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These reports, excerpted and edited by Barron’s, were issued recently by investment and research firms. The reports are a sampling of analysts’ thinking; they should not be considered the views or recommendations of Barron’s. Some of the reports’ issuers have provided, or hope to provide, investment-banking or other services to the companies being analyzed.
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Stocks rose for a fourth day in a row on Thursday, a day ahead of second-quarter earnings from America’s biggest lenders. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
rose about 46 points, or 0.1%, ending near 34,394, according to preliminary data from FactSet. But the S&P 500 index
SPX,
gained 0.9% to end at 4,509, clearing the 4,500 mark for the first time since April 5, 2022 when it ended at 4,545.86, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
scored another blockbuster day, up 1.6%. Investors have been optimistic as inflation pressures ease and as perhaps the best-telegraphed U.S. economic recession in recent history has yet to materialize. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq have been charging higher on buzz about AI technology, with much of this year’s stock-market gains fueled by a small group of stocks. The risk-on tone ahead of earnings from JPMorgan Chase and Co.,
JPM,
Wells Fargo
WFC,
and Citigroup
C,
had the U.S. dollar
DXY,
earlier on pace to end at its lowest level since early April 2022. Treasury yields also continued to fall, with the 10-year
TMUBMUSD10Y,
rate back down to 3.759%, after topping 4% in recent weeks. The six biggest banks are expected to issue a deluge of fresh debt after earnings, despite the Federal Reserve having sharply increased rates and borrowing costs for businesses and households to tame inflation.
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U.S. stocks jumped on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 scoring its best daily gain in almost two weeks as technology shares climbed and housing data pointed to continued resilience in the U.S. economy, despite the Federal Reserve’s sharply higher interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
rose about 211 points, or 0.6%, ending near 33,926, according to preliminary FactSet data. The S&P 500 index
SPX,
gained 1.1%, posting its best daily percentage gain since June 15, according to FactSet data. The Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
rose 1.7%. Stocks appeared poised to resume a tech-fueled rally that has the S&P 500 up 14% on the year so far and the Nasdaq about 29.5% higher. The S&P 500’s information technology sector jumped 2% Tuesday, while Communication Services rose 1.1%. Bolstering the tone, new home sales surged 12.2% in May, while the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city house-price index climbed in April.
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As we enter artificial intelligence’s brave new world, humans have naturally come to fear what the future holds. Do computers like HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey pose an existential threat? Or in an incident not from Hollywood fiction, an Air Force official’s recent remarks implying that a drone had autonomously changed course and killed its operator, only to be later declared a hypothetical, certainly raised alarm.
Closer to home for most of us, the release of large language models like ChatGPT have renewed worries about automation, reminiscent of earlier fears about mechanization. AI has advanced far beyond rote data-storage tasks and can even pass the bar exam, or write news, or research papers, leading to fears of massive white-collar unemployment.
But, as new research looking at data of job churn over the past two decades finds, the impact of automation on workers and industries is, in fact, pretty hard to predict given the complexity of the labor market, requiring carefully crafted policies that take these nuances into account.
First, changes in exposure to automation are not intuitive: they do not easily mesh with “blue-collar” and “white-collar” jobs, as typically defined. Instead, automation is more closely linked to the tasks and characteristics of each job, such as repetitiveness and face-to-face interactions. That translates to the three most automation-exposed jobs: office and administrative support, production, and business and financial operations occupations.
Meanwhile, the three least automation-exposed jobs are in personal care; installation, maintenance and repair occupations; and teaching. In other words, even with the Internet of Things controlling your HVAC system, it cannot fix itself when it needs new refrigerant, but its smart-panel interface can help the technician diagnose the problem remotely quickly and know what equipment to bring for a repair. But back-end accountants in that company may not fare as well in the AI jobs sweepstakes.
While automation can displace workers, history suggests that new technology also tends to boost productivity and create new jobs. Consider the automobile: while horses and buggies are outdated, we still need humans to drive (at least until autonomous vehicles come to full fruition), and the assembly line helped automate manufacturing with entire new classes of jobs created for every part of a car and all its electronic systems, with almost 1 million U.S. workers in auto manufacturing today.
But automation has continued in the auto industry over the decades, with robots helping to make hard and heavy physical labor tasks easier, without fully displacing workers. So there is a push-pull with automation, and the relative sizes of these countervailing effects remains an area of active scholarly debate.
“ It is rare for an entire job class to disappear overnight; changes mainly take place over generations ”
Second, it is rare for an entire job class to disappear overnight; changes mainly take place over generations. The research shows that newer generations of workers, perhaps deterred by the job insecurity observed in earlier generations and lured by high wages in the technology sector, are less inclined to enter automation-prone jobs than those before them. However, after embarking down those career paths, workers tend to stay in their fields, even if the prospects of automation loom large, likely because reskilling is time-consuming and expensive. It is relatively easy for recent high school graduates to opt for tech-centric college degrees like computer science, but learning new skills like coding is more difficult for mid-career professionals in automation-susceptible fields like manufacturing.
Adjustments to automation can be slow on the business side as well. Incorporating automated technology takes time because modern production tasks tend to be so intertwined that automating one part of a business can affect all other operations. For example, when AT&T, once the country’s largest firm, began replacing telephone operators with mechanical switchboards, they found that operators had become central to the complex production system that grew around them, which is why there are fewer operators today, but some still exist.
Third, the research found that the share of workers in highly automation-exposed occupations tends to be clustered, ranging from about 25% to 36% across commuting zones. The least-exposed areas in the U.S. are across the Mountain West, thanks to the area’s high shares of workers in management, retail sales and construction (which hasn’t had much automation or productivity improvement in decades but additive manufacturing may be a game-changer), as well as those on the East and West coasts, with their more innovative finance and tech industries.
On the other hand, those most exposed to automation tend to be located in the Great Plains and Rust Belt, namely due to agriculture. In spite of the fact that U.S. agriculture has been exposed to automation for over a century (more efficient machines and advances in biotechnology), it has become even more technology-driven recently, making ag workers more likely to be impacted by automation.
Read: How artificial intelligence can make hiring bias worse
So will the robots take over your job soon? More likely, they will make our jobs easier and more efficient. Trying to slow the adoption of technology is both futile and counterproductive: taxing or overregulating tech adoption may backfire, especially given global competitiveness and other countries who may not pause. While the advent of a new era of automation is likely to be both gradually incorporated and result in complements to human labor rather than full replacement, thoughtful policies can help disrupted workers transition to new and better opportunities, ensuring we can harness the transformative power of automation and foster a future of work that benefits all.
Eric Carlson is associate economist at the Economic Innovation Group; DJ Nordquist is EIG’s executive vice president.
More: AI is ready to take on menial tasks in the workplace, but don’t sweat robot replacement (just yet)
Also read: ‘Make friends with this technology’: Yes, AI is coming for your job. Here’s how to prepare.
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Users of Apple Inc.’s iPhone will soon be able to more easily screen calls, check-in with loved ones and exchange contact information.
Apple
AAPL,
executives teased the elements of its forthcoming iOS17 software update at the keynote address of its WWDC event Monday, which also brought the introduction of new Macs.
Consumers will gain the ability to choose how they come up when they call others through a new “poster” feature. Users will be able to customize posters with photographs and fonts, and have these appear in another person’s contacts app.
The company is also changing up how calls work by adding a way for people to pick up calls while they’re in the middle of receiving a voice mail. A new on-device live-voicemail feature will show transcripts of a voice mail while it’s in progress, so people can determine that a call isn’t spam or is important enough to stop what they’re doing before they pick it up.
Users will also gain the ability to leave a message when using FaceTime, Apple’s video-calling app.
See also: Apple’s stock at all-time highs ahead of WWDC headset reveal
Within iMessage, Apple will offer the ability for people to share their locations within a conversation and check in with loved ones. People will be able to set up a check-in option that can notify loved ones when they get home and offer alerts about battery, cell service, and location if they end up running late.
Apple is also enhancing the Stickers feature within iMessage with the ability to create “live stickers” from photos. Further, it’s tucking iMessage apps like Stickers behind a menu so they don’t initially clutter the message screen.
Within iMessage, Apple will make it easier for people to jump to the top of long group threads and swipe to reply to a given message.
Apple is introducing a NameDrop feature that lets people share contact information just by tapping their phones together. It’s also augmenting AutoCorrect with in-line predictions that go beyond one word and the ability for people to teach autocorrect their preferences better.
Read: Apple could be cooking up 3 more $10 billion-plus businesses, one analyst says
The company is rolling out two new apps, including one for journaling. People will be able to collect photos, music, and written notes into moments. A new StandBy app will turn a locked iPhone into a smart display that users can customize based on their preferences and the time of day.
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The institution plans to implement Pathify to optimize the digital campus experience for students.
DENVER, May 18, 2023 (Newswire.com)
–
Pathify — the premier centralized user experience hub for higher ed — is honored to welcome Brigham Young University-Hawaii to their expanding community of partners committed to improving the student technology experience. The institution, which is part of the nationwide Church Educational System for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, plans to implement Pathify to optimize the digital experience for students.
“We are excited about the many different features that the Pathify portal provides,” said Leilani Guerrero, Manager of Digital Communications at Brigham Young University-Hawaii. “Being able to make resources available by groups and communicate with those individual groups is very important when we have such a diverse and international student body with different needs. Pathify also allows us to provide a customizable repository of tools and allows for two-way communication between students and departments.”
Pathify fills the massive user experience void at the center of the higher education digital ecosystem, delivering a personalized user experience unifying technology, content, communications and people. Offering highly personalized experiences for users at every point in their journey, the Engagement Hub encourages system-agnostic integrations, collaborative social groups, personalized tasks, and multi-channel communication with full web/mobile parity.
“BYU-Hawaii represents a unique partner and use case for our platform,” said Matt Hammond, Chief Revenue Officer at Pathify. “Their unique campus environment and distinct institutional culture create an exciting opportunity for how they utilize Pathify to support their students. We can’t wait to see the awesome work they do!”
BYU-Hawaii joins the Pathify customer community along other recent customers such as Howard Payne University, Aquinas College, and their sibling institution – Brigham Young University-Idaho.
About Brigham Young University-Hawaii
Brigham Young University-Hawaii is the preeminent international center of learning in the Pacific. Its small campus is a unique laboratory of intercultural leadership development, where a diverse population of 3,200 students representing over 70 countries live, study and work together. Small classes taught by expert faculty empower students to master a challenging and relevant curriculum. Affordable tuition, financial aid, and online study options make this valuable education more accessible. Operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a total BYU-Hawaii education involves not only intellectual learning and career preparation, but also moral, ethical, and spiritual enrichment. All the while, students enjoy living and learning in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Graduates go forth to serve, prepared to promote peace and prosperity as leaders worldwide.
Learn more at byuh.edu.
About Pathify
Obsessed with making great technology while developing incredible long-term relationships with customers, Pathify remains hyper-focused on creating stellar experiences across the entire student lifecycle. Delivering cloud-based, integration-friendly software designed to drive engagement, Pathify pushes personalized content to the right people, at the right time — on any device. Pathify is led by former higher ed executives, entrepreneurs and technology leaders.
Learn more at pathify.com.
Source: Pathify
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Cybersecurity attacks are not limited to large corporations. According to recent data reported on StrongDM, as many as 45% of all cyber breaches impact businesses with fewer than 1,000 employers, and 61% of small businesses were the targets for these attacks in 2021.
If you want to train a cybersecurity team in house, give them access to the Complete iCollege 2023 CompTIA Certification Course Super Bundle. This 13-course cybersecurity training course gives users lifetime access to 239 hours of expert instruction to prepare for CompTIA cybersecurity certification, and it only costs $69. That’s the best price online.
If you want to avoid the cost of outsourcing your IT department, this certification preparation bundle may be a viable solution. This CompTIA prep bundle gives users access to 239 hours of expert instruction on a variety of essential security topics. That includes introductions to penetration testing, cloud computing, and there is even a course on Linux Operations and server management that may help you streamline your remote operations.
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One verified buyer, Louis, writes, “CompTIA A+ core 1 and 2 are very instructive, and so I’m at Linux+ and love the presentation and the class notes in PDF format are just what I needed. Love this course.” All course materials are yours for life, and they could be invaluable study tools in anticipation of the difficult certification exams to follow.
Once your team is trained, they may be equipped to anticipate cyber threats and help you streamline day-to-day tech operations. Having trained server technicians could be just as useful for maintaining productivity.
You may not need to burn through your budget protecting yourself from a threat you could train your team to manage.
Get the Complete iCollege 2023 CompTIA Certification Course Super Bundle on sale for $69 (reg. $195).
Prices subject to change.
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Foreign investors and businesspeople with exposure to China are becoming increasingly unnerved. And for good reason.
In March, Chinese authorities detained an employee of Japanese drug manufacturer Astellas Pharma JP:4503 ALPMY for alleged espionage violations. The Chinese seem confident in their case. Beijing’s ambassador to Japan said there was ample evidence of wrongdoing, and, despite the uproar, the Astellas employee remains detained.
That…
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The dawn of the 21st century has ushered in the era of remote work. With technological advancements allowing for increased connectivity amongst individuals, organizations can now operate from disparate locations around the globe. The concept of remote work has been gaining traction over the last decade, with more companies embracing it as a viable option for their businesses.
However, despite its potential benefits, particular challenges must be addressed if remote working is to become an integral part of the workforce. In this article, we will explore some of these challenges and opportunities that lie ahead regarding the future of remote work.
Related: When Office Return Turns Sour: Apple and Twitter’s Struggles Reveal Fractures in Corporate Culture
One of the primary challenges associated with implementing a successful remote work policy is ensuring that employees remain productive while away from their traditional office environment. It is essential to create effective communication systems and establish clear expectations around duties and tasks to ensure that employees remain motivated and productive. Without these safeguards, productivity could suffer due to distractions or lack of motivation.
Another challenge is providing adequate support systems for staff. When managing a distributed team, it can be challenging to provide consistent feedback and guidance on activities and effectively monitor progress and performance. This can lead to feelings of isolation among staff members, which can harm employee well-being and overall business performance.
Despite these challenges, many opportunities are associated with introducing remote working policies into organizations. One such opportunity lies in cost savings for employers; by reducing rental costs on office spaces or eliminating travel expenses for commuting staff members, organizations can make significant cost reductions which can improve financial performance or provide additional funds for other investments within the business.
Remote working is also beneficial from an employee perspective; studies suggest that staff who can work experience increased job satisfaction due to improved flexibility and control over their daily routine remotely. Additionally, enabling remote working also provides employers access to global talent pools as they no longer need to be confined by physical boundaries when recruiting new staff members.
Finally, enabling flexible working arrangements could help organizations become more agile in responding to changing customer needs or market conditions; by having access to external resources, they’ll no longer need to rely solely on internal resources when adapting their operations quickly.
Related: Benefits of Remote Work are a Widespread Success
As technology advances exponentially, so does its application within various fields, including business and society. Artificial intelligence (AI) presents great potential for increasing efficiency and creating innovative solutions within various industries such as healthcare, finance and manufacturing. However, like any new development, AI also raises concerns about its potential societal implications. In this section, we shall explore some key ways AI may have both positive and negative implications for businesses, society and human rights.
1. Enhanced accuracy and efficiency — One significant advantage artificial intelligence offers are its ability to improve accuracy & efficiency across many different tasks. For example, AI-powered bots and applications can automate mundane tasks with precision far beyond what humans would be capable of achieving. This increases output accuracy while freeing up valuable time, which could instead be used to tackle higher-value tasks. As such, adopting AI-driven solutions often leads to increased operational efficiency & cost savings, which can benefit both businesses and society.
2. Improved decision-making capabilities — AI technologies also possess remarkable decision-making capabilities, which can significantly aid in strategic decision-making processes. For example, using automated data analysis algorithms, businesses can gain valuable insights about target markets and customers, leading to improved marketing strategies and customer service protocols.
Similarly, healthcare providers may use AI-driven genomic mapping algorithms to identify diseases earlier than possible, enabling more effective treatment plans before symptoms develop. Such innovations present great potential benefits to societies at large, providing improved medical care while simultaneously reducing costs associated with wasted resources resulting from ineffective decisions being made previously.
Related: How to Leverage AI for Maximum Benefits for Your Business
1. Loss of human jobs — One concerning factor raised frequently when discussing potential impacts AI might have upon society relates to the loss of jobs currently done by humans being replaced by machines taking over roles once held by people. At the same time, it may create social difficulties, particularly for those already vulnerable, such as low-income earners and elderly citizens
2. Regulation — Another downside of automation through artificial intelligence lies in difficulty surrounding regulation and enforcement. Given the current rate of advancement, technology outpaces traditional regulatory systems meaning lawmakers struggle to keep up with ever-changing technical sectors. This means laws may not sufficiently address issues directly related to emerging technologies, leaving them open to exploitation.
While artificial intelligence has great potential to enhance different aspects of our lives, both personally and professionally, there still remain ethical considerations, and problem areas arise should we fail to pay attention to what exactly controls us.
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The U.S. economy added 236,000 jobs in March, just shy of the 238,000 forecast by economists polled by the Wall Street Journal. The unemployment rate declined to 3.5% in March from 3.6% in February.
The latest data was calculated before the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank last month, an event that…
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Even small businesses can be the target of cyber attacks. Roughly 43% of all cyberattacks target small- to mid-size businesses, and 60% of them go out of business within six months. So if you want to create your team that will help protect your business from cyber attacks, education is the first step. The Complete Cyber Security Developer and IT Skills Bundle could help you or your employees train to secure your business against attacks, and it’s only $79.99.
This IT training bundle features comprehensive high-quality content with 26 courses covering more than 400 hours of material to teach a tech-savvy team member how to protect your web spaces and identify potential vulnerabilities. All courses are taught by professionals from iCollege — who exclusively partners with ITproTv to bring superior training to the masses — and cover an expansive range of materials. As one verfied buyer said, “It has the most complete Cyber Security training that I have seen.”
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A user can learn about the fundamentals in this bundle. Study penetration testing, Linux security techniques, ethical hacking, and get familiar with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in dedicated courses designed by experienced workersh in the industry.
Make your worker’s IT career path official with certification from CompTIA. This bundle includes three certification prep courses that cover general principles in cybersecurity that are introduced in more detail in other included courses. There’s even a five-hour course on disaster recovery to show users how to protect data during an emergency and practice risk assessment to prevent downtime.
Protect your business from attacks you can’t see. The Complete Cyber Security Developer and IT Skills Bundle is on sale for only $79.99 (reg. $7,774). That’s the best price online.
Prices subject to change.
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Between the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and other banks being bailed out, it’s fair to wonder if we’re on the brink of a financial crisis. Owners of businesses of all sizes should take notice and think about ways to save money. For example, if you’re a business that relies on digital tools, you may want to cut back on your IT expenses.
What better way to do that than by becoming your own IT expert? During our Spring Digital Blowout, you can work towards that goal and stay on budget with a price drop on The 2023 All-In-One IT Training Lifetime Training Bundle. Through April 3, you can get this bundle for just $19.97.
You’ll get lifetime access to over 180 hours of training resources, including labs and exercises to help you pass many of the leading IT certification exams. The bundle is offered by LabsDigest (4.1/5-star instructor rating), a leading IT training provider and certification resources specializing in providing comprehensive training for CompTIA Performance-based Questions (PBQs), Cisco technologies, Python programming, and more. Everything is tailored to help you pass your target exams on your first try.
You’ll get lifetime access to unlimited CompTIA labs and PBQs, unlimited Linux exercises, unlimited Python exercises, and lifetime access to all updates. You’ll learn how to program the right way, improve IT efficiency, understand how to assess threats and vulnerabilities to your network properly, explore the best practices of security-related concepts, and more.
Some of the exams covered include CompTIA A+ (220–1101 and 220–1102), CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+, CCNA, DevNet Associate, and more.
Now through 11:59 pm on April 3, you can get this All-In-One IT Training Lifetime bundle for just $19.97 (reg. $459).
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U.S. stocks turned higher, shaking off earlier weakness, after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its policy rate as expected by 25 basis points to help fight inflation. The increase in interest rates comes despite recent weakness in the banking system after the collapse earlier in March of Silicon Valley Bank. The S&P 500 index
SPX,
was up 14 points, or 0.4%, to about 4,016, at last check, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
was up 0.2% near 32,609 and the Nasdaq Composite Index was 0.7% higher. The Fed also said the U.S. banking system remains resilient, in its policy statement. The 10-year Treasury rate
TMUBMUSD10Y,
was lower at 3.52%.
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We’re on the cusp of a technological revolution not seen since the dotcom boom of the ’90s. Microsoft and Google are racing to launch competing products based on the tech driving it. All that’s left is for smaller startups to rebrand themselves to ride the hype and boom! We’ve landed ourselves in a bubble.
Everyone who was around during the NFT golden era of 2021 knows exactly where I’m going with this. The hype surrounding OpenAI’s generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT, is giving us all a dose of deja vu. Luckily, there are key differences between the AI paradigm shift we’re currently experiencing and the NFT bubble from a year and a half ago.
It’s crucial to separate fact from fiction and ensure AI innovators seize on this moment to push the boundaries of the technology efficiently and ethically.
Related: What Is ChatGPT? Google, Siri and Even ChatGPT Are Confused About Its Existence
While we can draw lessons from the NFT boom of 2021, from a strictly technological standpoint, ChatGPT simply blows the Ethereum wallet on which you store NFT jpegs out of the water.
We’re talking about a complex Language Learning Model (LLM) that digests massive quantities of text data and infers relationships between words within the text. Essentially, LLMs fill in the blank with the most statistically probable word given the surrounding context — and ChatGPT is doing this on a scale never seen before to write poems, movies and essays.
Conversely, NFTs are stored on blockchain-based wallets to represent digital ownership over a particular asset — whether digital or physical. This could be a painting, a car or a meme. So the “NFT technology” we’re talking about is really just code for “blockchain.”
That’s not to downplay the potential of blockchain, and particularly NFTs, to solve the digital ownership problem. For example, a world in which musicians regain the ability to own and sell their music online sounds promising for creators who have drawn the shorter stick in the democratization of information spurred by the internet. It does mean, however, that its potential to radically transform industries was massively exaggerated by many of the companies selling themselves as “Metaverse” and “NFT” platforms. And it’s certainly limited when compared with the potential of AI.
After years of determination, blockchain enthusiasts are still trying to find a use case that will spark mass adoption. Sure, some average people invest in bitcoin and bought NFTs in 2021. But compare that to the number of offices that started using ChatGPT days after its launch, and we have a clear winner.
Related: Does AI Deserve All the Hype? Here’s How You Can Actually Use AI in Your Business
It’s a lot harder to convincingly “fake” being an AI company. The blockchain industry is so intentionally confusing that companies in 2021 were trying to pass off digital art that wasn’t even blockchain-based as “NFTs,” and standard Play-to-Earn (P2E) games were adding “Metaverse” to their messaging.
That simply won’t be a problem for AI. Instead, the AI industry has more serious challenges with which to contend. Companies across virtually every industry will integrate and build on top of ChatGPT and other successful generative AI tools, finding new and interesting use cases for them.
For that to happen, AI innovators will have to spot ChatGPT’s flaws and leverage its strengths. Dr. Michal Tzuchman-Katz, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer at Kahun Medical, points to the improvements an AI model like ChatGPT would need to make a dent in healthcare and better serve doctors. The company built an AI tool that “thinks like a doctor” and offers doctors clinical intake before patient visits.
While ChatGPT might be able to make textual interaction with patients smoother, it can’t think clinically like Kahun, which consults with its own database of peer-reviewed medical literature to produce responses and traces back to its originating sources.
ChatGPT, on the other hand, produces answers based on comparing the user’s input with the input of thousands of others and isn’t as transparent regarding its sources. That’s a problem for other industries, too. There’s talk about students using ChatGPT to write essays and answer homework questions. But professional journalists and authors won’t be able to utilize the model beyond ideation and outline building if it can’t cite its sources thoroughly enough.
And then there’s the bias problem. Conservative commentators have reveled in tweeting about examples of ChatGPT showing an obvious left-leaning bias. AI more broadly is also riddled with racial bias. Finding a solution to this will be one of the biggest challenges AI innovators face in expanding the technology’s use.
As far as accuracy, we can, of course, expect ChatGPT to improve quite rapidly. The goal going forward for AI innovators is to take part in its expansion and improve upon it. Adding a transparency layer and tackling the bias problem will be key to ensuring it becomes more ethical and practical overall.
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LONDON — The U.K. government was scrambling on Sunday to limit the fallout for the British tech sector from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, a big U.S. lender to many startups and technology companies.
The government is treating the potential reverberations as “a high priority” after a run on deposits drove California-based SVB into insolvency, marking the largest bank failure since the global financial crisis, U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said in a statement Sunday morning. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and other policymakers were on alert that problems at SVB could spread.
Hunt said the British government is working on a plan to backstop the cashflow needs of companies affected by SVB’s implosion and the halt in trading of its British unit, Silicon Valley Bank UK. The Bank of England announced on Friday that the U.K. unit is set to enter insolvency.
Silicon Valley Bank’s “failure could have a significant impact on the liquidity of the tech ecosystem,” Hunt said.
The government is working “to avoid or minimize damage to some of our most promising companies in the U.K.,” the chancellor said. “We will bring forward immediate plans to ensure the short-term operational and cashflow needs of Silicon Valley Bank UK customers are able to be met.”
Hunt told the BBC Sunday morning that the government would have a plan that deals with the operational cashflow needs of companies “in the next few days.”
Discussions between the governor of the Bank of England, the prime minister and the chancellor were taking place over the weekend, according to the statement.
Speaking on Sky News Sunday morning, Hunt said that Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey had made it clear that there was “no systemic risk to our financial system.” But Hunt warned that there was a “serious risk” to the technology and life-sciences sectors in the U.K.
Ministers held talks with the tech industry on Saturday after tech executives in an open letter warned Hunt that the SVB collapse posed an “existential threat” to the U.K. tech sector. They called for government intervention.
Britain’s science and technology minister on Saturday pledged to do “everything we can” to limit the repercussions on U.K. tech companies.
Michelle Donelan, who heads the newly created Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, said in a tweet: “We recognize that the tech sector is often not cashflow positive as they grow and I am determined to stand with them as we do everything we can to minimize impact on the sector.”
A bank insolvency procedure for Silicon Valley Bank UK would mean eligible depositors would be paid the protected limit of £85,000, or up to £170,000 for joint accounts.
The Bank of England said in its Friday statement that SVB UK “has a limited presence in the U.K. and no critical functions supporting the financial system.”
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A small business will spend about 6.9% of its revenue on IT. However, if you can get trained as an IT specialist, you may be able to take on some of that work yourself and cut costs, and you could do it all from the comfort of your home with the Complete 2023 Cyber Security Developer and IT Skills Bundle.
This comprehensive tech training bundle has over 400 hours of lessons spanning Python, penetration testing, disaster recovery, and a lot more. All of it is available for life at a reduced price of $69.99 for Presidents’ Day.
This IT training bundle contains 20 courses spanning a range of topics you may be able to apply to your business. On average, an unplanned tech outage can cost a small business up to $423 a minute based on calculations of customer retention and loss of employee productivity. Learn how to mitigate downtime in Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery so you can help secure your business against a loss of revenue.
Protecting your company against digital threats may require more than a firewall. This bundle has four courses on penetration testing to help you identify vulnerabilities in your network.
This bundle may also be a useful training tool to get a promising employee up to speed. Direct them to the four CompTIA courses if they need to prepare for their official CompTIA certification. Investing in an employee’s advanced IT training could pay dividends when you avoid the high cost of outsourcing your tech needs.
Get the Complete 2023 Cyber Security Developer and IT Skills bundle while it’s on sale with a best-of-web price for Presidents’ Day, just $69.99 (reg. $7,774) from February 17 through February 20 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
Prices subject to change.
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In the world of big tech, there have been many hiring freezes and recent layoffs. Many worry that layoffs in this realm signify an impending national economic crisis. Yet, there is hope for tech workers and jobs outside traditional tech giants. Companies outside of big tech are scooping up tech talent to develop their tech infrastructures.
All in all, don’t expect a slowdown in Information Technology (IT). What you should expect is a redistribution.
Related: Why The Consumer Tech World Is Too Focused on Electronics
Three major jobs in the ICT industry are a software developer or engineer, user support specialist and systems analyst. Other positions include project managers, systems engineers, systems administrators and network engineers. High-profile tech layoffs and hiring freezes are masking the job growth and demand that remains in the job market. Many companies outside of the tech sector are hiring tech workers for their digital transformation processes. As a result, the growth rate outside big tech firms is minimally affected.
Some tech firms’ layoffs, such as those at Stripe and Meta, result from over-hiring. This happened as part of the tech boom that emerged during the COVID pandemic in 2020 and has less to do with the state of our economy. Raising capital is increasingly difficult as these tech firms’ public market valuations decrease. Therefore, they’re switching from a hyper-growth mode to an efficient growth mode.
Globally, there has been a shortage of tech workers for a while. Management consulting firm Korn Ferry predicts we’ll be short over 85 million tech workers globally by 2030. That’s $8.5 trillion in lost annual revenue. Since technology is rapidly becoming a fundamental element in every operation within any company, there will always be a shortage of highly skilled tech workers, no matter how many companies hire and pay more.
Related: What the Future Looks Like for Fresh Graduates in the Tech Industry
There is too much work worldwide to build new digital products, rebuild old systems, take advantage of cloud tech and automate human-dependent processes.
Tech job postings are higher by 25% this year as aerospace, finance and healthcare companies are vying to hire tech talent. And since 2020, tech talents worldwide have been finding work in Canada, specifically in Toronto and Vancouver. One reason for this could be the Trump administration’s tricky immigration policy. Why jump through hoops to work in the US when neighboring Canada has looser guidelines and available work?
Canada’s tech job growth rate has been outpacing that of the United States. This continues even as cities such as Seattle and San Francisco have tech giants hiring masses of workers.
While big tech firms will slow down, other industries (e.g., travel and healthcare) will take advantage, meaning more resources will come in.
Every laid-off tech worker has a job waiting for them in the United States or elsewhere. Remote work, burgeoning since 2020, has extended the job market and made it possible for people to work anywhere.
Compensation and perks in big tech and Silicon Valley have reached crazy levels. Many believe that the Valley is losing its unique aura. Silicon Valley talent may not be a good fit for “Main Street” and may have little interest in working in such an environment. They will have to adjust, leading to a healthier, adaptable and sustainable tech workforce in the long term. Silicon Valley and New York City, traditional major tech hubs, are cooling down and cutting costs. However, states like Pennsylvania, Arizona, Texas and Florida are seeing tech industry job growth.
It’s also important to keep the Eastern European IT picture in mind. What is happening now is that Eastern Europe, which was traditionally considered to be the main competitor, is in turmoil because of the war in Ukraine. Although still working and available, Russia and Belarus are no longer in the picture, and Ukraine is a high risk. Poland, Romania, Serbia and Portugal are becoming more expensive because of war and the reduced talent market. This is helping India, always a big IT outsourcing hub, benefit.
Labor market conditions are only getting better. Tech is the backbone of every company, whether in consulting, healthcare or aerospace. Displaced big tech workers will turn to companies in other sectors where they’ll still be paid well and expected to work similar jobs. IT jobs were hot and still are because of the law of supply and demand.
Every company wants to hire the best tech talent. However, there’s only so much talent to choose from. It can get pretty competitive when another company can lure away the tech workers that one company has been eyeing. Let the tech talent wars continue.
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Out of all the programming languages you need to learn in the IT industry, SQL is one of the most important. SQL is so integral to modern big data access and organization processes that it’s never a bad idea to grasp the basics of this language, even if you don’t work in the IT industry.
This article will break down what SQL is, how it works and when this language is used for everyday operations.
SQL stands for “structured query language.” This core programming language is primarily used to manipulate or communicate with information databases.
For example, when a computer requests information from a local library, SQL facilitates information transfer between that terminal and the library’s database.
However, SQL is also frequently used by businesses. SQL enables enterprises to access and organize the mountains of data they collect from their customers, which is increasingly common and important today.
Related: Learn How to Manage Data Like a Pro with This SQL Course
SQL was created in the 1970s by IBM laboratories. Scientists at IBM created SQL to take advantage of a new database software system called System R. SQL was needed to manage all the data stored in System R.
SQL was initially called Sequel, which is where the language got its acronym and spoken name. SQL was then updated in 1979 by Relational Software, a company that later became Oracle. Oracle changed SQL into Oracle V2, a modified version of SQL.
Today, SQL is still widely used around the world for a variety of purposes.
To be more specific, SQL allows users to:
In other words, SQL allows users to accurately access and manipulate their data sets in an efficient, streamlined way.
SQL servers and relational database management systems or RDMS, are available from organizations like Microsoft in their Microsoft SQL Server (MS SQL). It’s a standard of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
At its core, SQL is used to access and manipulate database information.
For example, businesses may use SQL to modify, add to, remove or otherwise organize data stored in private databases.
In addition, businesses can use SQL programs to create and alter data tables: an essential part of data analysis and understanding.
Note that a “database” is any tool used to collect and organize dense information in these circumstances. Databases, for example, can store customer information, transaction information and much more.
SQL is often needed for other programs or programming languages to interface with databases stored on remote or on-site servers.
Python, Javascript or some other standard language can interact with an SQL database, which uses its own data manipulation language (DML)/data definition language (DDL). An SQL protocol can access the data before retrieving it and translating it into an output or format that Python can understand/render to an end user.
Overall, SQL is essential for the following:
Given its versatility and importance, SQL is one of the best programming languages to learn. If you want to join the IT industry at any point, becoming fluent in SQL standards will bolster your resume and career prospects.
Related: Transform Data Into Game-Changing Insights with This SQL Training
The SQL language has several vital elements that dictate its language syntax and format. All language commands in database management systems or databases are executed through specialized SQL command line interfaces or CLIs.
The significant elements of SQL include:
Very broadly, when a database system uses SQL, SQL statements send queries from a client program or server where data is stored. The server then processes SQL statements and gives replies to the client program or terminal.
In this way, SQL lets users execute many data manipulation operations quickly and efficiently using direct data inputs.
To better understand SQL and how it works, it helps to understand some of the most common SQL commands.
Here are just a few examples:
SQL is such a comprehensive and versatile language that it also includes many more complex commands. As a data control language, data analysts spend a lot of time learning the ins and outs of its database tables, database objects, relational models and data types.
While there are different versions or frameworks for SQL, the most common framework used is MySQL. MySQL is an open-source version of this programming language that facilitates the primary role of SQL, enabling organizations to manage their backend data and web applications quickly.
For instance, companies like Instagram, Facebook and more use SQL for data processing and backend data storage.
So, how does this all work? When a user or programmer writes an SQL query, it is written and run (or “parsed” according to the official terminology) and a query optimizer then processes it. Once the SQL query reaches the SQL server, it goes through three distinct phases: parsing, binding and optimization.
Put very simply:
If you want to know more about this, you can take some SQL courses for your personal knowledge or your company.
Related: How to Become Master of Your Data with Microsoft SQL For Only $40
Many of these courses are reasonably affordable, so it doesn’t take much to learn SQL, even for beginners, to data science or SQL syntax.
Here’s a breakdown of the SQL compiling process in a little more detail.
First, parsing takes place. This tokenizes the SQL statement into different words, checking them for verbiage, clauses and specific symbols. Next, the SQL server will check semantics. This means it validates the statement to ensure it is legitimate or understandable.
In other words, the server ensures that the SQL query makes sense. Many servers also provide that the data the user requests exists and the user has the appropriate privileges to execute a specific query.
Then comes binding. The SQL server makes a query plan for the received statement during this stage. This forms a binary representation of any steps needed to carry out the query or statement in byte code.
This renders the compilation as a command-line shell, a program that can read SQL statements and send them to a database server for optimization and execution.
At this stage, the SQL server optimizes the query plan and chooses the ideal algorithms for searching or storing data. Depending on the server or program, it may use a feature called query optimization or a “relational engine.”
Last, the server executes the SQL statement by running the query plan depending on what exactly needs to be done.
Related: Learn How to Manage Data Like a Pro with This SQL Course
SQL is one of the most crucial programming languages, and businesses use it daily.
Now you know how SQL works, why it’s essential and how to leverage it for your advantage: a critical skill whether you need to build a business website or want to get into the IT sector.
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Even when you’re running your own company, you can still benefit from professional development — especially when it comes to technology and cybersecurity. Every business should have an interest in cybersecurity these days as cybercrime has become more rampant and more targeted towards small businesses than ever. If you want to be your business’s first and last line of defense, grab The Complete 2023 CompTIA Cybersecurity & Pentest Super Bundle while it’s on sale for a specially reduced price.
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This bundle contains four courses from iCollege, a leader in online learning since 2003 and an official educational partner of CompTIA. Students in more than 120 countries have used iCollege’s resources to learn new tech skills and their courses are even trusted by Silicon Valley startups and Fortune 500 companies alike to keep employee skills on the cutting edge.
This bundle covers four specific CompTIA certification exams: CompTIA Security+ (SY0-601), CompTIA PenTest+ (PT0-002), CompTIA CASP+ (CAS-004), and CompTIA CySA+ (CS0-002).
Through each course, you’ll learn the skills you need to know to pass each CompTIA certification exam on your first attempt. Throughout the coursework, you’ll learn how to analyze enterprise environments to minimize threats and vulnerabilities, learn the principles of risk management and legal compliance, and build a foundation to become a cybersecurity expert. You’ll be able to validate your skills in using threat intelligence to protect an organization, using penetration testing tools to discover and exploit vulnerabilities, analyze risk and align defenses with business goals, and much more. By the end of the bundle, you’ll be ready to earn four leading CompTIA certifications.
Become a qualified defender of your business. For a limited time, you can get this CompTIA Cybersecurity & Pentest Super Bundle for the special price of just $39 (reg. $1,196).
Prices subject to change.
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NEW YORK — Digital media company BuzzFeed is cutting 12% of its workforce, citing worsening economic conditions.
The New York company, which made the announcement in a regulatory filing on Tuesday, did not disclose how many workers it was letting go. According to the data firm FactSet, BuzzFeed has 1,522 employees, which would mean roughly 180 of them would be laid off.
Advertisers, on which BuzzFeed relies, have broadly pulled back spending to address rising costs. Spending on advertising is typically among the most elastic items in a company’s budget and is often the first place to see cuts.
“In order for BuzzFeed to weather an economic downturn that I believe will extend well into 2023, we must adapt, invest in our strategy to serve our audience best, and readjust our cost structure,” Jonah Peretti, co-founder and CEO, wrote in a letter to staff.
Social media and other companies who rely on digital advertising have also recently announced layoffs, including Facebook parent Meta, Twitter, Snap and Gannett.
In addition to economic conditions BuzzFeed on Tuesday cited redundancies in its workforce related to the integration of Complex Networks, a youth entertainment company, which it acquired last year from Verizon and Hearst for $300 million.
The job cuts are expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2023, BuzzFeed said, and expects charges related to the job cuts of between $8 million and $12 million. Those would be booked in the fourth quarter of this year.
Shares of BuzzFeed fell more than 4% in midday trading, to $1.09 each. They traded close to $10 less than two years ago, when the company went public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
BuzzFeed, founded by Peretti in 2006 and initially known for listicles and online quizzes, has established itself as a serious contender in the news business, winning a Pulitzer last year for international reporting. Its other brands include Tasty, the world’s largest social food network.
It has been buying up competitors, including HuffPost, the media outlet founded in 2005 as The Huffington Post, from Verizon Media in 2020.
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