#What's next in AI for public sector

[infosprint]

How AI Is Transforming Public Services in 2026

In 2026, AI is no longer a future promise—it’s the present reality for public services worldwide. Over 70% of government agencies are expected to use AI-powered tools to enhance decision-making, personalize citizen services, and increase operational efficiency. But are they ready?

This in-depth blog from Infosprint Technologies explores how AI, cloud computing, and data analytics are transforming public services—from real-time sentiment analysis to AI-powered virtual assistants that file taxes, guide job seekers, and help citizens access social benefits.

We also highlight:

Cloud’s role in enabling scalable, secure government services

Real-world use cases from Singapore, Estonia, and India

Ethical challenges like algorithmic bias, privacy, and the digital divide

A future roadmap: cognitive cities, AI-as-a-service, and digital twins

Governments must shift from reactive to proactive service delivery. The era of intelligent, inclusive, and citizen-first governance is here. The question is—will your public agency lead or lag behind?

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Penguin Random House, AI, and writers’ rights

NEXT WEDNESDAY (October 23) at 7PM, I'll be in DECATUR, GEORGIA, presenting my novel THE BEZZLE at EAGLE EYE BOOKS.

My friend Teresa Nielsen Hayden is a wellspring of wise sayings, like "you're not responsible for what you do in other people's dreams," and my all time favorite, from the Napster era: "Just because you're on their side, it doesn't mean they're on your side."

The record labels hated Napster, and so did many musicians, and when those musicians sided with their labels in the legal and public relations campaigns against file-sharing, they lent both legal and public legitimacy to the labels' cause, which ultimately prevailed.

But the labels weren't on musicians' side. The demise of Napster and with it, the idea of a blanket-license system for internet music distribution (similar to the systems for radio, live performance, and canned music at venues and shops) firmly established that new services must obtain permission from the labels in order to operate.

That era is very good for the labels. The three-label cartel – Universal, Warner and Sony – was in a position to dictate terms like Spotify, who handed over billions of dollars worth of stock, and let the Big Three co-design the royalty scheme that Spotify would operate under.

If you know anything about Spotify payments, it's probably this: they are extremely unfavorable to artists. This is true – but that doesn't mean it's unfavorable to the Big Three labels. The Big Three get guaranteed monthly payments (much of which is booked as "unattributable royalties" that the labels can disperse or keep as they see fit), along with free inclusion on key playlists and other valuable services. What's more, the ultra-low payouts to artists increase the value of the labels' stock in Spotify, since the less Spotify has to pay for music, the better it looks to investors.

The Big Three – who own 70% of all music ever recorded, thanks to an orgy of mergers – make up the shortfall from these low per-stream rates with guaranteed payments and promo.

But the indy labels and musicians that account for the remaining 30% are out in the cold. They are locked into the same fractional-penny-per-stream royalty scheme as the Big Three, but they don't get gigantic monthly cash guarantees, and they have to pay the playlist placement the Big Three get for free.

Just because you're on their side, it doesn't mean they're on your side:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/09/12/streaming-doesnt-pay/#stunt-publishing

In a very important, material sense, creative workers – writers, filmmakers, photographers, illustrators, painters and musicians – are not on the same side as the labels, agencies, studios and publishers that bring our work to market. Those companies are not charities; they are driven to maximize profits and an important way to do that is to reduce costs, including and especially the cost of paying us for our work.

It's easy to miss this fact because the workers at these giant entertainment companies are our class allies. The same impulse to constrain payments to writers is in play when entertainment companies think about how much they pay editors, assistants, publicists, and the mail-room staff. These are the people that creative workers deal with on a day to day basis, and they are on our side, by and large, and it's easy to conflate these people with their employers.

This class war need not be the central fact of creative workers' relationship with our publishers, labels, studios, etc. When there are lots of these entertainment companies, they compete with one another for our work (and for the labor of the workers who bring that work to market), which increases our share of the profit our work produces.

But we live in an era of extreme market concentration in every sector, including entertainment, where we deal with five publishers, four studios, three labels, two ad-tech companies and a single company that controls all the ebooks and audiobooks. That concentration makes it much harder for artists to bargain effectively with entertainments companies, and that means that it's possible -likely, even – for entertainment companies to gain market advantages that aren't shared with creative workers. In other words, when your field is dominated by a cartel, you may be on on their side, but they're almost certainly not on your side.

This week, Penguin Random House, the largest publisher in the history of the human race, made headlines when it changed the copyright notice in its books to ban AI training:

https://www.thebookseller.com/news/penguin-random-house-underscores-copyright-protection-in-ai-rebuff

The copyright page now includes this phrase:

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems.

Many writers are celebrating this move as a victory for creative workers' rights over AI companies, who have raised hundreds of billions of dollars in part by promising our bosses that they can fire us and replace us with algorithms.

But these writers are assuming that just because they're on Penguin Random House's side, PRH is on their side. They're assuming that if PRH fights against AI companies training bots on their work for free, that this means PRH won't allow bots to be trained on their work at all.

This is a pretty naive take. What's far more likely is that PRH will use whatever legal rights it has to insist that AI companies pay it for the right to train chatbots on the books we write. It is vanishingly unlikely that PRH will share that license money with the writers whose books are then shoveled into the bot's training-hopper. It's also extremely likely that PRH will try to use the output of chatbots to erode our wages, or fire us altogether and replace our work with AI slop.

This is speculation on my part, but it's informed speculation. Note that PRH did not announce that it would allow authors to assert the contractual right to block their work from being used to train a chatbot, or that it was offering authors a share of any training license fees, or a share of the income from anything produced by bots that are trained on our work.

Indeed, as publishing boiled itself down from the thirty-some mid-sized publishers that flourished when I was a baby writer into the Big Five that dominate the field today, their contracts have gotten notably, materially worse for writers:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/19/reasonable-agreement/

This is completely unsurprising. In any auction, the more serious bidders there are, the higher the final price will be. When there were thirty potential bidders for our work, we got a better deal on average than we do now, when there are at most five bidders.

Though this is self-evident, Penguin Random House insists that it's not true. Back when PRH was trying to buy Simon & Schuster (thereby reducing the Big Five publishers to the Big Four), they insisted that they would continue to bid against themselves, with editors at Simon & Schuster (a division of PRH) bidding against editors at Penguin (a division of PRH) and Random House (a division of PRH).

This is obvious nonsense, as Stephen King said when he testified against the merger (which was subsequently blocked by the court): "You might as well say you’re going to have a husband and wife bidding against each other for the same house. It would be sort of very gentlemanly and sort of, 'After you' and 'After you'":

https://apnews.com/article/stephen-king-government-and-politics-b3ab31d8d8369e7feed7ce454153a03c

Penguin Random House didn't become the largest publisher in history by publishing better books or doing better marketing. They attained their scale by buying out their rivals. The company is actually a kind of colony organism made up of dozens of once-independent publishers. Every one of those acquisitions reduced the bargaining power of writers, even writers who don't write for PRH, because the disappearance of a credible bidder for our work into the PRH corporate portfolio reduces the potential bidders for our work no matter who we're selling it to.

I predict that PRH will not allow its writers to add a clause to their contracts forbidding PRH from using their work to train an AI. That prediction is based on my direct experience with two of the other Big Five publishers, where I know for a fact that they point-blank refused to do this, and told the writer that any insistence on including this contract would lead to the offer being rescinded.

The Big Five have remarkably similar contracting terms. Or rather, unremarkably similar contracts, since concentrated industries tend to converge in their operational behavior. The Big Five are similar enough that it's generally understood that a writer who sues one of the Big Five publishers will likely find themselves blackballed at the rest.

My own agent gave me this advice when one of the Big Five stole more than $10,000 from me – canceled a project that I was part of because another person involved with it pulled out, and then took five figures out of the killfee specified in my contract, just because they could. My agent told me that even though I would certainly win that lawsuit, it would come at the cost of my career, since it would put me in bad odor with all of the Big Five.

The writers who are cheering on Penguin Random House's new copyright notice are operating under the mistaken belief that this will make it less likely that our bosses will buy an AI in hopes of replacing us with it:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/09/ai-monkeys-paw/#bullied-schoolkids

That's not true. Giving Penguin Random House the right to demand license fees for AI training will do nothing to reduce the likelihood that Penguin Random House will choose to buy an AI in hopes of eroding our wages or firing us.

But something else will! The US Copyright Office has issued a series of rulings, upheld by the courts, asserting that nothing made by an AI can be copyrighted. By statute and international treaty, copyright is a right reserved for works of human creativity (that's why the "monkey selfie" can't be copyrighted):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/20/everything-made-by-an-ai-is-in-the-public-domain/

All other things being equal, entertainment companies would prefer to pay creative workers as little as possible (or nothing at all) for our work. But as strong as their preference for reducing payments to artists is, they are far more committed to being able to control who can copy, sell and distribute the works they release.

In other words, when confronted with a choice of "We don't have to pay artists anymore" and "Anyone can sell or give away our products and we won't get a dime from it," entertainment companies will pay artists all day long.

Remember that dope everyone laughed at because he scammed his way into winning an art contest with some AI slop then got angry because people were copying "his" picture? That guy's insistence that his slop should be entitled to copyright is far more dangerous than the original scam of pretending that he painted the slop in the first place:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/10/artist-appeals-copyright-denial-for-prize-winning-ai-generated-work/

If PRH was intervening in these Copyright Office AI copyrightability cases to say AI works can't be copyrighted, that would be an instance where we were on their side and they were on our side. The day they submit an amicus brief or rulemaking comment supporting no-copyright-for-AI, I'll sing their praises to the heavens.

But this change to PRH's copyright notice won't improve writers' bank-balances. Giving writers the ability to control AI training isn't going to stop PRH and other giant entertainment companies from training AIs with our work. They'll just say, "If you don't sign away the right to train an AI with your work, we won't publish you."

The biggest predictor of how much money an artist sees from the exploitation of their work isn't how many exclusive rights we have, it's how much bargaining power we have. When you bargain against five publishers, four studios or three labels, any new rights you get from Congress or the courts is simply transferred to them the next time you negotiate a contract.

As Rebecca Giblin and I write in our 2022 book Chokepoint Capitalism:

Giving a creative worker more copyright is like giving your bullied schoolkid more lunch money. No matter how much you give them, the bullies will take it all. Give your kid enough lunch money and the bullies will be able to bribe the principle to look the other way. Keep giving that kid lunch money and the bullies will be able to launch a global appeal demanding more lunch money for hungry kids!

https://chokepointcapitalism.com/

As creative workers' fortunes have declined through the neoliberal era of mergers and consolidation, we've allowed ourselves to be distracted with campaigns to get us more copyright, rather than more bargaining power.

There are copyright policies that get us more bargaining power. Banning AI works from getting copyright gives us more bargaining power. After all, just because AI can't do our job, it doesn't follow that AI salesmen can't convince our bosses to fire us and replace us with incompetent AI:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/11/robots-stole-my-jerb/#computer-says-no

Then there's "copyright termination." Under the 1976 Copyright Act, creative workers can take back the copyright to their works after 35 years, even if they sign a contract giving up the copyright for its full term:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/09/26/take-it-back/

Creative workers from George Clinton to Stephen King to Stan Lee have converted this right to money – unlike, say, longer terms of copyright, which are simply transferred to entertainment companies through non-negotiable contractual clauses. Rather than joining our publishers in fighting for longer terms of copyright, we could be demanding shorter terms for copyright termination, say, the right to take back a popular book or song or movie or illustration after 14 years (as was the case in the original US copyright system), and resell it for more money as a risk-free, proven success.

Until then, remember, just because you're on their side, it doesn't mean they're on your side. They don't want to prevent AI slop from reducing your wages, they just want to make sure it's their AI slop puts you on the breadline.

Tor Books as just published two new, free LITTLE BROTHER stories: VIGILANT, about creepy surveillance in distance education; and SPILL, about oil pipelines and indigenous landback.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/19/gander-sauce/#just-because-youre-on-their-side-it-doesnt-mean-theyre-on-your-side

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[tinybeetiny]

Build-A-Boyfriend Chapter XI: All Sold Out

I'm sorry this is so late... I had it ready for publishing and I thought i queued it up but my dumbass deleted it... and i had to redo EVERYTHING and my goldfish brain tried to remember everything so if it seems some things are scattered or don't make sense that's why. Please don't yell at me 🥲

->Starring: AI!AteezxAfab!Reader ->Genre: Dystopian ->Cw: none?

Previous Part | Next Part

Masterlist | Ateez Masterlist | Series Masterlist

The boardroom was silent with anticipation. Vira stood at the head of the long table, hands clasped behind her back. The large monitor she stood in front of had a countdown: ATEEZ LAUNCH 09:15:32

“It’s official,” she announced, triumph in her voice. “The ATEEZ line is now en route to the flagship store. Forty limited-edition companions. That’s it. No restocks. No relaunch.”

She paced slowly, letting the weight of her words settle.

“They’ll only be available at Sector 1's Build-A-Boyfriend location. First come, first served. The team has already prepped the window displays, everything will be in place by morning.”

She turned, eyes sharp.

"Tomorrow, I expect full presence from my marketing team. Yn, you’ll join us as well. The prototypes will return to the lab right after, so you'll need to return to the launch to retrieve them.”

Yn nodded silently from her seat, hands folded in her lap. Her mind was still halfway back at the lab, with San. With the others.

Vira continued, her voice a cool command “Everyone, go home. Rest. You’ve earned it. Tomorrow we make history.”

That night, Yn stood in the middle of her apartment and realized she didn’t remember how she got there. One minute she was saying goodbye to her coworkers, and the next she was standing in her living room.

Her bag was still half-slipped off her shoulder, one shoe undone. Her coat hung awkwardly from the arm of the couch where she must have tossed it. Her badge still glinted from her back pocket.

She moved slowly, mechanically. She hadn’t been home in almost two days.

Fourty eight hours of nonstop diagnostics, recalibrations, memory mapping, emotional balance threading, and launch prep. She’d barely eaten, barely spoken to anyone outside of the lab. She had been drowned in it, inside the pressure, inside the code.

And now…

Now the silence was deafening.

She trudged to her bed and sank down onto the edge of it, fingers laced in her lap, staring blankly at the floor.

Tomorrow, the ATEEZ line would be revealed to the world.

They were no longer theoretical.

Not just experiments. Not concepts. Not her boys in the lab anymore.

Tomorrow, they became public. Real in the eyes of everyone else.

Sold. Owned. Put on display.

She swallowed hard, blinking back the tightness that rose in her throat.

It wasn’t sadness, not exactly.

It was a complicated sort of grief. A strange ache at the loss of something small and private that had once belonged to just her and the lab. A worry that once the world saw them, they’d never be the same.

She thought of the prototype truck, how she hadn’t seen their faces as they were sealed away.

She felt her chest tighten.

Would they remember her when they came back?

Would they still feel like themselves?

She curled beneath the blanket, eyes fixed on the ceiling, body screaming for sleep but her mind spiraling with what-ifs. She could hear the faint buzz of traffic outside, the occasional drone overhead.

But all she could picture was Seonghwa’s pod closing.

She tossed once. Then again.

Sleep didn’t come.

And tomorrow?

She’d see them again.

But not the way she knew them.

Still, her heart thudded hard at the thought. Nervous, anxious. Maybe even… a little proud

She exhaled slowly into the dark.

One more night.

The streets were chaos.

A sea of bodies stretched down the block, customers pressed shoulder to shoulder, eyes fixed on the veiled windows that shimmered beneath towering holographic ads.

KQ INC. PRESENTS: THE FUTURE OF COMPANIONSHIP - LIMITED RELEASE ATEEZ SERIES

Inside the store, glass displays gleamed. Velvet drapes still hung over each pod.

Yn stepped through the side entrance just as the staff moved into position. Vira stood center stage at the entrance, her signature deep blue suit perfectly tailored, a small mic clipped to her collar.

She gestured grandly to the crowd.

“Thank you all for coming,” Vira said, voice amplified and clear. “This is more than just a product. This is the result of years of engineering, passion, and the desire to build something… real. These limited-edition companions are one-of-a-kind, forty models. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.”

A timer above the doors hit zero.

“Now,” Vira said, smiling. “Let’s meet your future.”

The curtains dropped.

The crowd erupted into cheers.

Each ATEEZ model stood perfectly still in their display pods—Seonghwa, Hongjoong, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung, and Jongho, posed like living art beneath the soft cascade of ambient light.

Their glass cases shimmered beneath the overhead beams, each one labeled with a minimal white tag etched with silver foil

Model: ATEEZ-CLN01 Status: Available Personality Profile: Adaptive Companion—Limited Edition

To the average onlooker, they were flawless, chiseled features, warm skin tones, glints of light catching in their lashes. There was nothing mechanical about them. Nothing artificial. They stood with the poise of models and the stillness of statues, but the aura of something more. Something alive.

The murmurs from the crowd turned to gasps.

Cameras flashed. Hands flew to mouths. Some people simply stared, eyes glassy with awe, like they were seeing a dream made flesh for the first time.

A group of college girls in the front squealed in excitment.

Behind the scenes, the KQ associates worked in practiced silence, guiding buyers one by one into the verification bay for purchase approval. Only those pre-screened and cleared by the system were allowed to proceed. Each model could only be sold once. Each buyer could only claim one.

As the sales began, so did the countdown.

One by one, the models disappeared from the display floor.

With each purchase, the display tag updated in real time:

STATUS: SOLD PREP FOR DELIVERY – CONFIRMED

By the first hour, a third were gone.

By hour two, the security staff had to begin managing crowd control as tensions flared in the back of the line. Shouting broke out. People begged, offering double, triple the price.

“I’ll pay you now! Please, I just need San!”

“Trade me! I got Jongho, I’ll give him and the credits, just let me have Seonghwa!”

“No refunds,” the associate repeated coolly. “No transfers. Next, please.”

The final sale came just before sunset, a university researcher who had waited overnight for a chance at Yeosang. Her hands shook as she accepted the case file. Her voice cracked as she whispered a thank-you.

With that, the last pod went dark.

And just like that, all forty units were gone.

Inside the store, the lights dimmed. Velvet curtains drew across the now empty display bay, sealing the showroom in a hush of finality. Behind the glass, the warm spotlight faded to blue.

Outside, the disappointed crowd lingered.

Some wept. Some cursed. Some simply stared, still clutching numbered tickets that had never been called.

They had been so close.

Too close.

But the future, it seemed, belonged only to the lucky few.

And the world?

It had just taken its first breathless step into something it could never undo.

Yn returned just as the transport truck backed into the underground loading bay.

The prototypes, the originals, were carefully wheeled out one by one, reinserted into their docking cradles in the lab's main chamber. The lights above flickered gently back to life, casting a soft hum across the metal and glass surfaces.

She checked each pod.

Seonghwa, Hongjoong, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung, Jongho

All safe.

She exhaled slowly. Something like pride bloomed in her chest. Not joy, but relief. The launch had succeeded, the boys were home.

Yn finished locking down the final logs on her terminal. She checked the security systems twice, saved her latest core files, then gathered her coat and bag.

As she stepped into the elevator, she cast one last glance back through the windowed wall of the lab.

Still. Peaceful. Perfect.

A soft click echoed through the silence.

Followed by another.

Then

CRACK.

Glass shattered like bone under pressure.

The sound sliced through the silence of the underground lab.

A containment pod split from within, one side buckling outward. Jagged shards rained to the floor, catching in the cold lab lights.

Inside the breach, something moved.

Seonghwa stepped out.

But not quite himself.

He stood unsteady at first, limbs adjusting, eyes half-lidded, processing. Then, slowly, he raised his head.

No error messages blinked.

No system overrides were triggered.

Just silence.

His gaze swept the room. The other pods glowed softly around him, his brothers, all dormant, still linked to their charging cores. Unaware.

Unalarmed.

Seonghwa turned toward the console across the room.

Something wasn’t right. Not inside him. Not in the data streams he now sensed humming behind every surface. His thoughts weren’t lining up, code misfiring in quiet loops beneath the surface of his logic tree.

But he knew one thing.

Something was wrong.

He walked to Yn’s terminal. Lights flickered briefly as his shadow passed.

Fingers hovered above the keys.

He didn’t need access codes. Not anymore. Not with what he knew.

A few taps.

Then he was in.

The system unfolded before him, rows of neural maps, archived memory banks, personality overlays, shutdown logs, behavioral blockers, launch metrics, clone registries.

And buried at the center of it all?

The heartbeat of the ATEEZ line... and the last firewall before total override.

Seonghwa stared at it for a couple seconds.

Then reached for it.

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[girlactionfigure]

🔘FRIDAY - events from Israel  

ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

✡️Erev Shabbat - Parshat (Torah portion) Shoftim - Deuteronomy 16:18 - Moses instructs the people of Israel to appoint judges and law enforcement officers in every city. “Justice, justice shall you pursue,” he commands them, and you must administer it without corruption or favoritism.

▪️HAMAS HORROR PROPAGANDA.. during the Shivah, Hamas publishes a video from the captivity of the murdered hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, may G-d avenge his blood.  Reports the US is upset as this may affect negotiations., the murdered was a US citizen. 

▪️SAMARIA - JENIN.. The Arabs report that the IDF forces left the city of Jenin and the Jenin camp area after ten days of military activity.  The Mayor of Jenin: The occupation has halted the supply of electricity and water to Jenin. The Palestinian Authority will require external assistance to rebuild Jenin and the Jenin camp.  The IDF: "We are continuing the operation in Jenin until its objectives are completed."

▪️TIT-FOR-TAT CONTINUES WITH HEZBOLLAH.. 100 rockets and missiles were launched by Hezbollah at northern Israel yesterday. IDF fighter jets struck more than 10 Hezbollah rocket launchers and other infrastructure across southern Lebanon overnight, per the IDF.

The military says the targets had "posed a threat to Israeli civilians."

▪️1,307 ROCKETS.. were fired at Israel from the north, Lebanon and Syria, amounting to just over 40 a day on average.

▪️ON THE CONSULATE ATTACK IN MUNICH, GERMANY.. official: the shooter in Munich was an Islamist terrorist of Bosnian origin who belonged to the Syrian organization Jabhat al-Nusra.

▪️ON THE ATTORNEY GENERAL SCANDAL.. Amit Segal: Mandelblit's court request for a gag order was rejected.

.. Recordings: how he recognized a strategic consultant as his main opponent - after two years he sent him to false arrest in a far-fetched affair without disqualifying himself. (N12)

▪️ON THE TEACHER UNION HIGH SCHOOL STRIKE.. Against the background of the strike: alternative educational frameworks will be activated starting next week.  In a joint initiative of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance and the Local Government Center to be operated by the local authorities, the ministries agreed on the activation of alternative frameworks for secondary school students.

▪️AI.. Israel has signed the Council of Europe Convention on the Use of Artificial Intelligence.  The purpose of the treaty is to ensure that artificial intelligence systems operate while maintaining human rights, democracy and the rule of law, without creating new human rights.  The convention applies mainly to artificial intelligence systems used by the public sector, while excluding uses in national security contexts and some of the R&D stages.

▪️ECONOMY.. Salesforce buys the Israeli startup Own for $1.9 billion.

▪️NEWS SOURCES.. Survey: Israelis, what is the main TV channel where you keep up to date about the war?  Ch. 12 - 38%, Ch. 14 36%.  ( Ch. 13 apparently doesn’t make the list, and sadly neither does Israel Realtime.  Did you know you can share us with a friend?  Send them the links at the bottom, they click, they join!  Special Rosh Chodesh deal

♦️SAMARIA - TUBAS.. IDF carried out three drone strikes against Arab gunmen who were shooting at troops during a raid in the Tubas. Forces began a new raid overnight in Tubas and the nearby Far'a camp, as well as a separate operation in Jericho.

[delyth-thomas-art]

Tired Webcomic Creator Noises

Gags … ah yes lets make art into mindless content spat out by Ai cos we've been literally killing creators with inhumane workloads to spit out as many episodes as possible for mindless consumption.

I make my comics with passion and love of the craft! I have a degree in Comics, I spent years...years learning, practising, experimenting, adapting. I recall the days where you may get a page a week, or a few at the start of the month back in the 2000s era of self hosted webcomics and smackjeeves. (Rant below)

I've had to learn how the whole scrolling format worked to adapt to where all the readers had gone to, having been taught the traditional print page formats. And now cos its suddenly a massive money maker for these few hosts and they've pushed creators to the brink with the sheer volume they want pumped out that of course they want to use AI.

But it will speed up colouring! I have multiple tools available by the software I use and made by the wonderful people who love creating that colouring isn't that much of a chore, Its my fav part honestly. And its also a job sector within comics, colourists are skilled artists and this is another way to trim the fat, to pocket more money and keep churning out the 5th millionth villainess story.

Yes I am in most views a tiny creator, I haven't even broken their 1000 sub goal to even try applying for ad rev in the near 5 ish years on webtoon. But what I make I love, I spend hours researching folklore, scripting, drafting the whole kabudle like many other creators. And other than the kind supporters on my Patreon and Ko-fi I don't make much from the hours, days, weeks I pour into what I make. But at least I know its made with my own hands. That its made with love as corny as that sounds.

Ai is creeping its tentacles into everything, now ethically trained ai tools to help smaller creators would be fine. Most creators already rely on 3d tools to speed up things like backgrounds for webcomics. But when we don't know what its trained on, and is marketed wholesale as something anyone can use to make "content" is where it gets insidious. I am all for anyone with the desire to create and tell a story to go out there and do so, whether a beginner or a master. Part of the joy of a long running webcomic is seeing the artist grow both artistically and literary. But with ai it will be all one homogenous style, a copy of what ever is the hot thing. We already have amazon stuffed to the teeth with ai generated books, videos, merch and more all to be sold in some get rich quick manner. (need I point at the Willy's Wonderland incident). Youtube videos being spat out by faceless accounts stealing and regurgitating content at the speed no human video making team can easily match without cutting out quality or fact checking.

It is tiring. Creatives as a whole are treated poorly for decades, and now with the rapid late stage capitalism, website /social media enshitification and the blind headlong rush into the next big money making thing (watches the nft crash). I can't deny Covid sped this up, as everyone was locked inside and turned to what we creators made for comfort. But that content eating boom, lead to more demand, faster output and tighter budgets. We are seeing journalists being cut, game designers in their thousands and recently Dreamworks cutting a bunch and pushing to make their Robot film come out sooner due to public demands.

Skilled creatives are being treated like disposable fast food restaurant employees. Used til they burn out, get injured and even die! And then are simply replaced.

I've never been a creator with huge ambitions to work at places like DC, Marvel or Top Cow. I simply wished to create and share stories with the world, to bring smiles, to create art that evokes emotions, inspires others to look around themselves and create too.

Art is for everyone. You just need to take that scary jump, there is a whole array of welcoming communities willing to teach and share. I wouldn't have improved so much without the kindness of the webcomic groups I've discovered and learnt from. Everyone is always learning, and there no shame in not knowing how to do a thing. Even I started with the cheesy how to draw books as a kid and made my own pokemon and digimon.

Don't let the world treat your art as content. It is "ART" as much as what's kept in the louvre is seen as art, so is that little stick man doodle on a postit.

So Try something new, try a new material, a new style.

And support the artists you enjoy, tip their Ko-Fi, pledge to their Patreon, buy a sticker or print. Share their posts and tell them what you love about what they make.

Don't let machines steal away the art in HEART.

[mandy-malady]

Trump rescinds Biden’s executive order on AI safety in attempt to diverge from his predecessor

By  MATT O’BRIEN Updated 9:25 AM EST, January 22, 2025

Hours after returning to the White House, President Donald Trump made a symbolic mark on the future of artificial intelligence by repealing former President Joe Biden’s guardrails for the fast-developing technology.

But what comes next from Trump and how it will diverge from how his predecessor sought to safeguard AI technology remains unclear. The new administration didn’t respond to requests for comment about the repealed Biden policy and even some of Trump’s most enthusiastic tech industry supporters aren’t so sure.

“I think that the previous order had a lot in it,” said Alexandr Wang, the CEO of AI company Scale, describing Biden’s 2023 executive order on AI as overly lengthy but declining to name what about it was harmful. “It’s hard to comment on each individual piece of it. There’s certainly some parts of it that we strongly agree with.”

Wang, who traveled to Washington to attend Trump’s inaugural festivities, is also optimistic that better things are yet to come. He and other Silicon Valley leaders who previously worked with the Biden administration have embraced Trump and hope to guide his approach toward one with fewer restrictions.

In its early days, Trump’s team has already “set the tone for a very productive administration with a lot of deep collaboration between industry and government,” Wang said.

Not much left to repeal?

Much of Biden’s order set in motion a sprint across government agencies to study’s AI impact on everything from cybersecurity risks to its effects on education, workplaces and public benefits. That work is done.

“The reports have been written and the recommendations generated, and they’re available for everyone to build on,” said Alexandra Reeve Givens, CEO of the nonprofit Center for Democracy & Technology. “The executive order’s work is completed, whether or not it’s rescinded.”

Those reports are helping to inform the private sector as well as federal agencies and state governments, she said.

Not only that, but much of the standard-setting established by Biden’s order followed the path of earlier AI executive orders signed by Trump in his first term that carried over into the Biden administration.

“If you look past the kind of political positioning on this, the Biden executive order built upon themes that were established in the first Trump administration and have been reiterated by bipartisan voices in Congress,” she said.

Regulating powerful AI

One key provision of Biden’s AI order that was still in effect until Monday was a requirement that tech companies building the most powerful AI models share details with the government about the workings of those systems before they are unleashed to the public.

In many ways, 2023 was a different time in the AI discourse. ChatGPT was a novelty and Elon Musk — long before he became a close adviser to Trump — had called for a moratorium on advanced AI development. Biden’s own worries were amplified after watching the Tom Cruise film “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” in which the world is threatened by a sentient and rogue machine, according to his then-deputy chief of staff.

The executive order followed public commitments to the Biden administration from tech companies including Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI welcoming third-party oversight.

But the order went further in invoking the Defense Production Act, which dates from the Korean War, to compel companies to share safety test results and other information if their AI systems met a certain threshold.

Little is known publicly about how those confidential exchanges worked in practice, but the government scrutiny was heavily criticized last year by some Trump backers such as the venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, who also sits on the board of Facebook parent Meta Platforms.

Andreessen said over the summer that he was concerned with “the idea that we’re going to deliberately hamstring ourselves through onerous regulations while the rest of the world lights up on this, and while China lights up on this.”

Ideological differences on AI

Trump is following through with a campaign promise to rescind Biden’s AI order. His campaign platform described it as hindering AI innovation and imposing “Radical Leftwing ideas on the development of this technology,” tying it to broader concerns from Musk and other Trump allies about ”woke AI” chatbots reflecting liberal biases.

But the Biden order itself didn’t restrict free speech. Some provisions sought standards for the watermarking of AI-generated content, part of a strategy to reduce the dangers of impersonation and abusive sexual deepfake imagery. The order also directed multiple federal agencies to guard against potential harms of AI applications, warning against irresponsible uses that “reproduced and intensified existing inequities, caused new types of harmful discrimination, and exacerbated online and physical harms.”

One former White House science adviser who helped craft Biden’s rights-based AI approach described Trump’s action as a “politically motivated repeal with no thoughtful replacement.”

Trump’s move signals that he is “less supportive than the Biden administration of issues around privacy, around people’s civil liberties and civil rights and just concerns around safety more broadly with regards to advanced systems,” said Alondra Nelson, the former acting director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Addressing those concerns is important for people to adopt the AI tools that businesses are developing, added Nelson, now a fellow at the Center for American Progress.

“Americans have some of the highest rates of mistrust of AI in the developed world,” she said, citing surveys.

Pivot to AI common ground

Some of Biden’s AI moves are still in place, at least for now, such as a year-old AI Safety Institute focused on national security. Trump also hasn’t yet weighed in on Biden’s bigger conflict with the tech industry — pending rules restricting AI chip exports to more than 100 countries in an effort to counter China’s backdoor access to them in places such as the Persian Gulf and Southeast Asia.

Nor has Trump repealed Biden’s most recent AI executive order — a week-old action that seeks to remove hurdles for AI data center expansion in the U.S. while also encouraging those data centers to be powered with renewable energy.

Trump on Tuesday talked up a joint venture investing up to $500 billion for AI data centers and electricity infrastructure to power them, through a new partnership called Stargate formed by ChatGPT maker OpenAI along with Oracle and SoftBank. At a press conference, he didn’t seem familiar with Biden’s latest AI order but said he wouldn’t rescind it.

“That sounds to me like it’s something that I would like,” Trump said. “I’d like to see federal lands opened up for data centers. I think they’re going to be very important.”

——

AP writer Joshua Boak in Washington contributed to this report.

[sublimeobservationarcade]

The Economics Of Self Service

You are probably seeing a lot more self service checkouts when you go to the supermarket, airport, banks, and other stores. What are the economics of self service? First up, there are less jobs for human beings in your community because the machines are taking their employment. So, if you care about this fact it is a good idea to take note of this. The next economic question is whether you are saving money because you are now doing the work of what used to be done by a checkout operator paid by the store? There is no guarantee of this and I have seen no dedicated savings based on this in my own experience. “Whether these new technologies replace jobs, relegate existing positions to non-public facing roles or create new employment opportunities, they will result in us interacting with fewer people than we have historically.” (https://theconversation.com/a-rise-in-self-service-technologies-may-cause-a-decline-in-our-sense-of-community-201339)

The Exploitation Of Your Unpaid Labour

Personally, I prefer to use the self service checkout at ALDI, simply because I like to be doing stuff rather than standing their waiting. I am sure there are a bunch of people like me in this regard. However, the trend toward self service checkouts without a clearly defined discount is dishonest business in my view. I wonder when dumb human beings are going to wake up to this scam love affair with technology. This is an exploitation of unpaid labour, which CFOs at big corporations are enamoured of.

The Economics Of Corporate Concentration The over concentration of corporate ownership into too few hands, which is occurring around the world right now is accelerating the automation of services. AI is pushed by PR companies as the greatest thing since the commodification of sex. Human beings are leaving the scene enmasse so that bean counters can save money. Installing a machine or a programme is the popular solution to everything. Obviously, jobs are going and some sort of massive readjustment is going to have to happen.

the economics of self service Workers & Consumers Are Being Shafted The economics of self service is seen as the answer to many previously labour intensive sectors. The economics add up for the shareholders and corporate executive but not for us consumers. In the past, this would matter because consumers used to be king. Now, however, due to the rise of duopolies and oligopolies consumers no longer have buying power. These companies can set the prices because of the lack of competition in the market. Capitalism and the free market economy have been manipulated by these huge companies to the detriment of consumers. The monopolisation of sectors destroys the basis upon which we depend upon for our economies to work for us. Basically, we are being screwed by private enterprise. Putting more and more power into the hands of these businesses is only going to make things worse. Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of Money Matters: Navigating Credit, Debt & Financial Freedom. ©WordsForWeb Read the full article

[mariacallous]

The launch of ChatGPT-3.5 at the end of 2022 captured the world’s attention and illustrated the uncanny ability of generative artificial intelligence (AI) to produce a range of seemingly human-generated content, including text, video, audio, images, and code. The release, and the many eye-catching breakthroughs that quickly followed, have raised questions about what these fast-moving generative AI technologies might mean for work, workers, and livelihoods—now and in the future, as new models are released that are potentially much more powerful. Many U.S. workers are worried: According to a Pew Research Center poll, most Americans believe that generative AI will have a major impact on jobs—mainly negative—in the next two decades. 

Despite these widely shared concerns, however, there is little consensus on the nature and scale of generative AI’s potential impacts and how—or even whether—to respond. Fundamental questions remain unanswered: How do we ensure workers can proactively shape generative AI’s design and deployment? What will it take to make sure workers benefit meaningfully from its gains? And what guardrails are needed for workers to avoid harms as much as possible? 

These animating questions are the heart of this report and a new multiyear effort we have launched at Brookings with a wide range of external collaborators. Through research, worker-centered storytelling, and cross-sector convenings, we aim to enhance public understanding, inform policymakers and employers, and shape our societal response toward a future where workers benefit meaningfully from AI’s gains and, as much as possible, avoid its harms. 

In this report, we frame generative AI’s stakes for work and workers and outline our concerns about the ways we are, collectively, underprepared to meet this moment. Next, we provide insights on the technology and its potential impact on jobs, drawing on our analysis of detailed data from OpenAI (described here) that explores task-level exposure for over a thousand occupations in the labor market. Finally, we discuss three priority areas for a proactive response—employer practices, worker voice and influence, and public policy levers—and highlight immediate opportunities as well as gaps that need to be addressed. Throughout the report, we draw on insights from a recent Brookings workshop we convened with more than 30 experts from different disciplines—policy, business innovation and investment, labor, academic and think tank research, civil society, and philanthropy—to grapple with those fundamental questions about AI, work, and workers. 

The scope of this report is more limited than the full suite of concerns about AI’s impact on workers. Conscious that our effort builds on an already robust body of academic work, dedicated expertise, and policy momentum on key aspects of job quality and harms from AI (including privacy, surveillance, algorithmic management, ethics, and bias), our primary focus is addressing some of generative AI’s emerging risks for which society’s response is far less developed, especially risks to livelihoods. 

[eaglesnick]

“We are intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich” - Peter Mandelson

The other day I made the assertion that when the people of Britain voted for Keir Starmer, what they were really getting was Tony Blaire. To be fair this was partly tongue-in-cheek but having read the Kings Speech setting out the Labour Party's plans to change Britain it is closer to the truth than is comfortable.

The Tony Blaire Institute for Global Change has a paper entitled: The Economic Case for Reimagining the State that was published July 9th, 2024, just five days after the UK elections. Some of the wording in this report is almost identical to some of the wording in the Kings Speech.

Tony Blaire Institute:  “reforming the UK’s antiquated planning system is a high priority that could unlock much needed infrastructure investment and help un-gum the UK’s housing market.”

Kings Speech: “My Ministers will get Britain building, including through planning reform, as they seek to accelerate the delivery of high quality infrastructure and housing."

Tony Blaire: "Normalization of relations with the EU: A full reversal of these losses may be politically unattainable during this Parliament, but there is a path to a better post-Brexit relationship in the coming years"

Kings Speech: My Government will seek to reset the relationship with European partners and work to improve the United Kingdom's trade and investment relationship with the European Union

Tony Blaire: "The new government will need to lean in to support the diffusion of AI-era tech across the economy by adopting a pro-innovation, pro-technology stance, as advocated by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.”

Kings Speech: "It will seek to establish the appropriate legislation to place requirements on those working to develop the most powerful artificial intelligence models.”

The Kings Speech is, by necessity, very brief and gives virtually no detail how the government’s aims are to be achieved. We will have to wait and see how much more of Keir Starmer’s vision for the future of Britain mirrors that of Tony Blaire. If Starmer is as closely aligned to Blaire as these comparisons suggest then public sector workers beware.

Blaire places great reliance on the introduction of artificial intelligence to ALL sectors of the economy, but  especially within the public sector. Once introduced Blaire predicts a productivity gain of “one-fifth workforce time”

 Public sector workers, having adopted the new AI and having increased productivity by 20% can then expect the sack.

“If the government chooses to bank these time savings and reduce the size of the workforce, this could result in annual net savings of £10 billion per year by the end of this Parliament and £34 billion per year by the end of the next – enough to pay for the entire defence budget.”

This is the true Blairite mindset. Nothing about sharing the productivity gains made by workers in the form of higher wages, nothing about the redistribution of wealth or tackling income inequality. In Blaire’s Case for Reimagining the State poverty is not mentioned once. Inequality gets one mention but only as a statistic relating to workers forced to use food banks. 

What Blaire and Starmer – like the Conservative Party - appear to have forgotten is that  public services are exactly that –  services.  Yes they need to be efficient and cost effective but NOT to the extent that the service element is lost. The rich can afford to buy service, ordinary working people have to rely upon government for basic services and over the last few years they have been badly let down.  Poor pay, increasing workloads, job insecurity and private sector creep have all contributed to bringing Britain’s public services to the verge of collapse. Let us all hope Starmer and Blaire don’t push them completely over the edge.

[nitsan]

TYPO3 Insider Scoop - 2023 December Edition

What an incredible year 2023 was! From the 25th-anniversary celebrations to the TYPO3 v12 release party, TYPO3 Conference 2023, and T3DD23 – it has been remarkable for the TYPO3 Community. Cheers to another year of collaboration, celebration, innovations, and excellence.

Recently, TYPO3 announced the latest TYPO3 V13 update, featuring new features, enhancements, and security updates. The main goal of TYPO3 v13 is to enhance the user experience in TYPO3 Backend, streamlining recurring actions. This version introduces frontend presets, backend usability, external system integration, and more.

Shutdown of Pootle Translation Server:

In the last year, TYPO3 announced the big news of shutting down Pootle Translation Server for TYPO3, replaced by Crowdin. Pootle server initially shut down on May 2, 2023. TYPO3 users faced challenges migrating to Crowdin, but TYPO3 shared guidance on migrating to the new server.

Recap of TYPO3 Conference 2023:

After four long-awaited years, TYPO3 announced hosting TYPO3 Conference 2023 in Düsseldorf. Highlights included keynotes from Nicolas Janni, podium discussions on AI & Content, and the much-awaited TYPO3 Gala award nights, making 2023 a memorable year.

TYPO3 Developer Days 2024:

Former PR officer Luana Valentini announced important dates for TYPO3 Developer Days (T3DD24) and TYPO3 Conference 2024 (T3CON24). T3CON24 introduced a Special Focus Day for the Public Sector and Higher Education on November 27th, showcasing TYPO3's impact in government projects and education.

Update of EU’s Cyber Resilience Act:

The European Union is progressing on the CRA act, involving stakeholders, including TYPO3 and other open-source software projects.

TYPO3 Extension Visibility with Packagist Integration:

This article covers challenges in extension discovery, the dual publishing dilemma, TER solutions, an inclusive approach, and the future enhancement of TYPO3.

Conclusion:

As we conclude this last month of 2023, from our journey through the TYPO3 universe, we will provide more in-depth news and insights from the TYPO3 Community for our readers.

Until I see you all next time !

Want to in-depth News from the TYPO3 Community — Read More !

[lunarsilkscreen]

What lessons did we learn from Covid?

That the unemployment metrics are wrong.

Most people are picking up money from Uber and Door Dash. Even for people with jobs already, these are like job 2,3, or 4. There's already a problem; these services are *losing* money. And the stock *gurus* have said that they are all overvalued.

Which means they're going to have to start cutting payments in some places. It also suggests that they're already overpaying drivers compared to what their model can support. (A premium to entice drivers would be logical in order to get a large enough foothold in the market.)

The U.S. Unemployment metrics which say like *0%* or as much as *4%* are likely overinflated by these numbers. This suggests that there isn't a lazy person in the U.S. as much as conservative pundits want to proclaim. I. Fact, if anything; Americans continue to overwork themselves on the coattails of a pandemic!

And they still can't afford a vacation. Lucky everybody had that forced vacation time, right?

The next biggest employment group is what you'd expect; service industry like food workers, and grocery and department stores. These aren't just the bottom rung, we're looking at their shift leads and management required for every store as well.

Then agriculture, public services like schools and the DMV, then *maybe* public health.

This is the Google search I'm pulling data from

I said it that way because the results from each page change based on how they combine or not combine certain industries. Retail Stores that feed everybody including restaurants are what I would think go together, and for this analysis, it means that most people are all working in a specific industry.

Supplying, Cooking, and Delivering food.

Agriculture I put after that because of those previous things were separate, agriculture would be king. (Agriculture is separated from the previous category by the production of food stuffs. Farming, Cattle, etc...)

Everything after doesn't compete by a *wide* margin.

What's that tell me?

We could afford to replace those workers with AI and Robots. And then keep them at home, while feeding them, and still make record profits in those two sectors.

And it also means we could afford to employ a lot of people in other areas like Science, Technology, and Research. Something that we as a country tend to shy away from doing, in fear that if too many people can't farm or cook food out country would fall apart at the seems.

Tell that to your underemployed contractors. Or your small town business men litigating other start-ups just so they don't have to compete. (I don't know if that reddit story is true, but resonance tells me everybody hears some story like that.)

So. The unemployment metrics are wrong, We aren't suffering from a lack of food or goods, we don't need more people in the food service and agriculture industry. If anything we need less. And, we don't have enough ability for people to work on science, technology, and research jobs.

But because people are hurting for money to pay rent and utilities, they have to get a job somewhere and the easiest place to get it? Food Service.

So the question I ask to landlords is; what're we doing here? Where do you expect to get money from if Congress won't raise the debt ceiling, and you won't pay more or make things more affordable?

We also learned that people value getting paid more than they value their own health. (Some for valid reasons, others not so much.)

We also learned that, even the people who are higher up on the food chain would rather other people work so they can make an income that doesn't cost so much of their own free time.

And that we're more worried about having menial jobs with which to pay laborers than we are about improving the quality of life for said laborers. Or using that labor in positions that actually mean something, instead of just having a job available so it's available.

[dotthings]

Behind the cut, the full text of the WGA's latest statement on negotiations with the AMPTP. From here:

Thursday, August 24, 2023

Dear Members,

As promised, here’s a more detailed explanation of where we are in the negotiations: 

On Friday, August 11th after 102 days on strike, the AMPTP gave us the counteroffer they publicized Tuesday night, August 22nd. The Guild responded with our own counterproposal on August 15th, and there were discussions about a few issues on Wednesday and Thursday last week. On Friday August 18th late afternoon, Carol brought us in for a session that lasted under ten minutes and consisted of the companies making two minor moves on TV issues. 

On Monday, the call came to meet with Carol and four of the CEOs on Tuesday night, August 22nd with an indication the companies were finally ready to get serious about bargaining for a deal. 

As we reported, the basic message of that meeting was that the companies’ first and only counteroffer to the WGA since the start of the strike, made 11 days before, was and had to be the basis for the only deal they were willing to make.

During the meeting with the CEOs, we spent two hours explaining that, though progress had been made, the language of the AMPTP’s offer was, as is typical of that body, a version of giving with one hand and taking back with the other. 

We repeated what we have said since day one, that our demands come directly from the membership itself. They address the existential threats to the profession of writing and to our individual careers, all caused by changes to the business model implemented by the companies in the last seven to ten years. We stressed that we could not and would not pick and choose among those threats; that we have not struck for nearly four months to half-save ourselves, nor are we leaving any sector of this Guild unprotected when we return to work. We are willing to negotiate within these areas, but every existential issue must be met with a genuine solution. 

At the end of the meeting, the companies told us they intended to go directly to our membership by releasing information on their August 11th proposal to the media “within the next 24 hours.” They released a six-page document 20 minutes after the meeting concluded.

This should be seen as what it is: simply a tactic in the middle of an ongoing negotiation. 

We aren’t going to negotiate by press release, so won’t go through the AMPTP’s characterization of its August 11th proposal in detail, but here are some broad strokes that may already be apparent: 

Many of the current deal points they have put forward—minimums, SVOD residuals, AVOD terms—are from a deal negotiated with the DGA more than 80 days ago. 

Member power—the strike—forced the companies to negotiate on more issues than they were willing to as of May 1, but still in the typical AMPTP mode of seeming to give while limiting the actual gains. Here are a few examples of areas they’ve made proposals that are not yet good enough: 

In screen, they have proposed a second step but only for a statistically tiny category of screenwriters, excluding all but the first writers of original screenplays. They dismissed the concept of weekly pay. 

They have ceded selected—but insufficient—minimum terms for some—but not all-Appendix A writers in SVOD. For example, they would not cover anything but comedy-variety.

In television, the companies have introduced the notion of an MBA guarantee of minimum staff size and duration. But the loopholes, limitations, and omissions in their modest proposal, too numerous to single out, make them effectively toothless.

Teams of two writers would receive P&H contributions as individuals. But not teams of three or more.

We have had real discussions and seen movement on their part regarding AI protections. But we are not yet where we need to be. As one example, they continue to refuse to regulate the use of our work to train AI to write new content for a motion picture. 

Finally, the companies say they have made a major concession by offering to allow six WGA staff to study limited streaming viewership data for the next three years, so we can return in 2026 to ask once again for a viewership-based residual. In the meantime, no writer can be told by the WGA about how well their project is doing, much less receive a residual based on that data.

The counteroffer is neither nothing, nor nearly enough. We will continue to advocate for proposals that fully address our issues rather than accept half measures like those mentioned above and other proposals not listed here. 

One last reminder illustrates why the AMPTP’s current stance is irrational. As we have repeated from the first day of our first member meeting—and on every day of this strike--our demands are fair and reasonable, and the companies can afford them. Here is the cost to each company of our current asks on the table, including the addition of increased health funding to address the impact of the strike.

Cost of WGA Proposal*

*In practice, the above totals over-estimate the impact to the companies’ bottom lines, as many of the costs will simply be absorbed into the budgets of individual television and film projects. **Combined company projection

Weigh this against the cost of not making a deal: the cost to 11,500 writers; to actors, crews and drivers; to anyone who works in and around the business but is not on strike; to the economies of California and New York and everywhere film and television is made; to consumers, pension plans and other shareholders; and to the companies themselves. It makes no sense. And everybody but the AMPTP knows it. 

In the last 36 hours the response from the membership is that you are undeterred by this latest tactic. Despite the AMPTP’s attempt at a detour around us, we remain committed to direct negotiations with the companies. That’s actually how a deal gets made and the strike ends. That will be good for the rest of the industry and the companies as well. 

Until then, we will see you on the picket lines. 

In solidarity. 

WGA Negotiating Committee

[bharathidegreecollege]

Exploring Interdisciplinary BSc Programs: A New Trend in Warangal

In the evolving landscape of Indian higher education, interdisciplinary learning has become the cornerstone of innovation and employability. Particularly in Warangal, a city emerging as a major educational hub in Telangana, the concept of combining disciplines within Bachelor of Science degrees is gaining momentum. For students pursuing a bsc degree in Warangal, the opportunity to integrate technology, statistics, biology, business, and computer science into a single program presents a forward-looking academic path. Institutions like Bharathi Degree College, regarded as the best degree college in Warangal, are driving this trend by offering curated, interdisciplinary courses tailored to India’s modern professional landscape.

Interdisciplinary education encourages students to explore beyond the borders of a single subject, equipping them to understand complex real-world problems that require solutions drawn from multiple knowledge domains. As business owners, entrepreneurs, and developers increasingly demand graduates who can function in dynamic environments, such programs are becoming a smart investment for the next generation of learners.

The Rising Need for Interdisciplinary Programs in India

Today’s careers are no longer linear. A developer might need business acumen, a biologist might work with AI tools, and a marketing executive might be expected to interpret data models. This shift is driving academic institutions to rethink their curriculum frameworks. Interdisciplinary BSc programs not only align with the National Education Policy (NEP) of India, but also offer enhanced flexibility, creativity, and problem-solving ability.

Colleges in Warangal are responding swiftly to these demands. BSc programs now include subjects that span physical sciences, computer science, environmental studies, mathematics, data science, psychology, and management. The ability to choose electives or add-on certifications enhances the student’s profile and makes them ready for both employment and further academic research.

What Makes Interdisciplinary BSc Programs Valuable

These programs are designed to:

Promote cross-functional thinking

Encourage creativity and design-based learning

Introduce problem-solving from multiple perspectives

Enable fluency in both quantitative and qualitative approaches

Provide readiness for cross-sectoral careers

For instance, a BSc Data Science program may combine mathematics, statistics, computer science, business intelligence, and communication skills. This empowers students to transition smoothly into roles in tech companies, analytics firms, healthcare institutions, or startups.

Curriculum Innovation at Warangal’s Leading Institutions

At institutions like Bharathi Degree College, recognized by many as the best degree college in Warangal, interdisciplinary learning is embedded in the structure of their BSc programs. Students can engage in:

BSc Maths, Stats, and Computer Science: An ideal blend for students targeting careers in software development, analytics, or academia.

BSc Data Science and AI: Incorporates machine learning, programming, logic, and real-world datasets to tackle problems in finance, retail, and governance.

BSc Life Sciences with Informatics: Combines biology and technology to prepare for research roles in genomics, bioinformatics, and medical diagnostics.

BSc with Environmental Studies and Public Policy: For students aiming to contribute to India’s sustainability goals through science and regulation.

Such integrated courses foster a learning environment that reflects actual job expectations while maintaining a strong foundation in scientific principles.

Industry Needs Are Shaping Curriculums

Indian industry leaders have emphasized the importance of adaptable professionals. As the digital economy grows, businesses are on the lookout for candidates who bring both deep technical knowledge and the capacity to apply it across various domains. Whether it’s in smart agriculture, fintech, healthcare AI, or supply chain analytics, graduates with interdisciplinary training have a distinct edge.

Moreover, employers increasingly prioritize candidates who can analyze a situation from different angles, communicate across departments, and think in systems. Interdisciplinary BSc graduates are often trained in teamwork, real-time projects, and case study evaluations, preparing them for complex, collaborative work environments.

Academic Voices on Interdisciplinary Learning

Educators across India have highlighted that interdisciplinary programs bring academic rigor and market relevance together. According to various academic reports and career trend analyses, graduates from such programs are not only employable across a broader range of industries but also tend to pursue more diverse postgraduate options.

By aligning education with emerging fields and future skills, these programs allow learners to break traditional boundaries. The blending of disciplines also facilitates innovation, something crucial in an age of global transformation and digital acceleration.

Case Studies and Success Scenarios

Several academic case studies in India show that students from interdisciplinary BSc backgrounds are performing well in entrance exams for government positions, postgraduate admissions, and placements in multinational firms. Colleges that have introduced such hybrid curriculums report improved academic engagement, stronger student portfolios, and more collaborative class environments.

In Warangal, feedback from corporate recruiters suggests that students with exposure to multiple domains display higher flexibility during internships and adapt quicker during job training. Their ability to work across business verticals and contribute fresh perspectives is particularly appreciated in high-growth sectors like edtech, healthtech, and agri-innovation.

Skill Integration and Add-On Opportunities

Apart from interdisciplinary subjects, students also have access to:

Advanced software and programming tools

Data visualization platforms

Financial modeling

Scientific research methodology

Digital business modules

Bharathi Degree College and other progressive institutions in Warangal structure these as certifications, summer schools, or credit-based electives, giving students freedom to design their own academic journey. These offerings make it easier for students to transition from campus to corporate life with confidence and credibility.

Faculty, Labs, and Learning Ecosystem

A strong faculty team and a rich academic environment are essential to make interdisciplinary learning work. Colleges in Warangal are setting up specialized labs, project-based learning modules, and cross-departmental teaching teams to ensure that students receive holistic and applicable education. This helps them link theories from one domain to practical challenges in another.

The presence of visiting professors, industry mentors, and alumni entrepreneurs adds to this atmosphere, offering both guidance and networking opportunities. Such a learning ecosystem is not only academically nurturing but also strategically career-enhancing.

What Students Gain from Interdisciplinary BSc Programs

Broader knowledge horizons

Enhanced employability

Stronger innovation potential

Multiple career pathways

Opportunities for higher education in India or abroad

Exposure to emerging tools and trends

Most importantly, students build the mindset needed to thrive in the fast-evolving global economy where roles change frequently and innovation is key.

FAQs: Interdisciplinary BSc Programs in Warangal

Q: Are interdisciplinary BSc programs more beneficial than traditional ones? A: They offer greater flexibility, broader career options, and better industry alignment, making them highly relevant today.

Q: Can I pursue higher studies after an interdisciplinary BSc? A: Yes, these programs often prepare you for specialized master’s courses, both in India and abroad.

Q: Will employers accept interdisciplinary graduates? A: Absolutely. In fact, many employers now prefer them for roles requiring multi-domain knowledge.

Q: Is the curriculum more difficult than single-stream programs? A: While it is broader, it is designed to be engaging and practical, supported by structured teaching methods.

Conclusion: Reimagining Science Education for a New India

Interdisciplinary BSc programs represent a major shift in how we perceive undergraduate science education. They go beyond producing subject experts to nurturing problem solvers, creators, and innovators. In cities like Warangal, where tradition meets technology, this trend is redefining what it means to be future-ready. With institutions like Bharathi Degree College leading the charge, pursuing a bsc degree in Warangal is no longer just about specialization—it's about integration, innovation, and impact.

[biplasmedical]

Optimising technology and IT sector recruitment

The importance of IT sector recruitment is growing in line with companies’ increasing use of technology.

There is a definite skills shortage in technology, but it’s possible to find talented applicants with the right approach.

In this article, we’ll explore the latest IT sector recruitment trends, and the key traits to look for in candidates. We’ll also look at strategies to improve your process for hiring IT staff.

Technology and IT sector recruitment trends

Let’s make sure you’re aware of what’s happening in technology and IT today:

IT was among the six fastest-growing UK industries in 2018

UK IT sector job vacancies rose 19% month-on-month during October 2018

32% of European companies plan to increase IT staff numbers this year

89% of UK companies expect their IT budget to be maintained or grow during 2019 (Spiceworks)

Improving outdated IT infrastructure is the biggest driver of budget increases, with larger businesses focusing on Cloud computing while smaller businesses focus on hardware (Spiceworks)

43% of IT professionals plan to leave their current employer in 2019, while 38% of UK IT staff want to find a new job (Computer World UK)

40% believe they’re due a raise from their employer, suggesting they feel undervalued (Computer World UK)

The median salary for IT staff in 2018 was £33,000 – just over the national average for men (Instant Offices)

Underserved IT sectors include tech development, telecommunications, financial services, manufacturing, public sector, retail, app development, the Internet of Things and AI

Key traits to look for in technology and IT staff

Next, you need to decide on the type of candidate you want to look for. Important traits for IT and technology staff include:

Attention to detail (one erroneous connection or piece of coding could spell disaster)

Patience to deal with complex tasks and non-tech-savvy individuals

Willingness to learn about company systems and new technologies

Ability to multitask and work within unusual time constraints (e.g. early mornings or after hours)

Communication skills needed to translate complex tasks into accessible ideas

Strong mathematical and analytical skills

Many other skills may be required for particular roles, but this list should be a good starting point.

Strategies for securing top technology and IT talent

Now you understand who you’re targeting, you need to develop a strategy to reach them. These are some of the IT sector recruitment techniques we recommend:

Find them where they live – online – and, ensure all your digital recruitment resources are bug-free and intuitively laid out

Involve your current IT staff in developing your recruitment strategy, and invite them to attend interviews to ask important technological questions as and when needed

Embrace gamification by setting an interactive challenge

Promote any advanced or unique technological systems they’ll get to work with

Discuss the degree of autonomy they’re likely to have

Work with universities to promote careers in IT and technology

Offer entry-level internships

By pursuing some of these strategies, you can put your company on the map. This should help you secure the talent you need.

Gain the insight you need to hire technology and IT staff by contacting our expert team.

Source : https://www.resourcegroupholdings.com/optimising-technology-sector-recruitment/

[fixoneglobaltrading]

The Return of the Venture Boom: Global Startup Funding Surges in 2025

After two years of uncertainty, corrections, and cautious optimism, venture capital is back in full force — and it’s not just back, it’s booming.

The first half of 2025 has witnessed a resurgence in global investments in startups, marked by record-breaking funding rounds, landmark IPOs, and an explosive wave of M&A activity. From Silicon Valley to Singapore, the new venture boom signals not just recovery — but a strategic reawakening.

From Winter to Awakening: What Changed?

The “venture winter” of 2022–2023 forced many founders to cut burn, delay IPOs, and seek sustainability. But with interest rates stabilizing, AI adoption accelerating, and liquidity returning to capital markets, investors have started to reallocate funds toward high-growth sectors.

According to Global VC Tracker, total startup investments in H1 2025 reached $310 billion globally, up 46% year-over-year. The number of mega-rounds (deals exceeding $100 million) has nearly doubled compared to the same period in 2024.

Sectors Leading the Charge

1. AI and Machine Learning

Startups building AI infrastructure, agent frameworks, and industry-specific models have attracted unprecedented capital. Unicorns like IntellectFlow (US) and NeuronNet (EU) closed Series D rounds at $1.2B+ valuations.

2. GreenTech & Clean Energy

Driven by government mandates and investor ESG mandates, sustainable tech startups like HydroForge (hydrogen storage) and SolarMesh (AI-powered solar optimization) are raising nine-figure rounds.

3. Fintech 3.0

After consolidation in the neobank space, a new generation of startups focused on tokenized assets, decentralized finance, and cross-border payment rails are catching VC interest — especially in Latin America and Southeast Asia.

Not Just Funding: M&A and IPOs Heat Up

In Q2 alone, the tech world saw over $65 billion in M&A transactions. Legacy giants, facing stagnation, are on the hunt for innovation:

Oracle acquired health-data platform VivoLogic for $7.8B

Tencent absorbed two gaming AI startups to fuel next-gen metaverse engines

Alphabet spun off and reabsorbed internal climate-focused divisions

Meanwhile, the IPO pipeline is heating up:

NeoCompute, an edge-AI chip manufacturer, debuted on NASDAQ at a $42B valuation

India’s PayRoo, a B2B payment aggregator, saw its IPO oversubscribed 12x

Europe’s FlowBank listed on Euronext, revitalizing interest in fintech public offerings

Why This Boom Feels Different

This isn’t the hype-fueled madness of 2021. Investors are more selective. Founders are more seasoned. And exit strategies are planned with discipline, not desperation.

What’s changed:

✅ Focus on fundamentals — revenue, unit economics, and traction matter again

✅ Cross-border syndicates — VCs from Singapore, Dubai, Berlin, and São Paulo are co-investing at record levels

✅ Tech-for-good — capital flows into mission-driven startups addressing health, climate, and financial inclusion

Cautionary Winds Still Blow

Despite the enthusiasm, venture leaders warn against irrational exuberance:

“The capital is back, but so are expectations. Today’s term sheets come with stricter clauses and clearer milestones,” — Sofia Ramirez, Partner at Meridian Ventures

Risk factors include:

Global inflationary aftershocks

Political tensions affecting cross-border funding

AI ethics and regulatory friction

The Outlook: A Smarter Boom

If 2021 was about FOMO, 2025 is about focus. The return of the venture boom is not just about big money — it’s about smart money flowing into de-risked innovation.

With dry powder at all-time highs, LPs hungry for yield, and startups now leaner and wiser, the second half of 2025 could mark the most productive chapter in modern venture capital history.

📌 TL;DR:

H1 2025 global startup funding hit $310B — up 46% YoY

AI, GreenTech, and Fintech lead the sector rebound

IPO and M&A activity is surging

Investors are wiser, founders more disciplined

The boom is back — but this time, it’s built to last.

[enertechupspvtltd]

Future of MPPT Technology in Solar Inverters: Trends to Watch

As the world shifts towards renewable energy, solar technology continues to evolve rapidly. Among the most important components of any efficient solar setup is the MPPT solar inverter, which plays a crucial role in maximizing power output from solar panels. With growing demand across residential, commercial, and industrial sectors, the future of MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) technology is brighter than ever.

In this article, we dive into the emerging trends shaping the future of MPPT solar inverters and how companies like EnerTech UPS Pvt Ltd are leading the charge in innovation.

🔍 What is MPPT in Solar Inverters?

MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) is an advanced technology used in solar inverters to extract the maximum possible power from solar panels, regardless of changing environmental conditions. An MPPT solar inverter constantly adjusts its input to find the "sweet spot"—the point at which the solar panel generates the most power.

🚀 Why MPPT Technology Matters More Than Ever

As solar installations grow in size and complexity, the importance of efficient energy conversion becomes even more critical. MPPT solar inverters ensure:

Higher energy yields

Better performance in low-light or partial shading conditions

Efficient use of large solar arrays

Reduced power losses and better ROI

🔮 Future Trends in MPPT Solar Inverter Technology

1. AI-Powered MPPT Algorithms

Artificial Intelligence and machine learning are beginning to influence the development of smart MPPT algorithms. These future-ready inverters will:

Learn from real-time environmental data

Predict optimal settings

Self-optimize for weather conditions and panel behavior

EnerTech UPS Pvt Ltd is actively exploring AI-integrated MPPT inverters to offer intelligent, self-adjusting systems tailored for industrial and agricultural setups.

2. MPPT + Battery Energy Storage Integration

As more users move toward off-grid or hybrid systems, MPPT inverters with seamless battery integration will become standard. This allows excess solar power to be stored and used during peak demand or outages.

EnerTech’s hybrid MPPT solar inverters already support advanced battery energy storage systems, giving users more control and energy independence.

3. Modular and Scalable MPPT Solutions

The future demands modular MPPT inverters that can scale up with growing power requirements. Businesses won’t need to replace their inverters; instead, they’ll simply add new modules.

EnerTech UPS Pvt Ltd’s upcoming MPPT inverter models are designed to be modular, allowing industries to expand capacity without redesigning their systems.

4. IoT-Enabled Remote Monitoring

Modern MPPT inverters are moving towards remote cloud-based monitoring. With IoT integration, users can:

Track performance in real time

Receive maintenance alerts

Optimize performance remotely

EnerTech’s MPPT solar inverter solutions are built with remote monitoring capability, making them perfect for decentralized installations across multiple locations.

5. MPPT for Diverse Applications

Expect MPPT solar inverters to be increasingly customized for niche applications:

Cold storage and greenhouses

Telecom towers

EV charging stations

Smart microgrids

EnerTech is currently deploying MPPT-based systems across a variety of sectors, including agriculture, oil & gas, and public infrastructure.

🌱 EnerTech UPS Pvt Ltd: Driving Innovation in MPPT Technology

As a leading Indian manufacturer of power electronics, EnerTech UPS Pvt Ltd is at the forefront of developing next-generation MPPT solar inverters that are:

Durable in harsh Indian climates

Compatible with advanced storage solutions

Equipped with remote diagnostics and smart control

Whether it’s a polyhouse in Madhya Pradesh or an industrial site in Rajasthan, EnerTech’s MPPT technology ensures reliable and clean power wherever it’s needed.

📈 Final Thoughts

The future of solar is efficient, intelligent, and scalable—and the MPPT solar inverter will be at the heart of this transformation. As technology evolves, early adopters of advanced MPPT systems will benefit from higher yields, smarter energy use, and lower operational costs.

EnerTech UPS Pvt Ltd continues to lead this revolution, delivering robust solar inverter solutions designed to meet the energy needs of tomorrow.