After layoffs and an AI scandal, CNET's staff is unionizing

CNET, the venerable tech site which began publication nearly 30 years ago, has become the latest digital media company whose staff have chosen to band together and demand more. The CNET Media Worker's Union (CMWU) today sent a letter to Red Ventures, the private equity concern which purchased CNET in 2020, seeking recognition of a bargaining unit of nearly 100 workers including editors, writers, and video producers. According to CMWU, a supermajority of those in the unit signed union authorization cards.Like the overwhelming majority of other organized digital publications, the workers who make up CMWU are responding in large part to an increasingly hostile financial climate in the industry. CNET has not been spared the same tumult that has led to the shuttering of Buzzfeed News and VICE's decision to file for bankruptcy: the company went through three brutal rounds of layoffs over recent months, the most recent of which stripped approximately a dozen staffers from the masthead. "We lost a lot of really great reporters," Laura Michelle Davis, an editor with CNET and organizing committee member, told Engadget.According to Davis, that sense of uncertainty led to a number of voluntary departures, but also to the surviving staff choosing to organize. Despite those cuts, according to the union's statement sent to management today, staff have continue to be "subjected to ongoing restructuring, cost-cutting austerity measures, shifting job roles and promotion freezes." CMWU has... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2023-05-16 16:13:18 UTC ]
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‘I didn’t give permission’: Do AI’s backers care about data law breaches?

Regulators around world are cracking down on content being hoovered up by ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion and othersCutting-edge artificial intelligence systems can help you escape a parking fine, write an academic essay, or fool you into believing Pope Francis is a fashionista. But the virtual... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-04-10 09:10:17 UTC ]
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Authors Guild Meets with Legislators Over Generative AI Concerns

The Guild led a coalition of creative groups who spent a week lobbying lawmakers for legal guardrails against generative artificial intelligence programs and educating them on potential harms posed by such programs on literary and creative industries. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-04-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Adobe is bringing generative AI features to Photoshop, After Effects and Premiere Pro

Adobe’s suite of photo and video editing software has long leveraged the assistance of machine intelligence to help its human users do their jobs, having employed the Sensei AI system for more than a decade to power features like Neural Filters in Photoshop or Acrobat's Liquid Mode. On Tuesday,... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-03-21 13:00:34 UTC ]
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AI-generated images from text can't be copyrighted, US government rules

Any images that are produced by giving a text prompt to current generative AI models, such as Midjourney or Stable Diffusion, cannot be copyrighted in the US. That's according to the US Copyright Office (USCO), which has equated such prompts to a buyer giving directions to a commissioned artist.... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-03-16 17:42:43 UTC ]
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GPT-4 unleashed: Here’s what it will mean for AI chatbots

OpenAI unveiled GPT-4 today, its next-gen large language model that is the technical foundation for both ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Bing AI chatbots. It’s a profound upgrade, potentially opening the door for major advances in both the capabilities and features of today’s AI... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2023-03-14 19:29:22 UTC ]
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What Isaac Asimov Can Teach Us About AI

The science fiction writer imagined artificial intelligence—and what it might want—long before this uncanny reality ever became our own. Continue reading at The Atlantic

[ The Atlantic | 2023-03-03 12:19:04 UTC ]
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Image Comics Union Ratifies First Contract

Union members of comics publisher Image Comics voted overwhelmingly in favor of its first-ever contract. The staffers are members of Comic Book Workers United, a new affiliate of the Communications Workers of America. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-03 05:00:00 UTC ]
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‘AI’ at Bologna: The Hair-Raising Topic of 2023

The buzziest programming of the run-up to Bologna Children's Book Fair focus on artificial intelligence and its impact on publishing. The post ‘AI’ at Bologna: The Hair-Raising Topic of 2023 appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-03-01 11:22:06 UTC ]
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Science Fiction Tried to Warn Us about AI. Or Did It?, by Tom Gammarino

Science Fiction Tried to Warn Us about AI. Or Did It?, by Tom Gammarino Essay [email protected] Wed, 03/01/2023 - 03:46 Photo by NASA / Unsplash “All our AI Frankenstein stories,” the author writes, “warn us that AI will destroy us, but far... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2023-03-01 09:46:57 UTC ]
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German publisher Axel Springer says journalists could be replaced by AI

Owner of Politico urges focus on investigative journalism and original commentary, as company prepares for job cuts at German papers Die Welt and BildJournalists are at risk of being replaced by artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT, the CEO of German media group Axel Springer has... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-03-01 01:23:51 UTC ]
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Engadget Podcast: AI all the things!

The AI news just won’t stop! This week, Cherlynn and Devindra discuss the latest on Bing AI – Microsoft is loosening up some recent restrictions, following reports of its bad behavior – as well as the rise of ChatGPT stories on the Kindle store. Spotify is also launching its own AI DJ, starring... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-02-24 13:30:19 UTC ]
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Okay, so you can write books with AI. But why bother?

As was perhaps inevitable, ChatGPT—the free chatbot created by OpenAI that has been ruffling feathers ever since it was launched in November—has now spawned “a boom in AI-written e-books on Amazon,” according to Greg Bensinger at Reuters. Bensinger counted over 200 e-books in Amazon’s Kindle... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-02-22 17:10:52 UTC ]
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Unionized HarperCollins Employees Are Back to Work After a 3-Month Strike

The return, after an agreement that brought a raise in pay for the lowest earners at the publisher, represented a victory to many of the more than 250 workers involved. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-02-21 19:43:29 UTC ]
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Good… news? The HarperCollins Union has approved a new deal!

After almost hitting the 100-day mark on the picket line, HarperCollins Union members (UAW 2110) have agreed to a tentative deal with management. According to this tweet, yesterday, employees expect to return to work on February 21. Big News!!! We have voted to ratfiy the contract and will be... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-02-17 16:54:37 UTC ]
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HarperCollins union approves contract, ends 3-month strike

Striking union members at HarperCollins have approved a tentative agreement reached last week and will return to work Tuesday, ending a walkout that lasted more than three months and became the center of an ongoing debate about salaries in the industry Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2023-02-16 23:12:16 UTC ]
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HarperCollins union approves contract, ends 3-month strike

Striking union members at HarperCollins have approved a tentative agreement reached last week and will return to work Tuesday, ending a walkout that lasted more than three months and became the center of an ongoing debate about salaries in the industry Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2023-02-16 23:11:22 UTC ]
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HarperCollins Union Voted to Ratify Contract

The HarperCollins Union has voted to ratify the contract with HarperCollins. The employees represented by the union will return 2/21. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-02-16 20:49:19 UTC ]
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The Ghostwriter typewriter brings generative AI to the printed page

Running from 1992 through 1995, Ghostwriter, the beloved PBS children’s television show, followed a diverse group of friends as they solved mysteries around their Brooklyn neighborhood with the help of their haunted typewriter, a cursed item possessed by the trapped soul of a murdered runaway... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-02-16 17:00:16 UTC ]
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HC Union Ratifies New Contract

After a three months on strike, unionized HarperCollins employees voted 194 to 10 in favor of the new contract and will return to work on February 21. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-16 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Audiobook Narrators Fear Apple Used Their Voices to Train AI

After a backlash, Spotify paused an arrangement that allowed Apple to train machine learning models on some audiobook files. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2023-02-14 16:03:54 UTC ]
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