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US Adds New Hispanic, Middle Eastern And North African Racial Categories For First Time In 25+ Years

MENA

The United States has updated its system for collecting information on people’s racial backgrounds. Changes include the introducing a category for Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) people and changing how Hispanic individuals are classified. This historic update, the first in over 25 years, aims to more accurately and nuancedly capture the nation’s evolving demographics. New Hispanic and MENA categories For the first time, individuals of MENA descent, about 1.5% of the U.S. population, will be able to identify themselves as part of a distinct category. Hispanic Americans, who make

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The US’ Black-Owned Autonomous Grocery Store: How Nourish + Bloom Is Reshaping Access To Fresh Food

Nourish + Bloom, the first Black-owned autonomous grocery store in the US, is reshaping how communities access fresh food after Shark Tank investors declined them. Founded by Jilea and Jamie Hemmings in 2022, Nourish + Bloom aims to reduce the nation’s food deserts, making eating healthy and convenient. Nourish + Bloom Nourish + Bloom is reportedly the first 100% AI-powered supermarket to be open for business 24/7.  The store currently offers a range of essentials, from produce to toiletries, and a deli for prepared foods.  However, unlike traditional stores, Nourish + Bloom operates

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Thepeer’s Short-Lived Payments Revolution: From $2.1M Seed Funding To Shutdown

Thepeer

Nigerian startup Thepeer, which gained prominence for its API-based payment solutions, has announced its closure just three years after its inception.  Thepeer went from securing $2.1 million in seed funding led by Raba Partnership, with participation from Rali_cap Ventures, BYLD, and fintech giants like Chipper Cash and Stitch, to its unexpected shutdown recently announced. “We embarked on a mission to create something unprecedented, a unique method for transferring money between digital wallets and making payments for goods and services directly from these wallets,” the founders said in a statement. “Yet, we soon realized that exceptional

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Black Teen Creates AI Chatbot To Combat Mental Health Challenges

AI Chatbot

A 14-year-old passionate about technology, Sophie has developed an innovative AI chatbot focused on mental health. Mental Health meets AI Unlike the usual narratives surrounding AI, such as privacy invasion and fake news, Sophie’s AI chatbot offers hope to users. Her mother, Samantha, in a TikTok video, revealed how Sophie’s creation counters negative self-talk and mental health issues with positive affirmations and exercises in self-awareness and boundary setting. This chatbot’s introduction goes, “Humans often struggle on focusing on the present … and comparing each other to other people who we think are better, when really we should focus

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AI Struggles To Detect Depression Signs In Social Media Posts By Black Americans

AI’s inability to detect signs of depression in social media posts by Black Americans was revealed in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). This disparity raises concerns about the implications of using AI in healthcare, especially when these models lack data from diverse racial and ethnic groups. The Study The study, conducted by researchers from Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine and its School of Engineering and Applied Science, employed an “off the shelf” AI tool to analyze language in posts from 868 volunteers.  These participants, comprising equal

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Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Album Challenges The Growing Trend Of AI In Music Production

Cowboy Carter

Beyoncé’s latest album, “Cowboy Carter,” holds a bold statement in the ongoing dialogue about the role of AI in music production.  Beyoncé’s Use Of Traditional Methods  Beyoncé emphasized her commitment to authenticity in music creation in a rare public comment.  She clearly preferred real instruments and traditional methods over artificial intelligence and digital manipulation.  “The more I see the world evolving the more I felt a deeper connection to purity,” Beyoncé said in a press release. “With AI and digital filters and programming, I wanted to go back to real instruments, and I used very old ones…

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The Scramble For African Fintech? Visa And Mastercard Invest Billions Into The Booming Sector

visa Mastercard

Visa and Mastercard are setting their sights on Africa’s fintech market. Africa’s booming fintech sector E-commerce is booming across the continent. The Wall Street Journal reports that by the end of this year, an estimated 435 million Africans are expected to shop online, a nearly twofold increase since the pandemic. However, people are less likely to make payments using cards than in other global markets, relying instead on mobile money, digital wallets, and bank transfers. Visa and Mastercard, determined to stay relevant, are pouring millions of dollars into the continent

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April Fools’ Day: 9 Tech Tales Of Fakes, Fraud, And Finesse

April Fools’ Day is known for its jokes, but in the tech world, it can be challenging to tell what’s real and what’s not, even on regular days. A lot is happening in tech, from ingenious deceits to blatant scams. We’ve got stories about everything from a Black tech pro who made up a fake assistant to earn more respect to the wrong use of AI in politics and huge money tricks in the crypto world.  Here are 9 POCIT stories to check out this April Fools’ Day. 1. The

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It’s About To Get A Lot More Expensive For Tech Companies To Hire H-1B Visa Holders

US Visa

Tech workers reliant on H-1B visas are facing concerns as fees for these visas and green cards are set to increase next month for the first time since 2016.  An Increase In Visas Fees The increase, set to go into effect April 1, was initiated by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to address a backlog of soaring application numbers, reaching 10.9 million in 2023. Additionally, the fees for H-1B visas, needed for thousands of highly skilled tech workers, will increase by 70% for large employers, moving from $460 to $780.  However,

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Three Black Students Selected As Astronaut Scholars Make HBCU History

HBCU

Three students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (N.C. A&T) have been named 2023 Astronaut Scholars, marking a historic moment for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).  A Historical Moment For HBCUs The Astronaut Scholarship was founded in 1984 by the surviving members of the Mercury 7 crew members. It stands as one of the nation’s most prominent scholarships for students pursuing STEM degrees. N.C. A&T is the first HBCU to have more than one Astronaut Scholarship recipient in a year, a significant milestone in promoting diversity in STEM fields.  The scholarships,

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