The Weekly HUBdate??

When did your experience of the internet change???

?On conversing with fellow teammates, we were taken down the very nostalgic adventure that is the web.??

From indulging in the cathartic affair that was customizing a Sim to having AI generated Instagram personas, the internet has seen it all. Or has it? Character modelling was previously never a monetization option just as many other novel web experiences.

?Stick around to know what changed!

?Let’s see what’s hot in the creator space.??

Look What's Trending??

??Will Chat GPT replace Google and Bing?

?? Lensa AI, Midjourney- Magic Avatars and Artist frenzy

??What is objectivity for a Journalist?- Meet Vishal Krishna

???VR' the future! EdTech Startup iXR Labs raises funding!

Will Chat GPT replace Google and Bing?

Built by Open AI to establish dialogue, Chat GPT is an advanced chatbot that provides concise packaged and repackaged information across every field you could possibly think of! These bots take away the hassle of acquiring information from lengthy blue links, thus making it a direct knowledge access. As humans it is impossible for us to know everything about everything, it is our tendency to learn constantly. While a large score of people go to the extent of calling this software a personal assistant, friend or even therapist, it can’t be trusted even though it is extremely well-informed, super un-human like. It goes one step ahead to merge with its capabilities to merge different concepts to create content as varied as academic term papers to business plans.

Our view

Our natural tendency as humans to be easily swayed, to be gullible, is at an all-time high when it comes to believing all things on the internet. As said by its creator, Chat GPT can’t always be trusted. While it has the ability to answer all kinds of questions ranging from science to spirituality, its inconsistencies get the best of it. Like any AI deployed in other fields, Chat GPT gets one thinking- don’t these softwares curb creativity? What happens to our originality as individuals?

Do not inhibit the thought for it will ultimately spiral you into a future of being lazy brain users!??

Lensa AI, Midjourney- Magic Avatars and Artist frenzy??

AI generated avatars made with the new, viral editing app Lensa were seen all over the internet in the last couple of days. It is built on the free, readily available software- Stable Diffusion. It has the ability to create hyper-realistic images when provided with any possible text prompt that one can think of. As fun as this sounds for any platform that has Stable Diffusion as a conjunction, it is extremely problematic for artists whose work is being stolen. Artists who make a living off of their creativity feel threatened when AI has advanced to the level of picking up artists’ signature styles. The effort invested into artists’ hard work of not only producing but also selling their work can never compete with softwares like Lensa.

Our view

While AI generated art has been spreading sheer joy in people on seeing themselves as astronauts or Arnold Schwarzenegger, the downloads don’t seem to consider credibility of its back-end software like Stable Diffusion. It all boils down to a user thinking- “why would anyone pay for art if they could get it readily generated themselves?” People could just claim to be artists, writers or even musicians through AI, which isn’t manipulation. It may just be technological plagiarism! Sadly, these softwares are built specifically to procure and feed its own algorithm with the work of other artists. Softwares such as these may pose a real threat to artists whose livelihoods are made off of their art.

What is objectivity for a Journalist?- Meet Vishal Krishna

Vishal is a journalist, who writes some of the most impactful stories for YourStory Media.

His journey started off with strong ambitions to take over his father’s business but on being given direction and the small push we all seem to need, he began his career as a writer!

Here is his story:

“I tried journalism as an alternative to business on my abilities to make sharp observations being recognized by a professor. My writing began somewhere in 1996 with reviewing the early internet, music and politics. My political observations were considered astute by my professor, considering they came from someone who was quite young.”

What advice would you give to a budding Journalist?

“I’m going to differentiate between a writer and a journalist based on George. R. R. Martin’s podcast- a writer has to tell the truth and a journalist only has to report it. Journalists can’t tell the truth for they are constantly being influenced. Second- don’t do journalism if you want to make money. For the 1 per cent that does it truly for the spirit of journalism- it allows you to travel the world, to read and be current.”

What is objectivity for a journalist?

“It is truly important for a journalist to be objective. However, it is extremely difficult. In the current situation, people use media to communicate any issues that need to be addressed by the government. Corporations use the public sphere to influence citizens. Thus, for a journalist to stay neutral between the government, corporations and media companies that aren’t making money is quite the task. You can’t tell yourself that- because you’re objective, you’ve told the right story because as soon as you pick a topic, you become subjective. 'Totally objective' is a dream and it is somewhere in between.”

?Thank you for your honest byte, Vishal!???

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VR' the future! EdTech Startup iXR Labs raises funding!

Gurgaon based EdTech company- iXR Labs raised $0.8 million in a seed round led by an angel investor in the architecture development industry.

Their business model includes providing practical education through Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR). It facilitates students to conduct experiments in virtual labs, learn concepts and processes visually and explore life-sized industrial equipment at a relatively low cost. The program is currently deployed in over 200 colleges and universities and is picking up due to its gamification features complete with in-built assessments to ensure efficient and quicker learning.

Our view

As this program is built with a streamlined focus towards practical learning, it provides specific solutions of VR, AR and MR to learning hurdles that the education system faces. Its system of simulation generation brings about skill building. More than theoretical knowledge, iXR Labs lays an emphasis on practical learning which brings about higher knowledge retention rates in students.

If we were to put it in simple terms-

Experiencing Knowledge > Accumulation through Plain reading.

This week's favorite??

• Here's a kickass feature piece!
• Here's a reel we loved?
• Check out this tweet!

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