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Great politicians seem to have two main things in common: they pick the right time to be born and they pick the right time to leave office. Everything in between will be recast in their favour if they only get these two things right. Former German chancellor Angela Merkel recently released her memoir . She, without a doubt, picked the right time to be born. She was 35 when the Berlin Wall fell, creating a cause – an East German voice and self-determination in reunifying with the West – that impelled her into politics. She was undeniably smart, but also the right age and the right symbolic vehicle to catch chancellor Helmut Kohl’s eye and become his protegee. In just under 15 years, she became chancellor. If she’d left after one term – two at most – her greatness would never have been questioned. But after that, her legacy as a crucial advocate for East Germans in the process of unification and her historic ascent was overwritten by a series of decisions that have turned out to be disastrous for Germany, economically and geostrategically. A shadow has fallen over Anthony Albanese’s prime ministership in 2024. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen US presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton could also be said to have picked the right time to be born and, thanks to term limits in the US, also the right time to leave office. Reagan performed a necessary service in deregulating a sclerotic US economy, mired in stagflation, while presiding over the end of the Cold War. Clinton presided over a peaceful age of free trade and international co-operation. While neither was a flawless leader and the numerous mistakes they made can easily be identified, they avoided leading their nations into catastrophe. Anthony Albanese also picked the right time to be born: at the beginning of the ’60s, as the fruits of a social revolution against the rigid morality of the war generation were ripe and not yet spoiled. He was a beneficiary of the blossoming of the self-actualisation century, in which the chains of the traditional family were being rejected, to be replaced by a paternal social welfare state. As the child of a single mother, his timing was especially fortuitous; he and his mother were poor, but in highly relative terms historically. They lived in government-owned housing and his mother was entitled to (and received) a disability pension, as she was unable to work. His own university degree – nominally in political economy, mainly in ruthless campus politics – was free (to him, but of course not the taxpayer). Albanese was, as it were, born into a cause: to call for more of this, which made him possible: more social solidarity delivered by the state to replace the sticky ties of family and community obligation that had been found to be unreasonably oppressive by his generation and some in the one before it. Though it wasn’t visible at the time – transformations of this kind are mostly visible only with the benefit of hindsight – Albanese was in on the ground floor of the transformation of Labor from the party of the worker to the party of the left-liberal, the party of welfare. Operating the politics of this movement, Albanese gained the respect of his colleagues and parts of the public. In retrospect, his ideal moment to leave, with this legacy at its zenith, might have been the day in 2013 when he fronted cameras to lament the self-harm playing out within the Labor Party during yet another spill of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd era. Had he left then, he would have gone out channelling the disgust of Australians at the shenanigans of self-absorbed politicians, an avatar and hero of the people. Or maybe he could even have drawn it out a little longer and left a few years later, at the height of his “everyman” identity (according to The Daily Telegraph , which campaigned to “Save our Albo” in the face of a challenge to his seat from a group of further-left candidates). In either scenario, he would have been remembered as a likeable character in the soap opera of politics – good for future cameos to rally the faithful, positioned for a plum public role. Instead, he became prime minister. And the times have not suited him at all. I could talk about inflation and the cost of living, misjudging the mood of the nation over the Voice referendum, the war in the Middle East and antisemitism at home. Or his approach to change, which has been deemed too incremental by some, too radical by others. I could point to the grip in which he finds himself pinioned, between the forefinger of his younger self in Green-on-the-outside, red-on-the-inside ideologist Max Chandler-Mather and the thumb of John Setka loyalists and the rebellious union movement. But none of these things are as fatal to his legacy as the luck of timing, because Albanese is a man built for an era of liberal gentility, who became PM just as the liberal era was drawing to an end. Albanese can, at least in part, blame Merkel for ending it. The post-Cold War leader of Germany, which, as the largest European economy, has an outsized role in underwriting the European Union, placed her faith in diplomacy over energy security and military deterrence. Germany and Europe are now less able to stand up against Russian strongman Vladimir Putin ’s attempt to seize Ukraine because of her miscalculations. The chief foreign affairs columnist at the Financial Times , Gideon Rachman , also implicates former US President Barack Obama for compounding Merkel’s mistakes by responding weakly or seeking to appease dictators. He concludes that “decisions taken by the two leaders – or often the decisions not taken by them – had a damaging, if delayed, impact on global stability”. When even liberals like Rachman recognise that liberal heroes have made the world more dangerous, it is no wonder that voters around the world (who are usually quicker than FT columnists to sniff approaching dangers) are choosing a rougher cut of leader to champion them into the second quarter of the 21st century. Albanese will never be that. His political tradition is liberal largess, not protective menace. With the bad luck of timing hanging over him, whether he scrapes over the line at the coming election is moot. The politician he might have been remembered as has been overwritten. The question now is only whether his career is ended by his friends or his foes – with a bang, or with a long, drawn-out whimper. Parnell Palme McGuinness is managing director at campaigns firm Agenda C. She has done work for the Liberal Party and the German Greens. Get a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. Sign up for our Opinion newsletter .Potter's House founder T.D. Jakes has ‘slight health incident' during servicemga larawan ng niceph 。

QB Josh Allen and coach Sean McDermott deserve credit in Bills latest AFC East-clinching season

MUMBAI: After Swiggy's bumper listing on the bourses last month, Prosus is eyeing more initial public offerings in India, a market where it has invested more than $8 billion over the years. In an earnings presentation on Monday, the Dutch technology investor said that five Indian companies from its portfolio including Meesho, Bluestone and PayU have the potential to go public in 18 months without sharing specific timelines. Fintech firm PayU is owned by Prosus. "We started in India in the right time. India is a big opportunity and we are going to crystallise a lot of our value through our India investments over the next year," Fabricio Bloisi, group CEO at Prosus, said in a post-earnings media call. Prosus made gains of over $2 billion on its total investment in Swiggy and is the largest shareholder in the startup with a stake of over 20%.

The crypto market is heating up again. With the fourth Bitcoin ( BTC -1.84% ) halving seven months in the rearview mirror and a crypto-friendly result in the 2024 elections , the leading coins seem poised for another skyrocketing surge. As of Nov. 22, Bitcoin has gained 27% this month, and Ethereum ( ETH -4.46% ) posted a richer gain of 36%. But the biggest names aren't always the best buys. The XRP ( XRP -14.56% ) token has soared 136% higher in November. Is XRP a better way to build wealth in the crypto market than Ethereum or Bitcoin? Why Bitcoin and Ethereum hold more value over time Generally, Bitcoin and Ethereum should have more value than XRP in the long run. Bitcoin aims to act as a general-purpose system for storing monetary value. Ethereum was built to power automated financial systems and other software apps, which are the foundation of decentralized finance (DeFi) . XRP's mission of providing quick, low-cost payments across international borders is still ambitious and legitimate -- but it can't compare to the larger visions of smart contracts and full-fledged digital currencies. So, I don't expect XRP to outgrow Ethereum or Bitcoin forever. I suppose it could happen if another cryptocurrency (or some entirely new financial technology) replaces Bitcoin as the leading "digital gold" or if one of the so-called Ethereum killers provides an objectively superior smart contracts platform. That would be bad news for the old crypto kings but not necessarily good for XRP and its investors. XRP's evolving market position That being said, XRP has a lot of room to grow before butting heads with Ethereum and Bitcoin. This is the sixth-largest cryptocurrency by total market value today, far behind the giants at the top. It would be particularly shocking to see XRP carry a larger market cap than Bitcoin -- but it could multiply in value more than 20 times over without raising that question, and I'd have to assume that Bitcoin wasn't rising over the same period: Cryptocurrency Market Capitalization 1-Year Price Change Bitcoin $1.93 trillion 167% Ethereum $395 billion 62% XRP $80 billion 136% Data collected from CoinMarketCap on Nov. 22, 2024. Bitcoin aims to replace physical gold as a system for storing financial value. That's about a $14 trillion market today. The global volume of border-crossing payments is much larger than that, estimated at approximately $190 trillion a year. But the fees, currency exchange costs, and service expenses associated with these massive money flows are far smaller at $193 billion in 2023. So, XRP is aiming for a smaller revenue-generating opportunity. And keep in mind that its RippleNet payment service is known for moving money with minimal fees. So, the token's actual revenue target will be far below the current banking system's share of foreign money transfers. XRP deserves your consideration alongside larger coins Now you know how XRP's long-term value compares to Bitcoin's and Ethereum's, and I've touched on the limits of this token's target market. Bitcoin can clearly fill a role in your portfolio that XRP isn't even trying to address, and the same can be said about Ethereum . A well-rounded cryptocurrency portfolio should have some exposure to the two largest names in this sector. I'm not saying you should sell your Bitcoin and go all-in on XRP today. Still, the XRP token looks undervalued and has plenty of room for growth in the next few years. The legal challenge brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission four years ago should wrap up in 2025. Money center banks worldwide are taking blockchain-based payment systems more seriously than ever, with XRP playing a leading role in that adoption trend. And the RippleNet service is getting busy -- the number of daily XRP payments has tripled in six months. I could keep talking about positive trends in the Ripple space, from liquidity pools to central bank digital currencies , but you get my point. This fairly large cryptocurrency is going places. So, on top of the generally bullish mood in the crypto sector, XRP has several growth catalysts in play. Don't forget Bitcoin and keep Ethereum in mind as well, but you should also make room for another winning name. A modest scoop of XRP tokens should serve your nest egg well in this bull market.To me, mods represent some of the best work happening in video games. I don’t just say this because these additions have allowed me to introduce anime boys to Stardew Valley or put Margaret Thatcher’s grave in Skyrim , but because modding has become a central part of gaming culture and development. In some cases, these fan-made add-ons can make a game playable or introduce vital quality-of-life fixes for major AAA titles . Other times, a mod can change a game so that its romance system, gender markers, or character design options are more inclusive. If you can imagine a change in a game, it’s possible a mod could bring it to life. Modders — who are developers in their own right — have worked on games like Stardew Valley’ s 1.6 update and Starfield . So why don’t they get their due at The Game Awards ? Fan-made work — which modding falls into — used to have an award category at The Game Awards. Called “Best Fan Creation,” this accolade ran from 2014 to 2016. Why does it no longer exist? Polygon reached out to Game Awards creator and host Geoff Keighley and we have yet to hear back from him, but here’s what we do know: Keighley ran into some trouble the final year the award ran. In 2016, Keighley announced the nominations for “Best Fan Creation,” and they included two projects that used Nintendo IP: a Metroid fan project called AM2R and Pokémon Uranium . Initially, fans celebrated the inclusion of these ambitious fan-run projects. However, in the end, Keighley cut both nominations from the final show without giving any comment as to why. Since then, there has been no similar category. Polygon reached out to Nintendo for comment and will update this story when we hear back. The idea that Nintendo intimidated Keighley out of celebrating fan creations isn’t entirely out of the question. The renowned Japanese developer and publisher has cultivated a reputation of being extremely litigious when it comes to fan-made projects and mods of its games. Nintendo’s legal team has issued widespread DMCA takedowns on modding sites and has even taken action against YouTubers who use modded Nintendo games in streams. Looking back, the idea that leadership at Nintendo would let an award show platform fan work does seem almost laughable. But now we’re left with the current unfortunate circumstances. The Game Awards now excludes all the stellar — and completely legal — work that’s happening in the larger game modding scene. Today, we have to make do with the nebulous category of “Best Community Support,” which appears to focus on the community managers of teams rather than the fan communities themselves. There are plenty of developers and publishers that do support modding. Bethesda Softworks doesn’t just approve the use of mods in its games, but has even attempted to monetize modders’ work with the Creation Club . Modding often plays such a central role in the legacy of Bethesda’s games that it’s a running joke within the community that the developers may release rougher games with the understanding that modders will go and fix all the main problems themselves . Bethesda isn’t alone in its support for modding. In the case of Baldur’s Gate 3 — which won the coveted Game of the Year Award in 2023 — the team at Larian Studios updated the game so that it’s as easy to edit and add new content as possible. With Stardew Valley , creator Eric Barone has not only worked to make the game as amenable as possible to modding, but hired some of these creators as developers on his team for later updates. Related: The Game Awards announces Game of the Year 2024 nominees The Game Awards nominations are good, in a tough year for games What happened to these Game Awards reveals? While it might be difficult to navigate which kinds of modding work are or aren’t OK to recognize on a national platform, I think it’ll only get harder for Keighley to ignore the fan-made parts of the game development sphere. The initial buzz of the “ metaverse ” might sound like a dull hum two years after tech CEOs and game developers popularized the term, but user-generated content continues to play a major role in the larger gaming industry. This year, Epic Games tinkered with fan-made Fall Guys maps, and Roblox’s Dress to Impress — while not a fan game — was made for the YouTube-like platform and became a viral hit that brought new audiences to Roblox. User-generated content is pretty trendy right now, but there is also a practical reason to recognize modders: It’s hard work. This year, Barone released the most modder-friendly version of Stardew Valley , and what I witnessed of its modding community was nothing short of incredible. I spoke to people who distributed and shared detailed documentation, teachers who could mentor new developers, and community members who managed Discord servers with hundreds of active users. To me, these kinds of efforts genuinely encapsulate some of the best and brightest work happening in games — something that Keighley seems to be all about. So while I understand why an award category like “Best Legally Sanctioned Fan Made Creation” might be a bit wordy, it would definitely be worth it to give these creators the recognition they deserve. Events Gaming The Game Awards

Jack Alban is a freelance journalist for the Daily Dot covering trending human interest/social media stories and the reactions real people have to them. He always seeks to incorporate evidence-based studies, current events, and facts pertinent to these stories to create your not-so-average viral post.“Not the ideal place” – Worrying prediction made for Amorim’s first Man Utd game vs Ipswich

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Joanne Harris, author of the bestselling novel Chocolat , has begun adding content warnings to her books after comparing them to “wheelchair ramps”. Readers are now told that Harris’s 1999 hit novel contains “spousal abuse, mild violence, death of parent, cancer, hostility and outdated terms for travelling community and religious intolerance”. The 60-year-old announced the plans in April after a social media poll which asked her followers if they agreed that trigger warnings should be included at the start of books. • Matt Smith: ‘I’m not sure about trigger warnings. Isn’t being shocked the point?’ “It makes a lot of sense,” she said at the time. “Trigger warnings are like wheelchair ramps. They exist because some people need them. “The fact that some people don’t

BEREA, Ohio (AP) — The Cleveland Browns have again restructured quarterback Deshaun Watson's massive contract to create salary-cap space and give them future flexibility, a person familiar with the move told The Associated Press on Friday. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * BEREA, Ohio (AP) — The Cleveland Browns have again restructured quarterback Deshaun Watson's massive contract to create salary-cap space and give them future flexibility, a person familiar with the move told The Associated Press on Friday. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? BEREA, Ohio (AP) — The Cleveland Browns have again restructured quarterback Deshaun Watson’s massive contract to create salary-cap space and give them future flexibility, a person familiar with the move told The Associated Press on Friday. Watson has been limited to just 19 games in three seasons because of an NFL suspension and injuries with the Browns, who signed him to a five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract in 2022. The restructuring allows the team to spread out the salary-cap hit after the 2026 season, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the team does not disclose contract specifics. The 29-year-old Watson has two years remaining on his contract with an average of $46 million a year. The move to restructure his deal will not preclude the Browns from adding talent at the quarterback position in 2025, the person said. Watson played in only seven games this season before suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon. He’s 9-10 as a starter with Cleveland. The Browns (3-12) have been a major disappointment this season after making it to the playoffs a year ago behind Joe Flacco, who was signed as a free agent after Watson suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. Watson had surgery in October and is expected to make a full recovery. While the team hasn’t disclosed its plans at quarterback, it’s assumed Watson will be in the mix to be the starter next season. It’s also possible the Browns will draft a quarterback in the first round. The team hasn’t had a first-round pick the past three years after trading three to the Houston Texans to acquire Watson, who was once considered one of the league’s elite QBs. Watson’s disappointing tenure has been a sore spot with Cleveland fans, who had hoped the team had finally resolved its interminable QB issues when they signed the three-time Pro Bowler three years ago. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. But it hasn’t worked out, and the major investment in Watson and the salary-cap ramifications of his contract — the largest fully guaranteed deal in league history — have made it difficult for the Browns to upgrade their roster. Watson has shown flashes of being a competent starting quarterback, but there have been just as many moments in which he’s looked hesitant in the pocket or unable to connect with receivers down field. Watson was suspended for the first 11 games of his first season in Cleveland after an independent arbiter ruled he violated the conduct policy after he was accused by more than two dozen women of sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL Advertisement Advertisement

Next-gen patrol drones enter US Army fleet to replace legacy MQ-1 PredatorAs family and friends get together for Thanksgiving next Thursday, next week is packed full of hoops action that local fans can take full advantage. As a matter of fact, the only day next week that there isn’t a game is Thanksgiving Day. Take a look at some of the matchups and some of the special events taking place. The Rushville Lions open the 2024-25 season at home Wednesday against Shelbyville. The Lions were 5-19 last year under Coach Kerry Brown. Shelbyville went 11-12. At halftime of Wednesday’s game with the Golden Bears, there will be an unveiling of the POWMIA Chair of Honor in Memorial Gym. Members of the Rolling Thunder will be on hand to speak about the organization’s mission. The major function of Rolling Thunder®, Inc. is to publicize POW/MIA issues. To educate the public that many American Prisoners of War were left behind after all past wars and to help correct the past and to protect future veterans from being left behind should they become Prisoners of War or Missing In Action. We are also committed to helping American veterans from all wars. Rolling Thunder, Inc. is a non-profit organization and everyone donates his or her time because they believe in the POW/MIA Issue. The junior varsity game tips at 6 p.m. Greensburg opens the season at home Tuesday in the annual county-battle with North Decatur. The Pirates are under the leadership of first year coach Collin Rigney. The JV game tips at 6 p.m. South Decatur also tips the 2024-25 season Tuesday as the Cougars face Trinity Lutheran. South is led by first year coach Josh Terwilleger. Trinity won the sectional last season, but return only two seniors and are young with eight sophomores on the roster. The JV game tips at 6 p.m. Due to the Bulldogs’ football team advancing to the Final Four, Batesville won’t open the basketball season until Dec. 6 at home against Greensburg. South Decatur travels to Milan (0-4) Monday. The JV game tips at 6 p.m. Prior to facing the Lady Indians, the Lady Cougars host North Decatur Saturday in a cross-country rivalry game. The game at Milan will end a busy month for the Lady Cougars of seven games. Class 3A No. 1 Greensburg (4-0 heading into Saturday’s game at Jennings County) looks to keep rolling at EIAC foe East Central Wednesday. The Lady Trojans are 4-0 heading into Saturday’s game at Mt. Vernon (Fortville). The JV game tips at 6 p.m. Next Saturday, the Lady Pirates host Seymour with a noon JV start. After traveling to country-rival South Saturday, the Lady Chargers host Switzerland County (0-3) Wednesday and travel to Knightstown (2-2) Saturday. The Lady Lions travel to New Palestine (2-2) Tuesday. The JV game tips at 6 p.m. Batesville (2-2) has a busy Thanksgiving week. The Lady Bulldogs host Seymour (2-1) Tuesday with a 6 p.m. JV start, host Jac-Cen-Del (1-3) Friday with a 6 p.m. JV start and travel to EIAC foe Connersville (3-1) Saturday with a 1 p.m. JV start.

ChatGPT opened the floodgates. But many people don’t realize there’s a whole world of generative AI tools and applications out there, just waiting to be explored. Whether you’re struggling to overcome a case of writer’s block, lack the artistic aptitude to do your imagination justice, or just need a hand crafting efficient computer code, generative AI can help augment and streamline both your professional and creative endeavors. Yet, amid the seemingly endless variety of AI assistants currently on offer, finding the right one for your needs can prove a daunting task. So, let’s delve into some of the most impressive AI tools that are pushing the boundaries of innovation, including the best AI chatbots , the best AI image generators , and much more. The best AI tools for image generation One of the first AI image generators to be released back in 2022, Midjourney has proven immensely popular with users and art critics alike . It can output high-definition, photorealistic images in countless artistic styles based on natural language text prompts. Originally only available through the company’s Discord server, Midjourney can now be accessed through a streamlined web portal . While the website’s gallery of generated art is free to browse, you will need to subscribe to a monthly service plan (which range from $10 to $120) in order to generate images of your own. While not as creatively robust as Midjourney — only able to generate images in one of five preset artistic styles — Ideogram does offer a generous free tier that allows users to generate up to 40 images per day. Paid tiers range from $7 to $48 per month and offer a host of benefits, from additional compute resources and priority access to full-quality image downloads. The company also boasts an iOS app and an API that it claims will “offer superior image quality at a lower cost compared to other models.” This is OpenAI’s in-house text-to-image generator and runs atop the company’s GPT-4 model. Originally released in September 2023, it was initially only available to paid tier subscribers. OpenAI expanded its availability to free tier users this past August, though you’ll only be able to generate two images per day at that subscription level. Dall-E 3 is also available through Microsoft’s Copilot chatbot. If you’re looking to create high-quality images without the strict production limits that ChatGPT enforces, Google’s Imagen 3 is a solid option. It’s available through the Gemini chatbot , including the free tier, and offers higher-quality outputs with fewer artifacts than its previous versions. Note, however, that the system will not generate images of people, famous or not, unless you subscribe to Gemini Advanced (which costs $20 per month). Grok 2 is the text-to-image generator for people uninterested in adhering to copyright law. Developed for Elon Musk’s xAI company, and available on X, Grok 2 isn’t restricted by minor inconveniences like safety and legal guardrails, as other image generators are. Want to see Mickey Mouse fighting Darth Vader atop a 747 as it flies into the World Trade Center? Grok will generate it, no questions asked. You will, however, need to pony up $8 for a premium subscription to X in order to access it. Runway’s Gen 3 Alpha is a relatively new model, having been released in June of 2024, and is capable of creating both still images and video clips with nearly photorealistic quality based on the user’s natural language prompts. The company recently announced that it will begin integrating a new foundational model, dubbed Frames , into the Gen 3 platform that will offer unprecedented control over the image creation process, enabling users to generate multiple image variants while maintaining a specific aesthetic style, whether that’s mimicking 35mm disposable camera shots or retro anime motifs. Subscription prices run from $12 to $76 per month, though the company does offer a limited free tier as well. The best AI tools for image editing Skylum’s Luminar Neo is a photo editing suite designed with professional photographers in mind. It offers many of the same powerful tools as Adobe Photoshop, but outsources much of their functionality to AI. This enables users to accomplish numerous common tasks, from adjusting color balance and lighting levels to tweaking the look of the sky, water, and skin tones, with a single click. Luminar Neo might be a bit pricey for casual users, costing $421 for a yearly subscription or as a lifetime subscription for $577. It’s available on both Windows and Mac, as well as a plugin for Photoshop, Photos, and Lightroom. Canva is a multifunction creative platform that offers everything from digital whiteboarding, data visualization, and marketing material templates to photo, video, and YouTube editing features. While you can easily make minor adjustments like cropping, adding filters and adjusting aspect ratios using the site’s free editor, Canva Pro offers a number of additional AI-empowered tools. Select, move, resize, and even erase individual objects within an image; extract and modify text on flattened images; and even generatively expand the image’s background, all with a few simple clicks. Canva Pro costs $120 per year for a single user license. This online photo editing suite has served as a free and user-friendly alternative to Photoshop since it was released in 2008. Last November, the company debuted a number of AI features including image generation, a generative fill tool, AI background removal, AI face swap, and image expansion to help round out the tool set’s functionality. While the interface is geared more for casual users and may not be as precise and granular as what Photoshop offers, you can’t beat free. If you only need to do some light retouching work on your images, the Topaz Photo AI suite offers eight enhancement tools: Denoise, Sharpen, Upscale, Recover Faces, Remove Objects, Preserve Text, Adjust Lighting, and Balance Color. It’s not a true replacement for full-function photo editors like Photoshop, but it is available without an annual subscription, for a flat rate of just $199 with version upgrades costing $99. Adobe’s Firefly AI doesn’t just generate images and video from text prompts, it also empowers a number of AI features throughout the Adobe product ecosystem. That includes the Generative Fill tool in Photoshop, text effects in Adobe Express, vector and pattern generation in Illustrator, and Generative Extend in Premiere Pro. You will need to subscribe to Adobe’s Creative Cloud suite in order to access these features, though they can either be purchased individually (the image generator, for example, costs $5/month while Photoshop costs $23) or you can pick up all 20-plus Adobe apps for $60 per month. Best AI for video generation While Luma Dream Machine may be designed with fashion, marketing and filmmaking professionals in mind, it’s built as a subscription-based service with both casual and professional users in mind. Unlike conventional AI tools, Dream Machine does not require precise and exhaustive prompting to generate the desired effect, but rather, interprets the user’s natural language request intuitively. It also accepts multi-image prompting and single-image character references so users can show the AI what they have in mind. Luma does not offer a free tier, though a “hobbyist” subscription costs just $10 per month. Kling AI video-generation system from China’s Kuaishou Technology offers photorealistic outputs on par with what we’ve seen from OpenAI’s Sora and is already available to users around the world. It can generate high-definition videos up to two minutes in length (double what Sora can) at up to 30 frames per second and 720p resolutions (slightly less than Sora’s 1080p output). Each clip starts out at just five seconds in length but can be extended in 4.5-second increments by purchasing additional credits. Just be warned that the system is blocked from generating politically-sensitive subjects. Synthesia is a bit more niche than the other video generators we’ve discussed so far. It’s designed specifically to generate video avatars from the user’s text prompts making it ideal for business applications like onboarding and training videos, sales presentations, and internal communications. Users can choose from one of more than 130 avatar models speaking 140 different languages and over 60 video templates. The free tier allows you to generate a single three-minute video per month and your choice of nine avatars, while the $30/month Starter tier and $90/month creator tier offer significantly more benefits. Vyond offers similar functionality to Synthesia in that it generates AI avatars for training videos based on the user’s text prompts, however, this service relies on animated characters rather than live actors. You also have the option to record yourself performing specific actions or movements and Vyond will motion match its animation to them. Plans start at $49 per month, which also includes access to an added video editor, though anything you produce at that tier will be watermarked with Vyond’s logo. The best AI for text generation ChatGPT , the chatbot that launched the AI boom in 2022, remains at the forefront of the industry with an estimated 200 million active weekly users. Trained on huge quantities of written content including websites, books, social media posts, and news articles, ChatGPT is equally adept at answering general knowledge queries and compiling computer code as it is at generating creative prose . It was also the first chatbot to offer a conversational feature in Advanced Voice Mode that allows users to interact with the chatbot as if it were a person, doing away with the need for text-based prompts. ChatGPT is available on the web as well as on iOS and Android. It’s free to use, though subscribing to the $20/month ChatGPT-Plus plan will give you increased access to the company’s latest AI models and features. Copilot answers the question “what if ChatGPT worked natively within Microsoft’s 365 app ecosystem?” Which is exactly what it does. Microsoft has invested billions in OpenAI’s business and, as such, its Copilot AI runs atop the startup’s GPT-4o LLM. However, Copilot is more than just a reskinned ChatGPT. For one, Copilot does not restrict users from generating images without paying for a subscription to its premium plan as ChatGPT does. For another, its functionality can be integrated across Microsoft’s products, helping users generate text in Word , create graphs and tables in Excel , and draft emails in Outlook . Google’s Gemini chatbot may have gotten off to a bit of a rocky start upon its official debut in February but the AI assistant has quickly grown into a potent rival to ChatGPT, offering much of the same functions and features. Those include the ability to generate text, images, video, audio, and code, converse with users verbally with Gemini Live, and integrate with Google’s Workspace app suite. It can gin up email responses in Gmail, search for files in Drive, create content for Slides, and draft text in Docs, all through the user’s natural language prompts. Gemini is free to use and is available on the web as well as through its iOS and Android apps, but if you want to access the AI’s more advanced features (and Workspace integrations), you’ll need to subscribe to the company’s $20/month Google One AI Premium service. Perplexity’s AI assistant offers a unique alternative to traditional search engines. Rather than simply return a list of websites in response to a user’s query as Google search does, this chatbot scours the internet for relevant information, then synthesizes an answer to the user’s question directly in the chat window. It essentially eliminates the need to click through to individual websites to find the information you’re looking for. Built atop the GPT-4 model and available on Android, iOS, as well as on the web, Perplexity is free to use. The company also offers a Pro subscription plan for $20/month (or $200/year) that grants you access to additional AI models including GPT-4 Omni and Claude 3 Sonnet and Haiku , as well as a host of additional benefits. Unlike generalized chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini, Jasper AI is all business. It is designed to generate text for emails, blogs, social media posts, and marketing materials, all while maintaining your company’s distinctive tone, voice, and brand style. The platform includes Jasper Chat, which assists with research tasks and offers writing advice, as well as can help maximize the SEO score of your marketing content. Jasper is only available on a subscription basis, with plans starting at $40 per month per user, though the company does offer a seven-day trial. The best AI for audio and voice generation ElevenLabs knows how to make a machine talk. The company is a leader in generative speech technology, offering a variety of audio-centric services from automatic voice dubbing and cloning to text-to-speech and text-to-SFX. Users can select from thousands of unique voices (including those of famous celebrities ), all trained on public domain and licensed data, in any of 32 languages. Ideal for podcasting, audio book narration, and conversational AI applications, the company’s products are available at a variety of pricing tiers ranging from free up to $99 per month. Why read a document when you can have Speechify read it to you four and a half times faster? The company’s voiceover technology can recite nearly any document you present to it in one of 200 voices (including your own through its voice cloning feature) in more than 60 languages. Speechify is available as a Chrome extension, a Mac app, a web app, iOS or Android app. The mobile apps can also read physical documents using your phone’s camera to scan the page. Speechify’s free tier limits you to simple text-to-speech in just 10 voices, while the $12/month premium tier unlocks the service’s full functionality. Respeecher specializes in voice cloning for celebrities, content creators, voice actors, game designers, and other professional applications. The company’s AI model essentially enables one person to speak in the voice of another. “We take recordings of the ‘target voice’ (the voice that is being replicated), train our system, and apply it to a ‘source speaker’ (the actor reading the lines),” the Respeecher’s FAQ explains. “It features all the emotions, intonations, and nuances of a real human voice.” The company offers a wide range of celebrity voices including Chris Farley and Richard Nixon, the latter of which earned Speechify an Emmy in 2019. Subscription plans start at $18 per month for basic text-to-speech (up to 100,000 characters per month and range up to $500 per month for the Power tier, which offers 900 minutes of speech-to-speech and 3 million characters of text-to-speech generation in more than 100 voices and 13 accents. If you fancy yourself a musician but can’t carry a tune, Controlla Voice can help. Its generative model can train an “AI Singing Voice” that sounds like you, based on 15-30 minutes of sample audio, then apply it to songs from the company’s extensive catalog, or blend your voice with others from their licensed stable of voice actors to generate unique vocals. You can even convert the vocals in existing songs from other artists into your voice for low-effort covers. Subscription prices run from $12 to $30 per month. The best AI for coding Anthropic’s Claude chatbot may not be able to generate images or speak to you conversationally, but it utterly excels at coding applications. Its latest iteration, Claude 3.5 Sonnet , drastically outperforms the likes of Gemini 1.5 Pro and ChatGPT-4o across a broad swath of leading industry benchmarks. Claude was also the first chatbot to offer a collaborative window (dubbed Artifacts ) that previews what the AI is generating outside of the chat stream. The chatbot is available free to all users on the web, iOS, and Android, though subscribing to the $20/month Pro or $30/month Teams tiers will grant you priority access to the latest and greatest models that Anthropic has to offer. Developed through a partnership between Github and OpenAI, GitHub Copilot acts as an AI autocomplete, to help users in the Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, Neovim, and JetBrains IDEs generate code faster than they can on their own. Users can present Copilot with a coding problem, phrased in natural language, and the assistant will automatically generate a solution code. Conversely, it can also explain what a given snippet of code does as well as convert snippets between various coding languages. You can use Github Copilot for free, though upgrading to either the $4/month Pro or $21/month Enterprise tiers will, of course, give you additional resources and features. Similar to Copilot, Amazon’s CodeWhisperer is a general use coding assistant that will automatically generate suggestions and code recommendations based on your existing inputs, in real time. It’s available for the JetBrains and Visual Studio IDEs and also supports natural language-to-bash translation in the Mac command line. The free tier only offers limited access to the system’s more advanced features, so you’ll have to pony up $20/month if you want to unlock its full capabilities. Cursor AI is a coding assistant in the same vein as Codewhisperer but can offer autocomplete suggestions across multiple lines of code, based on your previous inputs. It also offers a smart rewrite function that automatically corrects your typos and syntax errors so you spend less time tracking down errant quotation marks and parentheses while debugging, as well as cursor prediction that guesses where your cursor needs to be next, enabling you to navigate through your project faster and more efficiently. It even offers a chatbot assistant (leveraging GPT-4, GPT-4o, and Claude 3.5 Sonnet) that can answer questions about either the entire active file or specific selected code blocks. The chatbot can even edit that highlighted code based on your natural language instructions. Cursor AI is available for the Mac, Windows, and Linux operating systems. You can try it out free for two weeks before a $20/month Pro or $40/user/month Business subscription is required. The best AI to integrate with the rest of your app ecosystem Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has been investing heavily in AI over the past few years and has recently begun incorporating the smart features found in rivals like Gemini and Copilot to its own product portfolio. “More than 400 million people are using Meta AI monthly, with 185 million people using it across our products each week,” the company boasted in a September blog post . The company now offers a conversational AI similar to Advanced Voice Mode in Messenger, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram DM. It can answer questions about photos shared in your group chats, generate custom backgrounds for images you reshare from your feed to Instagram Stories, and automatically translate the audio of your Instagram Reels. It can also generate images to share on your feed, Stories, and set as your Facebook profile picture. So when you find yourself wondering why there’s so much AI slop clogging up Facebook and Insta, understand that it is a feature Meta has spent billions developing, not a bug. Microsoft has dumped north of $10 billion into its partnership with OpenAI, so of course it’s going to shoehorn ChatGPT’s generative capabilities into every single product it possibly can. In addition to the Copilot chatbot itself, Microsoft has developed and released Copilot Pages, which function much like Claude’s Artifacts or ChatGPT’s Canvas. The company has also integrated it into Outlook to help you manage your inbox by prioritizing which messages to respond to first and quickly draft email replies. 365 Copilot can also help you rapidly establish a cohesive narrative in your PowerPoint presentations by generating pitch decks whole cloth from your natural language prompt that maintain a consistent tone and brand voice. In Excel, Copilot does the heavy lifting of generating formulas, graphs, and charts based, again, on the user’s prompt. And in Teams, Copilot can monitor your video meetings and provide summaries of what happened as well as generate actionable item lists based on what was discussed. Gemini does for Google’s Workspace app suite what Copilot does for Microsoft’s. The AI assistant can help draft emails in Gmail , write documents in Docs, generate graphs and charts in Sheets, create and modify slides in Slides, find files in Drive, and provide live-translated captions and take notes in Meet. If you don’t already have a personal Google One AI Premium subscription, you’ll have to ask your Workspace admin to grant you access. Apple Intelligence may be the new kid on the AI block, but it is promising to be more deeply integrated within its product ecosystem than any other currently on the market. Designed to serve as an overarching agent acting on the user’s behalf, it promises to streamline monotonous everyday tasks, make Siri a better conversationalist, automate proofreading and text summarization across the company’s myriad apps, and offer lightning-fast image generation. It is currently available to all devices running iOS 18 , iPadOS 18 , and MacOS Sequoia — basically, the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max (and newer), as well as iPads and Macs with M1 or newer chips.NASA recently released several new documents as part of an , a roadmap meant to guide the space agency in its efforts to explore the surface of the Moon under the Artemis campaign and eventually send crewed missions to Mars. Table of Contents Revised Architecture Definition Document The latest update to the architecture includes a revision of the Architecture Definition Document, which covers exploration plan processes and technical approaches, NASA said Friday. The revised document now offers more information concerning the agency’s decision road-mapping process. The revised document now also lists opportunities that will help technology developers determine what research to prioritize to help enable the Moon to Mars architecture. Nuclear Fission, Lunar Cargo Lander & Initial Habitat The architecture update also includes 12 new white papers, with one highlighting the intent to use nuclear fission as the primary power source to sustain personnel on the surface of Mars. The update also adds two new elements to the architecture. The first is a lunar surface cargo lander, which will deliver various payloads, including those for logistics, communications and science and technology. The second is an initial surface habitat to house astronauts on the lunar surface. Architecture Concept Review The changes come on the heels of an Architecture Concept Review, which NASA Associate Administrator said is “critical to getting us on a path to mount a human mission to Mars.” “We’re taking a methodical approach to mapping out the decisions we need to make, understanding resource and technological trades, and ensuring we are listening to feedback from stakeholders,” Free added.