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Young Australians are ‘all in’ on generative AI and are embracing tools like ChatGPT in the workplace at speed, according to new research, amid calls for workplace leaders to introduce guardrails for the nascent technology. The study of 1200 Gen Z Australians found that 58 per cent of them are already using and embracing tools like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini in the office, and almost all (93 per cent) are not worried about it threatening their job. Hatch co-founders Chaz Heitner and Adam Jacobs with investor Taryn Pieterse. Credit: Steven Siewert Young workers are ramping up their use of the chatbots despite the highly publicised risks associated with the technology, including ‘hallucinations’ – faulty or misleading responses – and security risks associated with feeding sensitive workplace data into the large language models. The research was conducted by Hatch, an online jobs marketplace described as ‘Seek for Gen Z’. Hatch CEO Adam Jacobs, a co-founder of The Iconic, said Gen Z’s keenness to embrace AI technologies should be viewed as an asset to businesses. “It’s very natural for young people, who are digital natives, to adopt new technologies,” he said. “All employers are sitting at the start of a major wave of transformation brought on by AI and the next generation can help position them to ride that wave, rather than being threatened by it. “While there’s a lot that we still need to learn about the way AI is going to change our world, it’s comforting to hear that the next generation is optimistic about it.” Hatch head of AI Dr Arwen Griffioen said workplaces needed to establish guidelines and ensure that employees were trained in how hallucination, bias and error could be detected and mitigated. “Managers should be enthusiastic about their teams using the technology where it is helpful and safe,” Griffioen said. “Creating a culture of healthy scepticism and accountability ensures that employees feel empowered to use the tools that elevate them while building critical thinking and analysis skills. “Legal and security teams should be auditing the provider agreements to ensure that company data and IP are not retained for model improvements or tuning. Establish employee accounts on the tools of choice for use in workplace contexts and emphasising data security in onboarding and recurrent training.” A study of 1200 Gen Z Australians found that 58 per cent are already using and embracing tools like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini in the office, and almost all (93 per cent) are not worried about it threatening their job. Credit: AP Law student Monique Buksh, a paralegal at Zed Law, saw ChatGPT regularly at work, as well as a tool called Dashworks, which is integrated with her firm’s legal systems. “I use it every day. It’s instrumental in helping me draft things more efficiently and identify oversights that I might not have been able to identify myself, given my lack of experience working as a lawyer,” she said. “AI is really helpful for me in being that ‘eagle eye’, and it’s a great tool to use internally. But inadequate safeguards could result in potential breaches of confidentiality, which would jeopardise client integrity and expose the firm to legal liabilities. So it’s a great tool but it also doesn’t replace the training we receive.” Earlier this year, a US lawyer was suspended from the bar and fired from his law firm after admitting to using artificial intelligence to file court cases. The lawyer confessed to a judge that he had used ChatGPT to submit a motion in civil court. Buksh said generative AI was adept at collating information and making summaries, but that its limitations should be recognised. A Senate committee in November recommended that artificial intelligence chatbots ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and Meta’s Llama should be deemed “high risk” and subjected to mandatory transparency, testing and accountability requirements. After nine months of hearings, the committee issued 13 recommendations including sweeping EU-style legislation that would introduce guardrails against high-risk AI use cases across the economy. Varad Chaudhari, a Gen Z investment intern with venture capital firm Rampersand, said he used ChatGPT and other chatbots like Claude and Gemini just as much as he used Google. Like Buksh, Chaudhari said the AI chatbots were particularly helpful given he was still early in his career. Rampersand investment intern Varad Chaudhari. “Every day I use it to quickly learn something,” he said. “I’ll be on a call with a founder who will tell me something I haven’t heard before, and it’s awesome to learn 60 or 70 per cent of something really quickly. “There are also so many ways to make what you do faster. ChatGPT really speeds up my job, which is massive. As a junior person, you’re trying to make sure you’re working hard and not missing something important. I find it incredibly useful.” Chaudhari said he thought company executives should try the tools themselves so they could then have a clearer idea about how to regulate them or set up guardrails. Amid a cost of living crisis, Hatch’s research also found that more than two-thirds of young workers believed they were being underpaid, while only half of Gen Z workers felt engaged at work. The start-up earlier this year raised an oversubscribed $7 million funding round and has embarked on a poaching spree. It has landed senior talent from other start-ups, hiring Griffioen from Culture Amp as its head of AI, Tom Mansfield from Dovetail as chief revenue officer, Ashwin Ramesh from Canva as chief technology officer and Pete Binns from Dovetail as lead product designer. Hatch is also halfway through rebuilding its platform from scratch, and once finished, it will use AI technology to match people to jobs based on their skills and values. “Who you hire is 90 per cent of the success of a business,” Jacobs said. “I built The Iconic for about nine years, and during that time, I probably interviewed around 2000 people and hired around 600 or 700 people. And what I learned is that what’s on a resume is often misleading. It’s actually someone’s underlying skills and traits that matter.“ The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning .He is not yet in power but President-elect Donald Trump rattled much of the world with an off-hours warning of stiff tariffs on close allies and China — a loud hint that Trump-style government by social media post is coming back. With word of these levies against goods imported from Mexico, Canada and China, Trump sent auto industry stocks plummeting, raised fears for global supply chains and unnerved the world’s major economies. For Washington-watchers with memories of the Republican’s first term, the impromptu policy volley on Monday evening foreshadowed a second term of startling announcements of all manner, fired off at all hours of the day from his smartphone. “Donald Trump is never going to change much of anything,” said Larry Sabato, a leading US political scientist and director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. “You can expect in the second term pretty much what he showed us about himself and his methods in the first term. Social media announcements of policy, hirings and firings will continue.” The first of Trump’s tariff announcements — a 25 percent levy on everything coming in from Mexico and Canada — came amid an angry rebuke of lax border security at 6:45 pm on Truth Social, Trump’s own platform. The United States is bound by agreements on the movement of goods and services brokered by Trump in a free trade treaty with both nations during his first term. But Trump warned that the new levy would “remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country” — sowing panic from Ottawa to Mexico City. Seconds later, another message from the incoming commander-in-chief turned the focus on Chinese imports, which he said would be hit with “an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs.” The consequences were immediate. Almost every major US automaker operates plants in Mexico, and shares in General Motors and Stellantis — which produce pickup trucks in America’s southern neighbor — plummeted. Canada, China and Mexico protested, while Germany called on its European partners to prepare for Trump to impose hefty tariffs on their exports and stick together to combat such measures. – Framing the debate – The tumult recalls Trump’s first term, when journalists, business leaders and politicians at home and abroad would scan their phones for the latest pronouncements, often long after they had left the office or over breakfast. During his first four years in the Oval Office, the tweet — in those days his newsy posts were almost exclusively limited to Twitter, now known as X — became the quasi-official gazette for administration policy. The public learned of the president-elect’s 2020 Covid-19 diagnosis via an early-hours post, and when Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani was assassinated on Trump’s order, the Republican confirmed the kill by tweeting a US flag. The public and media learned of numerous other decisions big and small by the same source, from the introduction of customs duties to the dismissal of cabinet secretaries. It is not a communication method that has been favored by any previous US administration and runs counter to the policies and practices of most governments around the world. Throughout his third White House campaign, and with every twist and turn in his various entanglements with the justice system, Trump has poured his heart out on Truth Social, an app he turned to during his 20-month ban from Twitter. In recent days, the mercurial Republican has even named his attorney general secretaries of justice and health via announcements on the network. “He sees social media as a tool to shape and direct the national conversation and will do so again,” said political scientist Julian Zelizer, a Princeton University professor. AFP
How co-writing a book threatened the Carters’ marriage
KUWAIT CITY, Dec 29: The Public Prosecution has witnessed a notable increase in its caseload, receiving 20,612 cases in the first half of 2024, marking a 21.1 percent rise compared to the same period last year. The criminal cases topped the chart, comprising 28.6 percent of the total, while drug addiction cases were the least frequent, accounting for just 2.4 percent. The statistics, a copy of which has been received by the Al-Seyassah daily, reveal that the Prosecution dealt with 19,544 cases overall, resolving 18,833. The felony and commercial misdemeanor cases stood out as the most prominent categories, making up 30.8 percent and 30.5 percent, respectively, of cases handled. Banking crimes and drug-related offenses were the largest categories among newly received cases, each contributing approximately 29 percent. Despite the general rise in cases, there were notable declines in specific categories. Drug addiction cases fell by 33.6 percent, environmental misdemeanors by 4.3 percent, and juvenile offenses by 2.1 percent. The commercial misdemeanors saw the most dramatic surge, climbing 101.7 percent. The technology-related offenses followed with a 33.1 percent increase, reflecting the growing complexity of cybercrimes. The felony cases and check misdemeanors also rose by 7.9 percent and 9.2 percent, respectively. On the other hand, murder and assault cases experienced a sharp drop of 51.4 percent, while property crimes decreased by 24.7 percent. The cases involving assaults on honor and reputation fell by 15.6 percent and banking crimes decreased by 7.7 percent. The statistics underscore both challenges and achievements for Kuwait’s judicial system. The rise in drug and psychotropic substance crimes by 30.4 percent, along with a 3.1 percent increase in kidnapping and unlawful detention cases, highlights areas needing intensified focus. As Public Prosecution continues to tackle these evolving trends, the significant progress in reducing violent crimes, such as murder and assault, provides a silver lining to an otherwise busy year for law enforcement and judiciary authorities. By Jaber Al-Hamoud/Munif Naif Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff
Rachakonda reports 58% surge in cyber crimes
Hims & Hers Health, Inc. ( NYSE:HIMS – Get Free Report ) dropped 6.1% during mid-day trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $26.58 and last traded at $26.74. Approximately 6,779,391 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 10,044,754 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.49. Specifically, insider Michael Chi sold 17,303 shares of Hims & Hers Health stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.97, for a total transaction of $483,964.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 193,601 shares in the company, valued at $5,415,019.97. This trade represents a 8.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website . Also, CFO Oluyemi Okupe sold 4,213 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.98, for a total transaction of $126,305.74. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 128,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,848,382.70. The trade was a 3.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . In other Hims & Hers Health news, CFO Oluyemi Okupe sold 18,959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.77, for a total transaction of $488,573.43. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 132,578 shares in the company, valued at $3,416,535.06. This represents a 12.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website . Analyst Ratings Changes Several research firms recently issued reports on HIMS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Hims & Hers Health from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 price target (up previously from $18.00) on shares of Hims & Hers Health in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Hims & Hers Health in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Hims & Hers Health in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Hims & Hers Health from $28.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.80. Hims & Hers Health Stock Down 6.8 % The company has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.37 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.49. Hims & Hers Health ( NYSE:HIMS – Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.26. Hims & Hers Health had a net margin of 8.19% and a return on equity of 10.97%. The firm had revenue of $401.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $382.20 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.04) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 77.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Hims & Hers Health, Inc. will post 0.29 EPS for the current fiscal year. Institutional Trading of Hims & Hers Health Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Hims & Hers Health by 113.1% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 6,039,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,936,000 after buying an additional 3,205,108 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Hims & Hers Health by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,626,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,221,000 after purchasing an additional 206,078 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Hims & Hers Health by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,289,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,029,000 after purchasing an additional 482,177 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Hims & Hers Health by 34.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,444,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,446,000 after purchasing an additional 883,230 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hims & Hers Health by 15.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,667,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,714,000 after buying an additional 218,566 shares during the last quarter. 63.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About Hims & Hers Health ( Get Free Report ) Hims & Hers Health, Inc operates a telehealth platform that connects consumers to licensed healthcare professionals in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company offers a range of curated prescription and non-prescription health and wellness products and services available to purchase on its websites and mobile application directly by customers. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Hims & Hers Health Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hims & Hers Health and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
The US State and Treasury departments said they hit Georgian Dream party founder and honorary chairman Bidzina Ivanishvili with penalties “for undermining the democratic and Euro-Atlantic future of Georgia for the benefit of the Russian Federation”, according to a statement. The designation of Mr Ivanishvili is the latest in a series of sanctions the US has placed on Georgian politicians and others this year. Those sanctions include freezes on assets and properties those targeted may have in US jurisdictions or that might enter US jurisdictions as well as travel bans on the targets and members of their families. “We strongly condemn Georgian Dream’s actions under Ivanishvili’s leadership, including its ongoing and violent repression of Georgian citizens, protesters, members of the media, human rights activists, and opposition figures,” the State Department said in a statement. “The United States is committed to promoting accountability for those undermining democracy and human rights in Georgia.” Mr Ivanishvili is a billionaire who made his fortune in Russia and served briefly as Georgia’s prime minister. In 2012, he founded Georgian Dream, Georgia’s longtime ruling party. Critics have accused Georgian Dream of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilted towards Moscow. The party recently pushed through laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBT+ rights, prompting the European Union to suspend Georgia’s membership application process indefinitely. In October, Georgian Dream won another term in a divisive parliamentary election that has led to more mass protests. Last month, the country’s prime minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, announced a four-year suspension of talks on Georgia’s bid to join the European Union, fuelling further public outrage.
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Most Americans, like most Canadians, probably have no idea how important Canada is to American energy security and its comparatively cheap gasoline. But they may soon find out. Should Donald Trump’s threats of 25 per cent tariffs across the board on Canadian imports include oil and natural gas, there would be a crude awakening. American consumers would invariably be hit with price hikes at the gas pumps, should Canadian oil producers be hit with 25 per cent tariffs, as about one-third of American refining capacity is configured for heavy crude, most of which comes from Alberta’s oil sands. American LNG exporters would also feel the pain, as some of the natural gas used to feed LNG terminals on the Gulf Coast comes from Alberta and B.C. via pipeline. Trump’s threat of across-the-board tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports is sending “shockwaves” through the Canadian business community, said Bridgitte Anderson, president of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade (GVBOT) at an energy and resources forum Tuesday in Vancouver. “The president-elect is threatening 25 per cent across the board on all Canadian projects,” said Lisa Baiton, president of the Canadian Petroleum Producers (CAPP). “This would be catastrophic for Canada's economy. And these kinds of events underscore the impacts of global instability and show how our resource sector, the economy and national security are all highly interdependent.” B.C. lumber exports to the U.S. are already subject to duties of about 15 per cent. Presumably, blanket tariffs on Canadian goods would add another 10 per cent. During his previous administration, Trump implemented tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, but energy exports, like oil and gas were not included. While it’s not yet clear whether the threatened tariffs would include energy exports -- oil, natural gas and electricity -- Trump did make a point of upper-casing his threat to suggest they would apply to everything. “On January 20 , as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25 per cent Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social network on November 24. The five top exports from Canada to the U.S., in order of value, are crude oil and refined petroleum products, automotive parts, natural gas, electricity, and lumber and wood products. Business groups and chambers of commerce in Canada are reacting to the threat with alarm. “A tariff of this magnitude will have significant consequences for B.C. businesses of all sizes and will negatively impact communities and workers across British Columbia,” said BC Chamber of Commerce president Fiona Famulak. “These proposed tariffs would have devastating consequences for our local businesses, further straining supply chains and diminishing the economic recovery we’ve worked so hard to achieve,” said Surrey Board of Trade spokesman Jasroop Gosal. “Some might say that the president-elect's tariff threat is meant to be provocative," Baiton said. “I would say it's expected. And Canada needs to remember how closely integrated our market is in the U.S. “Our supply chains are highly intertwined. In 2022, Canada exported, in U.S. dollars $438 billion to the US, and a significant portion of that – or 27 per cent of that -- Canada's merchandise exports to the U.S. were energy related, including oil, gas, electricity and uranium." What’s not well understood about Canada’s role in American energy security is the configuration of American oil refineries. Many of the large refineries in the U.S. – notably in the midwest and Gulf Coast -- are built to refine heavy crude, not the lighter oil produced in the U.S. in its shale oil sector. As a result of this, 61 per cent of the crude oil imported by the U.S. comes from Canada, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Canadian heavy crude accounts for about 24 per cent of all crude oil consumption in the U.S. Depending on where oil prices are at, a 25 per cent tariff could add about $20 to the price of a barrel of oil for refiners, which would invariably result in higher prices for gasoline in the U.S. As for natural gas, in 2022, 99 per cent of American imports of natural gas were from Canada, according to the EIA, most of it from Alberta and B.C. The U.S. imported three trillion cubic feet of natural gas in 2022. Some of the natural gas now exported to the U.S. from Alberta and B.C. now feed LNG projects on the Gulf Coast, which would be affected by higher natural gas prices, as a result of tariffs. “Imposing tariffs on products like energy would cause chaos for our very integrated markets and our very integrated supply chains, and would have a devastating effect on Canada," Baiton said. "So whether that tariff threat comes to fruition or not, Canada is at a very real point of inflection.”