Amazon’s live-streaming video service Twitch has begun testing a vertical presentation it’s calling the “Discovery Feed” designed to make it easier for users to browse and find new content. The interactive gaming and entertainment platform is the latest to emulate TikTok’s flagship vertical scroll, joining recent converts YouTube, Reddit, Spotify and Amazon. Beginning this week, select users will be able to access the new viewing format, although initially it will be populated with horizontally-framed creator clips, Twitch says, explaining that the framing will switch to vertical “as the feed evolves.” Continue reading Twitch Is Testing New Vertical-Scroll Feed to Boost Discovery

OpenAI has shared instructions for training to handle content moderation at scale. Some customers are already using the process, which OpenAI says can reduce time for fine-tuning content moderation policies from weeks or months to mere hours. The company proposes its customization technique can also save money by having GPT-4 do the work of tens of thousands of human moderators. Properly trained, GPT-4 could perform moderation tasks more consistently in that it would be free of human bias, OpenAI says. While AI can incorporate biases from training data, technologists view AI bias as more correctable than human predisposition. Continue reading OpenAI: GPT-4 Can Help with Content Moderation Workload

Google has updated transaction policies to allow for blockchain-based digital content, such as NFTs, to be placed within content distributed through its mobile software marketplace Google Play. Google has been slow to warm to blockchain integration, and the new approach comes with strict transparency requirements. If tokenized digital assets are part of an app or game “developers must declare this clearly,” Google explains, adding that “developers may not promote or glamorize any potential earning from playing or trading activities.” These stipulations intend to prevent the hype that has attached itself to so much blockchain activity from infiltrating Google Play. Continue reading Google Updates Policies Regarding Blockchain in Play Store

Auto-GPT, an open source app that uses OpenAI’s text-generating models, is currently generating a great deal of social media attention. The program can act somewhat autonomously in that it creates its own feedback loop, asking itself a series of questions to help build a more nuanced and complete response to a text prompt. In short, something that would take a user multiple prompts to produce the desired information using ChatGPT could be accomplished using a single request of Auto-GPT, which could independently explore a subject before spitting back a comprehensive response. Continue reading Auto-GPT Generates Social Sizzle, Ushers in Era of AI Agents

Popular social platform Snapchat is improving its AI chatbot as part of a larger set of updates (that includes an age filter and parental insights) and recently launched premium features (such as generative AI profiles backgrounds). The chatbot, My AI, was launched in February for Snapchat+ subscribers. Snap says it has since received feedback of inappropriate responses from My AI, which was built using OpenAI’s GPT technology, but claims the problems have been due in large part to users trying to “trick the chatbot into providing responses that do not conform to our guidelines.” The new tools are designed to keep My AI’s responses in check. Continue reading Snapchat Adds Safety Moderation Tools to Improve Chatbot

Reddit is introducing changes designed to make it easier for users to browse and navigate its communities. Currently testing is a concept that separates text and video into separate streams, dubbed “Read” and “Watch.” Users can toggle between the split-view feeds. In the current format, both “Read” and “Watch” will include recommendations as well as posts that users subscribe to. “In 2023, the product and design improvements you’ll see from us will simplify and streamline how people discover, join, and contribute (post, vote, comment) to communities and bring new ways to engage in conversations and content,” Reddit explains. Continue reading Reddit Tests Split-View Text and Video Feeds, Other Updates

YouTube is experimenting with a higher bitrate 1080p format for Premium subscribers. The enhanced 1080p Premium reportedly provides a better viewing experience. For now, 1080p Premium is only available to a very small group. The existing 1080p HD resolution on YouTube remains unchanged, according to the company. “1080p Premium is an enhanced bitrate version of 1080p which provides more information per pixel that results in a higher quality viewing experience,” explains spokesperson Paul Pennington, clarifying “there are no changes to the existing quality offerings for 1080p (HD) resolution on YouTube.” Continue reading YouTube Testing ‘1080p Premium’ with Its Paid Subscribers

A group of film companies are seeking to have Reddit divulge information about users who reportedly promote piracy on its platform. The move is part of a 2021 lawsuit that lists Bodyguard Productions, Millennium Media and others as plaintiffs against the Internet provider then known as RCN, subsequently rebranded Astound, filed in U.S. District Court in New Jersey. The complaint alleges 34 copyrighted films — including “Hellboy” and “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” — were illegally downloaded while RCN turned a blind eye. The producers subpoenaed Reddit for information on nine individuals, including name, IP address and user logs from 2016 to present. Continue reading Film Companies Seeking Info on Reddit Users in Piracy Battle

Observers are weighing the potential effect of chatbots on the publishing industry, as works written by or with an assist from artificial intelligence come to market. Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing arm currently lists more than 200 e-books that credit OpenAI’s ChatGPT as author or co-author on topics ranging from stories for children to self-help, science fiction and poetry. Tutorials on how to use AI to create publishable work in a few hours have sprung up on YouTube, TikTok and Reddit. As with all things AI, this trend has prompted equal amounts of curiosity and concern. Continue reading From Self-Help to Kid Lit, Generative AI Triggers Book Boom

A new artificial intelligence service offering free watermark removal from photographs is causing worry among copyright holders. Photographers took to Twitter to complain about this threat to their livelihoods while the creative community at large pondered the broader implications for AI infringement on intellectual property rights — a central aspect of discussions involving ChatGPT, which was trained using privately held as well as public domain data. Available to download as an app from sites including Product Hunt and the Google Play Store, the WatermarkRemover.io app itself is legal, while some of its potential uses are not. Continue reading Watermark-Erasing AI Worries Photographers, Other Creatives

Ad tech company DoubleVerify is launching the DV Attention Lab, a new measurement system designed to provide advertisers with more accurate engagement data, an alternative to cookies that the company says will help prevent third-party fraud. More than 50 data points power DoubleVerify’s Authentic Attention metrics, which analyzes ad exposure and consumer response analyzing campaign effectiveness in real time. “Disruption from regulatory shifts to cookie deprecation is hindering how brands can use existing tools. With that in mind, we are confident that privacy-friendly attention metrics will become the industry’s new performance currency,” DoubleVerify CEO Mark Zagorski says. Continue reading DoubleVerify Offers Brands New Way to Measure Campaigns

Among American adults who regularly look to social media for news, Facebook outpaces all other sources, according to a study from Pew Research, which found 31 percent of U.S. adults claim to “regularly get news” from the Meta Platforms site. Google’s YouTube was second, with 25 percent, followed by Twitter (14 percent), Instagram (13 percent) and TikTok (10 percent). Examined as a percentage of each site’s total adult users seeking news there, news-seekers, Twitter popped at 53 percent, followed by Facebook (44 percent), Reddit (37 percent) and TikTok (33 percent). Among that subset, TikTok was the fastest-growing, up from 22 percent in 2020. Continue reading Facebook, YouTube Among Top Social Apps for News in U.S.

TikTok is launching a new sharing feature that allows TikTok Stories to be published on competing social networks like Facebook and Instagram. The move may increase exposure for TikTok content on Meta Platforms media as the social giant has been taking steps to downgrade recirculated TikTok videos in Reels. Meta recently advised creators it is prioritizing original Reels content on Facebook and Instagram that are programmed to flag third-party watermarks. Piloting since last year, TikTok’s reposting feature recently began rolling out more broadly to TikTok users. Continue reading TikTok Stories Can Now Be Shared via Facebook, Instagram

As the U.S. approaches the 2022 midterm elections, social media platforms are being criticized for dropping the ball on misinformation safeguards. Meta Platforms’ Facebook has triggered alarm over plans to scrap CrowdTangle, a relevance filter Facebook has promoted as a discovery tool. Advocacy groups have described CrowdTangle as “indispensable” to finding false information online. Meta is accused of reducing CrowdTangle support and losing interest in election security overall as it shifts focus from the real world to the metaverse. CrowdTangle is cross-platform, and used to analyze content on Twitter and Reddit, among others. Continue reading Concern Expressed Over Meta Scrapping CrowdTangle Filter

TikTok had its first official presence at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity on the French Riviera, where the ByteDance mobile video platform competed with the likes of Amazon, Netflix, Activision Blizzard, Spotify, Reddit and Meta Platforms for the attention of the world’s biggest brands and top advertising agencies. Touting its viral appeal and popularity among key demographics including Gen Z, millennials and social influencers, the company hosted a cabana on the beach with dedicated space to make TikTok videos, held meetings in a nearby suite and participated onstage at the Palais des Festivals. Continue reading TikTok Expected to Triple Ad Revenue to $12 Billion in 2022