logo
How to reduce how much time you're spending staring at screens without hurting your career

How to reduce how much time you're spending staring at screens without hurting your career

Fast Company19-05-2025
I don't know about you, but I usually cringe when I get my weekly Screen Time Report. Did I really spend that much time online? Turns out, I'm pretty average. According to DataReportal's 2025 Global Overview Report, adults worldwide clock in about six hours and 38 minutes on digital devices each day.
While being average is comforting, I know I could benefit from more time unplugged. Yet, the thought of a full digital detox feels scary.
'It's very hard to completely disconnect yourself,' says Cristiano Winckler, director of digital marketing for Somebody Digital, a digital marketing agency. 'But anything in excess is going to have negative consequences. The question is, how can we still be present online, but not in a way that is going to cause anxiety?'
Worries about being offline are common, and Winckler analyzed the most common perceived career risks according to Google Trend search data. He found three of the biggest concerns—and why we shouldn't stress over them so much.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

AI Apps Are Undressing Women Without Consent And It's A Problem
AI Apps Are Undressing Women Without Consent And It's A Problem

Forbes

timean hour ago

  • Forbes

AI Apps Are Undressing Women Without Consent And It's A Problem

AI nudification apps are making it frighteningly easy to create fake sexualized images of women and ... More teens, sparking a surge in abuse, blackmail and online exploitation. The rise of AI 'nudification' tools makes it shockingly easy for anyone to create a fake naked image of you—or any of your family, friends or colleagues—using nothing more than a photo and one of many readily available AI apps. The existence of tools that let users create non-consensual sexualized images might seem like an inevitable consequence of the development of AI image generation. But with 15 million downloads since 2022, and deepfaked nude content increasingly used to bully victims and expose them to danger, it's not a problem that society can or should ignore. There have been calls for apps to be banned, and criminal penalties for creating and spreading non-consensual intimate images have been introduced in some countries. But this has done little to stem the flood, with one in four 13 to 19-year-olds reportedly exposed to fake, sexualized images of someone they know. Let's look at how these tools work, what the real risks are, and what steps we should be taking to minimize the harms that are already being caused. What Are Nudification Apps And What Are The Dangers? Nudification apps use AI to create naked or sexualized images of people from the sort of everyday, fully-clothed images that anyone might upload to Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn. While men are occasionally the targets, research suggests that 99 per cent of non-consensual, sexualized deepfakes feature women and girls. Overwhelmingly, it's used as a form of abuse to bully, coerce or extort victims. Media coverage frequently suggests that this is increasingly having a real impact on women's lives. While faked nude images can be humiliating and potentially career-affecting for anyone, in some parts of the world, it could leave women at risk of criminal prosecution or even serious violence. Another shocking factor is the growing number of fake images of minors that are being created, which may or may not be derived from images of real children. The Internet Watch Foundation reported a 400 percent rise in the number of URLs hosting AI-generated child sex abuse content in the first six months of 2025. This type of content is seen as particularly dangerous, even when no real children are involved, with experts saying it can normalize abusive images, fuel demand, and complicate law enforcement investigations. Unfortunately, media reports suggest that criminals have a clear financial incentive to get involved, with some making millions of dollars from selling fake content. So, given the simplicity and scale with which these images can be created, and the devastating consequences they can have on lives, what's being done to stop it? How Are Service Providers And Legislators Reacting? Efforts to tackle the issue through regulation are underway in many jurisdictions, but so far, progress has been uneven. In the US, the Take It Down Act makes online services, including social media, responsible for taking down non-consensual deepfakes when asked to do so. And some states, including California and Minnesota, have passed laws making it illegal to distribute sexually explicit deepfakes. In the UK, there are proposals to take matters further by imposing penalties for making, not simply distributing, non-consensual deepfakes, as well as an outright ban on nudification apps themselves. However, it isn't clear how the tools would be defined and differentiated from AI used for legitimate creative purposes. China's generative AI measures contain several provisions aimed at mitigating the harm of non-consensual deepfakes. Among these are requirements that tools should have built-in safeguards to detect and block illegal use, and that AI content should be watermarked in a way that allows its origin to be traced. One frustration for those campaigning for a solution is that authorities haven't always seemed willing to treat AI-generated image abuse as seriously as they would photographic image abuse, due to a perception that it 'isn't real'. In Australia, this prompted the government commissioner for online safety to call on schools to ensure all incidents are reported to police as sex crimes against children. Of course, online service providers have a hugely important role to play, too. Just this month, Meta announced that it is suing the makers of the CrushAI app for attempting to circumvent its restrictions on promoting nudification apps on its Facebook platform. This came after online investigators found that the makers of these apps are frequently able to evade measures put in place by service providers to limit their reach. What Can The Rest Of Us Do? The rise of AI nudification apps should act as a warning that transformative technologies like AI can change society in ways that aren't always welcome. But we should also remember that the post-truth age and 'the end of privacy" are just possible futures, not guaranteed outcomes. How the future turns out will depend on what we decide is acceptable or unacceptable now, and the actions we take to uphold those decisions. From a societal point of view, this means education. Critically, there should be a focus on the behavior and attitudes of school-age children to help make them aware of the harm that can be caused. From a business point of view, it means developing an awareness of how this technology can impact workers, particularly women. HR policies should ensure there are systems and policies in place to help those who may become victims of blackmail or harassment campaigns involving deepfaked images or videos. And technological solutions have a role to play in detecting when these images are transferred and uploaded, and potentially removing them before they can cause harm. Watermarking, filtering and collaborative community moderation could all be part of the solution. Failing to act decisively now will mean that deepfakes, nude or otherwise, are likely to become an increasingly problematic part of everyday life.

Bitcoin Hits $1T Realized Cap as Price Holds Above $118K After $9B BTC Sale by Satoshi-Era Whale
Bitcoin Hits $1T Realized Cap as Price Holds Above $118K After $9B BTC Sale by Satoshi-Era Whale

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Bitcoin Hits $1T Realized Cap as Price Holds Above $118K After $9B BTC Sale by Satoshi-Era Whale

Bitcoin continues to trade above the $118,000 mark, holding steady after a week of significant institutional developments and a landmark milestone in on-chain metrics. According to CoinDesk Data, BTC was last up 1.45% over the past 24 hours, bringing its 30-day gain to 10.42% and lifting its year-to-date performance to more than 26%. Blockchain analytics firm Glassnode highlighted in its latest "Week On-chain" report that July has brought one of the strongest upside breakouts of the year. After dipping to around $105,400 earlier in the month, bitcoin surged to an all-time high of $122,700 before settling into a consolidation phase just below that level. The report noted that this price rally triggered substantial profit-taking from long-term holders while also drawing in new buyers, leading to a sustained inflow of capital into the asset. The result is that bitcoin's realized capitalization — a measure of the total value of coins based on the last time they were moved — has now surpassed $1 trillion for the first time. Unlike market capitalization, which reflects current price multiplied by total supply, realized cap tracks the actual liquidity deployed into bitcoin over time. Glassnode says this milestone reflects growing conviction among both long-term holders and new entrants, and signals a deepening of the asset's liquidity base. The on-chain analytics firm also claims that this points to bitcoin's growing role on the macroeconomic stage, with the ability to absorb and settle ever larger volumes of capital. On Friday, Mike Novogratz's Galaxy Digital (GLXY) announced in a press release "the successful execution of one of the largest notional bitcoin transactions in the history of crypto on behalf of a client." Galaxy said that it had executed a more than $9 billion bitcoin transaction on behalf of a legacy investor from the early days of the network. The 80,000 BTC sale is one of the largest of its kind in crypto history and was reportedly part of the client's estate planning. Meanwhile, on Friday, CNBC resurfaced a detail from Tesla's second quarter of 2022 earnings filings, which disclosed that the company had converted approximately 75% of its bitcoin into fiat currency during that quarter. With bitcoin hovering around $118,000 on Friday morning, David Faber, a "Squawk on the Street" co-host, estimated that had Tesla held onto its full bitcoin holdings, the value of its BTC holdings would now exceed $5 billion — four times higher than its reported valuation of $1.25 billion as of the most recent quarter. Of course, this is the same kind of criticism that has been aimed at the German government for selling its bitcoin holdings too early. In June and July 2024, the German authorities liquidated nearly 50,000 BTC seized from a film piracy case, netting roughly $2.9 billion at an average price around $57,900 per coin. At the time, officials justified the move by citing legal obligations to avoid potential loss in value and quickly liquidate seized assets. However, in hindsight, this strategy has come under fire as the value of bitcoin soared in the following year. On May 19, crypto market intelligence platform Arkham noted on X that those same coins would have been worth more than $5.24 billion had the German government held on to them, meaning it missed out on over $2.35 billion in potential gains. Critics argue that the sale not only left a fortune on the table but also contributed to short-term price pressure on the entire bitcoin market. Technical Analysis Highlights According to CoinDesk Research's technical analysis data model, during the 23-hour session ending July 26 at 14:00 UTC, the digital asset rallied more than 3%, carving out a $3,300 trading range between $114,937 and $118,237. Support has remained firm in the $117,140–$117,330 zone, while resistance appears to be consolidating just below the $118,200 threshold. The final hour of trading saw modest gains of 0.07% as BTC climbed from $118,095 to $118,183, with tight-range consolidation suggesting continued buying interest just below psychological resistance. Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy. Sign in to access your portfolio

Android phones helping detect potential earthquakes
Android phones helping detect potential earthquakes

Yahoo

time3 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Android phones helping detect potential earthquakes

(NewsNation) — More and more every day, it seems like smartphones can expand our knowledge on everything, including detecting potential earthquakes. Earthquakes? Yes. Recently, researchers from Google and partner institutions shared results from the Android Earthquake Alerts system. The AEA, over the last three years, has expanded earthquake warning coverage from 250 million people to 2.5 billion in 98 countries. The system sends a signal to Google's earthquake detection server, and the possible location where the shaking occurs. It then analyzes data from phones to confirm that an earthquake is happening, while also estimating its location and magnitude. Two alerts are then sent out: BeAware and TakeAction. Alaska is the most earthquake-prone state. Here is why Wednesday's earthquake was notable 'The system has now detected over 18,000 earthquakes, from small tremors of M1.9 to major quakes reaching M7.8,' according to the research. 'For the events significant enough to warn people, alerts were issued for over 2000 earthquakes, culminating in 790 million alerts being sent to phones worldwide.' 'The impact has been a ~10x change in the number of people with access to EEW systems.' Dating back to March 31, 2024, AEA has issued alerts to Android phones for a total of 1279 events that were detected. Only three were false alarms, with two resulting from thunderstorms. Android phones make up more than 70% of the world's smartphones as of July 2025. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store