Audible has announced that it is going to recruit narrators to train up AI to generate new audiobook recordings.

The Amazon-owned business said that it will be inviting a select group of US-based audio artists to take part.

The news has received a mix response as concerns rise about AI taking away jobs and about how creators can keep their assets – their voices and faces – from being used to train AI or generate content without their consent.

Adding Audiobooks Quickly and Cheaply

The program is going to kick off this week, writes TechCrunch. In a blog post laying out the plans, Audible explains: “This beta offering will empower participants to expand their production capabilities for high-quality audiobooks, generate new business by taking on more projects simultaneously and increase their earning potential.”

Audible adds that the beta will be opened up to rights holders later this year. It adds: “The scope of this beta is intentionally limited ensuring we can gather valuable feedback.”

Narrrators ‘Maintaining Control’

It is also quick to emphasize that participants will “continue to maintain control of the projects they want to audition for” and will also be heavily involved in the editing process including checking on “pronunciations and pacing”.

Bloomberg News adds that “Audible will not use the replicas unless the narrator explicitly provides permission”. This means a voice replica cannot be used to make an audiobook without the narrator giving their approval.

For the narrators who choose to get involved, payments will be made using a Royalty-share model and on a title-by-title basis, explains Audible. This titles will also be marked as using AI. The Royalty-share model is already in use for narrators though some are also paid on an hourly rate.

Get to grips with the latest in AI with these free AI training courses

Adding to a Growing AI library

Bloomberg News reported in May that Audible already has more than 40,000 audiobooks that had been created using AI at some level. This followed a drive to allow self-published authors based in the US to have their books narrated by a “virtual voice”. These voices were synthetic and owned by Audible.

But uptake of this service has been low. Audible admitted to the news service that authors remain both nervous and skeptical. Around 96% of self-published, written titles on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing service still do not have audiobook companions a year after the service was made available.

However, this new deal brings narrators into the creative process and gives them ownership over their AI voices. Creators are fighting to protect their assets against unscrupulous companies mining for training data without their permission. This move by Audible is being viewed suspiciously by many as potentially eating into jobs; but for some, it’s a chance to make more money with their narration skills and maintain creative control.

Apple just announced a whole bunch of updates at its latest event, not the least important of which are all the improvements to Apple Intelligence, the AI functionality from the maker of the iPhone.

Apple has been a bit slow to the AI game compared to its competitors. Samsung has had Galaxy AI in phones earlier this year, and Google has been developing its Gemini service for years.

Now, the company is finally making a splash with Apple Intelligence, offering a wide range of improvements that could put more AI power in the hands of iPhone users around the world.

Apple Intelligence Features

Tim Cook and the rest of the Apple team rolled out a lot of updates, including new AirPods and a new Apple Watch. Still, the most notable of the announcements, which was naturally saved for the latter part of the event, were all the features that will be available through Apple Intelligence.

Below, we break down some of the more interesting Apple Intelligence features that you can access on your Apple devices, along with some helpful pictures to illustrate them. Here are some of the things you can do with the new AI from Apple.

Writing Tools

One of the more common features of AI technology in 2024 is the ability to create content, generate summaries, and generally improve the writing experience. With Apple Intelligence, these kinds of features will be built right into all your writing time.

The new feature will allow you to highlight a piece of text and immediately use generative AI on it to edit the content, change the tone, or get a comprehensive summary of the information.

It’s also worth noting that Apple has partnered with ChatGPT to make the iPhone seamlessly integrated with the popular generative AI platform.

The new Writing Tools feature allows you to select text and then edit it with generative AI technology with the click of a button. Source: Apple

Image generation

As we all know, AI tech in 2024 is about more than just writing content. In fact, some of the most popular AI creations have been from the top image generators, which is why Apple Intelligence offers some built-in features for creating masterpieces of your own.

Most notably, you can create your own emojis with nothing more than a simple prompt. Just input the suggestion for the emoji you want, like “frog cowboy,” and the platform will generate a small frog in a cowboy outfit that you can attach to iMessages whenever you want.

You can create your own emojis with a simple prompt with Apple Intelligence. Source: Apple

Improved Siri

Let’s be honest, when it comes to virtual assistants, Siri has not been the most popular. Options like Alexa and Google Assistant have been shown to be more accurate and more effective at answering queries and controlling smart homes, and are generally more equipped to handle AI requests.

With the injection of Apple Intelligence, though, Siri is poised to be more accurate and functional across your devices. You’ll be able to give natural commands on your device and enjoy cross-app functionality, like asking Siri to “send the pictures from the BBQ this weekend to my friend.” With personal context being a big part of the update, you’ll be able to get customized results for your experience, rather than stock responses for everyone.

Apple Intelligence gives Siri some commonsense upgrades too, like the ability to understand when you fumble over a query. So, if you ask, “Can you look up when the museum opens… I mean closes,” it will be able to give you the correct response.

Plus, with visual intelligence, you’ll be able to point your phone at store fronts, parks, and other landmarks to immediately get information. Sure, Google Lens has had this feature for years, but hey, at least Apple is catching up!

Siri is getting a lot of improvements, including personal context that can help the assistant understand what you’re doing and why you’re asking questions. Source: Apple.

Privacy guaranteed

No one wants all their AI-powered devices feeding mountains of data into a potentially unsecured server. After all, these AI services collect an unprecedented amount of information from users, and sometimes people want to opt out of AI collecting all that data.

Apple has attempted to assuage those concerns with some AI privacy measures to go along with Apple Intelligence. For starters, the A18 Bionic chip is equipped with AI functionality, so much of the processing is happening on device, which won’t risk any of your data.

On top of that, Apple Intelligence utilizes Private Cloud Compute to draw from larger servers for bigger requests without storing your data. These servers were specifically built separate from others to keep your information safe, and it comes with a privacy promise that is reportedly verifiable by third parties.

What Devices Will Be Compatible With Apple Intelligence?

With many Apple updates, the changes come to a wide range of devices. But because of the AI element, only so many devices are going to have the technological capabilities to utilize all these AI-powered features. Here are the Apple devices and their accompanying chips that will be compatible with Apple Intelligence:

• iPhone 16 (A18)
• iPhone 16 Plus (A18)
• iPhone 16 Pro Max (A18 Pro)
• iPhone 16 Pro (A18 Pro)
• iPhone 15 Pro Max (A17 Pro)
• iPhone 15 Pro (A17 Pro)

On top of all those iPhones that will offer Apple Intelligence, Apple has also made the functionality available on MacBooks and iPads, but only those that have the M1 chip or a later iteration.

Check out our universal guide to the best iPad.

When Is Apple Intelligence Available?

After learning all this information, it’s safe to assume you’re wondering when you’re finally going to get your hands on this AI functionality on your Apple device. You still have some time to wait, but the improvements are around the corner.

According to the company, Apple Intelligence will be available in beta this fall when iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia are released this fall.

Today, Google faces off against the US Department of Justice in an antitrust case that will focus on the tech giant’s ad tech and its potential monopolization of the industry.

Google has had more than its fair share of antitrust problems. As one of the biggest tech firms in the world, the company has been lambasted on more than one occasion for stifling competition and monopolizing industries.

Now, this new antitrust case could have a big impact depending on the result, not just for Google, but for the entirety of big tech.

Google Ad Tech Trial Begins

Today, the antitrust trial against Google kicks off, with the tech giant defending itself against claims that it has a monopoly in the advertising space from the US Department of Justice.

In early August, a District Judge ruled that Google, in so many words, “is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.” This case is a direct result of that ruling, with Google naturally wanting to appeal the decision.

The case is far from without merit. Google has been dominating the search game for decades, which has led to undeniable success when it comes to ads. In fact, the company earned more than $200 billion just last year, all from its ad revenue.

Antitrust History of Google

If you’re at all shocked by the charges currently being levied against Google, then you aren’t nearly familiar enough with the tech giant’s legal past. In fact, the company is currently embroiled in multiple antitrust cases, with a lengthy history of fending off these kinds of accusations.

From its problematic Play Store practices in a battle with Epic Games to its search engine domination, Google has been prone to antitrust cases throughout its recent history.

“Google’s monopolies in each of these separate markets was no accident but rather the result of a campaign to condition, control, and tax digital advertising transactions over 15 years. This campaign was exclusionary, anticompetitive, and mutually reinforcing.” – the US Justice Department in 2023

What Does This Case Mean for Big Tech?

The stakes are quite high for this case when it comes to the future of Google. If the tech giant can’t win the case, there is a good chance it will be required to sell off some of its ad business, including Google Ad Manager.

The impact for the rest of the tech industry is notable as well. With antitrust cases ramping up over the last few decades, this case has the potential to levy serious consequences for a big tech firm, rather than paltry fines that barely impact their bottom line.

All that to say, if there is one antitrust case you should keep an eye on in 2024, this is it.

Access to the two new large language models incoming from OpenAI could cost users up to $2,000 per month, according to a new report citing internal conversations.

The two models are codenamed Strawberry — which is rumored to be arriving this fall — and Orion.

To put this subscription into context, ChatGPT Premium currently costs $20 per month. The significantly higher price point might indicate a shift towards prioritizing enterprise customers.

Could the Subscription Be That High?

The story was published initially by The Information but it did add that the subscription figures haven’t been confirmed and it added “we have strong doubts that the final price would be that high.”

Today, many of the most well-known generative text AI bots are free in limited forms for the public, while higher-powered models are priced much higher and available mostly to enterprise customers.

What Are the Two Models?

Strawberry is the company’s “reasoning model.” Inc.com adds: “Such a model could be capable of reasoning through problems in a multi-step process, making them better equipped to deal with challenges that current models struggle with, such as solving complex math problems.”

Orion is assumed to be a successor to GPT-4o and is said to be being trained on data generated by Strawberry.

OpenAI Seeking Investment

OpenAI may also be considering a reorganization of its corporate structure, reports NewsBytesApp. Although unconfirmed by the company, the news report suggests that these changes are afoot to make the company more appealing to investors.

This could mean a change to the current system, whereby equity is offered through OpenAI’s for-profit subsidiary but overseen by his nonprofit board.

Creating LLMs is expensive. So, with the upcoming releases, it makes sense that OpenAI may be exploring how to make more money for investment. Reuters suggests that both Apple and Nvidia may be in talks with OpenAI for the next funding round. A successful round could take the company’s valuation above $100 billion.

Enterprise developers will soon to be able to access a sample of images from Getty Images via the Hugging Face hub. The initial dataset includes 3,750 images from 15 categories, including healthcare, nature and travel.

The announcement comes at a time when developers are working to up public confidence in AI-generated content by tackling AI hallucinations.

Responsible Sourcing of Training Sets

Getty Images holds and licenses more than 572 million “visual assets” and more than 200 million of these are made available for licensing either for free or with a paid subscription.

These images — which include some of the earliest photographs taken — have been vetted legally and are of commercial quality.

In an announcement, the Hugging face team explains that this open dataset can “enhance the performance of your machine learning and AI models.” It adds that each image has an average of 50 keywords as well as human-inputted captions.

A Better Deal for Creators

It also promises that the content is “commercially safe” and that the creators will be compensated for its use. This will be a welcome statement for creators after several publicized spats between artists and AI ventures over the widespread mining of copyrighted works.

The company clarified that this deal is about exactly getting a fair deal for creators and delivering high quality training datasets to be used confidently.

“Imagine building or enhancing your AI/ML capabilities with data that’s not only diverse and high quality but also comes with the peace of mind that it’s responsibly sourced. That’s what we’re bringing to the table.” – Andrea Gagliano, head of data science and AI/ML at Getty Images told VentureBeat

Changing How Developers Get Data

She stated that her hope that the move might make AI companies move to using officially licensed content as a standard practice, which would mitigate any wrangles about copyright. It would also made AI technology far more reliable as this data is high-quality, legally sound and vetted.

From a developer’s point of view, this will mean far less time spent deleting low-quality data, filtering out copyrighted content, and filling in the blanks when metadata is missing.

The dataset is open and free to use but developers will have to abide by some rules relating to the redistribution of the dataset and creation products or services that would directly compete with Getty Images.

Gagliano stated her hope that the deal could have far reaching implications. “Our goal is to show that it is possible to accommodate licensing for all the content required to train functional AI models – developing business models that enable the creation of high-quality AI models while respecting creator IP” she said.

Microblogging site, Bluesky, has hit the nine million user mark, as X/ Twitter’s Brazilian ban take hold.

The platform, which launched to the wider public in February, has gained traction in Brazil, where X/ Twitter has now been banned.

The news comes as X/Twitter continues to shed advertisers reflecting concerns about misinformation and its CEO’s erratic behavior grows.

Brazilians Migrate to Bluesky

The platform revealed in a post that 85% of its new users are Brazilian and that the platform had grown by more than 2.6 million users in a week.

The mass migration came after a Supreme Court judge upheld the X/ Twitter ban – and faced a public tirade by Elon Musk. Bluesky immediately went to the top of the free iPhone app charts in Brazil.

Interoperability Incoming

Bluesky is being touted as similar to Twitter before Musk’s takeover with one new users quipping it’s “like Twitter without the fascism”. In August, it revealed new “anti-toxicity features”.

But the premise behind the platform also sets it apart. The network has been described as “building an open foundation for the social internet”. It is, in its own words, a “social app that is designed to not be controlled by a single company”. Central to this is a federation algorithm called the Authenticated Transfer Protocol. This means users can easily move data like their friend groups and followers over to competing social networks.

CEO Jay Graber has the public support of Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. It offers similar features to his old Twitter with video support and trending topics “coming soon”.

The Bluesky team has admitted that the sudden surge in users has caused some technical issues. It has also shared that it is adding to its team and told its new users that it is “here to stay”.

A roll call of huge names from the business world have publicly declared they are on Team Harris.

In a published letter, 88 corporate leaders have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of November 5th’s Election Day.

Harris already has a strong relationship with many tech leaders in Silicon Valley but the new supporters bridge a wide range of industries from media to sports.

“Strength, Security, and Reliability”

In the letter, which was first shared with CNBC, the signees write that electing Harris as President will be “the best way to support the continued strength, security, and reliability of our democracy and economy.”

They add that Harris will “continue to advance fair and predictable policies that support the rule of law, stability, and a sound business environment.”

CNBC says the letter has been published to “convince the general public to vote for Harris” but “…is a well-timed political show of force” coming ahead of the ABC public debate set for tomorrow.

From Philanthropists to Top Executives

Technology executives feature heavily on the list with Aaron Levie of Cloud company, Box, Twilio co-founder Jeff Lawson, Jeremy Stoppelman of Yelp and Michael Lynton, chairman of Snap among the signees. Venture capitalist Ron Conway, entrepreneur Mark Cuban and former LinkedIn CEO Reid Hoffman are all big names from Silicon Valley who have publicly declared their support in the letter.

Harris has also won the backing of James Murdoch, former CEO of 21st Century Fox and an heir to the Murdoch family media empire, Barry Diller, former CEO of Paramount and Fox Inc., and Jeffrey Katzenberg, the founder and managing partner of Wndr as well as former chairman of Walt Disney Studios.

Philanthropists Lynn Forester de Rothschild and Laurene Powell Jobs have signed while Ted Leonsis, owner of the NBA’s Washington Wizards, WNBA’s Mystics and the NHL’s Washington Capitals, and billionaire businessman Magic Johnson represent the world of sport.

Steve Westly, managing director of the Westly Group has also signed, setting himself firmly in opposition to Elon Musk, owner of Tesla where he was formerly a board member. Musk is endorsing Team Trump, feverishly using his platform, X, to publish posts about Harris, including a deepfake video that seemed to contravene X’s own publishing rules. Musk is reported to have pledged $45m a month to the Trump campaign.

He joins the Winklevoss twins, former Democratic donor Allison Huynh, and investors Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz in supporting Trump.

Business Pledges Made by Both Candidates

Both candidates have been hard on the campaign trail and have both outlines their business approaches. Harris has proposed raising the top capital gains tax rate from 20% to 28% for people making more than $1 million a year. This is lower than the level that President Biden had proposed. She has also wooed small businesses with a proposal to increase the tax deduction that startups can claim for expenses to up to $50,000.

Trump has focused on corporate tax rates, which he says he will lower to 15% but for companies that make products in the US.

Team Harris is sure to be buoyed by this show of support ahead of the debate but detractors like Musk have taken the gloves off and continue to fight in what they are quite happy to push into an ugly battle.

Despite the best efforts of a few leading tech companies, including Amazon and Dell, hybrid and remote working is still very much flavor of the month. Citing travel costs and low productivity, workers increasingly favor approaches that emphasize flexibility – and put their concerns at the center of any prospective policies.

And with recent research suggesting that remote workers are happier than their in-office counterparts, you’d be forgiven for wanting to ditch your commute and board the next flight to the Maldives.

Well, that dream could soon become a reality – tech behemoth Google is advertising many “remote eligible” roles on its careers portal. To bring you one step closer, we’ve rounded up some of our favorites, dividing them into based in US and international offices.

Fully Remote Jobs at Google for September 2024

Google currently has 2,746 vacancies listed on its job portal. Out of these, 53 are “remote eligible,” meaning that they can be carried out from outside one of Google’s physical office locations.

Fully-remote jobs based in US

Vacancies listed on the careers portal are still required to report to offices around the world. To begin with, we’ve listed the roles that are based around domestic offices, so any potential time zone disruptions are minimized. You can find them below:

• Industry Architect, Health and Human Services, Public Sector (Reston, VA, US)
• Senior Account Manager, Google Public Sector (Several locations across US)
• Staff Quantitative UX Researcher, Core (Several locations across US)
• Cloud Security Platform Engineer, Google Public Sector (US)
• Enterprise Customer Engineer, Data Analytics, Technology (Several locations across US)
• Tech Lead, Product Security Engineering (New York, NY, US)
• Head of Vendor Management, Engineering Services, Google Cloud (Several locations across US)
• Senior Technical Program Manager, Rapid Innovation, Public Sector (Reston, VA, US)
• Head of Strategic Sales Specialists, SAP, Google Cloud (Several locations across US)
• Incident Response Security Consultant, Mandiant, Google Public Sector (Washington, US)
• System Integrator Field Sales Representative (US)
• Staff Software Engineer, Core Machine Learning, Google Cloud (Several locations across US)
• Cyber Defense Security Engineer, Mandiant (US)
• Cyber Defense Associate Detection Engineer I, Mandiant (Several locations across US)
• Staff Software Engineer, Mobile (iOS), Music Labs (Several locations across US)
• Staff Software Engineer, Site Reliability Engineering, Google Cloud (Several locations across US)
• Security Engineer, Consultant, Mandiant (NY, USA)
• Cloud Security Platform Analyst, Google Public Sector (US)
• Software Engineer III, Site Reliability Engineering, Google Cloud (Several locations across US)
• Security Sales Specialist IV, Google Cloud (Chicago, IL, Minnesota, US)
• Customer Engineer III, Application Modernization, Google Public Sector (Several locations across US)
• Director, Engineering, Credential Infrastructure, Google Cloud Platform (Several locations across US)
• Senior Staff Research Scientist, AI, Google Cloud (CA, US)
• Principal Architect III, SLED, Google Public Sector (Several locations across US)
• Senior Red Team Security Consultant, Mandiant, Google Cloud (Several locations across US)
• Federal Systems Integrator, Partner Manager (Several locations across US)
• Cloud Field Sales Representative, Google Public Sector (KS, US)
• Customer Engineer III, Data Analytics, Google Public Sector (Several locations across US)
• Cloud Security Consultant (Several locations across US)
• Associate Red Team Security Consultant, Mandiant, Google Cloud (CO, US)
• Software Engineer III, Full Stack, Google Cloud AI (CO, US)

Fully-remote jobs based internationally

And if that doesn’t cut it, we’ve outlined the international-based remote roles below:

• Logistics Solutions Program Manager, Google Cloud (Mexico)
• Manufacturing Engineer (Prague, Czechia)
• Materials Program Manager, Commodity Management, Global Manufacturing Operations (Mexico)
• Software Engineering Manager II, Google Cloud (Poland)
• Senior Threat Analyst, Strategic Intelligence and Government, Cloud (Brazil)
• Government Affairs and Public Policy Manager (Brazil)
• Manufacturing Test Engineer (Prague, Czechia)
• Staff Software Developer, Front End, Applied AI (Canada)
• Strategic Security Consultant, Mandiant, Google Cloud (Canada)
• Staff Interaction Designer, Search (Fixed Term Contract) (Western Australia)
• Consultant, Red Team (United Kingdom)
• Cost Program Manager, Data Center Equipment, Google Cloud (Mexico)
• Senior Staff Software Developer, Google Kubernetes Engine Observability (Canada)
• Senior Software Developer, AI/Machine Learning, Applied AI (Canada)
• Senior Staff Software Engineer, Infrastructure, Google Cloud (Poland)
• Senior Software Developer, Applied AI (Canada)
• Software Engineer III, Infrastructure, Google Cloud (India)
• Senior Software Engineer, Embedded Graphics Drivers (Norway)
• Staff Software Engineer (Fixed-Term Contract) (Western Australia)
• Senior Staff Software Engineer, Cloud Storage (France)
• Software Engineer, Kids Account Lifecycle, Early Career, People with Disabilities (Brazil)
• Software Engineer (Fixed-Term Contract) (Western Australia)

To stay up to date about the search giants’ openings, be sure to check out Google’s career portal.

Is Remote Working Right For You?

If you’ve found this article, you’ve probably already decided remote working is for you. And from the cost savings to the greater work-life balance, we don’t blame you. Combine this with the fact that lots of workers are more productive without the distractions of the office, and it’s no surprise that mandatory office returns are a dealbreaker for so many.

It is important, however, to consider the drawbacks. An emerging body of research indicates that remote employees are more isolated than their in-office counterparts, which is having a damaging impact on employee wellbeing and attendance.

And that’s not all. Choosing to work from home could hinder your career progression, with 41% of executives admitting that remote employees are less likely to be promoted, due to concerns around cultural fit. Bias, perhaps, but dismiss the consequences at your peril.

Google Isn’t The Only Company Hiring Remote Workers

Several high-profile tech companies are following Google’s example. For instance, payments giant Square currently has 63 open remote roles. Leading IT security specialist CrowdStrike, meanwhile, has 200 available. P2P payments provider Cash App has 63. You get the idea.

So, if you’re looking to up sticks and relocate, there are literally hundreds of opportunities to do so within the tech space, not to mention in other industries.

If you’re currently stressed about your business’s finances, you’re not alone. According to research from Goldman Sachs, 77% of small businesses are currently concerned about their ability to access capital – but it’s not a lost cause.

Whatever your business size or specialism, chances are there’s a grant initiative out there that you’re eligible for. What’s more, in 2024 lots of grant programs are focused on improving equity throughout the business landscape, resulting in even more opportunities being open to minitory owned enterprises that have been faced with disproportionate barriers to funding.

To save you the time of scouring the web, we’ve created a list of the best small business grants to apply for in September. So, whether you’re just sowing your entrepreneurial seeds, or looking to take your small business global, here are some funding opportunities to be aware of this month.

Small Business Grants to Apply For in September 2024

Summer may be nearly over, but the funding landscape is as fertile as ever. Here are six exciting grant initiatives that are accepting applications this September.

1. Fast Break for Small Business
2. IMG Leave Your Mark Grant
3. $100K Imagination Fund
4. The Heinz Black Kitchen Initiative
5. Enthuse Foundation Pitch Competition
6. ZenBusiness $5 Grant Program 

1. Fast Break For Small Business

• For: Small businesses
• Grantor: Legal Zoom, NBA, WNBA, and NBA B League
• Amount: $10,000

Online legal services company has partnered up with the National Basketball Association (NBA) to create what they claim to be the largest grant program for small business owners. The program is designed to assist business owners with the tools and resources they need to excel in growing their businesses, and it is open to established and budding entrepreneurs.

With a total of $3 million in grant funding up for grabs, in the form of $10,000 cash injections, businesses have a higher chance of being successful than with smaller grant programs. In addition to funding, select businesses will also be eligible to receive up to $500 in LegalZoom products and services. To be able to apply, you need to have been in business for at least three months, and be US-based.

• Deadline: September 13, 2024

Learn more and apply here

2. IMG Leave Your Mark

• For: Social good companies and solo-entrepreneurs
• Grantor: IMG
• Amount: $1,000 to $3,500

The International Medical Group (IMG), a global insurance benefits and assistance services company, is currently accepting applications for its eighth annual ‘Leave Your Mark’ grant competition. Bursary packages range from $1,000 to $3,500, and the scheme is open to mission or social good organizations and for the first time, individual applicants too.

After seeing how all of last year’s winners were able to use their winnings for a wide range of social good causes around the world, we are incredibly excited to be extending the grant opportunity to organizations and individuals again this year.” – Amanda Winkle, IMG Chief Operating Officer

If you’re interested in applying, you’ll have to submit a 500-word essay or three minute video essay that describes why your mission or service trip is important, how you’re working to overcome current obticles facing the world, and how this grant will help support your global outreach efforts.

• Deadline: September 13, 2024

Learn more and apply here

3. $100k Imagination Fund

• For: Designers, artists, photographers, and creatives
• Grantor: Playbook
• Amount: $1,000 to $10,000

Are you a creative business with a unique and exciting idea? If so, you may be eligible for the $100k Imagination Fund grant scheme by Playbook – a modern creative file manager company. The program, which claims to be ‘for creatives, by creatives’ was designed to help the Playbook community be creative, without financial barriers getting in the way.

The prize money can be used to aid a number of creative pursuits, from screen-printing zines to rebranding coffee shops. To be in with a chance of winning up to $10,000, you are required to outline your 30-day project proposal using Playbook templates. If you make it through to round two, you’ll be able to share your creation vision in more detail. Applications will be evaluated through community voting and a judging panel, and you have until September 20 to apply.

• Deadline: September 20, 2024

Learn more and apply here

4. Black Kitchen Initiative

• For: Black-owned restaurants
• Grantor: Heinz, The Lee Initiative, and the SRRJ Coalition
• Amount: Unspecified

With its inaugural grant program taking place in 2020 Heinz’s Black Kitchen Initiative is back for the fourth year running with an exciting funding opportunity that aims to support and empower US-based Black-owned restaurants.

The partnership between Heinz, The Lee Initiative, and the Southern Restaurants for Racial Justice (SRRJ) doesn’t specify the size of the grant packages. However, with $1 million in grants available each year to around 60 successful applications, the payout is likely to be quite significant.

If you’re a food and service-based business, like a restaurant, cafe, or pop-up, and you’re majority Black-owned, you’re able to apply by filling out an application on the grantor’s homepage.

• Deadline: September 15, 2024

Learn more and apply here

5. Enthuse Foundation Pitch Competition

• For: Female-owned food and beverage businesses
• Grantor: Enthuse Foundation
• Amount: $2,500 to $15,000

The Enthuse Foundation is back with its biggest Pitch Competition yet. The grant initiative, which was designed to support and celebrate women who are making their mark on the food, beverage, and consumer packaged goods (CPG) industries, is once again inviting female entrepreneurs to pitch their businesses in front of a panel of experts in New York City.

The successful business will win $15,000 of cash – no strings attached – alongside access to services worth $34,000+ including 20 hours of in-kind business services from Enthuse Marketing, access to Hummingbirds’ user-generated content platform, and a social media package from SeeFood Media. Runner-ups are also entitled to cash injections ranging from $2,500 to $10,000.

To be eligible for the jackpot, your business needs to be women-owned, food, beverage, or CGP-focused, take in minimum annual sales of $10,000, and have been created on or after January 1, 2020.

• Deadline: September 23, 2024

Learn more and apply here

6. ZenBusiness $5k Grant Program

• For: Small Businesses using ZenBusiness
• Grantor: ZenBusiness
• Amount: $5,000

If your business is currently using the all-in-one business platform ZenBusiness, is registered in the US, and produces products or services that benefit the wider community, the provider’s grant program should be on your radar. The nationwide grant initiative is awarding over 40 small business customers with cash injections of $5,000, alongside access to eligible ZenBusiness products aimed at helping them achieve their potential.

The scheme was designed as part of ZenBusiness’s overarching mission to create an equitable world and has handed out over $400,000 in small business grants since its origin in 2020. While the $5 grant program’s application window technically is open until October 1, we recommend finalizing and submitting your proposal in September to avoid waiting until the day of the deadline.

• Deadline: October 1, 2024

Learn more and apply here

How To Nail Your Grant Pitch Video

Pitch videos can be a great way to show a grantor your personality, as well as the passion you have for your project. However, if you’re camera shy, or are creating a pitch video for the first time, picking up a camera could be a little daunting.

If you’re serious about piquing the interest of investors, here are some useful tips for creating a compelling business pitch video:

1. Begin with a hook – First impressions matter. To keep your viewer engaged, you should capture their attention within the first 10 seconds by outlining your business in a clear and engaging manner. Don’t be afraid to show off your personality at the start of your video.
2. Stick to the time limit – Most grant schemes will specify how long they want your pitch video to be. It’s important to keep to this time limit, and as a general rule of thumb, a shorter snappy video is likely to be more impactful than a longer video that drills into unnecessary details.
3. Follow the guidelines – Instructions are there for a reason. To prevent the video from veering off track, you should make sure you adhere to the guidelines and give the investor the information they need. More times than not, this will include key details about your business and some words on how the grant would benefit you.
4. Ensure lighting and audio are crisp – There’s nothing worse than a great business pitch being mired by unprofessional audio quality and bad lighting. Before you hit record, we recommend finding a quiet place with natural light, or a ring light if you’re filming indoors.
5. Come with the data – There’s no point selling investors a dream if you can’t back up your claims. Therefore, when formulating your video’s script, it’s important to include data that clearly indicates why your business would be a good suitor for the grant funding.

Interested in experimenting with your digital audio content? Here’s our guide to the best free AI video generators in 2024.

Finding and applying for a job is stressful. From uploading your resume to filling out a form that asks for all the information on your resume, the process can be quite taxing for those on a never-ending job hunt.

Still, the importance of nailing the job application cannot be overstated. After all, it represents your only chance at a first impression with a potential employer, and with the little space you have, you really want to make sure you’re showcasing the best of yourself from a professional standpoint.

With all that pressure, the last thing you want to do is mess it up with a silly mistake, which is why we’ve outlined some of the things you want to avoid when it comes to filling out your job application.

How Important Is a Good Job Application?

If you’re here, reading this guide, it’s safe to assume that you know how important it is to nail the job application if you want a chance at the position. Still, it never hurts to get a little statistical refresher on why you’re working so hard to perfect your job application before you send it out to a potential company.

For starters, one study found that 75% of job applications are rejected before they even make it to a hiring manager. In all likelihood, the applications that include the things we’ve listed below are getting tossed in the bin without someone in charging even getting a look at it.

On top of that, professional written resumes and job applications can lead to as much as a 7% earning boost for those that get hired. So not only are you improving your chances of getting hired, but you’re also increasing your future salary.

Suffice to say, there are plenty of reasons why getting the job application right is important for your search, which is why avoiding the mistakes below can go a long way in finding you a job in 2024.

Things to Never Include on a Job Application

Now that you know how important a job application is to actually secure the interview, it’s time to go over some of the things you absolutely need to avoid when filling it out. Here are the things you should never include on a job application.

Irrelevant information

Yes, job applications often ask for your employment history, but they’re not asking for your entire employment history. If you’re applying for a job as a data scientist at a top tech firm, for example, you can safely leave off that summer you worked at McDonald’s from the application. Really, any jobs that don’t at least indirectly showcase a skill that could benefit your chances of being hired, you can leave on the cutting room floor.

That goes for hobbies, interests, and even awards, too. You may be proud of the 35 hot dogs you ate at the Illinois State Fair in 2005, but there’s no need to include that decidedly irrelevant information on your job application unless you’re applying to be a food tester for Oscar Meyer.

Oh, and everyone is proficient in Microsoft Office at this point, you can safely take that one off the job application before you submit.

Errors

Spelling mistakes, grammar errors, and incorrect information are a serious momentum killer on any job application, particularly if you have “attention to detail” on your list of key skills.

To be fair, no one means to include errors in a job application, but they naturally happen. The best way to make sure you don’t end up submitting a job application with these kinds of errors is to check your work. A single readthrough before you hit submit could go a long way in securing you the job interview.

High/low salary expectations

Salary expectations is everyone’s least favorite part of the job application, but there’s a lot riding on your answer. Obviously, you want to be paid a fair wage, but what does the hiring manager think is an acceptable answer?

Your best bet is to be as honest as possible on this one. Obviously don’t undervalue yourself or input a salary that will put you in a financial bind, but try to avoid going overboard, as that will likely get your application thrown in the trash.

Finding a Job in 2024

We’ll be the first to admit that finding a job in 2024 is no walk in the park. With the lengthy interview process, low salaries, and fewer remote positions by the day, it’s understandable that many applicants have grown wary of the process altogether.

Fortunately, there are some options out there and Tech.co is here to help. For one, we regularly update our remote job guides for companies like Google and Microsoft, so you can enjoy some work-from-home flexibility while still employed at a top tech firm.

Beyond that, we also showcase some helpful tools that can get you hired, like professional headshot generators and helpful interview tips. Hopefully, these tools can help you land that dream job you’ve been after, good luck!

TikTok appears to have an unlikely savior in its midst – former president, Donald Trump.

With the US ban looming, and scheduled to be finalized in 2025, Trump has taken to Truth Social to tell followers that he will stop the US ban, should he be elected president in November’s election.

It’s a far cry from four years ago, when Trump himself was behind the drive to ban the app.

Donald Trump Pledges to Stop TikTok Ban

Donald Trump appealed to followers on his own social media platform, Truth Media, to vote for him in order to stop TikTok from being banned in the US, come January.

In a video posted to his channel, the former president told followers “For all of those who want to save TikTok in America, vote Trump”, before casting blame at Joe Biden and the Democrats for wanting to “close it up.”

Trump sought to legitimatize his position by saying “I’m now a big star on TikTok. We’re not doing anything with TikTok.”

It’s true that Trump has a following on TikTok, despite being late to join the platform. Since signing up in June of this year, Trump has reached almost 11 million followers, although his following is a drop in the ocean compared to the likes of TikTok heavyweights such as Mr Beast and Khaby Lame.

Trump’s Original TikTok Ban

Cynics might see Trump’s turnaround as a way to appeal to TikTok’s core demographic, opposing the ban as a way to gain sympathy from younger voters. It’s certainly a stark contrast to his position in 2020, which saw his own government seek to ban the app, spearheaded by Trump himself.

While there had been concerns about the security of the Chinese-owned social media app, it wasn’t until a sparsely attended Trump rally in June of that year, purportedly caused by a grassroots TikTok campaign to sabotage the ticket application process, that Trump sat up and took notice.

When the Biden administration came into power, it actually reversed Trump’s plans to ban TikTok.

When Will TikTok be Banned?

TikTok is due to be banned on January 19th, 2025. That’s the dates that the current administration is working towards, although it’s unlikely that the app will simply stop working that day.

ByteDance, TikTok’s owner, may comply with the order by Biden’s government to sell TikTok’s US arm to a US company, in order to ensure that the app no longer has a relationship with the Chinese government. This would mean that the app would not be banned.

What seems more likely is that ByteDance will put in a legal bid to stop the ban, which could results in months, if not years, of legal wrangling, buying the app some more breathing space in the meantime.

Or, if Trump wins the election in November, he may stay true to his word and cancel the ban, just as Biden did when he came into power. However, should this pan out, it doesn’t address any of the concerns about the threat that TikTok may pose to national security – the original reason for the impending ban.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has broken his silence following his arrest in France on 24th August. Taking to Telegram, the Russian billionaire issued a 600-word statement blasting the French authorities’ decision – while acknowledging that growing concerns about user safety are not totally unfounded.

The entrepreneur stated: “Telegram’s abrupt increase in user count to 950m caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform,” as reported by The Verve. The messaging platform has meanwhile moved to update its FAQs, prompting speculation that private chats – which were previously protected from external interference – will now be subject to moderation.

Debates around free speech and social media have characterized much of the last couple of years, with figures like the incendiary Elon Musk stoking the fire. In the run-up to the US Presidential election, these debates have only intensified and, it seems, reached a critical mass, with TikTok overhauling its US Election Center in recent days.

Don’t want to take any risks? Find out how to delete Telegram, in simple steps

Free Speech Under Threat, Warns CEO

In his first statement since his arrest last month, the Telegram founder took aim at the French authorities – and mounted a strident defence of his platform. Durov was particularly irked by the decision to detain him personally, as opposed to going after the company, which he dubbed “the established practice.”

Going to great lengths to absolve the platform of blame, he continued: “The claims in some media that Telegram is some sort of anarchic paradise are absolutely untrue.” He did, however, accept that criminals were abusing lax moderation measures – and opened the door to possible reform, with private chats slated to be placed under increased scrutiny.

Amid an investigation into the production and dissemination of child sexual abuse images, drug trafficking, and fraudulent activity, Durov was charged by the French judiciary for alleged complicity in allowing criminal activity on the platform. Legal representatives have dismissed the allegations.

Scandals Piling Up for Free Speech App

In recent weeks, Telegram has been a lightning rod for controversy. Just three days ago, Tech.co reported that a crypto scam involving former US President Donald Trump was unfolding on the platform, with more than 70,000 estimated to have been exposed to it.

Earlier this year, Guardio labeled Telegram a “bustling hub” for “seasoned cybercriminals,” accusing the messaging platform of “democratizing” large-scale phishing operations by making phishing toolkits publicly available. Thanks to Telegram, the report states, aspiring criminals have ready access to “everything needed to construct a complete end-to-end malicious campaign.”

And two years ago, the supposedly watertight messaging app was reported to have exposed user data to German authorities. The platform continues to protest its innocence.

Free Speech On Trial?

With the US election looming, censorship continues to be one of the definitive issues of our time. Social media giant X is seemingly never far from the headlines, with free speech advocate/chief provocateur Elon Musk quick to attack individuals deemed to be “infringing” on his democratic rights. Having refused to apologize after recently sharing a Kamala Harris deepfake, it would appear that the irony is lost on him.

Elsewhere, TikTok has moved to stem the tide of misinformation on its platform by revamping its US Election Center – even as its imminent US ban draws nearer and nearer.

On both sides of the debate, prominent figures and organizations are closing ranks as concerns over misinformation spread. In this climate, Durov’s comments can be understood as an attempt to push back against perceived “unfairness,” rather than an admission of culpability. What happens next is anybody’s guess – but don’t expect the issue to go away anytime soon.

Return-to-office policies continue to face backlash, with PwC becoming yet another company that must resort to thorough employee tracking to enforce their new policy.

In 2024, remote jobs continue to dwindle, with more and more business owners insisting on an in-office workforce, despite productivity statistics showing how unnecessary it all is.

Even worse, many companies are going to extreme lengths to make sure employees are complying, and there’s a good chance it has a negative impact on employee satisfaction.

PwC Sends Memo to Employees About RTO

According to an internal employee memo acquired by the Financial Times, PwC has informed its 26,000 UK-based employees that they need to be in the office three days per week, starting in January 2025.

More notably, PwC added that it would be monitoring the location data of all employees as a part of enforcing this new policy. The company also noted that it was doing so in service of more “fairly and consistently” applying the new policy for employees.

“We all benefit from the positive impact of a hybrid approach, but the previous guidance of at least two to three days a week was open to interpretation.” – Laura Hinton, managing partner at PwC

RTO Backlash Continues to Rage

PwC certainly isn’t the only company that is trying its best to get employees back in the office. In fact, we’ve been tracking every company that gets rid of remote work over the last few years, and the list is nothing if not extensive, including companies like Amazon, Disney, and General Motors.

Unfortunately for businesses that are doing so, the employees are not taking kindly to the change. In fact, at companies like Amazon, employees have organized in a pretty substantial way, demanding that the company embrace the flexible working accommodations that became popular during the pandemic.

Beyond that, the general consensus from employees in regard to returning to the office has been quite negative. Some studies found that 42.6% of employees would rather quit than give up their remote work privileges.

Is Working From Home Less Productive?

Given all the news about return-to-office policies hitting big tech firms, it’s safe to wonder whether remote work is actually making people less productive. After all, these CEOs and business owners must have some data to back up their decision to force employees back into the office against their will, right?

Wrong! In fact, some execs have even admitted that they have “no data” to back up their return-to-office policies, with the majority of statistics showing that employees are more productive, have better mental health, and even increase revenue at businesses when allowed to work from home.

All that to say, return-to-office policies continue to be a thorn in the side of big businesses, and we don’t expect that to slow down any time soon. So, if you’re a business considering forcing your employees back into the office, maybe don’t.

YouTube is launching tools that it says will allow creators to harness AI’s creativity possibilities while maintaining control of their likeness.

The two new tools will help creators to find content which uses AI-generated or synthetic likenesses of themselves – whether that content is similar to their faces or their voices.

The announcement follows the July reveal of guidelines for creators, explaining how they can easily report content that “used AI to alter or create synthetic content that looks or sounds” like them.

Fighting the Rise of the Deepfake

Details of the new tools have been shared by Amjad Hanif, Vice President of Creator Products at YouTube, who emphasizes that there must be a balance between creativity and safeguarding creators’ IP, which includes their likenesses.

The two tools will “equip them with the tools they need to harness AI’s creative potential while maintaining control over how their likeness, including their face and voice, is represented,” he explained.

Helping Creators Protect Themselves

The first tool is an add-on to the Content ID tool, which is accessible to YouTube’s Studio Content Manager. It will allow users to “automatically detect and manage AI-generated content on YouTube that simulates their singing voices.” Hanif says that the technology is currently being refined and a pilot program will kick off early next year.

Second is a tool that focuses on the visual and will let users detect and manage AI-generated content that shows their faces. Hanif adds that it will impact “people from a variety of industries—from creators and actors to musicians and athletes.”

Balancing Innovation With Responsibility

This isn’t a tirade against AI, though, as Hanif is quick to point out how users have benefitted from AI tools including recommendation tools and creative applications like auto-dubbing. He states: “We remain committed to ensuring that YouTube content used across Google or YouTube for the development of our AI-powered tools is done responsibly.”

Hanif also emphasized that creators have a role to play as any AI-generated content made by users must adhere to YouTube’s Community Guidelines. He writes that creators are responsible for their content and will face action if they fall foul of the criteria.

“This means we may block prompts that violate our policies or touch on sensitive topics,” he writes, adding: “While our primary goal is to empower creativity, we encourage creators to review AI-generated content carefully before publishing it, just as they would do in any other situation.”

The news from YouTube comes just weeks after the US Senate unanimously passed a new bill to allow victims of non-consensual deepfake pornography to sue those responsible. The Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits (DEFIANCE) Act isn’t law as yet, but it shows legislators are finally taking action on AI.

AI firm Anthropic is taking aim at enterprise customers with a new subscription plan for its chatbot, Claude.

After a busy year of rapid launches, the newcomer — Claude for Enterprise — will go head-to-head with OpenAI’s ChatGPT Enterprise plan.

The launch is a fresh challenge for OpenAI with the two chatbots already being weighed up against each other.

What Does Claude Enterprise Deliver?

For starters, the business-specific solution delivers an expanded 500K context window, substantially improving the processing power of the AI chatbot, even from just a single prompt.

The new plan also offers native GitHub integration, which will be a big draw for engineering teams. On top of that, the Anthropic team has boosted the usage capacity of Claude. It says in a release statement that it has also upped the security features for subscribers with Single Sign-On, role-based permissions, and admin tools.

Anthropic also added: “We do not train Claude on your conversations and content,” which is similar to OpenAI’s policies.

Targeting Fortune 500 companies

In March, Anthropic launched a trio of models – Claude 3 Opus, Claude 3 Sonnet – which have become popular with coders – and Claude 3 Haiku, claimed to be its fastest model yet.

All three are powered by the Claude 3 LLM, which not only beats its predecessor, but was also claimed to be more than a worthy adversary to ChatGPT-4 and Google’s Gemini Ultra. The Tech.co team put this claim to the test in a detailed challenge between OpenAI and Anthropic; and the results did sway in Claude’s favor.

In May, Anthropic unveiled its Claude Team plan and iOS app; and the Android app was announced in July. The company is now teasing a 3.5 model family with Claude 3.5 Sonnet leading the pack and available now for free but with rate limits.

Price for subscription to be confirmed

There isn’t a price as yet for the new Enterprise Plan, but Anthropic product lead Scott White told TechCrunch that it will be more than the Team plan (which costs $30 per month, per member).

Price will be key as OpenAI offers more for less; and getting subscribers is going to be a heated battle in the enterprise space.

TikTok has updated its go-to area for the US Election, promising tools to ensure users can access “reliable information”.

The TikTok US Election Center is now offering a wider range of resources to help users thanks to a partnership with nonprofit Democracy Works.

The update comes as TikTok continues to fight its US ban, which will come into effect on January 19th, 2025 if it doesn’t sell its US operations.

TikTok Trusted Information

In a statement, the social media platform revealed that it will invest “more than $2 billion in trust and safety this year” with a focus on election integrity.

The Election Center launched in January and has been viewed more than seven million times since then. It includes voting FAQs and, from November, will offer real time election results from global newswire, The Associated Press.

TikTok also announced partnership with MediaWise to lay out the common approaches used to spread misinformation including foreign influence attempts; hate speech and misleading AI-generated content. To support users, there will be videos on how to use TikTok’s safety tools. Videos in Spanish are set to follow.

The company has created an internal US Elections Integrity Advisory Group to oversee operations. This team of “experts in elections and civic integrity, hate, violent extremism, and voter protection issues” will be “consulted regularly to provide insights and recommendations to optimize our elections integrity approach”, it shares.

The fight for TikTok’s future in the US continues

As Social Media Today reports though, this “seems like a lot for an app that’s looking increasingly likely to be forced out of the US either way”.

After all, just as the US Election is approaching so is the deadline for TikTok’s parent company to hand over its US operations.

ByteDance is fighting a decision by the US Government that it must sell its US operations to a US company or the app will be shut down for its 170 million US users.

That said, the January deadline could be pushed back by legal challenges or delayed by 90-days if a sale is looking likely or in progress.

A prospective change in leadership in the US could also change the outcome although the former president had previously not been a fan of TikTok. Trumps currently claims he is “for TikTok” so who knows.

Why is TikTok Facing a Ban?

The ban comes after allegations that ByteDance employees in China have shared “significant amounts of restricted US user data”.

The US Justice Department argued in its heavily redacted filing that this data, which could include “views on gun control, abortion, and religion”, is not fenced off from the Chinese Government.

The US Government says that this is a national security concern and is not going to accept a solution unless it feels this flow of information has been dammed once and for all.

A proposed team up with Oracle has been thrown out for just this reason as the Justice Department said it was unworkable that Oracle would be able to oversee TikTok’s source code. It also stated that ByteDance wouldn’t be transparent with any US partner so the risk would still be there.

ByteDance is fighting its impending doom and is calling on the US Constitution to do so. In a post on X, it says: “Nothing in this brief changes the fact that the Constitution is on our side. The TikTok ban would silence 170 million Americans’ voices, violating the First Amendment.”

TikTok has already been banned in several other countries including India and Nepal. Other nations like Australia, Canada, UK, France and Denmark have banned its use on government devices but haven’t gone for an all-out ban…yet.

The AI hype cycle has finally hit a major milestone in tech advancement: The point where it all gets bogged down in regulatory disagreements.

OpenAI is seemingly arguing that it will die unless it’s allowed to train on copyrighted material for free, an argument it’s making while undergoing infringement lawsuits from the Authors Guild and the New York Times. Other lawsuits concerning harmful outcomes from AI are dogging the company as well. On top of that, half of the company’s safety team quit, which is rarely a good sign.

Still, AI adoption continues apace across plenty of industries, and may be responsible at least in part for an under-reported slowdown in US employment, as many bosses weigh the potential profit boosts associated with replacing proven workers with unseasoned AI.

Don’t want to be replaced? Upskilling with a few AI-related online courses might do the trick when it comes to convincing your boss that you’re hip and with it.

Here are the top courses we’ve uncovered that you can start today. Some only take a few hours, while others are more in-depth and can be worked on for months.

AWS: Foundations of Prompt Engineering

⏰Length: About 4 hours

We’ve covered this one in the past, but this course was freshly updated in August 2024, so it’s worth taking a second look at in September.

It remains among the most popular courses at Amazon Web Services (AWS), giving users an intermediate-level four-hour dive into creating prompts for generative AI models.

Creating prompts is easily the most common form of interaction with a text or image generating large language model (LLM), so it’s little wonder that this quick and completely free course is a popular one. Most ordinary people won’t want to get into the coding side of AI interactions, but anyone can write plain language prompts.

With this course, you’ll learn general best practices, the basic types of prompt techniques, common misuses, and how to mitigate biases that can easily slip into AI results, thanks to the biases found in all the data they’re trained on. You can check it out online at AWS now, and complete it in a day if you want.

LinkedIn: Thriving as a Project Manager in the Age of AI

⏰Length: About 1 hour

LinkedIn isn’t just for bragging about work accomplishments in a series of one-sentence paragraphs: The business-focused social platform also offer video courses on a wide range of business tools, from Excel to AI. One of the more popular options is a quick hour-long guide specificially for project managers. If that’s you, and you just want to see how AI might fit into your career, check this one out.

Run by Hussain Bandukwala, CEO at Parwaaz Consulting, the course covers information on the impact of AI on project management, best practices surrounding the tech, and how to put together a personal development plan to address these trends.

Technically, this one is not a free course. However, you can still easily get it for free: LinkedIn offers a hefty month-long free trial. You can sign up, watch this entirely through a few times, and cancel, all in one afternoon. And before you ask, yes, the first video segment in this course is titled “The elephant in the room: Will AI replace project managers?”

You can find the course here.

MIT: AI – Implications for Business Strategy

⏰ Length: 36-48 hours

MIT’s business school is behind this course, which is available for free to those who want to access it through the edX platform online.

You’ll work through six modules, covering the business applications of concepts including machine learning, natural language processing, robotics, and the future of artificial intelligence.

It’s an executive level course, so you’ll get a zoomed-out understanding of the potential impact of AI across an organization, as opposed to other courses that offer a prompt-focused look at individual tasks you can accomplish. As the organizers put it, “this course will guide the creation of a road map for the implementation of AI and ML in your organization and provide you with the skills to drive innovation forward.”

You can sign up for the course today at edX.com, although you’ll actually have a wait a little while for the next cohort to start up: The first lesson won’t happen until Oct 9.

UVA: Artificial Intelligence in Marketing

⏰ Length: About 10 hours

Customer engagement, network effects, personalized relationships with individual customers — these are all core concepts for successful marketing across any industry. Plus, they’re all areas in which you can potentially apply AI and take your marketing actions to the next level.

That’s what you’ll learn more about with this free online course, which covers topics from how to develop networked business models and leverage network effects to how to apply data-driven insights in your daily marketing efforts.

This course is out from the University of Virginia and taught by Rajkumar Venkatesan. It’s rated as a beginner level course, and it’s only four modules, taking an estimated total of about 10 hours to complete. It’s not the quickest option on this list, but it’s not the longest, either, making it a great entry option for the committed marketer.

Check out the course and get started today, over on Coursera.

UAlberta: Reinforcement Learning Specialization

⏰ Length: About 80 hours

The term “reinforcement learning” (RL) refers to an interdisciplinary machine learning technique in which a piece of software is taught to make decisions that achieve the best results. It’s a broad concept, since it’s essentially about how to teach an AI to think.

The University of Alberta, a top university and a global leader in AI, offers a course explaining the ins and outs of implementing a complete RL solution — and thanks to the wonders of the internet, anyone anywhere can enroll and start learning it today!

You’ll be gettting the real deal with this one: It’s the lengthiest course on this list, with a recommended timeline of two months at 10 hours per week. But that’s just what it takes it puzzle through how you can build a Reinforcement Learning system for sequential decision making, understand RL algorithms, and learn how RL “complements deep learning, supervised and unsupervised learning.”

I don’t know what that all means, but if you have a spare 80 hours, you sure can. Check it out now, over on Coursera.

Navigating the Modern World With AI Knowledge

Artifical intelligence is a big buzzword in today’s working world by any definition of the term: By making sure you know a thing or two about it, you can stay on the cusp of tech advancement. But upskilling doesn’t need to require a lot of work.

Figuring out how to prompt an AI tool to give you a quick summary or generate a to-do list can be even more simple than any of the in-depth lesson plans listed above. It just takes a few minutes to take a look at our top AI prompts or consider a how to create a resume template with ChatGPT.

We have yet to see how AI might reshape modern work, whether that’s positive, like the promise of an AI-powered four-day work week, or negative, like the study finding low-wage workers were 14 times more likely to be replaced by AI.

AI’s ultimate impact on our daily lives probably won’t be as seismic as the hyped-up tech CEO talking points suggest. In the end, simply knowing a little bit about how AI works might wind up helping your career more than actually using it.

The advertising revenue for X/Twitter is looking set to slide as research reveals more than a quarter of advertisers are planning to cut their spending.

From interviews with 1000 senior marketers around the world, the data firm, Kantar, reports that 26% have decided to cut down their spend on X/Twitter while 14% said that they would stop running promotions on the platform completely.

The company’s global revenues have already halved from $4.14bn in 2022. Musk took over at the end of that year and has frequently hit out at advertisers publicly as they continue to move away. Revenues are predicted to fall to $1.9bn by the end of this year.

Confidence Dips as Musk’s Tirades Rise

The research, which also canvassed 18,000 consumers, revealed exactly how dissatisfied advertisers are as concerns around unpredictability and misinformation grow.

“Marketers are brand custodians and need to trust the platforms they use,” said Gonca Bubani, a director at Kantar said in a statement. “X has changed so much in recent years and can be unpredictable from one day to the next. It is difficult to feel confident about your brand safety in that environment.”

The research reveals that only 4% of marketers think adverts on X/ Twitter “provide brand safety”. To put this into context, Google came top in this category with 39%. Instead, marketers are opting for the safer option in YouTube.

Spats and Threats Send Advertisers Running

Musk’s often explosive and erratic behavior is undeniably playing a role in the drop in confidence.  The tech billionaire has engaged in many public spats recently including over the riots in the UK, the sharing a deepfake of Kamala Harris and the decision by the Brazilian Government to uphold a ban of his platform.

In a move sure to have chilled advertisers, X/Twitter has also opted to sue a group of companies – including Unilever, Mars and CVS Health – as well a global advertising alliance. They are being accused of fronting a “massive advertiser boycott,” wrote The Guardian. In what is becoming regular occurrence, Musk exploded in response with a public Tweet. “We tried peace for 2 years, now it is war,” he declared.

Last November, Musk used an on-stage interview to lash out at advertisers following a backlash after he called an anti-Semitic Tweet “the actual truth”. Walt Disney, Apple, IBM and Coca-Cola were among the companies who pulled ads. Musk’s response to them was an expletive filled rant. His message to these companies, filmed in front of the audience in New York, was: “Don’t advertise. If someone’s going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go fuck yourself.”

X Singled Out as a Source of Misinformation

The EU also singled X/Twitter out as a source of misinformation and urged Musk to sort it out. It followed a study of 6,000 unique social media posts across a spread of platforms. X/Twitter was revealed to be the worst offender, with the largest “ratio of discoverability” of disinformation.

With Musk’s behavior unlikely to be curbed, advertisers will continue to show their disapproval by spending the dollars elsewhere. The Kantar team write that this is a trend that has been growing for years and is now “accelerating”. A turnaround in fortunes for X/Twitter is therefore “unlikely” with Musk at the wheel.

An American company has acquired all of the US customers of Kaspersky Lab as the Russian venture winds down its operations.

Pango Group has bought a reported one million users, saving them from owning antivirus software that they wouldn’t be able to update.

The move follows the government banning of Kaspersky trading in the US.

Kaspersky Deal Sealed Ahead of Ban Deadline

Kaspersky Group customers, who have been notified of the deal, will now be transitioned to Pango Group’s Ultra AV antivirus software.

The Russian venture has been winding down its operations since the US Government announced its decision to ban the use of Kaspersky’s software on June 20th. The move came after years of concerns about the potential for Russian state interference using the antivirus company.

Specifically, said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, the “capability and intent to exploit Russian companies, like Kaspersky Lab, to collect and weaponize sensitive U.S. information.” This could pose a threat to national security, she stated.

Kaspersky responded that the decision was based on “the present geopolitical climate and theoretical concerns, rather than on a comprehensive evaluation of the integrity of Kaspersky’s products and services,” reported Reuters.

But other countries have also voiced concerns, including Germany, where a government office advised companies to ditch Kaspersky antivirus software.

Kaspersky’s Quiet Exit from the US

Nearly a month after the ban was announced, Kaspersky Labs surprised the tech world by announcing it would wind down its US operations without a fight just days before the ban of its software came into effect on July 20^th. Around 50 people were expected to lose their jobs.

Customers were given 100 days to find an alternative to their current antivirus set up but the deal with Pango Group means that they don’t need to search anymore.

As a ‘farewell gift’, Kaspersky also offered existing users free software for a six month period.

Smooth Transition Promised for Kaspersky’s Customers

Neill Feather, president and chief operating officer at Pango, is promising a smooth transition over to Ultra AV. He told Axios: “The good news is that there’s really no action required by customers. Those things that they do need to be aware of and need to know, we’ll lay out for them in a series of email communications and then we also have our customer support team ramped up and ready to assist.”

Both companies are keeping quiet though about the financial details of the deal.

Once the transition is complete, Kaspersky US customers will no longer be the Russian company’s IP. It comes as the Biden administration scrutinizes other software companies from “foreign adversary” nations like Russia and China as potential threats. As the war in Ukraine continues, other Russian firms may soon be in the US Government’s crosshairs.

OpenAI, the company behind the famed ChatGPT AI model, has claimed in a recent legal filing that it needs copyrighted materials in order to continue training its AI model.

The company must keep releasing improved models in order to sustain itself, with a long-promised ChatGPT-5 on the way later this year or sometime in 2025.

In this new filing, OpenAI appears to be suggesting that it should be allowed to use copyrighted materials for free, since the alternative is its business collapsing.

How OpenAI’s Argument Works

OpenAI’s filing was submitted to the British Parliament’s House of Lords’ communications and digital committee and argues that it would be “impossible” to create a valuable market-leading AI model on public domain content alone.

As the evidence filing puts it:

“Because copyright today covers virtually every sort of human expression — including blog posts, photographs, forum posts, scraps of software code, and government documents — it would be impossible to train today’s leading AI models without using copyrighted materials. Limiting training data to public domain books and drawings created more than a century ago might yield an interesting experiment but would not provide AI systems that meet the needs of today’s citizens.”

OpenAI is already facing lawsuits related to the unauthorized use of copyrighted materials: The New York Times alleges “massive copyright infringement” for the use of its content for training, while the Authors Guild has also sued over the use of famous authors’ works in AI training.

Does the Argument Hold Up in the Court of Public Opinion?

Personally, I’m reminded of a similar argument Facebook made years ago, when complaints of its poor content moderation emerged. Facebook’s response was that it was too large a platform to moderate properly, with the implication seeming to be that it felt this justified allowing it to suffer no consequences. The implication to me at the time was that it meant Facebook was too big to continue existing.

In the case of this OpenAI situation, the company appears to be arguing that it can’t afford the copyrighted material that it needs to create AI. If you agree with this, I don’t know why you would then decide that OpenAI should be given the copyrighted material for free to train its model. The more reasonable next step, in my view, would be for the company to change its approach, or perhaps disband itself.

Some critics seem to agree, with one particularly insightful X/Twitter comment comparing the situation to a hypothetical in which a drug dealers argue a similar case:

It’s not the same because drug dealers provide an actual service, but imagine if a drug dealer made this argument. “Your laws are fucking my money up” https://t.co/KgMlmcOIoj

— Patrick Cosmos (@veryimportant) September 4, 2024

LLM Training Troubles Will Likely Continue

The tech industry may have been distancing itself from the “move fast and break things” ethos that once defined it, but OpenAI’s legal troubles seem to indicate that many top tech companies still struggle with the concept today.

AI companies in need of training materials may find themselves facing further problems in the near future, according to the results of a new study: More than 57% of today’s internet content may be AI-generated already. This could result in a snake-eating-its-tail situation as large language models (LLMs) train themselves on content that was itself produced by a previous LLM.

AI has yet to deliver on many promises that it can revolutionize the world. Proving that AI can afford to pay for the resources it needs in order to exist would be a great step towards doing just that.

Four in five UK workers believe that social aspects of the workplace have suffered at the hands of more flexible working arrangements, according to a new survey.

Considering the same research also discovered that 71% of respondents now benefit from such flexible arrangements, it suggests a huge impact on office culture that could lead to the social element of the workplace going ‘extinct’ altogether.

Despite the majority of survey subjects admitting to slacking more than they should at home, the results appear to show that they also think they are no less productive when working in remote jobs.

Social Workplaces Becoming Extinct

The survey carried out on behalf of the Global Payroll Association (GPA), asked 1,006 UK office workers about their current working arrangements (see the full results here) and sheds further light on where people are working and how that affects their performance and personal lives.

The results show that only 29% now work in the office full time, with just over half entitled to work a flexible arrangement between the office and home, and 19% working entirely remotely.

A massive 78% of respondents responded ‘yes’ to a question asking whether they felt social aspects of the workplace had suffered due to flexible working arrangements, with 81% affirming that they think such social aspects are important.

“Allowing people to work from home is clearly a positive for many employees… It’s also clear that the social element of the workplace is starting to become extinct and this is extremely important, both when it comes to internal bonding within the workforce, as well as nurturing those all important external relationships that can be so important in getting deals over the line.” – Melanie Pizzey, CEO of Global Payroll Association

61% also said that they believe that socializing with colleagues outside of the workplace – through, for example, afterwork drinks – is important to establish a strong office culture.

Productivity Not a Problem

The survey also asked the 1,000+ workers about their productivity levels in and out of the office.

Only a quarter believe that they are most productive in the office, with 37% saying that they work best at home and a further 37% saying a balance between the two gets the most out of them. Indeed, over half (56%) said that they are prone to working longer hours when at home.

However, it may justify the concerns of CEOs pushing for a return to the office that a little under two thirds of workers said that they often take more time than they should to relax (e.g. taking a nap, watching tv, etc) when working remotely.

And 70% admitted to spending too much time performing personal tasks, such as running errands, when back at home.

Fitter, Happier, More Productive?

Unsurprisingly considering the seismic shift in the way we work over the last few years, there have been various studies carried out of late into the effect – whether positive or negative – of remote and hybrid working models.

Only a few weeks ago, a survey from Great Place to Work found that remote workers are happier, with 27% more likely to look forward to doing their job. And a report from technology developer Scoop suggested that companies with remote working policies show higher revenue growth.

But findings like those hasn’t deterred some of the planet’s biggest tech companies from ending fully remote work. Elon Musk’s companies and Rockstar have been among the highest profile firms that have ordered their staff back to the office, with Dell also cracking down on remote workers in a conspicuously heavy-handed manner.