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From Candy to Billions: The Success Story of John Franklyn Mars

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John Franklyn Mars is an American businessman, born on October 15, 1935. He made a significant portion of his wealth from the family-owned firm. When their father passed away in 1999, John, along with his siblings Jacqueline, and Forrest Junior, received shares in the candy company Mars, Inc.

American conglomerate Mars, Inc. produces candy, pet food, and various other food items in addition to offering services for caring for animals. According to Forbes, it is the sixth-largest privately held firm in the country.

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The Mars brand is well-known for its confectionery products, including Mars bars, M&Ms, Skittles, Snickers, Milky Way bars, & Twix, as well as non-candy snacks and foods. Not only that, but Mars also produces well-known pet food brands, which include Pedigree, Nutro, Whiskas, and Royal Canin.

John Franklyn Mars, the 29th-richest individual globally as of July 24, 2020, is projected to have a net worth of 31.3 billion USD, as per Forbes. But it wasn’t the only factor that propelled him to the top of Forbes’ list, his loyalty to the company also helped him cross many hurdles in life.

Also Read: From Homeless to Millionaire: Penny Streeter Success Story

John Mars entered his family’s firm in 1953 after earning his degrees from Yale University and the Hotchkiss School located in Lakeville, Connecticut, where he was born in 1935 to Forrest Mars Senior, who had a significant impact on the development of the business.

When John was a young child, his father declined to spend money on a luxury lifestyle so that he could grow his business, teaching him valuable lessons about sustainable lifestyles with food and money.

As time passed, he formed the practice of working for whatever he desired in life, refusing to accept privileges such as posh clothing, vehicles, or other luxuries. To make John and his brother Forrest Mars Junior useful people rather than playboys, their father subjected them to this hard lifestyle.

John Franklyn Mars was rewarded for his effort in childhood when he was young and able to support himself. John began serving in the US Army after receiving his Yale diploma in 1956 and served there for two years, from 1956 to 1958. With his father’s permission, he joined the family business. His first task was to launch an Australian pet food firm far from his home.

Even though the mission was difficult for a beginner businessman to complete, he purposefully came to Australia and began working on it. He developed his business steadily while picking up numerous lessons along the way, and today he oversees the company’s global pet food operations.

Another issue arose when, for the first moment in the entire history of the business, Hershey overtook Mars as the number one firm in the United States in 1988, demoting it to second place.

John helped his brother, Forrest Jr., restore the firm to its former status at this time, by acquiring Ethel M Chocolates, a business that their father had started after giving them control of Mars. This measure increased the company’s operations, and when combined with some wise choices, it helped the business regain its respectability in 1991.

John overcame every challenge on his way to becoming a prosperous businessman and is now regarded as Mars’ major leader and main intellect.

He is also credited with pushing the company towards automation, which enabled it to expand outside of the United States by improving productivity. So, John Mars’  training in the initial aspect of life made him reach unprecedented heights of accomplishment.

ChatGPT

Italy Restores ChatGPT after OpenAI Responds to Regulator

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According to the agency and the corporation, the ChatGPT chatbot has been reinstated in Italy after OpenAI resolved concerns expressed by the country’s data protection body.

After the Italian data protection authority, designated as Garante, temporarily suspended the chatbot and opened an investigation into the artificial intelligence program’s alleged violation of privacy laws, OpenAI powered by Microsoft, banned ChatGPT in Italy this past month.

ChatGPT
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Garante had granted OpenAI till Sunday for it to alleviate its worries before permitting the chatbot to resume operations in the nation.

Garante claimed a month ago that ChatGPT didn’t have any legal justification for the huge collection and storage of users’ personal data required to train the chatbot.

Also Read: OpenAI rolls out ‘incognito mode’ on ChatGPT

Garante had also charged OpenAI with failing to verify the legal age of ChatGPT users, who are required to be 13 or older. In response, OpenAI announced it will provide a tool to confirm the age of users in Italy at the time of registration.

The firm announced on Friday that it would make its privacy policy as well as input from users’ opt-out form more visible.

According to a company spokesperson, it will also make available an enhanced way for users in the European Union to take advantage of their privilege to protest its utilization of private information to train its models.

Individuals who wish to opt-out must fill out an elaborate form with their personal information, including any proof of data processing via pertinent prompts.

Garante expressed its appreciation for the measures made to balance technical advancement with adherence to human rights and expressed the hope that the firm would continue on this road toward achieving compliance with European data security standards.

Although ChatGPT’s swift growth has drawn the interest of lawmakers as well as regulators in multiple nations, Italy was the first Western European nation to restrict it.

Also Read: How Will ChatGPT Change Education and Teaching?

On Thursday, a panel of EU parliamentarians approved new regulations requiring companies using generative AI tools, including ChatGPT, to declare any copyrighted data used to create their systems.

The organization that unifies Europe’s national privacy regulators, the European Data Protection Board, established an investigation force on the chatbot previously this month in response to Garante’s concern regarding ChatGPT.

Garante stated that it will cooperate with the special task team and carry out its investigation into ChatGPT.

advertising

Is advertising the future of streaming?

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The rise of streaming services has revolutionized the way we consume media. With a plethora of streaming options, from Netflix to Hulu to Disney+, there has never been a better time to be a viewer.

However, with the increased competition between streaming services, the need for revenue has become more critical. Advertising has emerged as one of the ways streaming services can generate revenue, but is it the future of streaming?

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Advertising has been a part of television for decades, and with the rise of streaming services, it was only a matter of time before it made its way into the world of online streaming.

The appeal of advertising is clear: it generates revenue for the streaming service, allows for more affordable subscription prices, and can provide targeted advertisements to viewers. This is especially beneficial for smaller streaming services that don’t have the financial power of Netflix or Amazon Prime.

Also Read: Why is Amazon shutting down Halo Division?

The fastest-growing segment of the streaming industry right now is free, ad-supported platforms. Many platforms have quietly accumulated large content collections and millions of users over the course of their existence.

And now, they’re beginning to make a greater impact as consumers hunt for cheaper means to access entertainment and companies look for innovative ways to monetize. Free streaming has its allure already present in the name—it’s cost-free!

According to an increasing number of streaming customers, they already pay more than they would like to for their subscriptions, and a Deloitte poll conducted in the fall of last year indicated that 44% of respondents had canceled at least one subscription service in the previous six months.

In addition, Deloitte discovered that 59% of customers would be content to view a few adverts per hour as a substitute for a less expensive or even free subscription.

Netflix has already found that their ad-supported option, which costs $6.99 a month and features a few advertisements per hour, generates more revenue per user than pure subscriptions. There is also an ad-supported option for Disney Plus as well. As does Peacock, the newest Max service, and a growing portion of the rest of the sector. It seems that advertisements are the streaming industry’s future.

Also Read: Amazon sees cloud slowdown in April, shares erase gains

However, it may have its drawbacks too. Advertising may not be enough to sustain smaller streaming services in the long run. The streaming market is becoming increasingly saturated, with new services popping up all the time. To stay competitive, streaming services need to offer something unique, and advertising may not be enough to differentiate them from the competition.

Services like Netflix and Amazon Prime have the financial power to invest in original content, which is a significant draw for viewers. Smaller services may not have the same luxury, and relying solely on advertising may not be enough to keep them afloat.

AI

Is AI getting better at mind-reading?

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Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has made significant advances in recent years, but it’s important to note that AI does not possess a “mind” in the same way humans do. Therefore, the term “mind-reading” is not an accurate description of AI capabilities.

AI
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However, AI can be trained to predict and infer human behavior and thoughts to a certain extent by analyzing patterns and data. For example, machine learning algorithms can be trained to recognize facial expressions and body language, and infer the emotions and mental states of individuals.

Also Read: Amazon is working to boost the capability of Alexa. Here’s how

Consider the phrases that are running through your mind: that tasteless joke you, wisely, kept to yourself at dinner; your unspoken opinion of your closest friend’s new partner. Now picture someone listening in. University of Texas at Austin researchers took another move in that direction on Monday.

An artificial intelligence (A.I.) that might interpret the private thoughts of human beings was detailed in a study that was released in the journal Nature Neuroscience. The A.I. did this by examining fMRI scans, which assess the flow of blood to various parts of the brain.

Researchers have already created language-decoding techniques to recognize speech attempts made by persons who are mute and to enable paralyzed people to write simply by thinking about writing. However, the new language decoder is among the first to do so without the use of implants.

When respondents watched silent films as part of the study, it was capable to produce fairly accurate accounts of what was occurring onscreen and turn a person’s mental phrases into actual speech.

Three volunteers, who spent 16 hours over many days in Dr. Huth’s lab listening to “The Moth” and other narrative podcasts, were the focus of the study. An fMRI scanner monitored the blood oxygen levels in various regions of their brains while they were listening.

The brain activity patterns were then compared to the words and sentences the subjects had heard using a comprehensive language model.

According to Osaka University neuroscientist Shinji Nishimoto, “Brain activity is a kind of encrypted signal, and language models provide ways to decipher it.” Using another A.I. to convert the participant’s fMRI images into words and sentences, Dr. Huth and his colleagues successfully reversed the process in their study.

Also Read: Did Elon Musk unwittingly expose his alt-Twitter account?

The participants listened to fresh recordings while the researchers evaluated the decoder to assess the degree to which the translation resembled the genuine transcript. Though nearly every word in the decoded script was misplaced, the passage’s meaning was frequently kept intact. The decoders were effectively summarising.

Additionally, participants were able to mask their internal monologues by diverting their attention away from the decoder. A.I. may be able to read our minds, but for the time being it will need our consent and will need to read each thought individually.

IBM

IBM to pause hiring in the plan to replace 7,800 jobs with AI

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Due to ChatGPT’s growth, artificial intelligence is currently the hottest subject in technology. The Microsoft-powered OpenAI chatbot’s use of AI to respond to queries, generate articles, and even present legal arguments has astounded and amazed users as well as big companies like IBM.

IBM
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Due to its abilities, people are now more concerned than ever about how, when, and whether artificial intelligence will affect their jobs and career. While worries about AI-based technology replacing workers have grown, professionals say it’s not as simple as it seems.

 The answer to the question that if AI going to replace certain jobs is certainly a “yes”.

Also Read: Meta lays off tech teams, battering employee morale

According to Steven Miller, information systems retired professor, at Singapore Management University, improvements in artificial intelligence imply that machines can accomplish more and more, which will undoubtedly have an influence on jobs.

“As physical machines, software systems, and combinations of hardware and software get more capable as a result of AI-enablement, it is increasingly possible as well as economically viable to replace a greater share of the portions of the human work of today with machines,” he told CNBC Make It.

Source: cnbc.com

Certain positions, as stated by Steven Miller, are more prone to this compared to others, such as those that require a lot of repeated phrases or that are reliant on specific rules or regulations that define how a thing is supposed to be done.

On the other hand, since they vary so frequently, it is more challenging for technology to replace tasks that need adaptability and flexibility.

Amidst these discussions of the impact of artificial intelligence on the job cuts, IBM has created an uproar in the industry by saying that it would replace about 7800 jobs with AI in the coming years.

Arvind Krishna, CEO of International Business Machines Corporation, claimed that the company expects to halt hiring since 7,800 job positions may be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI) in the years to come.

According to Krishna, recruitment in back-office areas like human resources (HR) will stop or slow down. He also predicted that in the next five years, artificial intelligence (AI) and automation could take over 30 percent of positions that don’t need customer interaction.

Also Read: SAP reports revenue growth in Q1

His remarks come at a moment in which AI has captured the attention of people all across the world with the November 2016 debut of ChatGPT, a popular chatbot developed by OpenAI with funding from Microsoft Corp.

The PC manufacturer told the publication that part of the decrease might involve not filling positions left vacant by attrition.

IBM did not quickly reply to a Reuters request for comment.

Microsoft

Did the U.K. Just Kill the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard Deal?

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In response to concerns that it would impede competition in the rapidly expanding cloud gaming business, British regulators on Wednesday rejected Microsoft $69 billion acquisition of video game developer Activision Blizzard. This prevented the largest tech deal in history.

Microsoft
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In its final report, the Competition and Markets Authority stated that “the only effective remedy” for the significant loss of competition “is to prohibit the Merger.” The organizations intend to file an appeal.

Due to concerns that Microsoft would gain control of well-known game franchises like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush, rival Sony vigorously opposed the all-cash transaction, and regulators in the United States and Europe closely examined it.

Also Read: Amazon is working to boost the capability of Alexa. Here’s how

Concerns raised by the U.K. watchdog centered on how the transaction might impact competitiveness in cloud gaming, which involves streaming games to smartphones, tablets, and other devices. Players no longer need to purchase pricey consoles and gaming laptops as a result.

According to Martin Colman, chair of the Competition and Markets Authority’s independent expert panel looking into the agreement, cloud gaming has the potential to transform the industry by offering players more flexibility over how and where they play. In this new and fascinating sector, he continued, “It is critical that we protect competition.”

The transaction still has our full support, and we will appeal, stated President Brad Smith in a statement. The watchdog’s judgment, according to him, “rejects a pragmatic path to address competition concerns” and deters tech investment and innovation in the UK.

Smith stated, “We’re especially disappointed that, after a lengthy decision, this decision appears to reflect a flawed understanding of this market and the way the relevant cloud technology actually works.” Likewise, Activision retaliated, stating that it will “work aggressively with Microsoft to reverse this on appeal.”

Last month, regulators raised their objections to the agreement, stating that it wouldn’t be advantageous for Microsoft to restrict Call of Duty to its Xbox gaming platform. The agency said on Wednesday that it had looked “in considerable depth” at Microsoft’s suggestions to allay competition worries, but that it had concluded that those remedies would necessitate its supervision, whereas blocking the merger would enable cloud gaming to evolve naturally.

Regulators came to the conclusion that if the acquisition went through, it would strengthen Microsoft’s edge by giving it ownership over important game franchises, given its dominant standing in the cloud computing sector.

Late last year, the US Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit to stop the agreement between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard. The FTC action is still in the document discovery phase, and a hearing to present evidence is set for August 2.