List of All Articles with Tag 'tech'

Snapchat users have been left feeling “freaked out”, with some claiming they have deleted the app, after its AI chatbot appeared to post a short video onto its own Story. Several Snapchat users took to social media on Tuesday night to share screen recordings and screengrabs of the short clip which was posted on the Story of the My AI account in what Snapchat has described as a “temporary outage” which has since been resolved. The video, which played for a few seconds, appeared to display a beige background with a different colour at the top of the frame, leading some users to suggest that it showed the corner between a ceiling and a wall. Taking to Twitter, one user said the uploaded Story “freaked me out so I deleted the app”, while others were left fearing the AI feature had evolved or become sentient. Many users then reported that the video was deleted and the AI chat feature temporarily ceased to respond to users’ questions, instead indicating it was experiencing a technical issue in its replies. Rolled out globally earlier this year, Snapchat’s My AI chatbot is designed to respond to users’ messages like a friend, providing answers to trivia, offering advice, and giving recommendations based on location if a user shares their geolocation with the app. A spokesperson for Snapchat said: “My AI experienced a temporary outage that’s now resolved.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

WhatsApp has introduced a new feature that will bring generative artificial intelligence tools to the platform for the first time. The world’s most popular messaging app, which counts close to 3 billion monthly active users around the world, will allow a limited number of people to create custom stickers using a new AI-powered ‘Create’ button. The latest feature follows similar generative AI tools from other messaging platforms, with Snapchat introducing a ‘My AI’ chatbot in February powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology. Instagram, which is also owned by Meta, is reportedly planning its own AI chatbot that will come with up to 30 different personalities for users to choose from. Meta did not respond to a request from The Independent for more details about Instagram’s AI plans, though leaked images reveal options for asking questions, seeking advice and offering writing assistance. “Bring AI to your chats for a more fun and engaging experience,” stated text on the leaked images. “Chat with 30 AI personalities and find which one you like the best.” The new WhatsApp update, first spotted by WaBetaInfo, means WhatsApp users do not require external tools or specific design skills in order to create stickers. They will simply need to enter a text-based command in order for the stickers to be generated, similar to image generator tools like Midjourney and OpenAI’s Dall-E. “AI stickers are generated using a secure technology offered by Meta,” the WhatsApp news site noted. “It’s important to note that this feature is optional and those AI stickers are easily recognisable. This means that the recipient may understand when a sticker has been generated by the AI technology from Meta.” The Independent has reached out to Meta for more information about WhatsApp’s latest AI tool, though the company typically does not comment on features before they are released publicly. Currently only Android users signed up to WhatsApp’s Google Play Beta Program have access to the custom sticker creator tool. Read More WhatsApp update: App finally launches new way to transfer chat history, fixing major security issue

From Twitter being rebranded as X, to Meta who have rivalled this with their new Threads platform, there's been quite a few changes to social media this year. One of those recent changes also includes Instagram’s new-like animation which applies to those who updated the app. It means that when you like something on Instagram, the large heart will then appear in the area where you double-tapped on the photo and then the heart flies upwards off the screen. Of course, when it comes to social media updates, no one is a fan of change and Instagram users made this clear on X, formerly known as Twitter. Here is a compilation of reactions who all shared they weren't happy with the new like update, as one declared the feature "sucks," though this update did result in some amusing memes too: Unfortunately for those who updated the app, there is no way to change the like option back to the original but those who haven't updated Instagram can avoid the new feature if they opt out of auto-updates on Instagram. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

When 16-year-old Shreya Nallamothu from Normal, Illinois, scrolled through social media platforms to pass time during the pandemic, she became increasingly frustrated with the number of children she saw featured in family vlogs.

(Reuters) -Coinbase Global said on Wednesday it had secured approval to offer cryptocurrency futures to U.S. retail customers, scoring a

JD.com Inc.’s revenue accelerated in the second quarter after its signature 6.18 festival scored with shoppers, helping the

Snapchat users say they were left terrified after the app’s artificial intelligence system posted a “scary” image of its own. The “My AI” tool is built into Snapchat and works as a chatbot: users can talk to it like they would a real person. It will not only recommend Snapchat features but also converse with people. Overnight, however, Snapchat users found that their AI friend had posted an image to its story. That came as a surprise since it was not clear the system was even able to do so. Users then found themselves concerned by the picture itself. It showed two interlocking colours – in such a way that led many to speculate that it was a picture of a wall and a ceiling. On Twitter, some users even said they became panicked because of fears that the picture depicted their own wall. But the picture appears to have been the same for all Snapchat users, and it is unclear what it actually shows. Very soon after the picture was posted, it was removed again. And Snapchat’s My AI then went offline, with users who tried to talk to it receiving an error messaging indicating that it was experiencing a “technical issue”. Some time after, My AI came back online, though the post remained deleted. Users were then able to ask the system what had happened – and in response to one, it said that the post was a “fun way to mix things up” and then apologised if it had “caused any concern”. In another conversation, My AI said that the post was a “spooky ghost prank” that was “hilarious and gave us quite a scare”. It then appeared to suggest that it needed help. But both the explanation and the other suspect messages that came from My AI are likely a result of the artificial intelligence system inventing stories in response to questions, rather than giving factual information about what had actually happened. Large language models such as those used in My AI are very good at giving convincing answers in response to questions – but often that information is not actually factually accurate. Snapchat confirmed in a statement that it had experienced technical issues. “My AI experienced a temporary outage that’s now resolved,” a spokesperson told The Independent. But it did not address the unusual picture that had been posted just before that temporary outage began. Read More iPhone owners to receive payouts from Apple Something unexpected is happening to people’s iPhone 14s, owners claim Twitter turning Tweetdeck into paid service after slowing down access to rivals iPhone owners to receive payouts from Apple Something unexpected is happening to people’s iPhone 14s, owners claim Twitter turning Tweetdeck into paid service after slowing down access to rivals

By Josh Ye HONG KONG (Reuters) -China's Tencent Holdings posted a smaller-than-expected 11% rise in second-quarter revenue on Wednesday, as

Twitter, rebranded as X, is now officially turning Tweetdeck into a paid service and placing it behind a paywall, after slowing down access to rival social media platforms including Meta’s Threads and Facebook. Tweetdeck, which was also rebranded recently to “X Pro”, now requires a Blue subscription to access it. The latest change follows Twitter’s announcement in July that users must be “verified” to access TweetDeck. Non-subscribing users visiting Tweetdeck’s website are now being redirected to a page promoting signup to Twitter’s premium service. Tweetdeck, which allows users to access different accounts and multiple custom feeds, was one of the most popular Twitter third-party apps, and was acquired by the social media company in 2011. Twitter has tried to make its premium subscription more enticing to users with added features like ad revenue sharing, formatting, and higher rankings in conversations. Now it appears the social media company, rebranded as X, is hoping the addition of XPro to this list of added features would attract more premium subscribers. On Tuesday, X also appeared to slow down the loading times of some of the platform’s competitors such as Meta’s Facebook, Instagram, and Threads as well as Substack and news media sites posted to X. Links posted to X from some websites were taking about five seconds longer than usual to load on Tuesday, but the platform began reversing some of the changes restricting quick view of news sites. Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg reacted to a post on the issue with a “thinking face emoji”. “Substack was created in direct response to this kind of behaviour by social media companies,” the company’s founders, Chris Best, Hamish McKenzie and Jairaj Sethi, said in a statement. This is not the first time X, formerly Twitter, has taken decisions to restrict access to rival websites. In December, X-owner Elon Musk announced he would ban “free promotion” of other social media services, and also suspend accounts encouraging users to move to other platforms. This announcement came as the platform’s rival Mastodon was growing in popularity, partly due to users’ discontent with changes made by the Tesla titan to Twitter since his takeover of the company. “We will no longer allow free promotion of certain social media platforms on Twitter,” Mr Musk said before the company decided to reverse its decision. Read More Mark Zuckerberg hits out at Elon Musk for wasting time over cage fight: ‘It’s time to move on’ Move fast and beat Musk: The inside story of how Meta built Threads Elon Musk says he may need surgery before proposed 'cage match' with Mark Zuckerberg Mark Zuckerberg hits out at Elon Musk for wasting time over cage fight Elon Musk reveals more dramatic details of fight against Mark Zuckerberg Mark Zuckerberg reveals his 4,000 calorie diet and large McDonald’s order

Nova Labs Inc., a blockchain startup building what it calls a “decentralized wireless network”, said it’s offering a

Link loading times to some Twitter competitors and news media sites posted to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, appeared to be delayed or throttled for much of Tuesday.

A new feature for iOS 17 can create a simulation of your voice.