Latest news with #Threads
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
College Grads Furious After an AI Butchers Their Names During Commencement
College graduates were left speechless after officials at New York City's Pace University deployed an AI model to read out their names during a commencement event this month. A video that has since gone viral on social media shows students having a QR on their smartphone scanned, only to have an AI read their name out loud — an irritating use of the tech that turned what should've otherwise been a proud moment in their academic career into what commenters likened to using the self-checkout counter at the supermarket. It's especially galling for an institution that charges north of $50,000 a year in tuition alone. "So even public event speakers are getting replaced," one Reddit user wrote. As the New York Post points out, Pace University ostensibly performed the stunt for the sake of accuracy. Well ahead of the event, officials directed students to visit a website where they could phonetically spell their names and confirm how they were pronounced. "To ensure your name is pronounced correctly, you must register to attend Commencement through Tassel by Wednesday, April 23," reads an FAQ on the university's website. Tassel is a private company that claims to have helped more than 600 schools "deliver the perfect moment for millions of students over 20+ years." The company offers "live ceremony stage-crossing software" designed to streamline convocation events and ensure "accurate pronunciation" of graduate names. "With AI and our proprietary multilingual models — powered by a growing database of over 2 million names, phonemes, and linguistic patterns across multiple languages — our platform allows students to hear exactly how their names will be pronounced as they cross the stage," Tassel boasts on its website. If the AI butchers their name even after it was coached by the student, graduates can "submit an audio recording of their name" instead. The software raises some thorny questions about when it's truly appropriate to deploy an AI, particularly concerning jobs that could've easily been taken care of by a human. "When I graduated, the person reading out the names had done a run through, just to check they were getting it right," one user wrote in a post on Threads. "It didn't take that long, and was less weird than showing your phone for them to scan." Worst of all, despite all those technical bells and whistles, Tassel reportedly still managed to butcher some names. "They told us to write our names phonetically so it's said correctly, and they still said my name wrong, which is forever documented in videos," one user commented on Instagram. The use of AI to read student names has been met with significant blowback from college grads across the country. Student journalists at Northeastern University, which also deployed Tassel, published an op-ed arguing that the institution should "read our names at graduation, it's the least you can do." "To many students like myself, a small switch from an AI voice bot to a physical person would mean the world," reads the op-ed, penned by student Henry Bova and published in The Huntington News. "A human can reciprocate our sense of joy and can understand the gravity of the moment and the academic rigor that we endured to get to this point." "All the AI voice does is reduce the recognition of our accomplishments as a menial task to push through with brute computations," Bova wrote. An online petition by students at the University of North Georgia called on the university to stop "using an AI speaker for graduation," garnering over 2,000 signatures. The backlash was so fierce in some parts of the country that West Chester University in Pennsylvania ditched the AI altogether, as Axios reported earlier this month. Other onlookers pointed out the irony of AI coming for the jobs of recent college graduates in particular. "A whole lifetime of studies and 100k in debt just to have your name announced by the very entity that's going to make your studies useless," one Reddit user joked. However, not everybody was opposed to the use of the tech. "I appreciate that everyone had the chance to hear their name pronounced correctly," one Reddit user argued. "Imagine being an international student and worried that someone will butcher your name. I'm ok with the solution the university gave here." More on AI: RFK Jr's "Make America Healthy Again" Report Cites Studies That Don't Exist, in Clear Sign of AI Generated Slop
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Shedeur Sanders' training camp plan revealed by Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are coming up on their spring organized team activities, and the main storyline will be the quarterback battle featuring former Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Sanders joins third-round pick Dillon Gabriel and veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett as the four quarterbacks fighting for the top position. Former Pro Bowler Deshaun Watson is also on the roster but is recovering from an Achilles injury. Advertisement On Friday, Stefanski appeared on ESPN Cleveland to discuss his crowded quarterback room and explain how he will divide the offseason reps. "I told the players, 'Don't pay attention to where you are in line because where you are on Tuesday, it may be different than Wednesday," Stefanski told ESPN Cleveland. "So no, we don't pay close attention to that. Certainly, you have to decide what order the guys are gonna go out, and sometimes it may be player X, player Y, whatever it is." It certainly sounds like an open competition, and Stefanski went further, saying that reps will fluctuate throughout the offseason as the Browns continue evaluating the signal callers. "The big thing for us is making sure we give the guys enough reps that they need," Stefanski said. "It's two-fold. Both, they're learning the system, they're developing, and we're evaluating them and finding out more about them. That's why I said before, it's not going to be everybody gets 25% of these reps. It's not how it's gonna be. We want to give everybody enough reps where we can learn more about them and prepare them to get ready to play." The Browns' four-person quarterback competition is unique considering two of the four quarterbacks were not even on the roster a month ago. Drafting two rookie quarterbacks at similar points in the draft is uncommon, but the Browns hope it brings out the best in both Sanders and Gabriel. Advertisement Despite falling to the fifth round, Sanders seems to have every shot at the starting job this season, especially after impressing at rookie minicamp. Stefanski, when asked about Sanders specifically, praised the rookie quarterback for the work he has done so far. "He's in there early, he's getting his work done," Stefanski said. "He's working really, really hard. I like everything there is about Shedeur." Follow Charlie Strella on X, Threads, and Instagram. Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions. This article originally appeared on Buffaloes Wire: Shedeur Sanders, Cleveland Browns training camp plan announced
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Shedeur Sanders throws three touchdowns on Day 2 of Cleveland Browns OTAs
After a strong showing at the Cleveland Browns' rookie minicamp earlier this month, former Colorado football star Shedeur Sanders is going through his first OTAs as an NFL quarterback. The Browns began their first session of OTAs this week, and based on reported stats and highlights coming out of Cleveland, Shedeur Sanders is performing well. Sanders took reps after Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco and Dillon Gabriel, according to Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot. Head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters last week that the order is not worth fixating over. Advertisement ESPN Cleveland tracked the four quarterbacks during Wednesday's practice, which was open to media, and Sanders appeared to have the most successful day. The former Buffaloes star completed seven of his nine passes, with three going for touchdowns. Pickett was 9-of-16, and Gabriel finished 11-of-16 with a pair of touchdowns and an interception. Stats from any practice, let alone Day 2 of OTAs, should always be taken with a grain of salt, but it is noteworthy that Sanders is impressing early on. Pickett and Flacco, who appear to be the frontrunners to open the season as the Browns' top quarterback, spoke after practice on Sanders. Advertisement "Shedeur's an awesome guy," Pickett said. "He's funny to be around, he's a great time every day in the quarterback room. We have a lot of laughs together. It's been a lot of fun having him in the building." Sanders, being the talk of camp, is not surprising considering his famous name and highly publicized draft day slide. There is still a long way to go before any broad conclusions can be made about what Sanders' rookie year will look like, but a solid start to OTAs is a positive sign. Follow Charlie Strella on X, Threads, and Instagram. Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions. This article originally appeared on Buffaloes Wire: Shedeur Sanders highlights Cleveland Browns OTAs Day 2
Forbes
10 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Instagram Finally Fixes A Long-Standing Photo Problem
Instagram now supports photos in the 3:4 aspect ratio used by most smartphones and some popular ... More cameras. Instagram has finally addressed a long-standing frustration by fully supporting pictures in the popular 3:4 aspect ratio. This means that, in most cases, you can now post photos to Instagram straight from your camera without losing any of the picture at the edges due to cropping. The change was recently announced by Instagram's head, Adam Mosseri, on the platform's sister app, Threads. 'Instagram now supports 3:4 aspect ratio photos – the format that almost every phone camera defaults to. From now on, if you upload a 3:4 image, it'll now appear just exactly as you shot it,' said Mosseri on Thursday. The post has already garnered over 20,000 likes and 1,000 comments. Instagram now supports the 3:4 aspect ratio that most smartphone cameras use by default. Most Instagram users will find that their smartphone cameras default to shooting pictures in the 3:4 aspect ratio. However, until now, Instagram has forced users to crop these images into one of the app's few supported shapes. With full support for the 3:4 aspect ratio, users can now upload pictures directly from their cameras without having to decide how to crop them each time. Beyond smartphones, cameras using the Micro Four Thirds system and Fujifilm's medium format cameras also shoot in a 3:4 aspect ratio. However, most popular stand-alone cameras use a 2:3 format, which still isn't supported natively on Instagram. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Instagram used to support only aspect ratios between 1.91:1 and 4:5 link: Instagram's official help document (yet to be updated at the time of writing) states that photos must be between 320 and 1,080 pixels wide and have an aspect ratio between 1.91:1 and 4:5 to be displayed without cropping. The 3:4 aspect ratio falls outside this range, hence the need for this latest update. Some users have reported that they don't yet have 3:4 aspect ratio support enabled in their Instagram app. This is likely due to a staggered rollout, but there are a few things you can try: Follow @paul_monckton on Instagram.
Newsweek
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
James Gunn Responds to 'Superman' Rumor
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. James Gunn responded to a rumor about the runtime of his upcoming film Superman on social media this week. Newsweek reached out to Gunn's representative via email for comment. The Context Gunn, 58, is the CEO of DC Studios and director of Superman, which will be released this summer. The first trailer for the highly anticipated film dropped in December and an extended sneak peek was shared during April's CinemaCon. The star-studded cast includes David Corenswet as Superman/Clark Kent, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, and Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern, Guy Gardner. Prior to 2025's Superman, the most recent Superman films were 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, 2013's Man of Steel and 2006's Superman Returns. James Gunn speaks about the movie "Superman" during the CinemaCon 2025 Warner Bros Pictures presentation at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on April 1, 2025. James Gunn speaks about the movie "Superman" during the CinemaCon 2025 Warner Bros Pictures presentation at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on April 1, 2025. VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images What To Know On Wednesday, Gunn took to Threads to share an announcement about Superman. "Excited to bring @Superman to audiences in China on July 11," he wrote alongside a poster of the film in Chinese. In the comments of his post, Threads user @dcdomain wrote: "Hey james is the runtime for Superman locked? There's rumors that it's 2h2minutes." In response, Gunn said, "That is not correct. It's almost totally locked - meaning we're just finishing a couple VFX shots over the weekend - but that's not the running time." "Thank you James," @dcdomain wrote back. "Can't wait!" Last month, Gunn hinted at what fans can expect to see in the film. "The central conflict revolves a lot around Lex Luthor's attempts to defeat and destroy Superman," he told Entertainment Weekly in April. "I think Lex Luthor thinks of Superman in the way that an artist thinks of AI. Here's this guy who's this [incredible] genius scientist who's worked his whole life to become one of the richest, most powerful men in the world, and he does it all to be lauded. I mean, he wants to be the greatest, and suddenly this jerk comes in wearing a cape with a lantern jaw and a cocky grin, and he just takes all of the oxygen out of the room, out of the room of Earth, and it creates a burning hatred in the guy." What People Are Saying In the comments under Gunn's Threads response, many fans said they hope for an even longer runtime. @ "Thank Goodness! I really want this movie to be 2:20 or more, coz I want to spend more time in this world of James Gunn's Superman and with several of its characters!" @fahimmia01: "Hope its around 2h 30m long." @rickyjmarc: "Certainly hope it's a little longer than that. I haven't seen Superman on my theater screen in over a decade. Long overdue. Worth the runtime." @batmanvengeance2024: "I hope it's longer than 2 hour 10 minutes..." @malg.1234: "I would watch 5 hrs of this movie ngl even though obviously that's not possible." What Happens Next Superman hits theaters on July 11.
