Technology

American insurance giant Globe Life recently confirmed that cybercriminals tried to extort money in exchange for sensitive data they previously stole.

In mid-June 2024, the company reported a cybersecurity incident in which unknown third parties accessed sensitive customer data through one of its web portals.

It has now submitted a new 8-K form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), claiming the crooks accessed sensitive data on at least 5,000 customers - although the final number will probably be bigger, once the investigation concludes.

Not a ransomware attack

So far, the analysis has shown the information was taken from a subsidiary called American Income Life Insurance Company, and included personally identifiable information categories such as names, email addresses, phone numbers, postal addresses, and in some instances Social Security numbers, health-related data, and other policy information.

“The threat actor claims to possess additional categories of information, which claims remain under investigation and have not been verified,” the company said in the form, adding credit card and banking information was safe.

The data was not taken as part of a traditional ransomware attack. Globe Life’s systems were not encrypted, and the break-in did not result in the disruption of any services or operations. However, the crooks still tried to trade the data for money:

“Globe Life recently received communications from an unknown threat actor seeking to extort money from the Company in exchange for not disclosing certain information held and used by the Company and its independent agents,” the 8-K form further reads.

It was left unclear if the company paid the demand or not, but it’s most likely that it did not. Instead, Globe Life brought in third-party cybersecurity experts and notified law enforcement.

Affected customers “will notify individuals affected by this incident,” and take steps to protect and remediate the impact for them, it said.

There is currently no evidence that the data was misused.

Via BleepingComputer

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Not everyone is a fan of Windows 11’s interface – especially the lack of ability to customize in some respects – but if you really want to go to town with personalizing and revamping the desktop of Microsoft’s OS, a new mod offers this chance.

Neowin spotted the release of the Seelen UI utility which promises a “fully customizable desktop environment” for both Windows 11 and Windows 10, and indeed the options provided to tinker with are quite sweeping.

Seelen’s bigger interface modifying features include a Tiling Windows Manager, which the developer explains means “windows automatically arrange themselves to support multitasking” to help streamline your workflows.

(Image credit: Eythan David)

Then there’s a much neater system tray, and a floating taskbar – as seen in a ‘Next Valley Prototype Design’ leak, which may have been a brief glimpse of next-gen Windows – which can also be repositioned vertically (an ability some Windows 11 users have been begging for since the launch of the OS).

A media player is bolted on, too, and an app launcher (based on Rofi) is another part of the Windows desktop makeover provided here.

Note that Microsoft Edge is required for Seelen UI to work, so if you’ve junked the browser (it can be done), you’ll need to reinstall – and also if you’re on Windows 10, the installer will put the WebView runtime on your PC. (It’s preinstalled with Windows 11, so this isn’t necessary for the newer OS).

(Image credit: Eythan David) Analysis: Serene Seelen – with caveats

The overall look that Seleen graces Windows 11 with is rather Mac-like, modern and nicely streamlined and calming (for us). We approve in general, although we’re not sure about the Windows Manager – and how this might be better than Snap Layouts (unless we’re missing something here, and we haven’t tried the app to find out, we should note).

For those who are keen on really changing the look of Windows 11 without too much fuss, it seems like an interesting piece of software – but we should underline that there are caveats here.

Do remember that any third-party software for Windows needs to be treated with caution – you install the tool at your own risk, naturally. Not that we’re suggesting there’s anything nefarious going on behind the scenes, but it pays to be careful what you download. If you’re going to grab the app, as the developer recommends, get it from the Microsoft Store.

At any rate, if you’re taking the plunge, it may be worth waiting a while for further development of Seleen as the mod isn’t yet finished. Yes, this is a release version, but some features are a work in progress – there will apparently be a Start menu replacement eventually (rather than just a simple app launcher).

For the time being, then, this might be a project to watch, and also monitor the wider feedback from users who do install Seleen. And if you are at all tempted, as Neowin observes, trying out software is something you can do more safely in a virtual machine.

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Employment identity theft is a dishonest way for crooks to make an honest living using your Social Security number.

Instagram and Spotify have jointly announced a new feature which will allow users to add songs from their Instagram feed to their Spotify library.

Now, users will be able to save the songs attached to stories or feed posts to their Spotify library, first by tapping the song title for information and then tapping the Spotify-logo emblazoned Add button.

In a note to 9to5Mac, Spotify said: “We know that music is all around you and sometimes that means right on your social media feed. That’s why beginning today, Spotify is excited to unveil a new integration with Instagram that makes it even easier to capture and instantly add songs to Spotify from Instagram with just one simple tap."

Instagram has allowed users to add music to stories and posts for years, with a robust library of music from major labels and independent artists alike – but this is the first time we’ve seen the platform collaborate with a major streaming service in this way.

To access the new feature, users need to link their Instagram and Spotify accounts. Songs will be added to the user’s “Liked Songs” playlist and user library.

TikTok, which also has a music library supported by a wide variety of distributors, launched a similar integration with streaming services in 2023, but notably also includes support for Apple Music and Amazon Music.

This isn’t the first we’ve heard of a partnership between Instagram and Spotify, though – reports of a continuous sharing feature surfaced in August, wherein a user’s Instagram Notes indicator would be used as a ‘now playing’ tab, but this feature hasn’t made it to release.

Instagram integrates Spotify - our verdict

As a music lover and user of both Spotify and Instagram for the last ten years, I couldn’t be happier with this new integration. This is the kind of useful feature that really does save people time, especially considering how much music promotion is now done on social media.

I can’t tell you just how many times I’ve had an artist pop up in adverts between stories or on my main feed, only to head over to Spotify and get the spelling of the act’s name wrong in search – only to find my Instagram feed had refreshed, consigning my hopes of getting some new tunes to the digital aether.

This feature is a win-win for listeners and artists, as it should ostensibly make it far easier for new fans to engage with promotional posts without interrupting their social media session.

So whether you’re in the mood for a spell of mobile crate-digging, or just want to find a few new tunes while you scroll through memes, I think this is a feature people will really get some use out of.

The global rollout for Instagram and Spotify integration is ongoing, so be sure to keep both apps updated to the latest version – and for the latest news on social media features and smartphone software, check out our phones coverage.

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By now, most of us have become accustomed to seeing QR codes everywhere, from cafes and pubs, to businesses and public services. But how often do you check the URL it is directing you to?

This is just one of the weaknesses of QR codes - the implicit trust that the code will take you where you want to go.

New Sophos research has explored how an attack plays out after one of its own employees was targeted in a ‘quishing’ attack which utilized malicious QR codes hidden in seemingly legitimate internal emails.

Squishing quishing isn’t easy

In June 2024, several Sophos employees received a fairly mundane email from legitimate external email accounts, with subject lines written to appear as though the email was sent from an office printer/scanner with an employee benefits PDF document attached.

The PDF was fairly plain, containing the Sophos logo at the top, followed by a QR code and a message at the bottom stating that the QR code contained a secured link to DocuSign which required the employee’s digital signature, and that the file would expire in 24 hours.

A seemingly legitimate email from an office scanner with a PDF file attached. (Image credit: Sophos)

When scanned, the QR code directed the employee to a Microsoft 365 sign-in box, where the employee duly signed in and completed a multi-factor authentication check. In almost real time an attacker used the credentials and a stolen MFA token to attempt to access an internal application. Luckily, Sophos’ internal network settings prevented access and the account was secured.

So, how could a quishing attack such as this be spotted and stopped? Well, if you pay particular attention to every detail of an incoming email, you may just stand a chance. For one, Sophos points out, the file name contained within the body of the email did not match that of the attached PDF. Moreover, the subject line read “Remittance Arrived” - something that a file received from a legitimate officer scanner would not say.

The subject line also ended with “retirements plan attache=”. Whether this was a mistake on behalf of the attacker or a clever use of the ‘=’ sign to make the header appear cut off is not known.

The false sense of urgency proposed by the 24-hour expiry timeline should have also been a giveaway, as well as the URL displayed when the QR code was scanned. However, as anyone who has scanned a QR code before will know, sometimes the full URL isn’t shown or disappears before it can be fully read and checked for clues such as random letters or a homoglyph domain.

A spoofed Microsoft 365 sign-in page. (Image credit: Sophos)

As for the stolen MFA token, the Microsoft 365 sign in page was actually a spoofed dialogue box controlled by the attacker that was not picked up due to a lack of URL filtering software on the victim’s phone.

Quishing, Sophos points out, is fast becoming a growing threat to organizations with phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) brokers such as the ONNX Store increasingly offering QR code-based attacks in their offerings.

As QR codes are typically image based attachments that can be placed within PDF documents, they can easily slip through email filters and the typical endpoint security protections employed by many businesses, as all of the URL processing happens on the victim’s mobile device that may not be subject to the same level of protection.

Andrew Brandt, principal threat researcher at Sophos said, “While there was some fear surrounding the rise of QR codes when they first became popular during COVID, the risk for most people was actually quite small. However, now we’re seeing attackers leverage these QR codes for highly targeted phishing attacks—and they’re effective.”

“QR codes are incredibly flexible, and with quishing kits, attackers can essentially create a series of targeted quishing emails en masse, customizing them for employees of different companies. And, unfortunately, if attackers manage to steal both login credentials and MFA authentication tokens for a company employee, in many many cases, they have gained the ability to infiltrated highly privileged assets,” Brandt said.

For recommendations on how best to protect your organization from quishing, and the key signs of a quishing email, take a look at Sophos’ suggestions here.

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What makes inZOI unique: AI technology

Did you love losing yourself in The Sims or Second Life but always felt that your avatar wasn’t quite, well, you? Then you're going to love what inZOI's incredible customization can do for you. inZOI provides a truly immersive life simulation experience where you can create unique stories while seeing yourself on screen like never before. You can even include your favorite pieces of furniture.

(Image credit: inZOI)

There are two key things that make inZOI really special. The first is its incredible realism – not just in terms of its gorgeous high-res graphics but also in the way it enables you to create virtual versions of your favorite objects and spaces. And the second is that it’s a complete community, a virtual city where your characters, known as Zois, can live extraordinary lives.

inZOI uses KRAFTON’s unique AI technology to provide you with much more than a library of previously picked items. "inZOI's 3D printer enables you to customize your spaces like never before," Hyungjun Kim, Producer & Director of inZOI, explains. The innovative inZOI 3D printer enables you to upload a photo of anything – a beloved pet, a favorite piece of furniture – and it’ll use its AI powers turn that two-dimensional object into a lifelike 3D object that you can then use in the game. The whole process takes less than a minute and works just like a real-world 3D printer – but this time the objects you make are for your characters to hold.

That 3D printer makes your game truly personal, and it opens up all kinds of creative possibilities that you can use to make the game truly yours. It also means you can throw yourself into the creative side of things, exploring and discovering new ideas and combinations.

Complete customization

The on-device generative AI technology can be used for all kinds of creativity. In addition to creating those lifelike 3D objects from your 2D images, you can also use it to create your very own custom patterns for your characters’ outfits, accessories, furniture and other elements of the game. If you thought the likes of Animal Crossing were state of the art, inZOI really raises the bar.

Once you’ve made your creations just-so, it’s easy to showcase them to and share them with other members of the community. inZOI comes complete with a platform called Canvas that makes it easy to share and for community members to upvote your best creations and interact with them too.

inZOI is already really impressive, and even more exciting options are coming. "We're using AI to generate images, create 3D objects and generate dialogue stories, and we are also developing motion generation," Hyungjun Kim says. "We are also considering using AI to assist in decision-making based on the mental stats of Zois."

Making you more you

3D objects and items are lots of fun, but in many games you can’t make your in-game characters look like you. That’s another area where inZOI really excels. It offers lots of exciting ways to create your character, with a character studio that has over 250 different customization options – and those options go deep.

If you love to spend lots of time creating new characters in games, you're going to adore the possibilities that inZOI unlocks. You can adjust everything from the length of your hair down to your fingernails, enabling you to create your true you.

(Image credit: inZOI)

You can even use facial recognition on your iPhone, perfectly transferring your real expression to your inZOI character. And once you've created the physical attributes, inZOI also offers over 400 mental elements that you can use to make your character's personality just like yours – or to create a character that's totally different to you.

Once you've made everything look gorgeous with inZOI's AI features, you can start to explore the incredible things you'll find in its rich and immersive world. As you explore and interact with other Zois you can learn about local fashion trends, share in-game social media memes, gossip about rumors, and even inadvertently spread flu – a great example of how realistic inZOI's world can be.

Worried that AI features will cost extra? "All AI features in inZOI will be provided for free on-device," Hyungjun Kim promises. "This has been a critical consideration for us. We believe that inZOI will remain a great game when everybody can enjoy it as a critical tool." Instead of seeing AI as a way for its creators to make money, inZOI wants to use it "as a tool to make the game more accessible and enjoyable for everyone."

(Image credit: inZOI) Breathtakingly beautiful

Built on Unreal Engine 5, inZOI is nothing short of breathtakingly beautiful and realistic. Each city location is inspired by real-world locations – locations such as the land of Dowon, which is inspired by the landscapes of South Korea, or Bliss Bay, inspired by the United States. Each city has its own extensive weather and seasons system, and you can even apply screen filters to change the city’s atmosphere.

What makes inZOI so great is that you can communicate with others and make new friends in a world that's like the real world at its very best. Your actions shape your world through accumulating karma, and you can see huge life changes unfold. For example, news of your good deeds can spread to another player, that player can then share the story via SMS, and your karma score can be automatically upgraded. It's lots of fun seeing how even a little innocent or not-so-innocent event can lead to big changes: think the butterfly effect but in gaming.

All of these innovations combine to make inZOI feel real, a living, breathing world you'll love to lose yourself in. It does everything possible to make the game resemble human nature right down to its immutable trait -- temperament. We all have unique temperaments and that concept is reflected in the game with temperament remaining the same while desires and ambitions are fulfilled, ensuring everyone comes across realistically for better or for worse.

(Image credit: inZOI) A wonderful world

As a creative platform, the world of inZOI will satisfy many, many players. If you felt like spending an hour or two in a regular game’s character creation screen wasn’t enough to scratch your artistic itch, inZOI will fulfil that. You can create beautiful homes, replicate yourself in-game, or do mostly anything else. You can even share your creations via the UGC platform, Canvas, to show off your beautiful home decoration skills or keep it all for yourself.

inZOI is shaping up to be the perfect cozy game for anyone who loves to embrace their creative spirit. Click here to find out how you can become part of inZOI's incredible world.

iOS 18 only began rolling out to iOS 18 compatible devices on September 16, but Apple is already gearing up for the launch of its next major update: iOS 18.1.

Typically, these decimal-numbered updates are more incremental than groundbreaking, but this year, Apple’s first post-launch iOS update will be bigger than iOS 18 itself. Yes, it’s finally happening – Apple Intelligence is coming to compatible iPhones as part of iOS 18.1.

Of course, that’s not the only change set to be introduced by Apple’s next software update – which, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, is slated for release on September 28 – and below, we’ve rounded up five of the biggest new features.

Apple Intelligence features

Quick summary notifications using Apple Intelligence. (Image credit: Aplpe)

This is the big one: Apple Intelligence will debut on compatible iPhones as part of iOS 18.1. You’ll find the full list of eligible devices in our Apple Intelligence compatibility guide, but for iPhones, specifically, you’ll need an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, or iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Unfortunately, not all Apple Intelligence features will be made available in iOS 18.1 – and those that do will be limited to US English for now – but many of Apple’s core AI functions are set to make their debuts in the coming weeks. We’ve highlighted some of them below.

• Siri: Apple’s new-and-improved Siri assistant is more natural, more contextually relevant, and just generally a lot smarter than before. For questions it can’t answer on its own, it can hand the query off to ChatGPT (with your permission), and summoning Siri will trigger a rather pretty device-wide glow animation.
• Writing Tools: Apple’s suite of AI-powered writing tools will help you proofread text, rewrite text in a chosen tone of voice, and quick reply to messages or emails.
• Photo features: For the Photos app, Apple Intelligence introduces Clean Up, which lets you erase unwanted people and objects from an image; Memory Movie, which creates image slideshows based on written prompts; and natural language search.
• Summaries: Apple Intelligence can provide summaries (i.e. easy-to-read digests) of emails, phone calls, audio recordings, and even notifications.

As for the Apple Intelligence features that won’t be arriving with iOS 18.1, Apple reportedly plans to launch Image Playground and Genmoji in future iOS updates. The former will allow users to create generative images in various iPhone apps like Messages or Notes, while the latter is essentially a custom emoji generator.

Improved Contactless functionality

(Image credit: Shutterstock / Oleksii Halutva)

Moving onto the non-AI (and non-device-exclusive) features, iOS 18.1 will open up your iPhone’s NFC chip to third-party developers for the first time. What does this mean, exactly?

Well, it’ll essentially allow developers outside of Apple to enable in-app contactless transactions for, in Apple’s words, “in-store payments, car keys, closed loop transit, corporate badges, student ID, home keys, hotel keys, merchant loyalty and rewards, and event tickets, with government IDs to be available at a later date.” In other words, your iPhone really could soon replace your wallet.

Naturally, any developers interested in accessing said NFC chip will need to “enter into a commercial agreement with Apple [...] and pay the associated fees,” but given the number of contactless-using iPhone owners in the world, we doubt that they’ll be hesitant to do so.

Upgraded iPhone Mirroring

iPhone Mirroring on a MacBook running macOS Sequoia (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

iPhone Mirroring – which lets you control your iPhone from your MacBook screen as long as you’re running macOS Sequoia and iOS 18 – was one of the features that excited us most at WWDC 2024, but its early functionality in iOS 18 has been limited.

Thankfully, iOS 18.1 will add the ability to seamlessly drag and drop files between your iPhone and MacBook (it works both ways in the iOS 18.1 beta), making iPhone Mirroring a much more useful tool. Here’s hoping Apple improves this feature further by adding audio input passthrough in future updates.

A small Control Center upgrade

Control Center in iOS 18 (Image credit: Apple)

iOS 18 introduced the ability to customize Control Center, but if you let your creativity get the better of you, you’ll be pleased to know that iOS 18.1 will add a “Reset Control Center” option in the Settings app (because sometimes, Apple’s way is the best way).

Another small-but-welcome Control Center tweak: according to MacRumors, iOS 18.1 will let you add separate Control Center buttons for Wi-Fi and VPNs. Currently, all connectivity toggles are bundled into a single widget.

Selfie option for Camera Control

The Camera Control interface on an iPhone 16 Plus (Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

Last but not least, for iPhone 16 users exclusively, iOS 18.1 will make the Camera Control button compatible with the selfie camera.

To switch to the selfie camera using Camera Control, you’ll have to open the Camera app, lightly press the Camera Control button twice, navigate to the Cameras option, then scroll all the way to the left. There, you’ll find a new Selfie option.

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The Gear team spends countless hours in front of displays while writing for you. So we reviewed those too (including a few portable screens).

You can buy a lot for $15,000 even in this day and age – that fee could bag you 54 years of Netflix Premium, about 94 pairs of Nike sneakers or even a Caddy (albeit one of the, ahem, slightly less commercially successful models). Or, it could buy you the huge chunk of analog hi-fi heaven you see in the image above – and I'll bet it tracks just as smoothly…

What you're looking at is Pro-Ject's latest flagship turntable masterpiece, the Signature 12.2. It weighs over 80 lbs – the platter alone comes in at 23lb – and comprises over 100 "high-precision CNC-machined parts".

The company tells me all manufacturing is done in-house at Pro-Ject's factory, "keeping costs down and passing savings along to serious vinyl enthusiasts" (so, it's a bargain really – although if it's budget-friendly you're after, you might want to look at the company's new three-strong T1 Evo range rather than this top-end model).

The 12-inch tonearm uses a new three-point pivot for extra stability, with the DIN plug conveniently located at the rear of the arm’s base. Pro-Ject says the anti-skate and counterweight portions have also been simplified to offer finer degrees of adjustment and the vertical tracking angle (VTA) can be adjusted with a single thumb screw.

I feel the need, the need for speed… 

That huge platter is TPE-damped on the underside with an integrated vinyl mat on top. Your chosen record is also clamped onto the platter with the help of the Signature Record Puck, which comes with your purchase. How has Pro-Ject relieved tension on what it calls the "flawless ceramic ball" bearing? A magnet around the inverted bearing well opposes another magnet embedded in the plinth, encircling the stainless-steel shaft. Everything here is geared towards speed stability, with Pro-Ject’s DC-driven AC generator in the driver's seat.

Pro-Ject says the MDF plinth is "mass-loaded" with steel pellets, thus drawing resonance away from the platter and cartridge. Its conical, spring-loaded feet can also be adjusted from the top of the plinth – a great perk considering its weight (you don't want to lift this thing regularly if you value your spinal health).

The Pro-Ject Signature 12.2 will begin shipping in the US in November 2024, retailing for $14,999, which is around £11,497 or AU$22,350 – and remember, that doesn't include a cartridge. Will it be one of the best turntables out there? I really hope so. I mean, look at it…

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If you want a lifetime license to the latest standard without recurring fees, snag this version coming in at $70 cheaper than buying from Microsoft directly.

Hackers are targeting victims with fake broken Google Meet calls in an attempt to infect them with malware and thus grab their sensitive information, experts have warned.

A report from cybersecurity researchers Sekoia claim the campaign is a new variant of the previously-observed ClickFix attack.

ClickFix victims are shown a fake error page (for example, a browser that is outdated and thus unable to open a certain website) and then offered a fix (a ‘patch’, or a ‘version upgrade’). If the victims don’t realize the ruse and download the ‘fix’, they end up infecting their endpoints with different malware.

StealC and Rhadamanthys

In this instance, Sekoia’s researchers found several websites pretending to be Google Meet video conferencing landing pages.

People that open these websites are shown an error regarding their microphone or camera. The offered ‘fix’ is a PowerShell code, copied to the clipboard, which runs in the Windows Command Prompt.

This code ultimately deploys either the StealC infostealer, or Rhadamanthys. For macOS, which is also targeted, the attackers are dropping the AMOS Stealer as a .DMG file called “Launcher_v194”.

The threat actors in this campaign are called the Slavic Nation Empire (SNE) and Scamquerteo, apparently sub-groups of other threat actors named Marko Polo and CryptoLove, respectively.

Besides Google Meet, Sekoia has found Zoom, PDF readers, fake video games (Lunacy, Calipso, Battleforge, Ragon), web3 browsers and projects (NGT Studio), and messenger apps (Nortex) being abused for the same purpose.

The attack most likely starts with a phishing email, and targets mostly transport and logistics firms.

Via BleepingComputer

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A lackluster accessory that gives Sony's VR headset a new lease on life only highlights the failures of the platform.

AWS CEO Matt Garman has apparently hit out at workers unhappy with the company's enforced return to office policy.

Earlier this year, Amazon Web Service (AWS) announced staff would be required to be in-office for 5 days per week, ending its hybrid working policy. Workers were given until January 2 to return to full-time in person work.

Somewhat predictably, this didn’t go down well. Reports emerged that claimed as many as 90% of workers were unhappy with this, and 73% were considering moving jobs - which Garman has now given his blessing to.

But not in a bad way

"If there are people who just don't work well in that environment and don't want to, that's okay, there are other companies around," Garman said, adding the decision was made to allow workers to "invent, collaborate, and be connected."

But compliance to the hybrid work order was fiercely enforced, with some employees who did not adhere to the policy told they were "voluntarily resigning" and were locked out of company systems.

The policy has certainly proved unpopular with some staff who will now lose the benefits of working from home, and will spend more time commuting. But AWS want to make it clear that this is a positive change.

"By the way, I don't mean that in a bad way," he said, adding, "we want to be in an environment where we're working together."

"When we want to really, really innovate on interesting products, I have not seen an ability for us to do that when we're not in-person," said Garman.

Whilst a few major companies are bringing in return to work orders, Spotify have bucked the trend. In a recent statement, Spotify is sticking by its hybrid work policy, as Chief HR Officer said the company trusts its workers, adding that they don't want to "treat them like children."

Via Reuters

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Modern businesses are rapidly evolving as Artificial Intelligence (AI) moves from pilot projects to large-scale implementations. This 'AI at scale' revolution is transforming industries, driving innovation, and enhancing operational efficiencies with AI being deployed at scale across various business functions.

The transition from PoCs to large-scale AI marks a pivotal moment for businesses. Initial projects showcase potential but usually fall short of full-scale impact. It is often observed when AI is implemented organization-wide, it greatly enhances efficiency, decision-making, and competitive advantage. For example, a European electronics retailer uses AI to predict online shopper conversions and prompt interventions during a browsing session. Similarly, a European publication leverages Gen AI to summarize reader sentiment from comments and reviews to score and improve their articles.

However, according to the "Global AI Adoption Index" report, European businesses have been reluctant to adopt AI due to regulatory and safety concerns. The European Court of Auditors confirmed that EU AI investments lag behind global leaders. To address this, the EU implemented the AI Act, which mandates specific AI uses and reduces administrative and financial burdens, and places compliance responsibility on AI solution providers, recognizing that many businesses may not have the AI expertise. The AI Innovation Package and the Coordinated Plan on AI also aim to boost AI investment across the EU.

As businesses in Europe find it lucrative to increasingly adopt AI technologies at scale, they can expect significant advantages in internal efficiency and innovation without a large regulatory risk.

Internal efficiency

Scaling AI improves internal efficiencies by automating low-risk tasks, allowing more focus on strategic activities. For instance, AI can manage customer service inquiries, complex supply chain logistics or credit risk scoring. A leading European bank uses AI to analyze client documents and conduct credit risk assessments, even in “low resource” languages (languages with low digital data to learn from). Mortgage officers retain decision-making authority, the AI solution an untiring assistant.

Innovation and success

Scaling AI fosters innovation and enables uncovering of insights and making smarter decisions. For example, a European consumer goods firm uses AI to boost digital engagement by analyzing search terms and product descriptions in comparison to competition on third-party marketplaces. This helps them highlight key features and use apt keywords in the description. This insight is now also informing on product development.

Successful examples of AI at scale

To grasp AI's impact at scale, let’s explore its successful applications across various business functions:

Customer service: A large European bank's contact center uses an award-winning AI solution to assist agents by suggesting resolutions, re-routing calls, predicting intentions, and recommending response language using Gen AI. Integrated with the contact center application, the solution reduces change management complexity. Now widely used, it has improved customer satisfaction scores. And thereby reduced churn.

Human resources: Gen AI usage in HR is risky because it propagates inherent bias existing in historical selections. However, with guardrails that avoid PII data feed at the entry point itself (avoiding post codes, names, genders), and style-masking through summarizing rather than the original text being fed, these risks are being mitigated. The bias removal and improved accuracy are leading to usage at scale.

Supply chain management: A leading European CPG company is implementing an advanced AI forecasting system that autonomously manages demand forecasting. It automatically groups products into demand-forecasting-units (DFUs), selects optimal algorithms, self-corrects based on recent errors, and also uses Gen AI chat to explain exceptional forecast movements for over 20,000 store-SKU combinations, all without manual customization.

Marketing: Your website is often considered your digital billboard. Large apparel retailers are leveraging Gen AI to streamline web content creation by drafting content from various data sources, such as product master data, vendor information, PDFs/PPTs, and marketing digital asset libraries, thereby reducing content creation timelines. This Gen AI-generated content reduces creation timelines and undergoes human review and approval before publication.

Overcoming hurdles and key insights

While the benefits of AI at scale are compelling, businesses must also address several challenges:

Ethical considerations: AI systems must be designed and deployed ethically to avoid biases and ensure fairness as we saw in the HR example above. The AI Act in Europe will further assist companies in adopting AI ethically by providing a regulatory framework.

Technological infrastructure: Businesses must invest in the necessary technology to handle the demands of large-scale AI applications. Responsible AI is not only about regulations but also costs. For example, if one can automatically generate marketing content, it does not mean one should do that every day.

Change management: Effective change management strategies are essential to ensure a smooth transition and gain employee buy-in. When a contact center agent gets a prompt from an AI tool instead of a previous rules-based one, this embedding reduces any pushback.

The 'AI at scale' revolution is not just a technological advancement; it is a strategic imperative. While Gen AI is expanding AI possibilities, it is also bringing risks such as black box biases, prompt injections, jailbreaks, and potential runaway infrastructure costs. Without fail safes, a Gen AI system having an outage similar to a Crowd-strike event could be much more damaging. Responsible AI is about costs, employees, society and regulations. Think and thrive responsibly!

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The Generative AI (gen AI) boom of the last few years sparked a push to establish regulatory frameworks for AI governance. This is a natural development, as the rise of AI seems to pose issues in data privacy and protection, bias and discrimination, safety, intellectual property, and other legal areas, as well as ethics that need to be addressed.

Highlights of specific outcomes include China regulating the use of certain AI models back in 2021. We also have the AI Act of the EU, which just came into force and will become fully effective by 2026. Other jurisdictions are following up with their own measures regulating the AI ecosystem.

AI regulation in the EU vs other jurisdictions

The comparative quickness with which the EU has released a uniform regulation to govern the use of all types of AI makes it stand out. Other large jurisdictions, such as China and the US, appear to have taken different approaches. China is regulating specific areas of AI step-by-step, addressing what is recognized as risks. In 2021, they introduced regulation on recommendation algorithms, which have by then increased their capabilities in digital advertising. It was followed by regulations on deep synthesis models or, in common terms, deepfakes and content generation in 2022. And then, in 2023, regulation on generative AI models was introduced as these models were making a splash in commercial usage.

The US has not yet enacted any federal-level AI regulations. There are quickly advancing regulations at the state level, such as the California AI Act. However, it may still take some time before they take effect, even after going through all the legislative hurdles. Is regulation halting innovation?

More rigid regulatory frameworks may impose compliance costs for businesses in the AI field and stifle competitiveness and innovation. On the other hand, they bring the benefits of protecting consumers and adhering to certain ethical norms.

Businesses are pushing back, and there is still plenty of controversy surrounding the appropriateness of specific bills, such as the California bill. However, there was also pushback to the EU AI Act, which was nevertheless introduced. Thus, it is not clear whether the ongoing delay in the US is only due to lobbyism or other obstacles in the legislation enactment process. It might also be because some still see AI as a futuristic concern, not fully appreciating the extent to which it is already a legal issue of today.

The impact of AI regulation

AI regulations do not only target AI development, as they may cover several issues such as data privacy and protection, intellectual property, consumer protection, AI deployment and use, liabilities for not following the regulations, and so on. For example, the EU AI Act also covers the usage of AI in physical devices, such as elevators. Additionally, all businesses that collect data for advertisement are potentially affected as AI regulation can also cover algorithmic bias in targeted advertising.

AI has significantly impacted the web scraping industry and is likely to continue to do so. From data collection, validation, analysis, or overcoming anti-scraping measures, there is a lot of potential for AI to massively improve the efficiency, accuracy, and adaptability of web scraping operations. While it is too soon to say now, any regulation on AI may accordingly impact the above-mentioned web scraping areas that involve AI as well.

AI regulations may also spotlight certain areas of law that were always very relevant to the web scraping industry, such as privacy or copyright laws. At the end of the day, scraping content protected by such laws without proper authorization could always lead to legal issues, and now so can using AI this way.

With the incoming regulated landscape, businesses must evaluate the specific data they wish to collect with the help of a legal expert in the field when embarking on web scraping activities. As for AI governance in general, it is important to recognize that the AI legal landscape is very new and rapidly evolving, with not many precedents in place to refer to yet. Hence, continuous monitoring and adaptation of your AI usage are crucial.

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This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro