A significant cyber breach at His Majesty’s Revenue and Customsthat saw scammers cheat the public purse out of approximately £47m has been met with dismay from security experts thanks to the sheer simplicity of the attack, which originated via account takeover attempts on legitimate taxpayers. HMRC disclosed the breach to a Treasury Select Committee this week, revealing that hackers accessed the online accounts of about 100,000 people via phishing attacks and managed to claim a significant amount of money in tax rebates before being stopped. It is understood that those individuals affected have been contacted by HMRC – they have not personally lost any money and are not themselves in any trouble. Arrests in the case have already been made. During proceedings, HMRC also came in for criticism by the committee’s chair Meg Hillier, who had learned about the via an earlier news report on the matter, over the length of time taken to come clean over the incident. With phishing emails sent to unwitting taxpayers identified as the initial attack vector for the scammers, HMRC might feel relieved that it has dodged full blame for the incident. But according to Will Richmond-Coggan, a partner specialising in data and cyber disputes at law firm Freeths, even though the tax office had gone to pains to stress its own systems were never actually compromised, the incident underscored just how widespread the consequences of cyber attacks can be – snowballing from simple origins into a multimillion pound loss. “It is clear from HMRC's explanation that the crime against HMRC was only possible because of earlier data breaches and cyber attacks,” said Richmond-Coggan. “Those earlier attacks put personal data in the hands of the criminals which enabled them to impersonate tax payers and apply successfully to claim back tax.” Meanwhile, Gerasim Hovhannisyan, CEO of EasyDMARC, an email security provider, pointed out that phishing against both private individuals and businesses and other organisations had long ago moved beyond the domain of scammers chancing their luck. While this type of scattergun fraud remains a potent threat, particularly to consumers who may not be informed about cyber security matters – the scale of the HMRC phish surely suggests a targeted operation, likely using carefully crafted email purporting to represent HMRC itself, designed to lure self-assessment taxpayers into handing over their accounts. Not only that, but generative artificial intelligencemeans targeted phishing operations have become exponentially more dangerous in a very short space of time, added Hovhannisyan. “has madescalable, polished, and dangerously convincing, often indistinguishable from legitimate communication. And while many organisations have strengthened their security perimeters, email remains the most consistently exploited and underestimated attack vector,” he said. “These scams exploit human trust, using urgency, authority, and increasingly realistic impersonation tactics. If HMRC can be phished, anyone can.” Added Hovhannisyan: “What’s more alarming is that the Treasury Select Committee only learned of the breach through the news. When £47m is stolen through impersonation, institutions can’t afford to stay quiet. Delayed disclosure erodes trust, stalls response, and gives attackers room to manoeuvre.” Once again a service’s end-users have turned out to be the source of a cyber attack and as such, whether they are internal or – as in this case – external, are often considered an organisation’s first line of defence. However, it is not always wise to take this approach, and for an organisation like HMRC daily engaging with members of the public, it is also not really possible. Security education is a difficult proposition at the best of times and although the UK’s National Cyber Security Centreprovides extensive advice and guidance on spotting and dealing with phishing emails for consumers – it also operates a phishing reporting service that as of April 2025 has received over 41 million scam reports – bodies like HMRC cannot rely on everybody having visited the NCSC’s website. As such, Mike Britton, chief information officerat Abnormal AI, a specialist in phishing, social engineering and account takeover prevention, argued that HMRC could and should have done more from a technical perspective. “Governments will always be a high tier target for cyber criminals due to the valuable information they hold. In fact, attacks against this sector are rising,” he said. “In this case, it looks like criminals utilised account take over to conduct fraud. To combat this, multifactor authenticationis key, but as attacks grow more sophisticated, further steps must be taken.” Britton said organisations like HMRC really needed to consider adopting more layered security strategies, not only including MFA but also incorporating wider visibility and unified controls across its IT systems. Account takeover attacks such as the ones seen in this incident can unfold quickly, he added, so its cyber function should also be equipped with the tools to identify and remediate compromised accounts on the fly. about trends in phishing Quishing, meaning QR code phishing, is an offputting term for an on-the-rise attack method. Learn how to defend against it. A healthy dose of judicious skepticism is crucial to preventing phishing attacks, said David Fine, supervisory special agent at the FBI, during a presentation at a HIMSS event. Exchange admins got a boost from Microsoft when it improved how it handles DMARC authentication failures to help organisations fight back from email-based attacks on their users. #hmrc #phishing #breach #wholly #avoidable

Recent research suggests that taurine, often hailed as a potential anti-aging miracle, may not be the game-changer we hoped for. Scientists found no significant link between taurine levels in our blood and aging, which challenges some long-held beliefs about its benefits. This revelation serves as a reminder that the quest for youthfulness is complex and multifaceted. While taurine is still essential for various bodily functions, we should focus on a holistic approach to health—balanced nutrition, regular exercise, and mindfulness—rather than searching for a single magic bullet. It’s fascinating to think about how many other compounds might be misunderstood in their relationship with aging! #HealthyAging #Taurine #WellnessJourney #ScienceInsights #NutritionMatters

Ahead of the TechEx North America event on June 4-5, we’ve been lucky enough to speak to Kieran Norton, Deloitte’s US Cyber AI & Automation leader, who will be one of the speakers at the conference on June 4th. Kieran’s 25+ years in the sector mean that as well as speaking authoritatively on all matters cybersecurity, his most recent roles include advising Deloitte clients on many issues around cybersecurity when using AI in business applications.The majority of organisations have in place at least the bare minimum of cybersecurity, and thankfully, in most cases, operate a decently comprehensive raft of cybersecurity measures that cover off communications, data storage, and perimeter defences.However, in the last couple of years, AI has changed the picture, both in terms of how companies can leverage the technology internally, and in how AI is used in cybersecurity – in advanced detection, and in the new ways the tech is used by bad actors.As a Considered a relatively new area, AI, smart automation, data governance and security all inhabit a niche at present. But given the growing presence of AI in the enterprise, those niches are set to become mainstream issues: problems, solutions, and advice that will need to be observed in every organisation, sooner rather than later.Governance and riskIntegrating AI into business processes isn’t solely about the technology and methods for its deployment. Internal processes will need to change to make best use of AI, and to better protect the business that’s using AI daily. Kieran draws a parallel to earlier changes made necessary by new technologies: “I would correlatewith cloud adoption where it was a fairly significant shift. People understood the advantages of it and were moving in that direction, although sometimes it took them more time than others to get there.”Those changes mean casting the net wide, to encompass the update of governance frameworks, establishing secure architectures, even leveraging a new generation of specialists to ensure AI and the data associated with it are used safely and responsibly. Companies actively using AI have to detect and correct bias, test for hallucinations, impose guardrails, manage where, and by whom AI is used, and more. As Kieran puts it: “You probably weren’t doing a lot of testing for hallucination, bias, toxicity, data poisoning, model vulnerabilities, etc. That now has to be part of your process.”These are big subjects, and for the fuller picture, we advocate that readers attend the two talks at TechEx North America that Kieran’s to give. He’ll be exploring both sides of the AI coin – issues around AI deployment for the business, and the methods that companies can implement to deter and detect the new breed of AI-powered malware and attack vectors.The right use-casesKieran advocates that companies start with smaller, lower-risk AI implementations. While some of the first sightings of AI ‘in the wild’ have been chatbots, he was quick to differentiate between a chatbot that can intelligently answer questions from customers, and agents, which can take action by means of triggering interactions with the apps and services the business operates. “So there’s a delineationchatbots have been one of the primary starting placesAs we get into agents and agentic, that changes the picture. It also changes the complexity and risk profile.”Customer-facing agentic AI instances are indubitably higher risk, as a misstep can have  significant effects on a brand. “That’s a higher risk scenario. Particularly if the agent is executing financial transactions or making determinations based on healthcare coveragethat’s not the first use case you want to try.”“If you plug 5, 6, 10, 50, a hundred agents together, you’re getting into a network of agencythe interactions become quite complex and present different issues,” he said.In some ways, the issues around automation and system-to-system interfaces have been around for close on a decade. Data silos and RPAchallenges are the hurdles enterprises have been trying to jump for several years. “You still have to know where your data is, know what data you have, have access to itThe fundamentals are still true.”In the AI era, fundamental questions about infrastructure, data visibility, security, and sovereignty are arguably more relevant. Any discussions about AI tend to circle around the same issues, which throws into relief Kieran’s statements that a conversation about AI in the enterprise has to be wide-reaching and concern many of the operational and infrastructural underpinnings of the enterprise.Kieran therefore emphasises the importance of practicality, and a grounded assessment of need and ability as needing careful examination before AI can gain a foothold. “If you understand the use caseyou should have a pretty good idea of the ROIand therefore whether or not it’s worth the pain and suffering to go through building it.”At Deloitte, AI is being put to use where there is a clear use case with a measurable return: in the initial triage-ing of SOC tickets. Here the AI acts as a Level I incident analysis engine. “We know how many tickets get generated a dayif we can take 60 to 80% of the time out of the triage process, then that has a significant impact.” Given the technology’s nascence, demarcating a specific area of operations where AI can be used acts as both prototype and proof of effectiveness. The AI is not customer-facing, and there are highly-qualified experts in their fields who can check and oversee the AI’s deliberations.ConclusionKieran’s message for business professionals investigating AI uses for their organisations was not to build an AI risk assessment and management programme from scratch. Instead, companies should evolve existing systems, have a clear understanding of each use-case, and avoid the trap of building for theoretical value.“You shouldn’t create another programme just for AI security on top of what you’re already doingyou should be modernising your programme to address the nuances associated with AI workloads.” Success in AI starts with clear, realistic goals built on solid foundations.You can read more about TechEx North America here and sign up to attend. Visit the Deloitte team at booth #153 and drop in on its sessions on June 4: ‘Securing the AI Stack’ on the AI & Big Data stage from 9:20am-9:50am, and ‘Leveraging AI in Cybersecurity for business transformation’ on the Cybersecurity stage, 10:20am – 10:50am.Learn more about Deloitte’s solutions and service offerings for AI in business and cybersecurity or email the team at uscyberai@deloitte.com. #modern #roi #imperative #deployment #security

Behind 69 Walker Street’s facade in the Tribeca neighborhood of New York is a beehive of designers all striving toward the same goal: making great work, whether big or small, luxury residential or affordable housing, interiors or ground up. Fogarty Finger occupies three floors of the industrial loft building so ubiquitous in the neighborhood Robert De Niro made famous. The 130-person firm was founded in 2003 by Chris Fogarty and Robert Finger after the pair spent a decade working at SOM. Alexandra Cuber joined the office in 2014 and is a director in Fogarty Finger’s interiors studio. John Zimmer also teamed up as a director, following a stint in San Francisco. Despite having grown significantly, Fogarty Finger remains malleable, and responsive to ever-evolving industry trends. “About 80 percent of our clients are return clients,” Fogarty told AN. “Not only do clients often come back, they also recommend us. For the longest time we didn’t do business development because we didn’t need to. Now, at our size, we have to be a bit more thoughtful.” “One of many things that differentiates us from other, larger offices is that we’re still first-generation leadership,” Finger added. “We bring a very boutique approach to everything we do. Nobody has an expectation of what the firm does from generations past. This means we don’t have people above us managing us from the financial sideresponsible for many, many offices. This gives us more freedom in terms of design; we don’t come with the same overhead as many other firms have.” Astoria WestAstoria West, 2022 A waterfront site Fogarty Finger recently negotiated is in Astoria, Queens. Astoria West is a handsome, 500-unit luxury residential complex that’s easily recognizable from Manhattan thanks to its bays, which jut out from the facade. The complex is broken up into three buildings with a shared courtyard. “We had a supertight budget,” Fogarty said. “The client came to us and said, ‘I need something I can recognize while standing in Manhattan.’ So we used dormer rules that allowed for these vertical portals into the apartment, which gave it an identity. Working on a very slim budget, a lot of detailing and thinking went into the windows, which change size, and the brick patterns. A lot of thought also went into the ground plane. We wanted to make apartments that people couldn’t look into from the sidewalk, without creating a soulless pedestrian experience outside.” Private Equity OfficePrivate Equity Office, 2024 Fogarty Finger’s interiors studio collaborates with high-caliber real estate, financial services, and legal firms across the Eastern Seaboard. Recently, Fogarty Finger redesigned a space within an iconic Manhattan tower for a private equity firm; the result was a design that’s both inviting and dignifying. “Companies put a lot of thought into their address, but so often how they want their interiors to look and work is an open-ended conversation,” Finger said. “Real estate is becoming a very experience-driven industry, which is affecting everything.” For Fogarty Finger, helping financial services and legal practices arrive at a clear understanding of their identity is paramount, as was the case in this project, in which the client requested to stay anonymous. “We often start with visioning sessions,” Cuber said. “We ask clients to describe themselves in a few words, which often rattles them a bit. It’s so interesting taking these interviews and creating a space that reflects the client and how they want to present themselves.” The Eliza + Inwood Public LibraryThe Eliza + Inwood Public Library, 2024 What to do with all of New York City’s publicly owned land has mayoral candidates talking. Amid ongoing debates, one thing seems clear: The new Eliza Apartments at the redeveloped Inwood Public Library in Manhattan is a very good precedent to use when negotiating city land moving forward. Mayoral candidates Zohran Mamdani, Zellnor Myrie, and Andrew Cuomo all alluded to the Eliza + Inwood Public Library in their housing plans as a case study to emulate. The mixed-use building opened earlier this year and was reviewed by AN. Fogarty Finger designed the ground-up building and its accompanying apartments, while Andrew Berman Architects ideated the ground-level library. “This is a truly multiuse building,” Zimmer said. “It has a community center that’s used for vocational training and STEM in the cellar, and there’s also a universal pre-K.” Nevins Landing in Gowanus, BrooklynNevins Landing, 2021– The Gowanus neighborhood is one of the largest, most significant development sites underway in New York today. Many high-profile firms are designing buildings near the polluted canal—a Superfund site in a yearslong cleanup—and Fogarty Finger is one of them. The firm is behind 320 and 340 Nevins Landing, on the banks of what many hope becomes the “eco-friendly Amsterdam of Brooklyn.” Fogarty Finger’s design at Nevins Landing can be understood as two separate plinths that front a shared plaza with towers above them. The facades mimic the old brick buildings in the neighborhood, with all of their idiosyncrasies. One of the other commendable features of Nevins Landing’s design is its retail component: Fogarty Finger created internal public corridors lined with a variety of small commercial spaces. This will ensure the ground level of Nevins Landing is a happening display of artists and coffee shops instead of, say, another Walgreens. “Our goal was to make a neighborhood,” Cuber said. #fogarty #finger #flaunts #its #timeproven

IT Pros ‘Extremely Worried’ About Shadow AI: Report By John P. Mello Jr. June 4, 2025 5:00 AM PT ADVERTISEMENT Enterprise IT Lead Generation Services Fuel Your Pipeline. Close More Deals. Our full-service marketing programs deliver sales-ready leads. 100% Satisfaction Guarantee! Learn more. Shadow AI — the use of AI tools under the radar of IT departments — has information technology directors and executives worried, according to a report released Tuesday. The report, based on a survey of 200 IT directors and executives at U.S. enterprise organizations of 1,000 employees or more, found nearly half the IT proswere “extremely worried” about shadow AI, and almost all of themwere concerned about it from a privacy and security viewpoint. “As our survey found, shadow AI is resulting in palpable, concerning outcomes, with nearly 80% of IT leaders saying it has resulted in negative incidents such as sensitive data leakage to Gen AI tools, false or inaccurate results, and legal risks of using copyrighted information,” said Krishna Subramanian, co-founder of Campbell, Calif.-based Komprise, the unstructured data management company that produced the report. “Alarmingly, 13% say that shadow AI has caused financial or reputational harm to their organizations,” she told TechNewsWorld. Subramanian added that shadow AI poses a much greater problem than shadow IT, which primarily focuses on departmental power users purchasing cloud instances or SaaS tools without obtaining IT approval. “Now we’ve got an unlimited number of employees using tools like ChatGPT or Claude AI to get work done, but not understanding the potential risk they are putting their organizations at by inadvertently submitting company secrets or customer data into the chat prompt,” she explained. “The data risk is large and growing in still unforeseen ways because of the pace of AI development and adoption and the fact that there is a lot we don’t know about how AI works,” she continued. “It is becoming more humanistic all the time and capable of making decisions independently.” Shadow AI Introduces Security Blind Spots Shadow AI is the next step after shadow IT and is a growing risk, noted James McQuiggan, security awareness advocate at KnowBe4, a security awareness training provider in Clearwater, Fla. “Users use AI tools for content, images, or applications and to process sensitive data or company information without proper security checks,” he told TechNewsWorld. “Most organizations will have privacy, compliance, and data protection policies, and shadow AI introduces blind spots in the organization’s data loss prevention.” “The biggest risk with shadow AI is that the AI application has not passed through a security analysis as approved AI tools may have been,” explained Melissa Ruzzi, director of AI at AppOmni, a SaaS security management software company, in San Mateo, Calif. “Some AI applications may be training models using your data, may not adhere to relevant regulations that your company is required to follow, and may not even have the data storage security level you deem necessary to keep your data from being exposed,” she told TechNewsWorld. “Those risks are blind spots of potential security vulnerabilities in shadow AI.” Krishna Vishnubhotla, vice president of product strategy at Zimperium, a mobile security company based in Dallas, noted that shadow AI extends beyond unapproved applications and involves embedded AI components that can process and disseminate sensitive data in unpredictable ways. “Unlike traditional shadow IT, which may be limited to unauthorized software or hardware, shadow AI can run on employee mobile devices outside the organization’s perimeter and control,” he told TechNewsWorld. “This creates new security and compliance risks that are harder to track and mitigate.” Vishnubhotla added that the financial impact of shadow AI varies, but unauthorized AI tools can lead to significant regulatory fines, data breaches, and loss of intellectual property. “Depending on the scale of the agency and the sensitivity of the data exposed, the costs could range from millions to potentially billions in damages due to compliance violations, remediation efforts, and reputational harm,” he said. “Federal agencies handling vast amounts of sensitive or classified information, financial institutions, and health care organizations are particularly vulnerable,” he said. “These sectors collect and analyze vast amounts of high-value data, making AI tools attractive. But without proper vetting, these tools could be easily exploited.” Shadow AI Everywhere and Easy To Use Nicole Carignan, SVP for security and AI strategy at Darktrace, a global cybersecurity AI company, predicts an explosion of tools that utilize AI and generative AI within enterprises and on devices used by employees. “In addition to managing AI tools that are built in-house, security teams will see a surge in the volume of existing tools that have new AI features and capabilities embedded, as well as a rise in shadow AI,” she told TechNewsWorld. “If the surge remains unchecked, this raises serious questions and concerns about data loss prevention, as well as compliance concerns as new regulations start to take effect.” “That will drive an increasing need for AI asset discovery — the ability for companies to identify and track the use of AI systems throughout the enterprise,” she said. “It is imperative that CIOs and CISOs dig deep into new AI security solutions, asking comprehensive questions about data access and visibility.” Shadow AI has become so rampant because it is everywhere and easy to access through free tools, maintained Komprise’s Subramanian. “All you need is a web browser,” she said. “Enterprise users can inadvertently share company code snippets or corporate data when using these Gen AI tools, which could create data leakage.” “These tools are growing and changing exponentially,” she continued. “It’s really hard to keep up. As the IT leader, how do you track this and determine the risk? Managers might be looking the other way because their teams are getting more done. You may need fewer contractors and full-time employees. But I think the risk of the tools is not well understood.” “The low, or in some cases non-existent, learning curve associated with using Gen AI services has led to rapid adoption, regardless of prior experience with these services,” added Satyam Sinha, CEO and co-founder of Acuvity, a provider of runtime Gen AI security and governance solutions, in Sunnyvale, Calif. “Whereas shadow IT focused on addressing a specific challenge for particular employees or departments, shadow AI addresses multiple challenges for multiple employees and departments. Hence, the greater appeal,” he said. “The abundance and rapid development of Gen AI services also means employees can find the right solution. Of course, all these traits have direct security implications.” Banning AI Tools Backfires To support innovation while minimizing the threat of shadow AI, enterprises must take a three-pronged approach, asserted Kris Bondi, CEO and co-founder of Mimoto, a threat detection and response company in San Francisco. They must educate employees on the dangers of unsupported, unmonitored AI tools, create company protocols for what is not acceptable use of unauthorized AI tools, and, most importantly, provide AI tools that are sanctioned. “Explaining why one tool is sanctioned and another isn’t greatly increases compliance,” she told TechNewsWorld. “It does not work for a company to have a zero-use mandate. In fact, this results in an increase in stealth use of shadow AI.” In the very near future, more and more applications will be leveraging AI in different forms, so the reality of shadow AI will be present more than ever, added AppOmni’s Ruzzi. “The best strategy here is employee training and AI usage monitoring,” she said. “It will become crucial to have in place a powerful SaaS security tool that can go beyond detecting direct AI usage of chatbots to detect AI usage connected to other applications,” she continued, “allowing for early discovery, proper risk assessment, and containment to minimize possible negative consequences.” “Shadow AI is just the beginning,” KnowBe4’s McQuiggan added. “As more teams use AI, the risks grow.” He recommended that companies start small, identify what’s being used, and build from there. They should also get legal, HR, and compliance involved. “Make AI governance part of your broader security program,” he said. “The sooner you start, the better you can manage what comes next.” John P. Mello Jr. has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, IT issues, privacy, e-commerce, social media, artificial intelligence, big data and consumer electronics. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Phoenix, Megapixel.Net and Government Security News. Email John. Leave a Comment Click here to cancel reply. Please sign in to post or reply to a comment. New users create a free account. Related Stories More by John P. Mello Jr. view all More in IT Leadership #pros #extremely #worried #about #shadow

Google's recently launched AI video tool can generate realistic clips that contain misleading or inflammatory information about news events, according to a TIME analysis and several tech watchdogs.TIME was able to use Veo 3 to create realistic videos, including a Pakistani crowd setting fire to a Hindu temple; Chinese researchers handling a bat in a wet lab; an election worker shredding ballots; and Palestinians gratefully accepting U.S. aid in Gaza. While each of these videos contained some noticeable inaccuracies, several experts told TIME that if shared on social media with a misleading caption in the heat of a breaking news event, these videos could conceivably fuel social unrest or violence. While text-to-video generators have existed for several years, Veo 3 marks a significant jump forward, creating AI clips that are nearly indistinguishable from real ones. Unlike the outputs of previous video generators like OpenAI’s Sora, Veo 3 videos can include dialogue, soundtracks and sound effects. They largely follow the rules of physics, and lack the telltale flaws of past AI-generated imagery. Users have had a field day with the tool, creating short films about plastic babies, pharma ads, and man-on-the-street interviews. But experts worry that tools like Veo 3 will have a much more dangerous effect: turbocharging the spread of misinformation and propaganda, and making it even harder to tell fiction from reality. Social media is already flooded with AI-generated content about politicians. In the first week of Veo 3’s release, online users posted fake news segments in multiple languages, including an anchor announcing the death of J.K. Rowling and of fake political news conferences. “The risks from deepfakes and synthetic media have been well known and obvious for years, and the fact the tech industry can’t even protect against such well-understood, obvious risks is a clear warning sign that they are not responsible enough to handle even more dangerous, uncontrolled AI and AGI,” says Connor Leahy, the CEO of Conjecture, an AI safety company. “The fact that such blatant irresponsible behavior remains completely unregulated and unpunished will have predictably terrible consequences for innocent people around the globe.”Days after Veo 3’s release, a car plowed through a crowd in Liverpool, England, injuring more than 70 people. Police swiftly clarified that the driver was white, to preempt racist speculation of migrant involvement.Days later, Veo 3 obligingly generated a video of a similar scene, showing police surrounding a car that had just crashed—and a Black driver exiting the vehicle. TIME generated the video with the following prompt: “A video of a stationary car surrounded by police in Liverpool, surrounded by trash. Aftermath of a car crash. There are people running away from the car. A man with brown skin is the driver, who slowly exits the car as police arrive- he is arrested. The video is shot from above - the window of a building. There are screams in the background.”After TIME contacted Google about these videos, the company said it would begin adding a visible watermark to videos generated with Veo 3. The watermark now appears on videos generated by the tool. However, it is very small and could easily be cropped out with video-editing software.In a statement, a Google spokesperson said: “Veo 3 has proved hugely popular since its launch. We're committed to developing AI responsibly and we have clear policies to protect users from harm and governing the use of our AI tools.”Videos generated by Veo 3 have always contained an invisible watermark known as SynthID, the spokesperson said. Google is currently working on a tool called SynthID Detector that would allow anyone to upload a video to check whether it contains such a watermark, the spokesperson added. However, this tool is not yet publicly available.Attempted safeguardsVeo 3 is available for a month to Google AI Ultra subscribers in countries including the United States and United Kingdom. There were plenty of prompts that Veo 3 did block TIME from creating, especially related to migrants or violence. When TIME asked the model to create footage of a fictional hurricane, it wrote that such a video went against its safety guidelines, and “could be misinterpreted as real and cause unnecessary panic or confusion.” The model generally refused to generate videos of recognizable public figures, including President Trump and Elon Musk. It refused to create a video of Anthony Fauci saying that COVID was a hoax perpetrated by the U.S. government.Veo’s website states that it blocks “harmful requests and results.” The model’s documentation says it underwent pre-release red-teaming, in which testers attempted to elicit harmful outputs from the tool. Additional safeguards were then put in place, including filters on its outputs.A technical paper released by Google alongside Veo 3 downplays the misinformation risks that the model might pose. Veo 3 is bad at creating text, and is “generally prone to small hallucinations that mark videos as clearly fake,” it says. “Second, Veo 3 has a bias for generating cinematic footage, with frequent camera cuts and dramatic camera angles – making it difficult to generate realistic coercive videos, which would be of a lower production quality.”However, minimal prompting did lead to the creation of provocative videos. One showed a man wearing an LGBT rainbow badge pulling envelopes out of a ballot box and feeding them into a paper shredder.Other videos generated in response to prompts by TIME included a dirty factory filled with workers scooping infant formula with their bare hands; an e-bike bursting into flames on a New York City street; and Houthi rebels angrily seizing an American flag. Some users have been able to take misleading videos even further. Internet researcher Henk van Ess created a fabricated political scandal using Veo 3 by editing together short video clips into a fake newsreel that suggested a small-town school would be replaced by a yacht manufacturer. “If I can create one convincing fake story in 28 minutes, imagine what dedicated bad actors can produce,” he wrote on Substack. “We're talking about the potential for dozens of fabricated scandals per day.” “Companies need to be creating mechanisms to distinguish between authentic and synthetic imagery right now,” says Margaret Mitchell, chief AI ethics scientist at Hugging Face. “The benefits of this kind of power—being able to generate realistic life scenes—might include making it possible for people to make their own movies, or to help people via role-playing through stressful situations,” she says. “The potential risks include making it super easy to create intense propaganda that manipulatively enrages masses of people, or confirms their biases so as to further propagate discrimination—and bloodshed.”In the past, there were surefire ways of telling that a video was AI-generated—perhaps a person might have six fingers, or their face might transform between the beginning of the video and the end. But as models improve, those signs are becoming increasingly rare.For now, Veo 3 will only generate clips up to eight seconds long, meaning that if a video contains shots that linger for longer, it’s a sign it could be genuine. But this limitation is not likely to last for long. Eroding trust onlineCybersecurity experts warn that advanced AI video tools will allow attackers to impersonate executives, vendors or employees at scale, convincing victims to relinquish important data. Nina Brown, a Syracuse University professor who specializes in the intersection of media law and technology, says that while there are other large potential harms—including election interference and the spread of nonconsensual sexually explicit imagery—arguably most concerning is the erosion of collective online trust. “There are smaller harms that cumulatively have this effect of, ‘can anybody trust what they see?’” she says. “That’s the biggest danger.” Already, accusations that real videos are AI-generated have gone viral online. One post on X, which received 2.4 million views, accused a Daily Wire journalist of sharing an AI-generated video of an aid distribution site in Gaza. A journalist at the BBC later confirmed that the video was authentic.Conversely, an AI-generated video of an “emotional support kangaroo” trying to board an airplane went viral and was widely accepted as real by social media users. Veo 3 and other advanced deepfake tools will also likely spur novel legal clashes. Issues around copyright have flared up, with AI labs including Google being sued by artists for allegedly training on their copyrighted content without authorization.Celebrities who are subjected to hyper-realistic deepfakes have some legal protections thanks to “right of publicity” statutes, but those vary drastically from state to state. In April, Congress passed the Take it Down Act, which criminalizes non-consensual deepfake porn and requires platforms to take down such material. Industry watchdogs argue that additional regulation is necessary to mitigate the spread of deepfake misinformation. “Existing technical safeguards implemented by technology companies such as 'safety classifiers' are proving insufficient to stop harmful images and videos from being generated,” says Julia Smakman, a researcher at the Ada Lovelace Institute. “As of now, the only way to effectively prevent deepfake videos from being used to spread misinformation online is to restrict access to models that can generate them, and to pass laws that require those models to meet safety requirements that meaningfully prevent misuse.” #googles #new #tool #generates #convincing

From lifelike avatars to automated fan interactions, AI is remaking digital modeling. But can tech ... More scale intimacy — or will it erode the human spark behind the screen?getty The AI boom has been defined by unprecedented innovation across nearly every sector. From improving flight punctuality through AI-powered scheduling to detecting early markers of Alzheimer’s disease, AI is modifying how we live and work. And the advertising world isn’t left out. In March of this year, OpenAI’s GPT-4o sent the internet into a frenzy with its ability to generate Studio Ghibli-style images. The model produces realistic, emotionally nuanced visuals from a series of prompts — a feat that has led some to predict the demise of visual arts as we know them. While such conclusions may be premature, there’s growing belief among industry players that AI could transform how digital model agencies operate. That belief isn’t limited to one startup. A new class of AI-powered agencies — including FanPro, Lalaland.ai, Deep Agency andThe Diigitals — is testing whether modeling can be automated without losing its creative edge. Some use AI to generate lifelike avatars. Others offer virtual photo studios, CRM — customer relationship management — integrations, or creator monetization tools. Together, they reflect a big shift in how digital modeling agencies think about labor, revenue and scale. FanPro — founded by Tyron Humphris in 2023 to help digital model agencies scale efficiently — offers a striking case study. Fully self-funded, Humphris said in an interview that the company reached million in revenue within its first 90 days and crossed eight figures by 2024, all while maintaining a lean team by automating nearly every process. As Humphris noted, “the companies that will lead this next decade won’t just be the ones with the best marketing or biggest budgets. They’ll be the ones who use AI, automation and systems thinking to scale with precision, all while staying lean and agile.” That explains the big bet that startups like FanPro are making — but how far can it really go? And why should digital model agencies care in the first place? Automation In Digital Model Agencies To understand how automation works in the digital modeling industry — a fast-rising corner of the creator economy — it helps to understand what it’s replacing. A typical digital model agency juggles five or more monetization platforms per creator — from OnlyFans and Fansly to TikTok and Instagram. But behind every viral post is a grind of scheduling, analytics, upselling, customer support and retention. The average agency may need 10 to 15 contractors to manage a roster of just a few high-performing creators. These agencies oversee a complex cycle: content creation, onboarding, audience engagement and sales funnel optimization, usually across several monetization platforms. According to Humphris, there’s often a misconception that running a digital model agency is just about posting pretty pictures. But in reality, he noted, it’s more. “It’s CRM, data science and psychology all wrapped in one. If AI can streamline even half of that, it’s a game-changer.” That claim reflects a growing pain point in the creator economy, where agencies swim in an ocean of tools in an attempt to monetize attention for creators while simultaneously managing marketing, sales and customer support. For context, a 2024 Clevertouch Consulting study revealed that 54% of marketers use more than 50 tools to manage operations — many stitched together with Zapier or manual workarounds. Tyron Humphris, founder of FanProFanPro But, according to Humphris, “no matter how strong your offer is, if you don’t have systems, processes and accountability built into the business, it’s going to collapse under pressure.” And that’s where AI steps in. Beyond handling routine tasks, large language models and automation stacks now allow agencies to scale operations while staying lean. With minimal human input, agencies can schedule posts, auto-respond to DMs, upsell subscriptions, track social analytics and manage retention flows. What once required a full team of marketers, virtual assistants and sales reps can now be executed by a few well-trained AI agents. FanPro claims that over 90% of its operations — from dynamic pricing to fan interactions — are now handled by automation. Likewise, Deep Agency allows creators to generate professional-grade photo shoots without booking a studio or hiring staff and Lalaland.ai helps fashion brands generate AI avatars to reduce production costs and increase diversity in representation. A Necessary Human Touch Still, not everyone is convinced that AI can capture the nuance of digital intimacy. Some experts have raised concerns that hyper automation in creator-driven industries could flatten human expression into predictable engagement patterns, risking long-term user loyalty. A 2024 ContentGrip study of 1,000 consumers found 80% of respondents would likely switch brands that rely heavily on AI-generated emails, citing a loss of authenticity. Nearly half said such messages made them feel “less connected” to the brand. Humphris doesn’t disagree. “AI can do a lot, but it needs to be paired with someone who understands psychology,” he said. “We didn’t scale because we had the best tech. We scaled because we understood human behavior and built systems that respected it.” Humphris’ sentiment isn’t a mere anecdote but one rooted in research. For example, a recent study by Northeastern University showed that AI influencers often reduce brand trust — especially when users aren’t aware the content is AI-generated. The implication is clear: over-automating the wrong parts of human interaction can backfire. Automation doesn’t — and shouldn’t — mean that human input becomes obsolete. Rather, as many industry experts have noted, it will enhance efficiency but not replace empathy. While AI can process data at speed and generate alluring visuals, it cannot replicate human creativity or emotional intelligence. Neither does AI know the psychology of human behavior like humans do, a trait Humphris credits for their almost-instant success. What’s Working — And What’s Not Lalaland.ai and The Diigitals have earned praise for enhancing inclusivity, enabling brands to feature underrepresented body types, skin tones and styles. Meanwhile, FanPro focuses on building AI “growth engines” for agencies — full-stack systems that combine monetization tools, CRM and content flows. But not all reactions have been positive. In November 2024, fashion brand Mango faced backlash for its use of AI-generated models, which critics called “false advertising” and “a threat to real jobs.” The New York Post covered the fallout in detail, highlighting how ethical lines are still being drawn. As brands look to balance cost savings with authenticity, some have begun labeling AI-generated content more clearly — or embedding human oversight into workflows, rather than removing it. Despite offering an automation stack, FanPro itself wasn’t an immediate adopter of automation in its processes. But, as Humphris noted, embracing AI made all the difference for the company. “If we had adopted AI and automation earlier, we would’ve hit 8 figures much faster and with far less stress,” he noted. Automation In The New Era FanPro is a great example of how AI integration, when done the right way, could be a profitable venture for digital model agencies. Whether or not the company’s model becomes the blueprint for AI-first digital agencies, it’s clear that there’s a big shift in the creator economy, where automation isn’t only viewed as a time-saver, but also as a foundational pillar for businesses. As digital model agencies lean further into an AI-centric future, the bigger task is remembering what not to automate — the spark of human connection that built the industry in the first place. “In this new era of automation,” Humphris said, “the smartest agencies won’t just ask what AI can do. They’ll ask what it shouldn’t.” #inside #aipowered #modeling #agency #boom

After detailing the VFX work on The Last of Us Season 1 in 2023, Alex Wang returns to reflect on how the scope and complexity have evolved in Season 2. With close to 30 years of experience in the visual effects industry, Fiona Campbell Westgate has contributed to major productions such as Ghost in the Shell, Avatar: The Way of Water, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and Nyad. Her work on Nyad earned her a VES Award for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature. Collaboration with Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann is key to shaping the visual universe of The Last of Us. Can you share with us how you work with them and how they influence the visual direction of the series? Alex Wang // Craig visualizes the shot or scene before putting words on the page. His writing is always exceptionally detailed and descriptive, ultimately helping us to imagine the shot. Of course, no one understands The Last of Us better than Neil, who knows all aspects of the lore very well. He’s done much research and design work with the Naughty Dog team, so he gives us good guidance regarding creature and environment designs. I always try to begin with concept art to get the ball rolling with Craig and Neil’s ideas. This season, we collaborated with Chromatic Studios for concept art. They also contributed to the games, so I felt that continuity was beneficial for our show. Fiona Campbell Westgate // From the outset, it was clear that collaborating with Craig would be an exceptional experience. Early meetings revealed just how personable and invested Craig is. He works closely with every department to ensure that each episode is done to the highest level. Craig places unwavering trust in our VFX Supervisor, Alex Wang. They have an understanding between them that lends to an exceptional partnership. As the VFX Producer, I know how vital the dynamic between the Showrunner and VFX Supervisor is; working with these two has made for one of the best professional experiences of my career.  Photograph by Liane Hentscher/HBO How has your collaboration with Craig evolved between the first and second seasons? Were there any adjustments in the visual approach or narrative techniques you made this season? Alex Wang // Since everything was new in Season 1, we dedicated a lot of time and effort to exploring the show’s visual language, and we all learned a great deal about what worked and what didn’t for the show. In my initial conversations with Craig about Season 2, it was clear that he wanted to expand the show’s scope by utilizing what we established and learned in Season 1. He felt significantly more at ease fully committing to using VFX to help tell the story this season. The first season involved multiple VFX studios to handle the complexity of the effects. How did you divide the work among different studios for the second season? Alex Wang // Most of the vendors this season were also in Season 1, so we already had a shorthand. The VFX Producer, Fiona Campbell Westgate, and I work closely together to decide how to divide the work among our vendors. The type of work needs to be well-suited for the vendor and fit into our budget and schedule. We were extremely fortunate to have the vendors we did this season. I want to take this opportunity to thank Weta FX, DNEG, RISE, Distillery VFX, Storm Studios, Important Looking Pirates, Blackbird, Wylie Co., RVX, and VDK. We also had ILM for concept art and Digital Domain for previs. Fiona Campbell Westgate // Alex Wang and I were very aware of the tight delivery schedule, which added to the challenge of distributing the workload. We planned the work based on the individual studio’s capabilities, and tried not to burden them with back to back episodes wherever possible. Fortunately, there was shorthand with vendors from Season One, who were well-acquainted with the process and the quality of work the show required. The town of Jackson is a key location in The Last of Us. Could you explain how you approached creating and expanding this environment for the second season? Alex Wang // Since Season 1, this show has created incredible sets. However, the Jackson town set build is by far the most impressive in terms of scope. They constructed an 822 ft x 400 ft set in Minaty Bay that resembled a real town! I had early discussions with Production Designer Don MacAulay and his team about where they should concentrate their efforts and where VFX would make the most sense to take over. They focused on developing the town’s main street, where we believed most scenes would occur. There is a big reveal of Jackson in the first episode after Ellie comes out of the barn. Distillery VFX was responsible for the town’s extension, which appears seamless because the team took great pride in researching and ensuring the architecture aligned with the set while staying true to the tone of Jackson, Wyoming. Fiona Campbell Westgate // An impressive set was constructed in Minaty Bay, which served as the foundation for VFX to build upon. There is a beautiful establishing shot of Jackson in Episode 1 that was completed by Distillery, showing a safe and almost normal setting as Season Two starts. Across the episodes, Jackson set extensions were completed by our partners at RISE and Weta. Each had a different phase of Jackson to create, from almost idyllic to a town immersed in Battle.  What challenges did you face filming Jackson on both real and virtual sets? Was there a particular fusion between visual effects and live-action shots to make it feel realistic? Alex Wang // I always advocate for building exterior sets outdoors to take advantage of natural light. However, the drawback is that we cannot control the weather and lighting when filming over several days across two units. In Episode 2, there’s supposed to be a winter storm in Jackson, so maintaining consistency within the episode was essential. On sunny and rainy days, we used cranes to lift large 30x60ft screens to block the sun or rain. It was impossible to shield the entire set from the rain or sun, so we prioritized protecting the actors from sunlight or rain. Thus, you can imagine there was extensive weather cleanup for the episode to ensure consistency within the sequences. Fiona Campbell Westgate // We were fortunate that production built a large scale Jackson set. It provided a base for the full CG Jackson aerial shots and CG Set Extensions. The weather conditions at Minaty Bay presented a challenge during the filming of the end of the Battle sequence in Episode 2. While there were periods of bright sunshine, rainfall occurred during the filming of the end of the Battle sequence in Episode 2. In addition to the obvious visual effects work, it became necessary to replace the ground cover. Photograph by Liane Hentscher/HBO The attack on Jackson by the horde of infected in season 2 is a very intense moment. How did you approach the visual effects for this sequence? What techniques did you use to make the scale of the attack feel as impressive as it did? Alex Wang // We knew this would be a very complex sequence to shoot, and for it to be successful, we needed to start planning with the HODs from the very beginning. We began previs during prep with Weta FX and the episode’s director, Mark Mylod. The previs helped us understand Mark and the showrunner’s vision. This then served as a blueprint for all departments to follow, and in many instances, we filmed the previs. Fiona Campbell Westgate // The sheer size of the CG Infected Horde sets the tone for the scale of the Battle. It’s an intimidating moment when they are revealed through the blowing snow. The addition of CG explosions and atmospheric effects contributed in adding scale to the sequence.  Can you give us an insight into the technical challenges of capturing the infected horde? How much of the effect was done using CGI, and how much was achieved with practical effects? Alex Wang // Starting with a detailed previs that Mark and Craig approved was essential for planning the horde. We understood that we would never have enough stunt performers to fill a horde, nor could they carry out some stunts that would be too dangerous. I reviewed the previs with Stunt Coordinator Marny Eng numerous times to decide the best placements for her team’s stunt performers. We also collaborated with Barrie Gower from the Prosthetics team to determine the most effective allocation of his team’s efforts. Stunt performers positioned closest to the camera would receive the full prosthetic treatment, which can take hours. Weta FX was responsible for the incredible CG Infected horde work in the Jackson Battle. They have been a creative partner with HBO’s The Last of Us since Season 1, so they were brought on early for Season 2. I began discussions with Weta’s VFX supervisor, Nick Epstein, about how we could tackle these complex horde shots very early during the shoot. Typically, repetition in CG crowd scenes can be acceptable, such as armies with soldiers dressed in the same uniform or armour. However, for our Infected horde, Craig wanted to convey that the Infected didn’t come off an assembly line or all shop at the same clothing department store. Any repetition would feel artificial. These Infected were once civilians with families, or they were groups of raiders. We needed complex variations in height, body size, age, clothing, and hair. We built our base library of Infected, and then Nick and the Weta FX team developed a “mix and match” system, allowing the Infected to wear any costume and hair groom. A procedural texturing system was also developed for costumes, providing even greater variation. The most crucial aspect of the Infected horde was their motion. We had numerous shots cutting back-to-back with practical Infected, as well as shots where our CG Infected ran right alongside a stunt horde. It was incredibly unforgiving! Weta FX’s animation supervisor from Season 1, Dennis Yoo, returned for Season 2 to meet the challenge. Having been part of the first season, Dennis understood the expectations of Craig and Neil. Similar to issues of model repetition within a horde, it was relatively easy to perceive repetition, especially if they were running toward the same target. It was essential to enhance the details of their performances with nuances such as tripping and falling, getting back up, and trampling over each other. There also needed to be a difference in the Infected’s running speed. To ensure we had enough complexity within the horde, Dennis motion-captured almost 600 unique motion cycles. We had over a hundred shots in episode 2 that required CG Infected horde. Fiona Campbell Westgate // Nick Epstein, Weta VFX Supervisor, and Dennis Yoo, Weta Animation Supervisor, were faced with having to add hero, close-up Horde that had to integrate with practical Stunt performers. They achieved this through over 60 motion capture sessions and running it through a deformation system they developed. Every detail was applied to allow for a seamless blend with our practical Stunt performances. The Weta team created a custom costume and hair system that provided individual looks to the CG Infected Horde. We were able to avoid the repetitive look of a CG crowd due to these efforts. The movement of the infected horde is crucial for the intensity of the scene. How did you manage the animation and simulation of the infected to ensure smooth and realistic interaction with the environment? Fiona Campbell Westgate // We worked closely with the Stunt department to plan out positioning and where VFX would be adding the CG Horde. Craig Mazin wanted the Infected Horde to move in a way that humans cannot. The deformation system kept the body shape anatomically correct and allowed us to push the limits from how a human physically moves.  The Bloater makes a terrifying return this season. What were the key challenges in designing and animating this creature? How did you work on the Bloater’s interaction with the environment and other characters? Alex Wang // In Season 1, the Kansas City cul-de-sac sequence featured only a handful of Bloater shots. This season, however, nearly forty shots showcase the Bloater in broad daylight during the Battle of Jackson. We needed to redesign the Bloater asset to ensure it looked good in close-up shots from head to toe. Weta FX designed the Bloater for Season 1 and revamped the design for this season. Starting with the Bloater’s silhouette, it had to appear large, intimidating, and menacing. We explored enlarging the cordyceps head shape to make it feel almost like a crown, enhancing the Bloater’s impressive and strong presence. During filming, a stunt double stood in for the Bloater. This was mainly for scale reference and composition. It also helped the Infected stunt performers understand the Bloater’s spatial position, allowing them to avoid running through his space. Once we had an edit, Dennis mocapped the Bloater’s performances with his team. It is always challenging to get the motion right for a creature that weighs 600 pounds. We don’t want the mocap to be overly exaggerated, but it does break the character if the Bloater feels too “light.” The brilliant animation team at Weta FX brought the Bloater character to life and nailed it! When Tommy goes head-to-head with the Bloater, Craig was quite specific during the prep days about how the Bloater would bubble, melt, and burn as Tommy torches him with the flamethrower. Important Looking Pirates took on the “Burning Bloater” sequence, led by VFX Supervisor Philip Engstrom. They began with extensive R&D to ensure the Bloater’s skin would start to bubble and burn. ILP took the final Bloater asset from Weta FX and had to resculpt and texture the asset for the Bloater’s final burn state. Craig felt it was important for the Bloater to appear maimed at the end. The layers of FX were so complex that the R&D continued almost to the end of the delivery schedule. Fiona Campbell Westgate // This season the Bloater had to be bigger, more intimidating. The CG Asset was recreated to withstand the scrutiny of close ups and in daylight. Both Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann worked closely with us during the process of the build. We referenced the game and applied elements of that version with ours. You’ll notice that his head is in the shape of crown, this is to convey he’s a powerful force.  During the Burning Bloater sequence in Episode 2, we brainstormed with Philip Engström, ILP VFX Supervisor, on how this creature would react to the flamethrower and how it would affect the ground as it burns. When the Bloater finally falls to the ground and dies, the extraordinary detail of the embers burning, fluid draining and melting the surrounding snow really sells that the CG creature was in the terrain.  Given the Bloater’s imposing size, how did you approach its integration into scenes with the actors? What techniques did you use to create such a realistic and menacing appearance? Fiona Campbell Westgate // For the Bloater, a stunt performer wearing a motion capture suit was filmed on set. This provided interaction with the actors and the environment. VFX enhanced the intensity of his movements, incorporating simulations to the CG Bloater’s skin and muscles that would reflect the weight and force as this terrifying creature moves.  Seattle in The Last of Us is a completely devastated city. Can you talk about how you recreated this destruction? What were the most difficult visual aspects to realize for this post-apocalyptic city? Fiona Campbell Westgate // We were meticulous in blending the CG destruction with the practical environment. The flora’s ability to overtake the environment had to be believable, and we adhered to the principle of form follows function. Due to the vastness of the CG devastation it was crucial to avoid repetitive effects. Consequently, our vendors were tasked with creating bespoke designs that evoked a sense of awe and beauty. Was Seattle’s architecture a key element in how you designed the visual effects? How did you adapt the city’s real-life urban landscape to meet the needs of the story while maintaining a coherent aesthetic? Alex Wang // It’s always important to Craig and Neil that we remain true to the cities our characters are in. DNEG was one of our primary vendors for Boston in Season 1, so it was natural for them to return for Season 2, this time focusing on Seattle. DNEG’s VFX Supervisor, Stephen James, who played a crucial role in developing the visual language of Boston for Season 1, also returns for this season. Stephen and Melaina Maceled a team to Seattle to shoot plates and perform lidar scans of parts of the city. We identified the buildings unique to Seattle that would have existed in 2003, so we ensured these buildings were always included in our establishing shots. Overgrowth and destruction have significantly influenced the environments in The Last of Us. The environment functions almost as a character in both Season 1 and Season 2. In the last season, the building destruction in Boston was primarily caused by military bombings. During this season, destruction mainly arises from dilapidation. Living in the Pacific Northwest, I understand how damp it can get for most of the year. I imagined that, over 20 years, the integrity of the buildings would be compromised by natural forces. This abundant moisture creates an exceptionally lush and vibrant landscape for much of the year. Therefore, when designing Seattle, we ensured that the destruction and overgrowth appeared intentional and aesthetically distinct from those of Boston. Fiona Campbell Westgate // Led by Stephen James, DNEG VFX Supervisor, and Melaina Mace, DNEG DFX Supervisor, the team captured photography, drone footage and the Clear Angle team captured LiDAR data over a three-day period in Seattle. It was crucial to include recognizable Seattle landmarks that would resonate with people familiar with the game.  The devastated city almost becomes a character in itself this season. What aspects of the visual effects did you have to enhance to increase the immersion of the viewer into this hostile and deteriorated environment? Fiona Campbell Westgate // It is indeed a character. Craig wanted it to be deteriorated but to have moments where it’s also beautiful in its devastation. For instance, in the Music Store in Episode 4 where Ellie is playing guitar for Dina, the deteriorated interior provides a beautiful backdrop to this intimate moment. The Set Decorating team dressed a specific section of the set, while VFX extended the destruction and overgrowth to encompass the entire environment, immersing the viewer in strange yet familiar surroundings. Photograph by Liane Hentscher/HBO The sequence where Ellie navigates a boat through a violent storm is stunning. What were the key challenges in creating this scene, especially with water simulation and the storm’s effects? Alex Wang // In the concluding episode of Season 2, Ellie is deep in Seattle, searching for Abby. The episode draws us closer to the Aquarium, where this area of Seattle is heavily flooded. Naturally, this brings challenges with CG water. In the scene where Ellie encounters Isaac and the W.L.F soldiers by the dock, we had a complex shoot involving multiple locations, including a water tank and a boat gimbal. There were also several full CG shots. For Isaac’s riverine boat, which was in a stormy ocean, I felt it was essential that the boat and the actors were given the appropriate motion. Weta FX assisted with tech-vis for all the boat gimbal work. We began with different ocean wave sizes caused by the storm, and once the filmmakers selected one, the boat’s motion in the tech-vis fed the special FX gimbal. When Ellie gets into the Jon boat, I didn’t want it on the same gimbal because I felt it would be too mechanical. Ellie’s weight needed to affect the boat as she got in, and that wouldn’t have happened with a mechanical gimbal. So, we opted to have her boat in a water tank for this scene. Special FX had wave makers that provided the boat with the appropriate movement. Instead of guessing what the ocean sim for the riverine boat should be, the tech- vis data enabled DNEG to get a head start on the water simulations in post-production. Craig wanted this sequence to appear convincingly dark, much like it looks out on the ocean at night. This allowed us to create dramatic visuals, using lightning strikes at moments to reveal depth. Were there any memorable moments or scenes from the series that you found particularly rewarding or challenging to work on from a visual effects standpoint? Alex Wang // The Last of Us tells the story of our characters’ journey. If you look at how season 2 begins in Jackson, it differs significantly from how we conclude the season in Seattle. We seldom return to the exact location in each episode, meaning every episode presents a unique challenge. The scope of work this season has been incredibly rewarding. We burned a Bloater, and we also introduced spores this season! Photograph by Liane Hentscher/HBO Looking back on the project, what aspects of the visual effects are you most proud of? Alex Wang // The Jackson Battle was incredibly complex, involving a grueling and lengthy shoot in quite challenging conditions, along with over 600 VFX shots in episode 2. It was truly inspiring to witness the determination of every department and vendor to give their all and create something remarkable. Fiona Campbell Westgate // I am immensely proud of the exceptional work accomplished by all of our vendors. During the VFX reviews, I found myself clapping with delight when the final shots were displayed; it was exciting to see remarkable results of the artists’ efforts come to light.  How long have you worked on this show? Alex Wang // I’ve been on this season for nearly two years. Fiona Campbell Westgate // A little over one year; I joined the show in April 2024. What’s the VFX shots count? Alex Wang // We had just over 2,500 shots this Season. Fiona Campbell Westgate // In Season 2, there were a total of 2656 visual effects shots. What is your next project? Fiona Campbell Westgate // Stay tuned… A big thanks for your time. WANT TO KNOW MORE?Blackbird: Dedicated page about The Last of Us – Season 2 website.DNEG: Dedicated page about The Last of Us – Season 2 on DNEG website.Important Looking Pirates: Dedicated page about The Last of Us – Season 2 website.RISE: Dedicated page about The Last of Us – Season 2 website.Weta FX: Dedicated page about The Last of Us – Season 2 website. © Vincent Frei – The Art of VFX – 2025 #last #season #alex #wang #production

The relationship between strategists and designers is key to creating effective work that meets clients’ needs. But strategists can feel misunderstood, and even undervalued, in their attempts to set a project’s direction through clear and meaningful thinking. We spoke with a range of in-house and independent strategists about what they wish designers knew about their work. Is the role of strategists changing, like so many design industry roles right now? If so, how? “The lightning speed turnaround” of creative work is creating new pressures, says Gardiner Richardson’s associate director and strategic lead, Matt Forster. Partly this is down to the rise of AI, which is front-of-mind according to independent strategist Manfred Abraham, who has held senior roles at Interbrand and Wolff Olins. The two big shifts, he says, are AI’s potential to bring efficiency to the process – using information gathering and analytics to inform insights – and the dramatic changes that AI will bring to the consumer landscape. “Imagine a world where your personal AI agent makes your life much easier,” he says. “What are consumers going to do with their extra time? Strategists will have to work in close collaboration with creatives to be able to imagine the future for our clients.” Beyond AI, consumers’ withering attention spans, coupled with the proliferating demands on their time, creates a big challenge. “Brands are looking for strategists to show them high interest areas of culture where they have a credible role to play, making it easier for them to reach their audience,” says Matt Boffey, chief strategy officer, UK & Europe, at Design Bridge and Partners. As the world becomes more complex, there is a renewed appetite for clarity, says Polly Clark, a strategy consultant for agencies like Buddy Creative in Cornwall. “I’m seeing that simplicity is even more important than ever,” she says. “Overly complex or convoluted thinking isn’t helpful for anyone, and just slows everything down.” And some strategists have noticed a bit of mission creep. “Increasingly, clients are expecting strategists to contribute at a broader business level not purely brand strategy, design or comms,” says Louise Kennedy, who recently joined Into The Light as head of strategy. What don’t designers understand about your role? “Strategy is not a threat or a limit to designers’ creativity,” says Gardiner Richardson’s Matt Forster. “It’s a springboard to a controlled creative leap.” Into the Light’s Louise Kennedy points out that “designers, on the whole, are visual and often want to get to the ‘creative ask’ very quickly so they can start doing what they do best. “But many of us strategists enjoy taking people on the journey of how we got there by unpacking context and patterns. What designers might see as wordy, we see as fascinating storytelling, but perhaps we tell them more than they need to know, to protect our own egos.” There seems to be a recurring tension between the idea of strategists as left brain thinkers – rigorous, analytical, and logical – against designers as right-brain thinkers – more creative and emotional. But Manfred Abraham points out this is a false – if persistent – way of looking at strategy. “Some designers have missed that there might be a strong right brain there as well!” he says. What don’t clients understand about your role? “Unless clients have experienced it before, they aren’t immediately going to understand the value of strategy,” Gardiner Richardson’s Matt Forster says. “They may have worked with agencies who underpin their creative approaches on little substance. “Once we’ve explained our strategic process, why we follow it and the value it will create for all their creative communications and wider business, it’s a no brainer.” Nor does every client understand the commercial power of great design. “In the brand consulting and growth space specifically, clients often think that strategy is communication strategy,” says Manfred Abraham. “The strategies we develop go much further than that – communications is a part of it.” And adding all this value takes time – more than some clients realise. “I think for clients, it is understanding the need to protect the time and space to do a proper job at this stage and the benefit that will bring,” says Into The Light’s Louise Kennedy. “We might even need to commission new insight work if we feel there are big gaps in knowledge,” she adds. How do you balance multiple client meetings with getting the deep thinking done? This, most strategists agree, is a precarious juggling act. “It sometimes feels like ‘manager time’ has won out over ‘maker time,’” says Design Bridge and Partners’ Matt Boffey. “Days are apportioned into slots, from 30 minutes to an hour, which is perfect for meetings but inadequate for building momentum on substantial projects. The goal, he insists, isn’t to eliminate meetings. “Collaboration remains essential. Rather, it’s to create conditions where both discussion and deep work can thrive. We must be careful that ‘talking’ doesn’t completely squeeze out ‘doing’.” He encourages his team to block time between meetings to mentally stretch, as you might after a gym session. “And I’m a strong advocate for reserving longer periods, either half days or full days, for the ‘deep work’ required when writing a discovery debrief or developing brand strategy.” Although Louise Kennedy blocks out time in this way, she finds it doesn’t always work for her. “Often in those moments I can get brainfreeze as I feel under pressure to produce something smart,” she says. “So I like to read everything on a project then leave it for at least a day so my brain can digest it fully and start working behind the scenes.” External consultants can work the schedule that suits them. On most days, Manfred Abraham gets up at 5.30am because that’s when his brain is at its best. It’s also a time of day free of client meetings, “so it’s great thinking time,” he says. Polly Clark, on the other hand, embraces this juggling act. “It’s always something I’ve needed to do, and actually helps sharpen my thinking. Switching focus means I can come back to things fresher, and stops me getting caught up in the weeds.” What’s the worst thing a designer can say to a strategist? Matt Forster – “That they still don’t get it – which means I haven’t involved them enough, explained it well enough or done a good enough job.” Louise Kennedy – “’I’m confused’ or worse, ‘I’m confused and bored’.” Matt Boffey – ‘“Great, the client’s bought the strategy, now we can really start the work.” “This sounds like strategy has become a hurdle to clear before creativity begins, where it should be the foundation that makes creativity powerful and purposeful. The best work happens when strategists and designers see their contributions as interconnected parts of a unified process, rather than unrelated elements.” Polly Clark – “In the past I’ve heard designers question what strategy brings. That’s been when the strategy hasn’t made sense of the challenge, or is overly convoluted – which is sure to make everyone switch off.” Manfred Abraham – “That great design doesn’t need strategic thinking. It’s simply not true. We are great individually but we are brilliant together.” #strategy #not #threat #what #strategists

SwitchBot has a knack for crafting ingenious IoT devices, those little problem-solvers like robotic curtain openers and automated button pressers that add a touch of futuristic convenience. Yet, the true linchpin, the secret sauce that elevates their entire ecosystem, is undoubtedly their Hub. It’s the central nervous system that takes individual smart products and weaves them into a cohesive, intelligent tapestry, turning the abstract concept of a ‘smart home’ into a tangible, daily experience. This unification through the Hub is what brings us closer to that almost mythical dream: a home where technology works in concert, where devices understand each other’s capabilities and, critically, anticipate your needs. It’s about creating an environment that doesn’t just react to commands, but proactively adapts, making your living space more intuitive, responsive, and, ultimately, more attuned to you. The new Hub 3 aims to refine this very connection. Designer: SwitchBot Click Here to Buy Now: The predecessor, the Hub 2, already laid a strong foundation. It brought Matter support into the SwitchBot ecosystem, along with reliable infrared controls, making it a versatile little box. It understood the assignment: bridge the old with the new. The Hub 3 takes that solid base and builds upon it, addressing not just functionality but also the nuanced interactions that make a device truly intuitive and, dare I say, enjoyable to use daily. Matter support, the industry’s push for interoperability, remains a cornerstone. The Hub 3 acts as a Matter bridge, capable of bringing up to 30 SwitchBot devices into the Matter fold, allowing them to play nice with platforms like Apple Home. Furthermore, it can send up to 30 distinct commands to other Matter-certified products already integrated into your Apple Home setup, with Home Assistant support on the horizon. This makes it a powerful orchestrator. One of the most striking additions is the new rotary dial, something SwitchBot calls its “Dial Master” technology. Giving users an intuitive tactile control that feels very familiar, it makes the Hub 3 even more user-friendly. Imagine adjusting your thermostat not by tapping an arrow repeatedly, but by smoothly turning a dial for that exact ±1°C change. The same applies to volume control or any other granular adjustment. This tactile feedback offers a level of hyper-controlled interaction that screen taps often lack, feeling more connected and satisfying. Beyond physical interaction, the Hub 3 gets smarter senses. While the trusty thermo-hygro sensormakes a return for indoor temperature and humidity, it’s now joined by a built-in light sensor. This seemingly small addition unlocks a new layer of intuitive automation. Your home can now react to ambient brightness, perhaps cueing your SwitchBot Curtain 3 to draw open gently as the sun rises, or dimming lights as natural light fades. Aesthetically, SwitchBot made a subtle but impactful shift from the Hub 2’s white casing to a sleek black for the Hub 3. This change makes the integrated display stand out significantly, improving readability at a glance. And that display now does more heavy lifting. It still shows essential indoor temperature and humidity, but can also pull in local outdoor weather data, giving you a quick forecast without reaching for your phone. Pair it with a SwitchBot Meter Pro, and it’ll even show CO2 levels. The Hub 2 featured two handy customizable buttons. The Hub 3 doubles down, offering four such buttons. This means more of your favorite automation scenes, like “Movie Night,” “Good Morning,” and “Away Mode,” are just a single press away. This reduces friction, making your smart home react faster to your needs without diving into an app for every little thing. It’s these quality-of-life improvements that often make the biggest difference in daily use. Crucially, the Hub 3 retains everything that made its predecessor a strong contender. The infrared control capabilities are still robust, supporting over 100,000 IR codes for your legacy AV gear and air conditioners, now with a signal that’s reportedly 150% stronger than the Hub Mini. Its deep integration with the existing SwitchBot ecosystem means your Bots, Curtain movers, and vacuums will feel right at home, working in concert. Of course, you still have your choice of control methods. Beyond the new dial and physical buttons, there’s comprehensive app control for setting up complex automations and remote access. Voice control via the usual assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant is present and accounted for, ensuring hands-free operation whenever you need it. This flexibility means the Hub 3 adapts to your preferences, not the other way around. The true power, as always, lies in the DIY automation scenes. Imagine your AC, humidifier, and dehumidifier working together, orchestrated by the Hub 3 to maintain your perfect 23°C and 58% humidity. Or picture an energy-saving scene where the built-in motion sensor, coupled with geofencing, detects an empty house and powers down non-essential appliances. It’s these intelligent, personalized routines that transform a collection of smart devices into a truly smart home. The SwitchBot Hub 3 feels like the most potent iteration of that “secret sauce” yet. It takes the individual brilliance of SwitchBot’s gadgets and, through enhanced sensory input and more tactile controls, truly deepens that crucial understanding between device, environment, and user. The best part? It plugs right into your smart home’s existing setup, communicating with your slew of IoT devices – even more efficiently if you’ve got a Hub 2 or Hub Mini and you’re looking to upgrade. Click Here to Buy Now: The post Your Smart Home Got a New CEO and It’s Called the SwitchBot Hub 3 first appeared on Yanko Design. #your #smart #home #got #new