Sendi Jia, a designer running her own studio between Beijing, China, and London, England, says she mainly uses AI generators like DALL-E to make fake photos for background panels or websites when her clients don’t have access to real ones. That’s helped clients with limited budgets, but it’s also exposed just how much of the creative process AI can replace. Recently, a potential client working in a university contacted Jia about creating the logo for a new project. Then, they changed their mind. They had used AI to make it, they said.
Technology
Learning to love being asexual while looking for love on Discord
I checked my direct messages for the primary time in a couple of weeks and a mixture of pleasure and dread washed over me: I had a message from somebody new. He launched himself and needed to satisfy up in particular person at an area bar; we’d linked by a courting server, so I assumed his intentions have been romantic. The issue was, I’m asexual — an individual who doesn’t expertise sexual attraction. And I used to be terrified that we had very completely different expectations about how that night was going to go.
I had begun to suspect I used to be asexual within the spring of 2020. I used to be hungry for significant interplay with the asexual group, however since everybody was residing inside a hermetically sealed bubble on the time, I settled for a Google search. First I discovered the Asexual Visibility and Schooling Community, which talked about a smattering of subreddits, the place I heard a couple of courting / friendship app that has since gone darkish (however not earlier than being overrun by sugar daddy bots) in addition to The Asexuality and Aromantic Spectrum Discord. In fact. There’s a Discord for all the things, I assumed.
However then I realized there’s additionally a big and lively Discord server for courting. (There’s a Discord for all the things.) It’s known as Ace Date Area — “ace” being the diminutive of “asexual” — or simply “ADS.” I stumbled upon it throughout a bleak night of scouring the web for courting recommendation. (“You’ll simply need to study to like being single!” the message boards bleated cheerily.) And so, I made a brand new Discord account — I wasn’t out but and didn’t need this server linked with my foremost account — and, considerably apprehensively, adopted the hyperlink.
At first, I used to be overwhelmed. After verifying I used to be over 18, half a dozen textual content channels appeared within the left-hand facet of the display: “#bulletins”; “#roles”; “#introductions”; “#occasions”; “#lounge”; and “#parlor.” All of them have been listed in daring white font, indicating unread messages. A short introductory message recommended I begin in #roles to assign some identifiers to myself based mostly on my age (21–23), what I used to be on the lookout for (on the lookout for romance), the place I used to be positioned (USA, Northeast), and my pursuits and hobbies (animal lover, tech-savvy, scholar). Every time I picked a task from this final class, a special-interest channel popped up within the left-hand sidebar with lots of extra new messages for me to learn.
I might additionally select my sexuality from numerous asexual-spectrum identities. I joined over 1,000 ADS members in selecting “asexual” for myself, and — after a couple of extra channels popped up within the sidebar — any preliminary trepidation gave technique to euphoria. In a tradition so centered on intercourse, I had lastly discovered individuals like me, for whom intercourse was secondary, not an element in any respect, and even actively prevented. There have been so many people, every distinctive and all so in defiance of fashionable media stereotypes of asexuals as robotic, drab, or naïve. Our flag could also be grayscale, however we’re something however.
This euphoria didn’t final eternally. Regardless of my finest makes an attempt, I couldn’t combine myself into the server to my satisfaction. Each time I received to the underside of a set of notifications, others popped as much as change them, and I couldn’t sustain, not to mention have interaction. Onboarding and introduction to the server’s customs, past its primary guidelines, have been inadequate, and I couldn’t deduce the magic components to keep up any fledgling connections I established. I started to log in to ADS much less and fewer continuously — till the autumn.
I received that invitation to a bar.
Our assembly steadily approached. Is he going to take an asexual relationship severely? What if he needs to have intercourse? I apprehensive, nonetheless feeling that discovering somebody who was on the lookout for the form of relationship I needed was too good to be true. I knew frequent sexuality was the principle motive we had met; I had simply gotten so used to feeling undateable — even earlier than I knew to make use of the label “asexual” for myself — that I had a tough time believing my orientation wouldn’t be a deal-breaker for a possible companion.
We continued to satisfy; we went on dates, shared pursuits, or simply loved each other’s firm. I’ve a definite reminiscence of the primary time I went to his condo — to look at The Twilight Zone — and I noticed, within the nook of his studio, a small fabric asexual satisfaction flag. I felt a profound reduction at that second, seeing part of myself that I used to be ashamed of, or afraid of, and had hidden away now displayed so matter-of-factly as one thing I shared with somebody I had come to admire.
The connection didn’t work out. He did purchase me two kilos of cheese to melt the blow earlier than dumping me (truthfully, finest breakup ever), and I’ve gained an in depth pal in him within the course of. Now, not but resigned to the one life, I’ve returned to ADS, which has grown and altered so much since I first joined. And I’m just a little extra assured realizing that my asexuality isn’t a bug. It’s a characteristic.
Cara Giovanetti is an early-career physicist who research darkish matter and particle astrophysics at New York College.
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Chinese graphic artists are rapidly experiencing the impact of image generators on their day-to-day work: the technology enables copycats and profoundly shifts clients’ perception of their work, specifically in terms of how much that work costs and how much time it takes to produce. Freelance artists or designers working in industries with clients that invest in stylized, eye-catching graphics, like advertising, are particularly at risk.
Long before AI image generators became popular, graphic designers at major tech companies and in-house designers for large corporate clients were often instructed by managers to crib aesthetics from competitors or from social media, according to one employee at a major online shopping platform in China, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from their employer.
Where a human would need to understand and reverse engineer a distinctive style to recreate it, AI image generators simply create randomized mutations of it. Often, the results will look like obvious copies and include errors, but other graphic designers can then edit them into a final product.
“I think it’d be easier to replace me if I didn’t embrace [AI],” the shopping platform employee says. Early on, as tools like Stable Diffusion and Midjourney became more popular, their colleagues who spoke English well were selected to study AI image generators to increase in-house expertise on how to write successful prompts and identify what types of tasks AI was useful for. Ultimately, it was useful for copying styles from popular artists that, in the past, would take more time to study.
“I think it forces both designers and clients to rethink the value of designers,” Jia says. “Is it just about producing a design? Or is it about consultation, creativity, strategy, direction, and aesthetic?”
“You might get a good result, but there will inevitably be dozens or even hundreds of poor ones … Personally, I see [AI image generators] as more of a toy than a tool.”
At ad agencies, for example, graphic designers work on comprehensive strategies for campaigns, aiming to create iconic, recognizable visual identities across a variety of formats. As such, AI image generators are less useful because they don’t produce anything particularly unique, according to Erbing, a graphic designer in Beijing who has worked with several ad agencies and asked to be called by his nickname.
“Each project faces different problems, and designers are there to solve specific problems, not to create identical visuals,” he says. “Sometimes, the process of thinking through a project takes longer than actually creating the visuals.”
When faced with more complex tasks, AI’s utility dwindles. Image generators are capable of creating many images, but that does not replace the work of understanding what an ad campaign needs to establish a visual identity and communicate what it is the client is selling and why people should buy it. Then, translating those concepts to the AI productively is its own challenge. Among graphic designers in China, there’s a joke that using an AI image generator is like gacha, referring to addictive games where users spend money to receive randomized items and find out what they won.
“You might get a good result, but there will inevitably be dozens or even hundreds of poor ones,” Erbing says. “Personally, I see [AI image generators] as more of a toy than a tool.”
Across the board, though, artists and designers say that AI hype has negatively impacted clients’ view of their work’s value. Now, clients expect a graphic designer to produce work on a shorter timeframe and for less money, which also has its own averaging impact, lowering the ceiling for what designers can deliver. As clients lower budgets and squish timelines, the quality of the designers’ output decreases.
“There is now a significant misperception about the workload of designers,” Erbing says. “Some clients think that since AI must have improved efficiency, they can halve their budget.”
But this perception runs contrary to what designers spend the majority of their time doing, which is not necessarily just making any image, Erbing says.
Erbing, like other designers, hopes AI image generators can become more useful to graphic designers in the future, and notes that people’s perception of their usefulness outpaces their actual application. In the meanwhile, it is twisting the clients’ view of the usefulness of the artists themselves.
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If you’ve ever found yourself juggling clubs, bags and gear while trying to keep your focus on your golf game, the Robera Neo might just be the solution you didn’t know you needed.
This AI-powered smart caddie is designed to follow you around the course, carrying your clubs effortlessly and freeing you up to concentrate on your swing. It’s not just another electric cart; it’s a great blend of technology that learns your movements, navigates the course and even offers swing analysis if you opt for the premium model.
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Robera Neo AI-powered smart caddie (Robera)
What makes the Robera Neo different from other golf caddies?
The Robera Neo stands out because it doesn’t require you to steer it or use a remote control. Thanks to its advanced time-of-flight camera and artificial intelligence, it recognizes you and follows you automatically. This means no more fumbling with controls or worrying about obstacles like trees or bunkers.
The Neo uses GPS to map out the course, so it knows the best path to take, saving you time and energy as you move from hole to hole.
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Robera Neo AI-powered smart caddie (Robera)
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How does gesture control and smart navigation work?
One of the coolest things about the Neo is how naturally it responds to you. A simple wave of your hand tells it to start following or to stop, so you don’t have to break your focus or reach for a remote. It’s like having a caddie who just gets you.
Plus, with multi-frequency GPS, the Neo can access thousands of course maps and navigate with ease. You can even tell it where to go by tapping on your phone or using voice commands, and it will get there ahead of you, ready with your clubs in tow.
Robera Neo AI-powered smart caddie (Robera)
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Avoiding obstacles and planning efficient routes
The Neo doesn’t just blindly follow you. It’s smart enough to spot obstacles and plan around them. Whether it’s a tree, a bunker or a water hazard, the caddie charts a safe and efficient path. After you hit your ball, you mark its new location on the GPS map, and the Neo calculates the best way to get to you. This smart routing can save up to a third of the battery’s power, so you can keep playing without worrying about running out of juice.
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Robera Neo AI-powered smart caddie (Robera)
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Remote summon and handling tough terrain
Ever lost sight of your cart? With the Robera Neo, you can summon it from up to 328 feet away. It will navigate tricky terrain and come find you with no problem. And if your course has hills, the Neo can handle slopes of up to 25 degrees, so it won’t leave you hanging when the going gets steep.
Robera Neo AI-powered smart caddie (Robera)
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Lightweight, durable and ready for any weather
The Neo is built to be lightweight and durable, making it easy to carry and tough enough for any weather conditions. Weighing in at under 33 pounds, it folds up for simple transport and storage. Its waterproof rating ensures that rain won’t slow you down, so you can keep playing no matter the weather.
Battery life is impressive; the standard model will last for about 27 holes, while the premium Tablet model can handle 36 holes or up to eight hours on a single charge. When it’s time to recharge, fast charging gets you back on the course in about four and a half hours.
Robera Neo AI-powered smart caddie (Robera)
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Features for every type of golfer
If you just want a smart caddie that follows you and navigates the course, the Robera Neo Vision model has you covered, complete with a handy app for real-time updates and notifications. For those who want a little extra, the Neo Tablet model adds a bright touchscreen and a built-in camera that analyzes your swing, giving you instant feedback to help improve your game as you play.
Robera Neo AI-powered smart caddie (Robera)
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Solutions for golf courses and commercial use
Golf courses can benefit from the Neo Drive version, which offers precise full-course navigation and a web-based management system. This lets operators monitor carts in real time, dispatch them remotely and set virtual boundaries to keep things running smoothly. It’s a smart way to manage fleets and enhance the overall player experience.
Robera Neo AI-powered smart caddie (Robera)
Pricing and availability
Both the Vision and Tablet models are available at about 40% off through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, priced at $1,799 and $2,399, respectively. Each package includes the caddie, battery, charger and app access, and they come with a two-year manufacturer’s warranty. If all goes as planned, shipping will start in July 2025.
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Robera Neo AI-powered smart caddie (Robera)
Kurt’s key takeaways
The Robera Neo blends smart technology and practical design to create a golf caddie that truly makes your game easier and more enjoyable. Whether you’re a casual player who wants to ditch the heavy lifting or a serious golfer looking for real-time swing feedback and intelligent navigation, the Neo offers features that fit a wide range of needs. While backing a crowdfunding project always involves some risk, the positive response so far suggests this could be a reliable addition to your golf gear. If you’re ready to focus on your game and let your caddy do the heavy work, the Robera Neo is ready to follow you every step of the way.
Are you ready to let cutting-edge AI take the weight off your shoulders, or do you prefer sticking with the traditional way of carrying your clubs? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact
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Microsoft announced earlier this week that it would start testing its new aggregated gaming library on the Xbox app for Windows, and it’s now starting to show up for testers today. This new library experience lists Steam, Battle.net, Ubisoft, Epic Games Store, and Riot Games titles that are all installed on a PC from various other launchers — much like GOG Galaxy.
I’ve been trying out the experience today and found that Microsoft automatically detects installed games and lists them in your library in the Xbox app, along with a relevant thumbnail or icon, and the name of the launcher where the game was installed from. While the thumbnails could do with some work in this beta app, you’ll get an option to play the game or see it in the relevant launcher. You can also hide games from these different PC stores if you don’t want to see them listed in the Xbox app.
This integration simply lists the games and you won’t get Xbox achievements or any additional functionality in these titles. The consolidated library is part of Microsoft’s effort to make the Xbox app on Windows the home of PC gaming, and to improve the handheld experience of Windows.
Speaking of Microsoft’s work to improve the Windows handheld experience, I’ve had multiple people tip me this week that the “Xbox full-screen experience” settings have randomly appeared on their existing ROG Ally devices. While the settings have appeared, the experience isn’t live yet and nothing happens if you try to enable it.
Microsoft confirmed to The Verge earlier this month that existing devices like the ROG Ally will get this full-screen Xbox experience at some point soon, and it looks like the company is already starting to test that on some devices. I’m confident this is a bug showing the settings, as the new ROG Xbox Ally devices aren’t due until later this year and they’ll launch with this new experience first.
If you’re interested in testing the new consolidated library you don’t need to wait until later this year. You just need to have the Xbox test app installed, which is as simple as downloading the Xbox Insider Hub on PC, joining the PC gaming preview in the app, and then updating the Xbox app in the Microsoft Store.
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