By Philip Blenkinsop LULEA, Sweden The United States and European Union should push the artificial intelligence (AI) industry

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Meta has added new edit features and voice notes to Instagram Threads, as it continues to try and take over from Twitter. “Rolling out Edit and Voice Threads today. Enjoy!” wrote Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg on the site. They are yet more changes as Meta looks to keep the momentum from the launch of Threads, during which it became the fastest growing app in the world but has struggled to keep users reading and posting. As with when Threads first launched, the new features come amid loud questions over the future of X since Elon Musk took over and changed its name from Twitter. Twitter had previously taken years to add an edit button, and put it behind its Twitter Blue paid-for subscription tier. Some of its delay was thought to be a result of concerns about how to add the feature without contributing to disinformation. Some had expressed concern that the button could be used to edit popular posts to change their wording, or suggest that information had been available at different times, for instance. Twitter addressed that problem by adding a clear marker when a post had been edited, and allowing users to see the history of those edits. Threads does not offer an edit history, and is not thought to be adding one. But it did add a tiny icon making clear that the post has been revised. Threads has also added what it called “Voice Threads”, which function as small audio posts. Users can press a record button and that will then make a playable audio file, which will also include captions. The two new features are the latest changes from Meta to Instagram Threads, which was launched in an early version and has been updated rapidly ever since. Those have included a chronological feed and the ability to use the site on the web. Read More Viral WhatsApp warning of cyberattack targeting Jewish people is fake X introduces limits to prevent non-paying users from replying to posts Facebook’s new AI sticker tool generates ‘completely unhinged’ images

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SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 20, 2023--

A long list of AI scientists, engineers, and other notable figures have signed a statement

It seems as though everyone is rushing to use artificial intelligence to pimp their products,

Hollywood’s actors and writers have both gone on strike for the first time since 1960 to protest against a number of decisions by major studios that include not just job cuts but also a potentially unsettling future in which they could be replaced by artificial intelligence. The leaders of SAG-AFTRA, the Hollywood union representing 160,000 television and movie actors, went on strike on Thursday, joining the industry’s screenwriters who have already been picketing for over 70 days. Among the many issues flagged by both the writers and actors in the protests has been how generative AI tools could replace their roles in the industry. Over the last decade, AI has found several uses in the movie and television industry, from de-aging actors, analysing patterns and behaviours of viewers on streaming platforms, bringing back the voices of late actors and even helping stitch together entire movie trailers. One of the proposals, as explained by SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, feels like it is straight out of dystopian science fiction series Black Mirror. During a press conference on Thursday, Mr Crabtree-Ireland alleged that a proposal from Hollywood studios was to use “groundbreaking AI” to scan background performers and only offer them a day’s pay while the companies get to own the scans and use them for any project they want. “This ‘groundbreaking’ AI proposal that they gave us yesterday, they proposed that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get one day’s pay, and their companies should own that scan, their image, their likeness and should be able to use it for the rest of eternity on any project they want, with no consent and no compensation,” the executive said. “If you think that’s a groundbreaking proposal, I suggest you think again,” Mr Crabtree-Ireland said. A statement from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), that represents the studios, claims the “groundbreaking AI” proposal “protects actors’ digital likenesses for SAG-AFTRA members”. “We are being victimized by a very greedy enterprise... The entire business model has been changed by streaming and AI If we don’t stand tall right now, we are all going to be in jeopardy,” the actors’ guild president Fran Drescher said on Thursday. Follow along here for real-time updates on the SAG-AFTRA strike Writers who have already been protesting since May have also sought assurances from studios that their jobs would not be threatened by AI. With the steady rise of online streaming services looking to rack up user subscriptions by churning out endless amounts of digital content, writers on strike have sought new pay structures, guaranteed periods of work as well as better discussions on the limits of AI use. Members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) shared concerns that producers may seek to use AI to write scripts or at least use the technology to complete unfinished screenplays, and have also urged production houses to agree to safeguards around its usage. Screenwriters fear AI could be used to churn out a rough first draft with a few simple prompts and writers may then be hired after this initial step to punch such drafts up – albeit at a lower pay rate. Without further dialogue with studios, writers have raised concerns there could be a number of new ways that AI could be used to craft outlines for stories, fill in scenes and even come up with mock-up drafts. “There are ways it can be useful. But too many people are using it against us and using it to create mediocrity. They’re also in violation of copyright. They’re also plagiarizing,” Michael Winship, president of the WGA East, said in May. With these risks in mind, the WGA seeks more safeguards on how AI can be applied to the screenwriting process. Read More Hollywood actors and writers strike after ‘disgusting’ studios turn down deal. Here’s what it means for you Hollywood in historic shutdown as actors union joins writers strike: ‘The eyes of the world are upon us’ Cast of Oppenheimer walk out of UK premiere ahead of actors’ strike announcement What happens next as striking actors send Hollywood into meltdown? Issa Rae and Jamie Lee Curtis lead A-listers voicing support for actors strike Hollywood in historic shutdown as actors union joins writers strike

By Savyata Mishra (Reuters) -Dish Network said on Tuesday it would merge with satellite operator EchoStar to create a roughly

The US Supreme Court on Thursday banned the use of race and ethnicity in university admissions, dealing a major blow to a decades-old practice that boosted educational...