Study Shows Where to Go to Find an AI Job

 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 shares more insight on what makes a state shine, and some ways digital tech watchers can predict future superstar AI locations.

Where are AI Jobs Growing?

It turns out that it’s pretty tough to knock a long-time tech king off its throne. With plenty of jobs, lots of jobs on a per-resident basis (which should put large states like California in perspective), and high salaries for engineers in AI, California is home to more AI jobs than other states. By a long shot.

But other states are seeing their share of the AI pie, too. Here’s the top ten list:

1. California
2. Virginia
3. Washington
4. Maryland
5. Texas
6. Colorado
7. Massachusetts
8. Pennsylvania
9. Missouri
10. North Carolina

Best and Worst States Infographic

Why are AI Jobs Growing?

California’s longstanding position as #1 can be attributed to a number of factors:

• Leading universities: With a research and talent pipeline, AI jobs bubble out of educational institutions.
• Existing tech and AI companies: While new states are luring companies all the time, California has some high-profile heavy-hitters. From Meta to Google and Apple, AI jobs with these companies put the state on top. Note that #3 Washington is also home to existing large tech enterprises that are behind the high number of job openings, like Amazon and Microsoft.
• A robust venture capital ecosystem: AI ventures are fairly new, and new companies need a nurturing system in which to develop ideas and grow. It all takes funding, so newcomers often follow that cash to places like Silicon Valley.
• Network effects: With existing traction, AI players go where the action is. That creates more opportunities, ideas, new companies, and eventually, even more jobs.
What’s the lesson here? Some common elements help small ecosystems gain traction and grow as AI hubs. It starts with a research and capital commitment to AI. New cities that can anchor their digital tech industries with these two key elements can see their AI sectors growing.


Ranking the 50 U.S. states by best for AI jobs in 2024 Table

Virginia and Maryland’s Growing AI Hubs

It can be difficult to replicate California's magic elsewhere, but some strong AI hubs are capitalizing on these core factors and their own strengths to make it happen.

For example, #2 Virginia is a powerhouse near national government services and contractors. They’re strong in industries like defense, where AI is becoming indispensable. Northern Virginia, in particular, plays host to a network of defense, cybersecurity, and intelligence firms. And those companies could easily kick-start the network effects that catapulted California to the top of the tech industry.

Further, Northern Virginia has also been a hub for data centers. Outside the pricy reaches of the D.C. beltway, the expansive Virginia suburbs provide space to support the nation’s computing needs. That’s led to hardware and software experts finding jobs and support in the area. It may be inevitable that those who specialize in machine learning are now finding their services in high demand there.

There are also strong universities including those in Washington, D.C., and nearby Maryland (which also makes the top ten list).


Other Top Ten Keys for Unlocking AI Jobs

Why are other states on the top ten list? Here are some big components of their success:

• Texas plays host to large tech giants: Dell, IBM, and Texas Instruments have long had large presences in the state. Oracle, Hewlett Packard, and Tesla have moved their headquarters from California.
• CU Boulder (Colorado) scored a huge grant for an AI learning center that led to collaborations with students, industry, and researchers. It’s all growing the area’s research prowess but also network effects and talent pool. It’s also 8th in the country in venture capital investment.
• Massachusetts’ universities feed its AI pipeline: Harvard, M.I.T., and a host of East Coast ivies feed this biggest city in New England, keeping the talent coming. Its venture capital network ranks second, behind California, to keep that talent and companies in the state, learning and growing.
• Pennsylvania boasts Carnegie Mellon University, with a top computer science department and a long history of AI research. There’s also the University of Pennsylvania, a public Ivy League brainiac.
• Missouri AI job listings come from a diverse group of companies across industries. That economic foundation has helped spawn Kansas City and St. Louis tech incubators to nurture more talent. It seems to be paying off.
• North Carolina has a growing population, and is especially focused on cybersecurity sectors in banking hubs like Charlotte, while the north of the state has the “research triangle,” including reputable research universities churning out not only AI tech patents but a startup ecosystem to nurture the companies that emerge from its universities.
• While none of these emergent competitors comes close to the amount of support California companies have enjoyed, they’re on their way. And as California has shown, once there are a few players in the area, a hub attracts new talent, companies, and capital more easily. In the case of AI, tech hubs all over the country have begun finding they’re able to fuel growth outside the Bay Area.
  
  That diversity is great for jobs and for job seekers who aren’t into fog, or who are seeking better housing prices, fewer earthquakes, a different climate, or just want to realize their company’s potential without uprooting from their favorite states.
  

  Where to Go to Become an AI Superstar

  If you’re looking for a job in AI, consider educational hubs. They often come with the young energy of new companies, research support, and startup incubators. Not only are college towns great places for big arts and cultural innovation. They’re also bubbling over with tech ideas and have the educational resources to support them.
  
  AI engineers who aren’t interested in startups should also look to corporate roles. After all, AI is going to play a role in company growth regardless of whether a company is a tech power or a design house. Even pet food firms are getting in on AI, with data learning behind everything from inventory to security and beyond. These roles are growing in more diverse sites across the country, including Charlotte, North Carolina, and Kansas City, Missouri.
  
  Overall, AI job seekers are in a stronger spot than ever. AI jobs are becoming increasingly common everywhere, and pretty soon candidates may not have to ask, “Where should I move?” at all, but will have their choice of multiple remote jobs in the industry no matter where they choose to call home.
•  In the meantime, job seekers should watch job listings in states with strong education and industry connections. Or, perhaps obviously, train their AI to do it for them.
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Hiya Reports Surge in Fraud Calls in Q4 2023 in the US, Warns of Upcoming AI-Generated Voice Scams Worldwide

 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 Global Call Threat Report reveals that America received the least number of fraud calls in the whole world in Q4 of 2023. There was an increase in calls from unknown numbers but the number of fraud calls was less. People received the most unwanted calls in the Holiday Season with 7.3 billion calls in Q4 globally as compared to 6.55 billion in Q3. After Thanksgiving, 357 million spam calls were recorded. In the US, people received on average 15 spam calls per month making 29% of spam calls. The 1% of scam calls were mostly about Medicare, Insurance, Credit Cards and many payment platform apps. But surprisingly, these scam calls had the lowest fraud rates globally.

The European country having the most spam call rate in Q4 was France with 47%, surpassing Spain. People in France receive an average of 10 spam calls monthly. In the UK, people received 4 calls per person on average with a spam rate of 28%. Most of the scam calls in UK were about immigrants visas and Amazon imposters. Brazil had 44% spam calls, with 9% identified as fraud. The states with most spam calls in the US were Oklahoma and Ohio with 28% spam rate. Alaska had the lowest rate of spam calls at 13%.

Study shows where Americans fail to read texts and emails

 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 how it impacts their lives.

How unread messages impact relationships

Despite living in the age of hyper-connectivity, almost 57% of Americans have a backlog of unread messages. And your phone’s storage space isn’t the only victim of the pileup—almost half of us have had a relationship negatively impacted by our slow response time.

Unread messages have broken friendships (43%), dampened romances (31%), and even hurt our prospects at work (25%). While that might seem a little blown out of proportion, your buddy, partner, or project lead just might not appreciate being as low on your priority list as that unread promotional email from three weeks ago.

Funny enough, 92% of us consider ourselves to be low-maintenance friends, meaning we don’t expect things like regular check-ins, calls, or face-to-face interactions. Maybe it’s a tacit acknowledgment of our own bad communication habits. Who are we to demand timely replies if we can’t even answer texts ourselves? Looks like, even in an increasingly digital world, we’re still getting the hang of this instant communication thing.

America’s message response habits

So, you finally opened that message. Now comes the hard part—actually writing back.

Responding too quickly shows obvious desperation (uncool), but responding too late might earn you an honorary spot in the “bad friend” category (also uncool). Most of America has found a sweet spot: About 56% of us agree that a response to non-urgent texts should come within a day.

Of course, not everybody sticks to this unspoken rule. Dwelling among us are the 43% of champion procrastinators who have comfortably waited over 24 hours to open a text. Another 43% are the masters of suspense, taking their sweet time to respond once they’ve read the message. Text is at least a little less egregious than email, where 63% of us have waited a week or more to check the inbox.

We’ve gotten so good at this game that 65% of us have pulled out the classic, “I forgot to respond” excuse. Yeah, right. Does anyone ever believe that line? And yet, we somehow still manage to spend over 11 minutes a day on average dealing with text messages. Maybe deciding whether or not to open them eats up some time.

Where Americans are the worst at opening messages

America, land of the free—and land of a lot of unread messages, apparently. Though text message procrastinators can be anywhere, some states have worse communication habits than others.

Of all the states in our great nation, people in California, Kentucky, and West Virginia have the most unread texts, with averages of 5.6, 5.2, and 4.9, respectively. Compare that to people in Maine, Arizona, and Alabama, who only leave, on average, 2.2, 2.39, and 2.78 messages unread.

But Alabamanians aren’t perfect. They might read their text messages, but they lead the pack in holding onto unread emails, with a whopping 13.10 in their inboxes on average. Massachusetts and Maryland aren’t far behind, leaving 12.25 and 11.6 emails unanswered. If you want your email answered, send it to someone in Washington (5.2), New York (6.2), or Virginia (6.5), where the average number of unread messages is nearly cut in half.

Final Thoughts

An incessantly buzzing phone is the last thing you need at the end of a stressful day. Having the ability to instantly connect to anyone at any time, anywhere is great and all, but, on the other hand, it can also make us feel bound to our phones—sometimes we just want to rage against the pocket-sized machine.

While there’s no shame in leaving your messages unread, try to remember that they’re not just designed to annoy you, at least not always. Usually, someone you care about is on the other end of the line, waiting for your reply.

So, before you contemplate hurling your phone to the far reaches of your room, pause a moment, and remind yourself of the human connection each ping represents—it might just make tackling that dreaded inbox a little easier.

ChatGPT’s Revenue Might Be On The Rise But Downloads Are Taking A Hit

 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, ChatGPT earned a massive $5.6 million after fees were given to the App Store.

This net revenue rose to $6.7 million in November and that went further to $7.8 million in the month after that.

So while we do agree that OpenAI lost quite a few funds during the period deemed to be a pause, this meant ChatGPT’s premium tier continues to be popular. And not fairly popular, very popular as revenue in January rose massively.

This brought the tool to the forefront where it attained a massive revenue worth $11 million. So this is not what means after both Apple and Google got their respective fees and shares.

So while that’s the good news, let’s glance over the bad news. The installations for ChatGPT have continued to surge since it was rolled out in the past year. It grew steadily, month after month as plenty of competitors from the industry arose.

It took the company a whopping seven months to attain peak figures, which were close to 19 million in downloads, starting from November. This is the same month we saw subscriptions get paused, and also start to drop.

As per the estimates, ChatGPT was installed nearly 18 million more in December and just 15 million times last month. And to be more specific, that’s a 21% fall.

This fall might not have a serious effect on revenue as the company’s conversion rates remain high for those who feel they require it. But that also puts the revenue of the future growth under scrutiny. This is very true as plenty of rivals are arising in the industry, and big names like X, formerly Twitter, and Google pick up the pace and enter the race to reach the top.

Record Earnings for Ransomware Hackers in 2023

 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 attacks go up by 68% in 2023. The US saw almost half of these attacks. The UK, Canada, Italy, and Germany also saw many attacks. The biggest ransom asked for was $80 million by the LockBit gang from Royal Mail.

The ransomware business is now worth billions. It has its own system with different roles like access brokers and software sellers. It even has things like employee of the month awards. LockBit was the biggest name in ransomware in 2023, but others are catching up.

Hackers are also finding new ways to stay hidden. They use normal tools in a way that does not look suspicious to carry out their attacks. This makes it hard to notice them. Malvertising, or harmful ads, also came back in 2023. These ads trick people into downloading malware.

Attacks on phones and computers have gotten more sophisticated. Android banking trojans were found 88,500 times. They pretend to be normal apps to steal banking details. Macs are also targeted more because they are used by many businesses.

As we moved into 2024, companies had smaller IT and security teams and budgets, making it a challenge to fight against these attacks.

How Transparent Are Marketers About Using AI?

 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 been the case otherwise. 38% of them said that they use AI on a daily basis, with 24% of freelancers saying the same. Meanwhile, just 19% of agency and production company employed marketers used AI daily, with only 11% of marketers working for established brands reporting daily AI usage for content creation.

As for the type of impact that AI is having on various aspects of marketing work, 83% of the people that responded to this survey stated that it had a positive effect on their overall productivity levels. 62% said that profitability saw some positive momentum, with 59% saying that it positively impacted their creativity.

In spite of the fact that this is the case, many survey respondents were of the opinion that AI brought a lot of bad side effects as well. For example, 32% said that it had a negative impact on their self esteem, with 25% saying that it negatively influenced the level of recognition that they received for the work that they were doing as well. It will be interesting to see how the trend changes from this point onwards.

Kids' Online Habits: Roblox and TikTok Lead, Generative AI Apps Gain Traction - Qustodio Report

 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 consecutive year as the top-blocked app.

Data from 2022 showed that kids from ages 4 to 18 spent an average of 107 minutes but now those minutes have increased to 112 minutes average per day in 2023. These stats have made TikTok the most famous social media app among the younger generation. Instagram is the next popular app after TikTok, followed by Facebook and then Pinterest.

Snapchat is also one of the most popular apps among young people but it is under the category of “Communications”. If it was under the category of “social media apps”, it would have been the second most popular social media app after TikTok. The report also shows that the younger generation is also interested in using generative AI apps. 20% of the kids in the survey used ChatGPT in 2023, which makes it the 18th most visited website in 2023.

The report also sheds light on how parents are using different parental control tools to supervise their kids’ activities. Many parents are using parental controls in different gaming and educational apps to monitor their children's activities. You can read the whole report to see comprehensively how kids are engaging on social media sites.

Pew Unveils Social Media Usage Trends: YouTube Rules Adults' Choices, Gen-Z Flocks to Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok

 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 huge jump in its usage by 57% from 21% in 2021. WhatsApp was the second app with the highest usage jump with a 26% increase as compared to 23% in 2021. This report by Pew shows that Gen-Z are mostly using short-form video apps.

The report also shows the trends of social media apps among people according to their gender, race, and ethnicity. Instagram has a large number of Hispanic adult audiences (58%) and Asian(57%). TikTok is more popular among women(40%) as compared to men(25%). 53% of people with bachelor's degrees use LinkedIn. X is mostly used by adult Americans who have high incomes. There was also a decline in Facebook usage by 69% while X’s usage dropped by 23%. X’s reason for decline is many of the paid services, advertisements, and Elon Musk’s new policies.

Pew also reported that many social media apps will see a usage increase in 2024 because 80% of US adults use broadband and 90% of them have smartphones. 15% of the US adults use smartphones for broadband connectivity. Suburban areas of the US have 86% broadband usage and urban areas have 77% of broadband’s high-speed access. 63% of residents in rural areas of the US use broadband.

Data Highlights Substantial Decrease in Ransom Payments, with Only 29% Complying in Q4 2023

 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 their important data. Back in the first quarter of 2019, the vast majority of companies agreed to pay the ransom, or 85% to be precise.

This seems to suggest that there has been a downward trajectory, and it might be due to companies engaging in best practices such as keeping a backup of their essential data on physical hard drives. This creates a situation wherein a ransomware attack would not actually be all that disastrous, since the data can be easily recovered even if the malicious actors wipe the infected system clean.

In spite of the fact that this is the case, some victims are still handing over extremely large funds. The average ransom payment has actually gone up even though the quantity of payments has gone down, with $408,644 paid on average in 2022, and $568,705 paid on average in Q4 2023. On top of all of that, the total quantity of ransomware attacks has been on the rise, with 3,205 instances recorded in 2023 alone. This indicates that malicious actors are undeterred by the lower proportion of payments.

We're Losing the Fight Against Corruption, Here's Why

 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 since it first started being recorded. Even so, Netherlands remained in the top ten, as did Sweden, where they were joined by the likes of Norway, Germany, Luxembourg, Singapore and Switzerland with all things having been considered and taken into account.

On the other end of the spectrum, Somalia had the lowest score of all with 11 points out of 100. Venezuela, Syria and South Sudan were tied for second worst place with a score of 13, followed by Yemen with 16, and then North Korea, Nicaragua, Haiti and Equatorial Guinea with 17 points.

The US stood at 24th place with a score of 69, and the global average currently sits at around 43 points. This is the same average that we have seen for the past 12 years now, with two out of three countries scoring under 50 points.

A weak judicial system in countries like Poland and Hungary contributed to low scores of 54 and 42 respectively, whereas Russia saw its lowest score yet with just 26. Meanwhile, Ukraine provided some hope by continuing its 11 year growth streak with 36 points, despite Russia barging in through its door.