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☆ How Spotify AI plans to know what's going on inside your head, and find the right track for it
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-14 | by ( Trevor Laurence Jockims | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Over the past decade or more, Spotify has been investing in AI and, in particular, in machine learning. Its recently launched AI DJ may be its biggest bet yet that technology will allow subscribers to better personalize listening sessions and discover new music. The AI DJ combines personalization technology, generative AI, and a dynamic AI voice, and listeners can tap the DJ button when they want to hear something new, and something less-directly-derived from their established likes. Behind the dulcet tones of an AI DJ there are people, tech experts and music experts, who aim to improve the recommendation capacity of Spotify's tools. A Spotify spokesperson said the generative AI tool allows the human experts to "scale their innate knowledge in ways never before possible."

Persons: Y, we've, they're, it's, Julie Knibbe, —, Knibbe, they've, Ben Ratliff, Ratliff Organizations: Spotify, Discover, Technology

Biden's support among Black voters has waned considerably since he assembled his winning coalition four years ago. Lackluster turnout among Black voters in South Carolina’s primary could signal a broader dip in enthusiasm. Biden will need to energize Black voters in the key swing states of Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. South Carolina school districts reported over 1,600 teacher vacancies at the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, a 9% increase from the year before, according to a report from the South Carolina Education Association. Joshua Singleton, a 19-year-old sophomore at South Carolina State, shared the sentiment: “We should have, you know, younger presidents to represent us."

Persons: Democrats ’, Joe Biden, What’s, Biden, That’s, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, Moore, “, Olivia Ratliff, ”, Ratliff, Kailyn Wrighten, Wrighten, —, we’ve, Sheridan Johnson, Johnson, Laverne Brown, there’s, — Biden, Charles Trower, Joshua Singleton, Seth Whipper, ” Biden, Harris, Tony Thomas, Saundra, Austin Nichols, ” Nichols, ” LaJoia Broughton, Broughton, don’t, Dr, Byron L, Benton, Joseph Biden, Emily Swanson, Jonathan Logan Organizations: —, Democrats, Democratic, Black, AP, Associated Press, NORC, for Public Affairs Research, Republican, South Carolina State University, Supreme, South Carolina Education Association, Biden, South Carolina State, Trump, America, Moriah Missionary Baptist Church, Mother Emanuel AME Church, Jonathan Logan Family Foundation Locations: CHARLESTON, S.C, South Carolina, South, Georgia , Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Columbia, Orangeburg, Charleston, Carolina, American, U.S, Blythewood , South Carolina, “, Blythewood, North Charleston

☆ Mortgage rate decline pulls buyers back into the housing market
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-08 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

watch nowA sharp drop in mortgage interest rates in December may have kickstarted this year's spring housing market early. Optimism about mortgage rates increased sharply in December, according to a monthly consumer survey by Fannie Mae. "This significant shift in consumer expectations comes on the heels of the recent bond market rally," said Palim. "Notably, homeowners and higher-income groups reported greater rate optimism than renters." The average rate on the 30-year fixed has been on a wild ride since the start of the Covid pandemic.

Persons: Fannie Mae, Mark Palim, Ryan Paredes, Ariadna Paredes, Ryan Ratliff, Joe Raedle, Paul Legere Organizations: Max Advance Realty, Getty, . Washington , D.C Locations: Cutler Bay , Florida, . Washington ,

☆ Former Ohio State University wrestlers speak out against Jim Jordan: 'He doesn't deserve to be House speaker'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A group of former Ohio State University wrestlers said Jim Jordan shouldn't be the next speaker. The wrestlers have accused Jordan of ignoring reports of sexual abuse by a team doctor. Each of the wrestlers competed for Ohio State University at the same time that school doctor Richard Strauss worked with the program and have alleged that Strauss sexually abused them. Yetts, who has said that he and several teammates personally told Jordan on repeated occasions about Strauss' sexual abuse, now says that Jordan "doesn't deserve to be House speaker." Jordan has repeatedly denied that he had any knowledge of the sexual abuse against Ohio State wrestlers until the wrestlers themselves began speaking out about it in the media.

Persons: Jim Jordan shouldn't, Jordan, —, Jim Jordan, Mike Schyck, Dunyasha Yetts, Rocky Ratliff, he's, Richard Strauss, Strauss, Yetts, doesn't, Jordan's speakership, Schyck, Russel Dye, Nancy Mace, McCarthy Organizations: Ohio State University, Service, Representatives, NBC News, Ohio State, NBC Locations: Ohio

☆ Home prices rose for third straight month in April, S&P Case-Shiller index says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Home prices in April were still down 0.2% compared with April 2022, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index. A major jump in mortgage rates last summer caused a decline in prices. "The ongoing recovery in home prices is broadly based," Craig Lazzara, managing director at S&P DJI, said in a release. Before seasonal adjustments, prices rose in all 20 cities in April, as they had also done in March. Seasonally adjusted data showed prices rising in 19 cities in April versus 14 in March.

Persons: Ryan Ratliff, Ryan Paredes, Ariadna Paredes, Craig Lazzara, DJI, homebuying, Danielle Hale, Realtor.com, we've Organizations: Estate, Max Advance Realty, Cleveland Locations: Cutler Bay , Florida, Miami, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, San Francisco

☆ That company's 'About Us' page may be full of fake pictures of 'people' who don't actually exist
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Ryan Hogg | Evan Ratliff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Some companies are using AI technology to put fake "staff" on their "about us" pages. Ratliff spoke to Lukas, the man behind an Austrian test-prep company called takeIELTS, who confirmed he had used several fake images on its "about us" page. Ratliff said when he checked in on takeIELTS months later, Lukas had removed all the fake images and changed the company's name. The website of another company, Informa Systems, which sold law enforcement training materials to the City of Austin Police Department, was covered with fake images. Ratliff said there are now companies developing software aimed at detecting fake images on company websites and elsewhere on the internet.

☆ I’ve been following a woman around the internet. Turns out she was created by artificial intelligence.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Evan Ratliff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +31 min

Even in their first efforts, the GAN images were quickly on par with those made by any other, less intelligent software. You can find the results on the Generated Photos site, where you can filter by ethnicity, age, sex, eye color, and other attributes. Generated Photos' GANs tend to match conventional beauty standards, a product of the models that have been fed to the software. I'm not sure anyone would be surprised to find fake images accompanying testimonials on an Estonian bitcoin exchange or an online CBD seller. Are they real people deploying fake images, or fake people deploying fake images?

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