OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, last year launched chatbot ChatGPT, offering arguably the most natural interaction to date. That triggered a race to develop features based on game-changing generative artificial intelligence (AI), including TikTok rival Snap Inc whose “My AI” is powered by ChatGPT technology.

TikTok said Tako is designed to help users discover “entertaining and inspiring content” on the app.

Earlier on Thursday, an Israeli-based app intelligence firm Watchful Technologies said it had found Tako on some versions of the TikTok app on Apple Inc mobile devices.

Screenshots and video Watchful shared with Reuters showed the chatbot featuring prominently on TikTok’s interface as a ghost-shaped icon, which users can tap while watching videos to have text-based conversations and get help finding content.

In April, US media outlets reported that TikTok was experimenting with a generative AI tool to allow users to create avatars. China-based parent ByteDance is working on a large AI model, Chinese media reported, but it does not currently offer AI chatbot features on its Chinese equivalent of TikTok, Douyin.

Disclosure filed with the US patent and trademark office last month showed TikTok had submitted a trademark application for “TikTok Tako” in categories including “computer software for the artificial production of human speech and text”.

Asked about Tako, a TikTok spokesperson said the social media platform was always exploring new technology.

“In select markets, we’re testing new ways to power search and discovery on TikTok, and we look forward to learning from our community as we continue to create a safe place that entertains, inspires creativity, and drives culture,” the spokesperson said.

The company did not say why the Philippines was selected.

Video recommendations

Watchful researcher Daniel Buchuk said his team started to find references to Tako on some versions of the TikTok app earlier this month, including on a test version on an iOS device in the United States.

Watchful uses computer vision as well as data analysis to identify and emulate app changes. It monitors devices in different countries but was unable to establish in which markets TikTok was conducting its tests.

Unlike ChatGPT, which is positioned as an all-purpose chatbot, Tako feels more like a navigation assistant with a focus on encouraging users to watch more videos, Buchuk said.

“So if you’re asking ‘When was King Charles’ coronation?’ Tako will tell you the answer, but then you’ll also see relevant TikTok videos,” he said.

Another demonstration by Watchful showed that when a user asks Tako a question, such as “How can we teach respect to children”, the chatbot replies by summarising tips from TikTok users while also recommending related videos.

TikTok has set a disclaimer saying Tako is an experimental chatbot and that responses could be inaccurate. It said it will review conversations with Tako for safety purposes and warned users not to share private information with it. – Rappler.com

The ChatGPT app is free to use and would sync history across devices, OpenAI said.

“ChatGPT Plus subscribers get exclusive access to GPT-4’s capabilities, early access to features and faster response times, all on iOS,” the company added.

GPT-4 is a powerful artificial intelligence model that succeeds the technology behind the wildly popular ChatGPT.

Earlier in February, OpenAI launched a pilot subscription plan for its popular AI-powered chatbot, called ChatGPT Plus, for $20 per month.

The company said it was starting the roll-out for iOS in the US and will expand to additional countries in the coming weeks.

The public battle to dominate the AI technology space kicked off late last year with the launch of ChatGPT and prompted tech heavyweights from Alphabet Inc. to Meta to trumpet their own offerings. – Rappler.com

In February, Netflix introduced a paid add-on option in Spain that forced account holders to pay €5.99 ($6.57) per month to grant up to two people outside of their households streaming access. The company began testing such a measure in March 2021. Kantar believes the move is what led to a million subscribers leaving the service, two thirds of whom were said to be sharing passwords with someone else. 

While the majority weren’t paying subscribers, the research group still believes the loss can have an impact on word of mouth recommendations for Netflix’s content and service. 

Subscription cancellations also tripled in the first quarter compared to the previous period. Among the remaining subscribers in Spain, one-tenth said they plan to unsubscribe in the second quarter. 

“We see a cancel reaction in each market when we announce the news,” Netflix said in its first quarter earnings release. 

Apart from Spain, Netflix also rolled out the paid add-on option that cracks down on password sharing in Portugal, Canada and New Zealand. The company plans a wider rollout of the option in the coming months, including the US within the second quarter of 2023. 

“In Canada, which we believe is a reliable predictor for the US, our paid membership base is now larger than prior to the launch of paid sharing and revenue growth has accelerated and is now growing faster than in the US,” added Netflix, noting that it expects a temporary dip in subscribers before those who previously didn’t pay start signing up for their own accounts. 

Netflix expects to see growth in the second half of 2023 as it broadens the scope of its password sharing crackdown and as more affordable, ad-supported plans become available in new markets. 

More than 100 million households in the world share accounts, according to Netflix, which supposedly undermines the company’s ability to invest in more content. The company says it monitors IP addresses, device identifications and account activity to detect accounts engaging in password sharing. – Rappler.com

The new process requires users to complete a series of video selfie prompts to get verified instead.

Prior to the changes, still photos done in a particular pose or poses were the norm for photo verification on Tinder. These photos were compared to others on a member’s profile to get the verification checkmark.

“While no photo verification process is perfect,” Tinder said, the change “helps Tinder keep those blue checkmarks more real.”

TechCrunch added in its report that a third-party vendor would be managing the video selfie verification process, but did not disclose the name of the company that will handle it.

‘Photo Verified Chat’ feature, Tinder Gold filters

Tinder added a security feature as well, in which members selecting “Photo Verified Chat” in Message Settings will only receive messages from other Photo Verified members. They can also ask their match to verify their photos before a message is sent.

Meanwhile, Tinder Gold members get the ability to filter Likes, so they can spot Photo Verified members only.

The verification process changes are available globally now, and may require users who were previously verified to redo the process.

The ability to select “Photo Verified Members” only in Message Settings will begin rolling out in the coming months, Tinder added. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – As Filipinos are looking to start traveling again after years of pandemic restrictions, social media feeds go abuzz as users share maps of places they’ve been to in the Philippines, all thanks to a web app.

Singapore-based Filipino software engineer Denz Del Villar created the My Philippines Travel Level website for users to show how well-traveled they are in the Philippines. 

The do-it-yourself map quickly blew up as personalities such as Macoy Dubs and even former vice president Leni Robredo shared their results. 

Denz tells Rappler that the website represents his first time doing web development, adding that he has been thinking about the idea for years but wasn’t able to start on it due to inexperience. 

“I think it started in 2019. I randomly saw this Japanese version of the map and I got interested…. I was amazed and thought ‘Hey, there should also be a Philippine version of this,’ but there wasn’t any available,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino. 

He only got motivated to finally get started on the project on April 5 while on a ten-hour layover on his way to Turkey. He also had one tool that could finally help him conquer web development – ChatGPT. 

“A lot of software engineers saw the potential of ChatGPT to guide them in building their projects,” Denz said. 

The software engineer estimates that around 70% to 80% of the now-viral website was done with the help of ChatGPT. 

Behind the scenes

Denz’s journey with the website started with creating the Philippine map, using the entire ten hours of his initial layover to build this groundwork. 

“[The website] is graphics-heavy, you need the map first of all, and I didn’t know how to do it or draw it even. I asked ChatGPT how to get started. I also followed the format of those who created the Japanese version…The website wasn’t live then as there were still many features that were missing” he said.

To fill in the gaps with the missing features, he would consult ChatGPT and create code for the website during his many long bus rides to different parts of Turkey.

Among the features aided by ChatGPT was an essential feature where users click on a certain province and label it through these levels:

• Lived there (5) – you spent a significant portion of your life in that area.
• Stayed there (4) – you slept at least a night in that area.
• Visited there (3) – you spent some hours exploring the area.
• Alighted there (2) – you just dropped off for a short stopover, layover, or transfer.
• Passed there (1) – you passed by that area but did not set foot.
• Never been there (0) – you need to travel there soon.

Denz shares that ChatGPT was able to give “pretty nice” answers to his queries as long as he gave a pretty good prompt. However, he added that the codes given by the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot did not work immediately for the website.

“It’s like you search on Google how other people do it, but it’s almost on that same level. When I do that and put what ChatGPT recommends, I still had to make sure that the code works, so I had to tweak a bit,” he said. 

The AI chatbot also helped Denz with the basics of hosting a website such as getting a domain. 

“For software engineers, when you learn to do a new program, starting from scratch is hard. But if you have a template, it gets easier. Since what ChatGPT gave me are templates on how to start, it made my life easier. That’s what it took me [from] 2019 to until a few days ago to start as there wasn’t anyone who could help me or I could ask someone who knows about it, but I didn’t have time,” he added. 

Hallucinations

Despite its perks, Denz encountered problems with ChatGPT where the chatbot “hallucinated” or gave an entirely wrong answer to his query on adding a feature where users can share their maps directly to their Instagram stories. 

After extensive research, Denz realized that in order to get such feature, he would have to rewrite his entire website code in React Native when he was coding in ReactJS. 

React Native is used for cross-platform development in mobile apps, while ReactJS is used to build user interfaces of websites. The programming language used by React Native and ReactJS are also different.

“Apparently, there is no such [package] in ReactJS, but there is in React Native. So when I prompted ChatGPT to give me packages that do this, the chatbot gave one. When I checked the package, it didn’t work. I think ChatGPT invented that this package can do this [function] using this command and then that command did not exist in the first place,” he said. 

Denz created instead a compromise to have a function where users can save the image of their completed maps which they can share on their social media accounts. 

OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, also recognized such flaws in a November 2022 blog post on its website, saying that fixing the issue can be “challenging” due to several factors such as having “currently no source of truth” in reinforcement learning training. 

Denz said that this problem shows that there are “dangers” in believing that ChatGPT can give entirely factual information as it can be “susceptible to disinformation.”

After testing the site with friends, he posted the website on April 9 through an Instagram story sticker and Reddit. Denz added that after the website went live, he did not rely on ChatGPT as much as he would research on Google instead for quick bug fixes. 

Traveling to the Philippines

According to the My Philippines Travel Level website, Denz’s Philippines travel level is only at 62. The software engineer attributes the low level as he only got to travel more when he was able to earn enough money from working in his first job in Japan from 2015 to 2017. 

“It’s very impractical that if you’re in Japan, you would go to the Philippines to have a vacation since the [plane] tickets are expensive. It was much faster to do ‘domestic travel’ in Japan,” he said. 

Denz added that most of his travel in the Philippines were mostly in Luzon. He also traveled to Cebu for a layover from Japan, Boracay for a family trip, and Davao for the National Schools Press Conference in 2010. 

He hopes to change that now that he is based in Singapore, eyeing destinations such as Palawan, Cebu, and Batanes. 

Denz also noticed patterns from the maps he has seen from his circle of friends and other posts on social media, saying that those who are “well-off” are not necessarily the most well-traveled in the Philippines. 

“I usually see that government workers, they’re the ones who go to a lot of places [since] the demand of their work requires them to travel to all of the provinces. They’re the high scorers, not necessarily casual travelers,” he said. 

Denz also clarified that he doesn’t collect any data from the web app aside from the page views from the flag counter at the bottom of the website. So far, the My Philippines Travel Level website has been visited 2,301,068 times. 

Viral fame

Meanwhile, Denz said he knew the maps had the potential to go viral. However, what surprised him was how companies, organizations, and experts quickly picked up on the gimmick. Those versions would visualize from where ATMs are available nationwide to real minimum wage rates per region.

The viral spread of the travel map also caused concerned users to rush to support the software engineer and his work. 

With attention online placed on the My Philippines Travel Level website, Denz hopes that it would bring Filipinos to explore the Philippines more as “there really is more that the country can offer.” 

He also hopes that those who create AI products such as OpenAI to be “responsible enough” in how they operate and maintain these tools. The software engineer also hopes consumers would be educated on AI so that they won’t be fooled by promises made by these companies, adding that there should be more AI programs in universities. 

“The field of AI is very hot. So I hope there are many people from the next generation [who know] how to navigate that field,” he said. 

Those who wish to support Denz and the My Philippines Travel Level website can donate through his Paypal and GCash. – Rappler.com 

Tinder’s chief product officer, Mark Van Ryswyk, said the company is still in “learning mode” when it comes to building Tinder Vault up, and may choose to adjust pricing for the service or shelve the potential product entirely.

Fast Company, in its report, noted how the development of such a system came about during a period of change, as Bernard Kim took over Match Group in May 2022 and became Tinder’s interim CEO in August. Tinder Vault is one possible way of revitalizing the Tinder brand.

“We’re really looking at a whole range of additional value-add services to Tinder overall,” said Van Ryswyk. While Tinder already has some paid premiums – profile boosting and unlimited liking and swiping, to name a few – he declined to comment on what new features they could add to Tinder to make people spend even more on the service.

That said, he also mentioned how Match Group’s acquisition of The League, an exclusive dating app with membership costing up to $1,000 a week, was indicative of a cadre of what he called “high intent members” looking for quality matches and who were willing to pay for the opportunity.

In a time of increased uncertainty, however, where job cuts in various fields like the technology sector have made people more wary of spending on exorbitant luxuries, it begs the question: can Tinder find a new wrinkle in the dating world that would incentivize ultra-premium services? – Rappler.com

The Chinese-owned app confirmed the figure ahead of TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s testimony set for Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

On Friday, six more US senators backed bipartisan legislation to give President Joe Biden new powers to ban TikTok on national security grounds. Last week, TikTok said the Biden administration demanded that its Chinese owners divest their stake in the app or it could face a US ban.

The app faces growing pressure in Washington including calls to ban the app by many in Congress who fear its US user data could fall into the hands of China’s government. TikTok said in September 2021 that globally it had more than 1 billion monthly users.

Senate Intelligence Committee chair Mark Warner, who is cosponsoring legislation to give the administration more powers to ban TikTok, said at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast that he did not think TikTok US data was safe.

“This notional idea that the data can be made safe under (Chinese Communist Party) law, just doesn’t, doesn’t pass the smell test.”

TikTok said it has spent more than $1.5 billion on rigorous data security efforts, rejects spying allegations and said “if protecting national security is the objective, divestment doesn’t solve the problem: a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access.”

The new figures are a sign of the app’s wide popularity especially among younger Americans. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told Bloomberg News there could be political ramifications to banning TikTok. “The politician in me thinks you’re gonna literally lose every voter under 35, forever,” she said.

Some TikTok content creators will come to Washington this week to make the case why the app should not be banned. – Rappler.com

LONDON, United Kingdom – Britain said on Thursday, March 16, it would ban TikTok on government phones with immediate effect, a move that follows other Western countries in barring the Chinese-owned video app over security concerns.

TikTok has come under increasing scrutiny due to fears that user data from the app owned by Beijing-based company ByteDance could end up in the hands of the Chinese government, undermining Western security interests.

“The security of sensitive government information must come first, so today we are banning this app on government devices. The use of other data-extracting apps will be kept under review,” Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden said in a statement.

The British government had asked the National Cyber Security Centre to look at the potential vulnerability of government data from social media apps and risks around how sensitive information could be accessed and used.

The United States, Canada, Belgium and the European Commission have already banned the app from official devices.

“Restricting the use of TikTok on government devices is a prudent and proportionate step following advice from our cyber security experts,” Dowden said.

TikTok said it was disappointed with the decision and had already begun taking steps to further protect European user data.

“We believe these bans have been based on fundamental misconceptions and driven by wider geopolitics, in which TikTok, and our millions of users in the UK, play no part,” a TikTok spokesperson said.

China said the decision was based on political considerations rather than facts.

The move “interferes with the normal operations of relevant companies in the UK and will ultimately only harm the UK’s own interests”, its embassy in London said in a statement.

Dowden told parliament government devices would now only be able to access third party apps from a pre-approved list.

The TikTok ban does not the include personal devices of government employees or ministers and there would be limited exemptions where TikTok was required on government devices for work purposes, he added.

British government departments and ministers have been increasingly using TikTok and other platforms to communicate with voters.

Energy Minster Grant Shapps said the ban on government devices was sensible, but he would stay on the platform on his personal phone.

He posted a clip from the movie “Wolf of Wall Street” in which Leonardo DiCaprio’s character says “I’m not f****** leaving”, and “The show goes on”.

Britain’s Ministry of Defense posted a video on the platform shortly before the ban was announced showing how the British army was training Ukrainian forces to use the Challenger 2 battle tank. – Rappler.com

Scammers have been exploiting social media by creating fake accounts, using stolen photos to gain trust, and then deceiving victims into transferring funds through online payment platforms, leaving them with neither goods nor money.

Pasabuy, a term derived from the Filipino word “pasa” (pass) and the English word “buy,” refers to the practice where Filipinos travel to other countries to purchase specific items for their fellow Filipinos, in exchange for a fee on top of the original purchase price.

In a recent incident, a scammer who used the name Al Shaya and fake photos advertised her pasabuy services on Facebook groups frequently visited by Filipinos residing in England. She offered to purchase items from the Philippines that were not easily accessible or much more expensive in Europe in exchange for low service fees.

But once the victims transferred the payment through GCash, an online mobile wallet service that Al Shaya said was easier for her to receive, she vanished, leaving them without the products they had paid for.

The victims called on other Filipinos to exercise caution when dealing with online pasabuy services, to ensure that they use legitimate and trustworthy providers.

“Yung pera dito, hindi madaling kitain. You will have to work 12 hours a day. Yung iba, wala ngang day off, just to earn money (It’s not easy to earn money here… Others make use of their rest days just to earn money),” said Girlie, a nurse in England. 

Baby, another Filipino who has been working in England as a caregiver for nearly two decades, said, “Pinaghihirapan din namin yung pera. Halos hindi na kami natutulog (We work hard to earn money. We barely sleep.)”

Girlie and Baby were just two of several victims of Al Shaya who had claimed in September 2022 that she and her family were scheduled to go to the Philippines and would be able to bring goods back to England because she anticipated that they would have extra space in their luggage. 

Baby, who also sells processed food from the Philippines to Filipinos in England, said she was enticed because Al Shaya’s service fee was much lower than what her usual service provider in England charges – only £10 per kilogram compared to her regular provider’s £15.

Meanwhile, Girlie, the nurse who sells Philippine-made supplements and skincare products to her kababayan in the UK, had a similar experience with Al Shaya. 

“I still had some products worth P25,000 with my mother-in-law and asked her (Al Shaya) to bring them. She offered to buy other products for me, and even sent photos. To avoid embarrassment, I agreed to ask her to buy some for me,” she said.

They said Al Shaya later told them that she had depleted her savings and was at the end of her trip, so she asked for them to advance the money through GCash.

“I was confused,” Baby said. “I said I would transfer the money to her UK-based bank account. But she said it would be easier for her to receive it through GCash. I didn’t know what GCash was, so I had to look for someone I knew who had an account. I sent the money to her bank account, and she transferred the equivalent amount in Philippine pesos to the scammer’s account.”

The victims recalled that Al Shaya asked them to transfer the funds right away as she claimed to be outside and ready to buy the requested items. 

They said they later became suspicious when the scammer claimed that her return to the UK would be postponed due to a flight rescheduling and that she and her family supposedly missed the flight because they were still shopping for other requested items, which incurred additional expenses.

Al Shaya, the victims said, sent screenshots of the new flight dates.

 “I was too preoccupied with work to realize that she could have forged the booking,” Girlie said.

On the day Al Shaya was supposed to be in transit from the Philippines to the UK, Baby said she noticed that the scammer was online the whole time, and the more suspicious she became because of that. 

Both women contacted Al Shaya, who continuously promised to return the money they sent, but the funds have not been given back until now. 

They said the scammer’s Facebook account has since been deactivated, and the victims never heard from Al Shaya again.

Data from Statista.com showed that 74.8% of victims of online shopping scams in the world lost money in 2021. 

In a group chat set up by some of Al Shaya’s victims, more than 20 members shared their experiences of being scammed while shopping online. 

They discovered that the GCash account to which they sent their payments was the same, and some of them contacted the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in the Philippines for help. 

They were, however, advised that they needed to be physically present in the Philippines to pursue a case. But they can begin the process through the Philippine consulate or embassy nearest them. 

Despite some of them giving up on recovering their lost money, a few remained motivated to pursue legal action against the scammer, whom they believe was still operating under different fake social media accounts.

Action Fraud UK has recommended online research about the seller and asking for recommendations from known and trusted people to avoid being scammed when shopping online.

Authorities also said victims need to keep a record of all information about the fake accounts and take screenshots for evidence. 

The Philippine National Police-Anti-Cybercrime Group has cautioned against making upfront payments via money order, wire transfer, international funds transfer, pre-loaded card, or digital currency. Instead, only buyers should transact through secure channels and check for refund policies.

Lieutenant Colonel Theresa Guinto-Pucay, the head of the Philippine National Police’s Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit in the Cordillera region, said victims of online scams who are currently abroad can file their complaint in the anti-cybercrime group in the country where the crime was committed. 

She said the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) would then coordinate with authorities in the Philippines to serve an arrest warrant against the suspect. 

In the Philippines, Pucay said, victims cannot use a power of attorney to file the case and must be present to testify in court.

“It is not possible for someone else to file the case and testify on their behalf because that will be seen as hearsay. In that case, it will be dismissed,” she said.

She advised the public to be cautious when dealing with online transactions, particularly with people or entities they do not personally know. 

To avoid being scammed, she said, “Do not believe everything you read online, especially if you do not know them. Do not entrust them with such high-value exchanges,” she said.

Pucay also cautioned netizens from clicking just about any link received via SMS or messenger services, saying these could be intended to bait potential victims by hackers interested in getting their personal information. – Rappler.com

Mari-An Santos is an Aries Rufo Journalism fellow. This article is co-published with the UK-based website for Filipinos, Tinig-UK.com.

(For reporting cybercrimes in the Philippines, contact the PNP Cyber Crime Complaint Action Center by phone at +63 8723-0401 local 7491 or via Viber at +639618298083 or Acg.pnp.gov.ph/eComplaint. Victims may also reach out to the Department of Justice through its website at Cybercrime.doj.gov.ph or by phone at +632 8524-8216.)

Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek said that the new features are part of the streaming platform’s ongoing efforts in “building the best home for [artists] – a place where they can establish a career, thrive, and grow, and where the world can be inspired by their creativity.”

Play Video

Spotify unveiled a new mobile interface designed to give users an active role, deepen audio discovery, and strengthen connections between artists and fans. It places greater emphasis on visual canvases and advanced recommendations to make discovering new audio easier than ever before. 

Users can explore visual and audio previews of playlists, albums, podcast episodes, and audiobooks that are personalized to users, and they can also easily save, share, or follow artists and podcasts from one place. 

Spotify also introduced the “Smart Shuffle” mode, which takes into account listeners listening habits and preferences to create a more natural and personalized listening experience. 

According to Spotify, the order of songs in a playlist is adjusted automatically to match users’ moods and tastes, so users can enjoy the music without having to constantly skip through songs that aren’t their cup of tea.

The streaming giant also highlighted “DJ,” a new personalized AI guide, during the event. “DJ” suggests songs based on the user’s listening history and preferences, giving a lineup of music exclusively for the user. It was first introduced in February. 

These features are currently available only to Spotify Premium subscribers in the US and Canada. They will roll out in other countries in the coming months.

According to the music platform, they have more than 500 million users, including 205 million subscribers in more than 180 markets. – Vanessa Feje/Rappler.com

Vanessa Feje is a Rappler digital communications intern. She is pursuing a degree in Communication at the University of the Philippines Cebu.