Latest Stories from Jamie
Reddit signs over its user data to train unnamed AI model
As user data becomes an increasingly hot commodity, an unnamed AI company is reportedly plotting a $60 million swoop to scrape Reddit for AI training purposes. Should we be concerned? Decades of Reddit ramblings could become fuel for the next generation of AI models. The self-proclaimed βfront page of the internetβ has reportedly negotiated a content licensing deal with an unnamed AI company. For the cool price of $60 million,...
Activists urge UEFA to break up with airline sponsorships
As airline sponsorships become more intrinsically linked to European football, activists are urging clubs and governing bodies to break away from this ecologically damaging association. Thereβs rarely a quiet day at UEFA HQ, and Valentineβs Day brought forth a fresh batch of criticism to the associationβs door. The Union of European Football Associations, which hosts the sportβs elite EU competitions; including the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League, is now...
Is Wall Street about to scupper the psychedelics industry?
Money is pouring into the burgeoning psychedelics industry and an influx of startups are racing to patent key ingredients found in βmagic mushrooms.β Wall Street is moving in to monopolise the sector. Itβs becoming increasingly clear that mushrooms are good for more than just ayahuasca trips on university graduatesβ gap years. Scientific studies are feeding hype about the effectiveness microdosing psilocybin may have in treating mental health disorders such as depression...
Disney invests $1.5bn in Epic Games to create new Fortnite universe
Disney has just secured a $1.5bn stake in Epic Games to develop a new Fortnite universe incorporating all of its major properties β including Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, ESPN, and more. Epic Games has done it again! The latest major coup for the publisher comes in the form of a hefty $1.5bn investment sum from Disney, and surprise, Fortnite is at the heart of the deal. The entertainment giantβs minority stake will...
SpaceX probed for claims of sexual harassment and gender discrimination
Female ex-employees of the company have condemned a βfratβ-style culture allegedly rampant with gender discrimination and sexual harassment. Elon Muskβs aerospaceβs company, SpaceX, is under the microscope of the Californian Civil Rights Department (CCRD) following an influx of alarming claims made in January. A civil rights complaint from a group of former employees describes regular instances of discrimination, crude sexual humour, and harassment, culminating in an ongoing βfratβ-style culture in the...
Opinion β Appleβs attempt to redefine βscreen timeβ is eerie
The Apple Vision Pro has the ability to pin virtual screens and notices throughout your home and keep them there. Though the tech is far from mainstream, this could be a nod to the future β and itβs eerie as hell. One of the most popular New Yearβs resolutions is to be more present and significantly decrease the amount of time we spend staring at screens. This is easier said than...
Extraction of raw materials to reportedly rise by 60% by 2060
An unpublished UN document acquired by The Guardian claims that the globeβs extraction of raw materials will increase by 60% by 2060. Such rapid acceleration would inevitably have huge implications for our climate. Despite the fact that the extraction of rare earth metals and minerals accounts for roughly 60% of anthropogenic global warming, the industry is tipped for exponential growth by 2060. According to an unreleased United Nations document β...
Googleβs Lumiere generates realistic AI videos from text prompts
AI video is fast turning from uncanny valley to genuinely realistic, and Googleβs Lumiere is the most sophisticated text-to-video generator weβve seen to date. Evoking a sense of awe β and a hefty dose of unease β Google recently exhibited how sophisticated AI video has become in just a few years of development. In the same way that text-to-image generators like Bing Image Creator, DALL-E, and Midjourney can create original images...
Study says using AI is way more expensive than human labour
MIT researchers conducted a study to see whether or not AI was more cost-effective than employing human workers across 800 occupations. Your job is probably secure, for now. When revolutionary technologies spring to life, itβs common for people to fear the unknown. The age-old prophecy that βmachines will take our jobsβ isnβt immediately in the offing, however. This placating assurance arrives courtesy of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Then...
Xbox gamers are not happy about full-screen ads
Unexpected changes to the Xbox dashboard have become commonplace in recent years, but the unsolicited introduction of full-screen ads is arguably the worst to date. If thereβs one unforgiving community you really donβt want to antagonise, itβs gamers. A bona fide way of doing so is to immediately interrupt our sessions the instant the dashboard loads. Alas, Microsoft has deemed this start-up window as the perfect opportunity to hit Xbox owners...
