Latest news with #Midjourney
Fashion Value Chain
2 hours ago
- Business
- Fashion Value Chain
MAAC Leads India's Creative AI Revolution with Mega Student Training Drive
MAAC, a premier institute and a pioneer in high-end 3D animation, VFX training, gaming, and multimedia and a training brand of Aptech Limited, has recently concluded its landmark five-day training initiative on Digital Content Creation using Gen AI design tools at the Sri Satya Sai Auditorium, New Delhi. This timely program responds to the ongoing technological disruption in the Media and Entertainment Industry, driven by the rapid rise of Generative AI. Deenu Khan ( addresses students of MAAC Delhi NCR With a legacy spanning 25 years and a network of over 120+ centres across India, MAAC is pioneering the integration of AI in creative education through this large-scale masterclass. The initiative has trained over 500 students in the use of prominent Gen AI tools, including ChatGPT, Midjourney, Adobe Firefly, Gemini, and Kling AI, among others. Students of MAAC NCR actively engaging in the AI workshops 'This initiative is a significant step toward empowering the next generation of designers and storytellers,' said Sandip Weling, Chief Business Officer, Global Retail Business, Aptech Limited and Brand Custodian, MAAC. He added, 'At MAAC, we are committed to equipping our students with future-ready skills that blend creativity with cutting-edge AI technologies. With the pace at which Gen AI is evolving, it's essential to not just adapt, but lead the change.' Mr. Deepak Choudhary, Director, MAAC South Ex, Delhi, quoted, 'At MAAC, we believe the future belongs to creators who learn to work with AI. We are preparing our students to lead the AI revolution in digital content creation. With studies projecting that over 70% of media and entertainment content will be influenced by AI by 2030, it's clear that the creative industry is undergoing a massive transformation. From Netflix using AI to optimize content recommendations and script development, to Marvel Studios employing AI for visual effects and pre-visualization, the integration of generative tools is already reshaping how stories are told. Our initiative ensures that India's creative youth are not just prepared-but positioned to innovate at the forefront of this change.' Ten expert trainers conducted comprehensive sessions over the five-day program, covering fundamentals to advanced levels of AI design tools. The training features prominent Instagram AI creators such as Luv Sankhla, Deenu Khan ( Rahul Tiwary, and Divyansh Mundra (Mahabharat With Divyansh), along with leading industry experts including Ms. Vidushi Saxena from Adobe India and Mr. Vijay Shah, Director of Design at Physics Wallah. Master mentors from MAAC HQ in Mumbai were also part of the program, guiding students through the evolving landscape of Generative AI and its creative applications. In a world where AI integration is still new to many and concerns about job security remain, MAAC's initiative reinforces the idea that professionals will not be replaced by AI-but by those who can use AI effectively. The Mega Batch training stands as a bold first move in preparing India's creative workforce to thrive in the AI-driven future. About MAAC MAAC is India's premier training institute for high-end 3D Animation and Visual Effects. Founded in 2001 and a major brand of Aptech Ltd, MAAC has trained over lakhs of students, worldwide. It has in total over 130 centres in India and abroad with cutting-edge infrastructure in over 65+ cities. MAAC offers industry-relevant career courses on 3D Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Multimedia, Filmmaking, Broadcast, VR & AR. MAAC courses are thoughtfully designed to provide students thorough insights about the dynamics of the industry. It provides real-life training environment to students, backed by excellent faculty, world-class infrastructure, and the latest technical tools. MAAC students are placed across all domains of the Media & Entertainment industry in India & overseas. With our job-ready courses, MAAC students are placed in leading production houses and studios such as MPC, Prime Focus, DNEG, Amazon, Redchillies VFX, Accenture, DQ Entertainment, Green Gold Animation, Technicolor, NDTV, IBN7, NY VFXwaala and Cosmos Maya amongst others. For further information please visit-
Gizmodo
3 days ago
- Business
- Gizmodo
All-in-One AI Platform 1minAI Is Now Almost Free, Get Lifetime Access for Up to 87% Off
If you're waiting for the AI craze to just fade out and go away, we have bad news for you. If you're ready to accept AI as an incredibly useful technology that is only going to get smarter and more prevalent with every passing day, we have great news for you: StackSocial is selling a lifetime Advanced Business Plan subscription to the powerful and intuitive platform for just $80, which is a massive 85% discount. However, there are even cheaper options: the Pro Plan is only $30 (87% off), and the Business Plan is available for $50 (86% off). is more than just an artificial intelligence app — it's several AI models combined into one robust platform, pulling the best results and smart technology from all the leading AI models into one source to assist you with everything from scheduling, problem-solving and decision-making, to dazzling creative projects that you can use to advertise your small business or individual sales and services. See at StackSocial AI In One Bundle If you're currently trying to navigate the rapidly changing world of AI, you may find yourself with numerous subscriptions to models like OpenAI, Meta, Google, and others. Those add up quickly, and you don't need AI to tell you that this could drain your wallet faster than you realize. The beauty of is that it gives you access to all of those models and many more, including cohere, and Midjourney. You can replace all of those monthly auto-billing subscriptions with a single payment of $80 that gives you lifetime access to top-tier service, the Advanced Business Plan. All of the updates to the app and news from the newsletter and Public Roadmap are included in the price, and there are no recurring costs or upsells. Supercharge Your Business is like adding an entire staff to your small business without having to pay out salaries or benefits. Once you dive into and discover how easy it is to pick up and master even if you've never used AI before, soon you'll be using it as a personal assistant and scheduler, keyword researcher and SEO assistant, author for ads and content for Facebook, LinkedIn, and other online platforms, image generator and editor, and PDF summarizer and translator. There's already more it can do, and every day it gets more intelligent and useful. The Advanced Business Plan gives you 2 million credits per month and the opportunity to generate up to 450,000 more every month for free, along with the entire suite of features, plus unlimited prompts, storage, and brand voice. Your lifetime subscription can have up to 10 members who can share and collaborate, which you can manage as admin. Everything is included in the StackSocial price of just $80, 85% lower than the list price of $540. See at StackSocial
Fox News
3 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
5 AI prompts to put serious money in your pocket
So, you want to start making money using AI but you're not trying to build Skynet or learn 15 coding languages first? Good, because neither am I. You don't need to become the next Sam Altman or have a Ph.D. in machine learning to turn artificial intelligence into real income. What you do need is curiosity, a dash of creativity, and the right prompts. 💸 Enter to win $500 for you and $500 for your favorite person or charity in our Pay It Forward Sweepstakes. Hurry, ends soon! I've pulled together five powerful, practical prompts you can throw into ChatGPT (or your AI tool of choice) to help you start earning extra cash this week. These aren't pie-in-the-sky dreams or $10K-a-month YouTube ad schemes. They're doable, even if your calendar is already packed. Let's get to it. 1. Fast-Track Your Freelance Life Prompt to use:"Act as a freelance business coach. Suggest 3 services I can offer on Fiverr or Upwork using AI tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney or Canva. I have [insert skill: writing/design/admin/accounting/managerial] experience." Why this works:Freelance work is exploding right now. Platforms like Upwork and Fiverr are filled with small businesses and entrepreneurs who need help—but don't have the budget to hire full-time staff. If you've got any kind of professional background, you can use AI tools to turbocharge your services. Writing blog posts? ChatGPT can give you a draft. Creating logos or social media templates? Midjourney and Canva are your new best friends. You don't need a team. You don't need fancy software. You just need a good prompt and the confidence to say, "Yes, I can do that." AI helps you scale what you already know how to do. 2. Make Product Descriptions Sexy Again Prompt to use:"Rewrite this Etsy or Shopify product description to make it more compelling and SEO-friendly. Target audience: [insert group]. Here's the original: [paste description]." Why this works:Let's face it—most product descriptions online are a snooze. But good copy sells. Whether you're running your own shop or helping someone else with theirs, compelling product descriptions convert clicks into customers. Use ChatGPT to punch up the language, fine-tune for SEO, and speak directly to your ideal buyer. Remember: people don't just want to buy a weird mug. They want to buy what it says about them. That's where a smart rewrite can turn browsers into buyers. 3. Social Posts That Sell Prompt to use:"Create 5 attention-grabbing Instagram captions to promote this [product/service]. Keep the tone [fun, confident, expert] and include a strong call to action." Why this works:We live in a scroll-happy world. Your social captions need to grab attention in less than three seconds. But not everyone's a copywriter—and not everyone has time to be. AI can help you crank out engaging content in the tone and style that fits your brand. Add a great photo, post consistently, and you're suddenly a one-person content agency without the overhead (or endless Zoom meetings). If you're managing social for clients or your own biz, this prompt is gold. Use it to build content calendars, write reels scripts, or even draft ad copy. 4. Polite Emails That Save You Money Prompt to use:"Write a short, polite email to ask for a lower rate or discount on [tool/service/platform]. Mention that I'm a loyal customer comparing alternatives." Why this works:Negotiating discounts doesn't always feel comfortable but it absolutely works. Companies often have unpublished deals, especially for longtime users or small businesses. And customer service reps? They're human beings. A kind, well-written email might be all it takes to get a discount on that software you're using every month. I've personally saved hundreds of dollars just by sending quick, respectful emails like this. AI can help you strike the perfect tone confident but kind, assertive but not pushy. 5. Your Passive Income Kit Prompt to use:"Give me 3 high-demand, low-competition ideas for a short e-book or low-content book I can sell on Amazon. I have experience in [insert topic]." Why this works:You have knowledge people want. Package it. Sell it. Repeat. Whether it's a short guide on starting a backyard garden or a workbook for productivity hacks, e-books and low-content books (like journals or planners) sell surprisingly well. And AI can help you brainstorm ideas, outline chapters, even draft content to polish up. Upload it to Amazon KDP or Gumroad, and now you've got a digital product that can earn money in your sleep. People pay for convenience, and you have life experience worth sharing. Final Thought You don't need to master AI to start earning with it. You just need to start using it. These five prompts are a low-risk, high-potential way to get your feet wet. And if you need a hand turning these sparks into something bigger, I'm here. I built my multimillion-dollar business with no investors and no debt. I've done this without a big team or expensive consultants. And I'd love to help you do the same. Get tech-smarter on your schedule Award-winning host Kim Komando is your secret weapon for navigating tech. Copyright 2025, WestStar Multimedia Entertainment. All rights reserved.
Business Insider
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Sam Altman said AI would replace 95% of ad agency work. 3 top creative directors say AI has won them lucrative business.
Don't sound the death knell for ad agencies yet. Artificial intelligence threatens to upend the ad agency sector. Ever-improving tools are shortening the time it takes to produce logos, online ads, and even movies. In the soon-to-be-published book "AI First" by Adam Brotman and Andy Sack, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is quoted as saying, "95% of what marketers use agencies, strategists, and creative professionals for today will easily, nearly instantly, and at almost no cost be handled by AI." The agency world thinks differently. BI spoke to three top creative directors, who said AI is fueling a creative boom and that the technology doesn't portend an ad agency extinction event. Instead, they're using AI to more efficiently pitch big ideas and to expand their services into areas like content optimization. It's Don Draper from "Mad Men," on steroids. "AI can be an incredible creative tool, and if we keep getting in our own way of fearing it, it'll only date us," said Elena Knox, executive creative director at BBDO New York, which works for clients like M&M's, Wells Fargo, AT&T, and St-Germain. Knox said she's using AI to sell ambitious concepts to clients. She and her team used tools like Midjourney to bring to life a vision of an office where tree growth exploded into it before landing the viewer in a forest in the form of a GIF. It convinced the client to invest a multimillion-dollar production budget for shoots in New Zealand and Bulgaria. "Before you would have had to spend hours comping that, and the image wouldn't have existed," Knox said. "In AI, we were able to make a quick GIF of it and show the clients: this is what we want to film." In a separate pitch, Knox and her team used AI to create a realistic voiceover that convinced the client they needed to invest in that particular celebrity. In yesteryear, the agency might have needed to create a multi-page pitch deck to showcase why the celebrity was relevant, include their latest movies and social media followings, and perhaps call in the celebrity or a voice impersonator for testing. "What AI allowed me to do was show the client what it felt like," said Knox. "There's nothing like hearing the thing and being like, well, I can't unhear that." Trading celebrity glamour for an AI 'GOAT' AI can come to the rescue when lavish celebrity shoots are off the cards, too. Reckitt-Benckiser's laundry detergent brand Woolite was famed in the 1970s through the 1990s for using megastars of French cinema in its advertising. But when Woolite asked its creative agency, BETC, to relaunch the brand in France this year, the budget was more constrained than in decades past. Still wanting to maintain the brand's celebrity cachet, BETC used AI to create a new brand character: the Fluffy GOAT. A play on the "greatest of all time" moniker, the superstar goat is seen globetrotting on a speedboat, private jet, and in a limousine. Alasdhair Macgregor Hastie, executive creative director at BETC, said the campaign was delivered in six weeks, compared to the three to six months that in-person productions featuring big celebrities would ordinarily take. "AI to me is something that can only enhance what we do. I'm old enough to remember when Photoshop came in and people were wailing and moaning it was the end of advertising," Macgregor Hastie said. "Photoshop became a tool, and if we don't adapt to the new tool then the new tool is going to take over." For all its attributes, AI still presents clear challenges to the ad agency business model, in which companies tend to bill clients based on the number of full-time equivalent employees that are devoted to their accounts. Martin Sorrell, the executive chairman of the advertising company S4 Capital, told analysts on a recent earnings call that agencies like his were adapting their commercial models in some cases to be "on the basis of assets or outputs delivered." It reflects how AI is reducing the time it takes to manage and produce campaigns. The creative directors BI spoke to also said there were open questions about how the industry would continue to nurture early career talent, now that many junior tasks can be automated. Eric Wegerbauer, chief creative officer at TBWA, said the availability of AI tools is changing the scope of work the creative agency is pitching. It recently won a big piece of work that was all about content optimization across different formats and countries. TBWA also recently devised an idea for a campaign that would deliver close to 1 million personalized variations of an ad to target individual customers. "You'd just never ever, ever do that without AI," Wegerbauer said.
IOL News
5 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
AI gave us tools, now it's time to build the right thing
Researchers explore the role of AI in transforming mental health care. Image: RON AI The 29th of May will see Cape Town host Specno's annual Innovators Den forum, offering a space and opportunity for entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators operating in the tech industry to interact and learn from one another. The theme of this year's event is 'Is South Africa ready for Ai?,' a topic with great relevance and importance for businesses, corporates and anyone operating in the tech industry today. The wider and growing trend of business and public use of artificial intelligence presents a pertinent moment for the tech industry in our country. If we all have access to AI, then we should be asking questions around uptake: what separates the fleeting from the transformative? What makes a digital product not just functional, but valuable, adopted, and revenue-generating? New tech, like new tools, is only useful when used by a skilled and purposeful wielder. With the rise of AI — via platforms such as ChatGPT, Midjourney, and Copilot — people have not been given access to a single tool, but a sandbox of possibilities from which to build and create. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ For many, AI remains a means of distraction or as entertainment — but in the right hands, it offers the means to prototype, iterate, and launch digital products and services. Building something new is now easier than ever — placing ever-more emphasis on true innovation. With this democratisation in the ability to build, the tech landscape is growing to favour true value, regardless of origin. The challenge now is not to build something, but to build the right thing. For SMEs, building products with the help of AI tools requires more than technical know-how: it requires insight, strategic guidance, and relentless user-focus. The market place is easily inundated with products and services vying for the loyalty and uptake from potential customers. But quantity does not equal quality, as many of the services, tools, and products lack usability, scalability, or value. SMEs need to acknowledge the fact that as product development and rollout becomes synonymous with speed, strategic and purposeful thought and design becomes a competitive edge. Marketing, modern presentation, and the sleek designs produced by AI-aided processes are nice, but they do not ensure that great tech lives up to the moniker. Instead, great tech is born out of the ability to understand not just what users say they need, but what they actually need — often discovered only through iterative testing and the guidance of experienced product teams. After all, even the most impressive of AIs need to be led in the right direction by those in the know. And the most important direction is one which leads to users. The best tech solutions are exactly that: solutions. They are envisioned and designed around the need to address a real, well-defined problem that affects a clearly defined group of people. Africa is often lauded for its uptake in online banking, mobile money apps, and tech-enabled micro finance — all of which work in the context of an underserved market facing problems in transacting. No AI can tweak for contexts the way an expert can, allowing for SMEs to take operational constraints, cultural nuances, and regulatory environments into account when building and refining. Specno, by leading the Innovators Den, has made this approach a foundational aspect of its processes. The work done between Specno and companies like Wardworx, in collaboration with Dr. Peta-Anne Browne, offers a great case study. Wardworx was built as a South African medical app designed by doctors for doctors to streamline patient task management in hospital settings. It enables healthcare professionals to create and manage patient lists, track patient locations and information, and assign, prioritise, and complete tasks efficiently. The app fosters secure team collaboration, ensuring all members are updated on patient care activities. With its user-friendly interface, Wardworx aims to enhance efficiency and organisation in medical wards, while reducing reliance on traditional paper-based methods. This is where the value of digital innovation agencies and seasoned venture builders becomes critical. Agencies like Specno don't just build — they validate, guide, and de-risk projects alongside those who want to build solutions that will change lives and ways of working. These are consultants that offer expertise in user experience design, technical feasibility, market positioning, and growth strategy, by asking the hard questions and challenging assumptions. This process ensures that whatever gets built is something people actually want — and are willing to pay for. For SMEs and entrepreneurs operating in the tech space, Specno's Innovators Den is more than just a showcase — it's a collaborative ecosystem. It's a place where ideas are challenged, innovations are born, and partnerships are formed. It offers a platform through which industry stakeholders and leaders can actively create the infrastructure required for sustainable innovation. The Innovators Den is one of the many foundational layers contributing to greater tech success across the country. At previous events, companies like JOBJACK, OfferZen, and Naked Insurance have shared how strategic guidance, iterative development, and a focus on impact helped them go from concept to market. Ultimately, with the change and adoption of new tech, those who are informed and committed to clever adoption are the ones who lead the way. While every industry is clamouring for greater AI integration, tech companies are in a place of privilege, nestled at the heart of the debate. In recognition, this year's Innovators Den promises even deeper discussions around the opportunities and risks that come with AI-fuelled development. Ultimately, it is not tools and materials that build skyscrapers, but professions and communities of like-minded people. Daniel Novitzkas, Chairman of Specno. Image: Supplied.
