and it also points to a rise in authoritarianism all around the world. However, it bears mentioning that democratic countries aren’t immune to this backsliding either. The UK, Sweden, the Netherlands and Iceland are all democratic countries, but they all hit their lowest scores on the index...