Spotify is pivoting toward short-form video content
Music streaming platform Spotify has announced a newly designed user interface that prioritises short-form video and quick preview snippets. It is the latest app to follow TikTok’s design model. Spotify is rolling out a new user interface that focuses on short-form video content. Previous iterations of the app displayed albums,...
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WhatsApp could end UK services over upcoming Online Safety Bill
The UK’s Online Safety Bill is due to come into effect by the end of this year, but its rules conflict with WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption feature. The messaging app’s leaders are refusing to weaken their privacy standards when 98 percent of its users are located elsewhere. For most users of...
ChatGPT-4 is OpenAI’s most powerful language tool yet
There is no slowing the meteoric rise of generative AI, and OpenAI has just rolled out its most powerful model yet, ChatGPT-4. What’s different with the latest iteration? Of the many Silicon Valley giants vying to own the generative AI space, Microsoft has struck gold with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Following its full-scale...
The ChatGPT black market is thriving in China
China clamped down on access to ChatGPT last month, announcing its own generative AI chatbot ‘ERNIE Bot,’ arriving in March. This has since ignited an illicit marketplace for OpenAI’s hot property software within China. The commercial road-map for novel chatbots has been established: complete integration into their parent company’s internet...
Could Sunzaun solar panels be the future of green energy?
A company in California has created a vertical solar panel that allows agriculture and green energy to co-exist. Solar panels are one of the most promising sources for green energy, with over 1 million different sites in the UK alone. With the disastrous effects of climate change already impacting people...
Rwanda to receive satellite internet service Starlink from SpaceX
In an innovative undertaking, Elon Musk's Starlink satellite service is set to be deployed in Rwanda, bringing high-speed internet access to the most underserved communities in East Africa. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) report, Rwanda has a high uptake in ITC growth, and is developing Africa’s...
Why the Facemega deepfake app is a slippery slope
Accessing deepfake technology is getting easier. With the majority of people choosing to use it for sinister reasons, it’s hard to ignore that the negative consequences of the novel tech might outweigh its benefits. The negative and dangerous consequences of deepfakes have been heatedly discussed since AI technology made its way into the mainstream in 2017. Experts have warned that their widespread use, combined with constantly improving AI learning systems,...
Online eBook platform Z-Library makes comeback
Z-library, an illegal online collection of eBooks, is beloved by both college students and romance novel fans. It is back after being seized last November by the FBI. The ‘shadow library’ has hosted free (and illegal) downloads from a selection of over 11 million eBooks since 2009. However, its surging popularity on TikTok in 2022 turned the site from open-secret to open-target, as groups like the Authors Guild began to...
TikTok imposes sixty minutes screen time limit for teens
Teenagers under the age of 18 in the US must now type a password into TikTok after sixty minutes of daily use if they want to continue. It comes as the platform faces a possible ban and mounting privacy concerns. Young people in the US will have to input a password if they want to continue using TikTok after an hour of daily use, the platform has announced. A further prompt...
New online tool allows teens to remove explicit images
‘Take it Down’ aims to give back agency to teens and victims of revenge porn. Young people are often vilified for sharing explicit images of themselves online. ‘Everything on the internet lasts forever’ is often the warning cry of older generations. The reality is that many teens are coerced into uploading explicit content – often under duress and by much older influences. Young people are also less likely to grasp the consequences...
