Are older workers really that adept at remote work, especially where technology is concerned? You bet they are.
Right now in the US, there are an estimated 36.2 million people working remotely, an increase of 16.8 million workers since before the pandemic[i]. It’s a trend that was already impressive prior to pandemic-induced remote work – a Global Workplace Analytics study shows that remote work has been increasing, growing by a surprising 216% from 2005 to 2019[ii].
And while millennials make up the majority of remote workers in the workforce (36.5%), an impressive 16% of remote workers are aged 55 to 64 and 10.7% are 65 and over[iii]. These older workers are proving that they are more than up for the task of using technology to contribute to their organization’s success.
It’s a giant misconception that older workers are less likely or inclined to adapt to new technology. Fact is, many of workers over the age of 50 were on the job during the first days of business technology and throughout all the various iterations of tech tools. Technology has made it possible for workers to streamline what was once paper-laden, admin-heavy tasks. Older workers have adapted – and thrived – as technology has shifted operations to a more efficient environment.
Now that many boomers eye retirement, they’re reinventing what that will look like, and technology is playing a part in that. A strong majority of older workers prefer to seek remote contract work. With good reason – remote work has allowed millions of workers to extend their careers well into retirement. Removing location requirements has helped employers, too. One study reveals that workers who have full schedule flexibility report 29% higher productivity levels and 53% more ability to focus than their colleagues who have no schedule flexibility[iv].
That flexibility allows retired workers and those with health concerns to contribute. Retired workers in particular can refocus their skills in a more supportive role, thus bringing a wealth of experience to smaller organizations that might not otherwise be able to afford them.
Technology is making it possible for older workers to connect with and mentor their younger colleagues. Collaboration tools help connect remote workers with in-office workers, making teams stronger through shared expertise.
Older workers are not strangers to technology. In many cases, their careers evolved alongside the tech tools that their companies have relied on. Retired workers who want to re-engage in the workforce through a remote position is a bonus for any organization. They’re tech-savvy, highly skilled, and eager to contribute to the success of their teams and their employers.
We’re thrilled to announce that Greece Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will be joining us at our upcoming StrictlyVC event in Athens, co-hosted with Endeavor, on Thursday night, May 8, at the stunning Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center.
For those who might not be familiar with his background, Mitsotakis brings a fascinating blend of experiences to the table. Before entering politics, he worked at both McKinsey and Chase Investment Bank, giving him firsthand experience in the business world that many operators throughout the startup ecosystem can appreciate. The youngest of four children, he also has some Silicon Valley-esque academic credentials – he headed to Harvard, then to Stanford for a master’s degree in international relations, and finally nabbed an MBA at Harvard Business School – and says his education has long shaped his vision for Greece’s future.
Mitsotakis has also been championing Greece’s tech transformation for many years. In fact, after navigating the country through the pandemic, he has doubled down on positioning Athens as an emerging tech hub, recently introducing initiatives to attract international talent, including tax incentives and reforms aimed at cutting bureaucratic red tape for new businesses.
The Prime Minister comes from a political family — his father was prime minister and his sister was mayor of Athens — but he has carved out his own reputation as a reformer focused on modernizing the Greek economy. His administration has been particularly interested in how tech can help diversify renowned traditional Greek strengths like shipping and tourism.
StrictlyVC events are constrained by design to give attendees a unique opportunity for investors, founders, and ecosystem builders to engage directly with power players like the Prime Minister, so if you want to ask about his government’s vision for Greece’s tech future, and how the country fits into the broader European innovation landscape, this could be your chance.
You can check out more details here to learn more about the agenda and other speakers (you can also buy tickets while they are still available). Registration is now open for what promises to be a fun evening, filled with illuminating discussions, but this chat — with one of Europe’s most interesting political leaders about Greece’s emerging technology narrative — is definitely one you won’t want to miss. Register for your StrictlyVC Greece ticket here.
A shockingly blatant REPO ripoff has surfaced on the Nintendo Store, and it’s got the kahunas to list a Switch 2 file size, which presumes the unlikely possibility that it even makes it to the console’s launch date without being copyright claimed to hell and back.
The game, titled REPO Horror, is available for purchase on the Switch eShop for $5, down from its retail price of $9… how thoughtful of them. I won’t link to the product page to avoid any possibility of inadvertently giving these jokers a sale, but I’ll say this, it was not hard to find with a quick Google search.
The real REPO is currently only available on Steam.
Looking at the product page for REPO Horror, with a scary smiling emoji (pictured above) and lettering that’s a near perfect match to the REPO logo, not to mention a media gallery that looks like it’s comprised entirely of REPO screenshots to the untrained eye, there definitely seems to be a nefarious quality to this particular ripoff, as if it’s intended to deceive shoppers.
Ostensibly, the goal is to capitalize on the viral success of the co-op horror game REPO and trick people into thinking it’s the same game and buying the knockoff. It worked on Reddit user Interesting-Cow9795, who says they bought REPO Horror “thinking it was the real R.E.P.O. game.”
Interesting-Cow says, upon booting up REPO Horror, “it felt off—very low quality and nothing like the official game I was expecting to see,” also noting the publisher being listed as BoggySoft and not REPO developer and publisher semiwork.
The Redditor also says they alerted Nintendo Support to the game and were told “they’re escalating the issue to their head admins,” suggesting they weren’t the first to flag the game with Nintendo.
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
In the product details on Nintendo’s storefront, the game file size is listed as 1GB on both Switch 1 and Switch 2, which again, assumes the game will survive whatever processes exist on Nintendo’s end and, potentially, from semiwork. It almost certainly won’t, but I’ve reached out to Nintendo and semiwork for comment and will update this article if I hear back.
I have a large solution with multiple projects within Visual Studio running successfully with .NET Framework 4.6.2.
I followed the various instructions I found to upgrade to .NET Framework 4.8…
change all the projects to Target “.NET Framework 4.8”
run command “update-package -reinstall” in the package manager console
run command “Get-Project –All | Add-BindingRedirect” in the package manager console
The solution builds cleanly but when run (using IIS Express locally from Visual Studio) I get an immediate 500 error in the browser.
When I hit the Pause icon the application doesn’t break and the Pause icon greys out.
One post suggested adding a line to the web.config “<add assembly="netstandard, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=cc7b13ffcd2ddd51" />“, which made no difference with or without.
I have looked around and cannot see anything relevant, but I’m sure I must have missed something fairly elementary.
I have tried restarting VS and the machine, running VS as administrator or not and manually updating all the nuget packages (took ages) to the latest versions as well.
No apparent change – still very quick 500 error upon running the application.
I checked that the .csproj files refer to the new target framework.
Threads, Meta’s alternative to X, formerly Twitter, had almost everything it needed to succeed. It’s backed by one of the biggest of the Big Tech companies. It’s directly integrated with Instagram, the mega popular photo sharing app. With all its powers combined, Threads was able to grow to 100 million users in just 5 days.
However, there was one crucial element that the platform was missing: A ‘dot com’ domain name.
But, as of April 24, Meta has solved Threads’ URL problem. Threads.com now officially points users to the web version of the Threads platform.
“Today, we’re moving from Threads.net to Threads.com,” Meta said in an announcement posted on the company blog alongside feature updates to the platform.
As Elon Musk continues to put his unique stamp on X, many liberal users are seeking out new social media homes. X competitors like Bluesky and Threads appear to have won out as the official Twitter replacements, although neither have come close to achieving critical mass.
Mashable Light Speed
Threads finally using Threads.com as its official URL won’t beat out X alone, but studies have shown that internet users still use and trust .com domain names more than any other domain extension. This move from Threads.net to Threads.com will only help the platform.
Threads originally launched in July 2023 strictly as a mobile app. One month later, Threads rolled out the web version of the social media platform. However, Threads on the web was previously located at Threads.net.
Why? At the time, Meta simply did not own the dot-com domain. Plenty of users went to Threads.com when Meta launched the platform. However, users who visited the URL were then directed to a website for a startup company that was building a Slack alternative called Threads — not exactly an ideal user experience.
Unsurprisingly, the Slack alternative unfortunately named Threads later noted that it received acquisition interest from Meta. The following year, the startup announced that Shopify had acquired the company. Then, in September 2024, tech outlets noticed that the ownership information listed in the Whois domain records for Threads.com pointed to a new owner — Meta.
It’s unclear how much Meta paid for the domain name, but on Thursday, the company made Threads.com official.
Once a year, the Paintress wakes and paints upon her monolith. Paints her cursed number. And everyone of that age turns to smoke and fades away. Year by year, that number ticks down and more of us are erased. Tomorrow she’ll wake and paint “33.” And tomorrow we depart on our final mission – Destroy the Paintress, so she can never paint death again. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a ground-breaking turn-based RPG with unique real-time mechanics, making battles more immersive and addictive than ever. Explore a fantasy world inspired by Belle Époque France in which you battle devastating enemies. In this evolution of JRPGs, real-time actions enhance the heart of turn-based combat. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
Craft unique builds for your Expeditioners that fit your playstyle via gear, stats, skills, and character synergies. Open an active dimension in combat – dodge, parry, and counter in real time, chain combos by mastering attack rhythms, and target enemy weak points using a free aim system. With only one year left to live, join Gustave, Maelle, and their fellow Expeditioners as they embark upon a desperate quest to break the Paintress’ cycle of death. Follow the trail of previous expeditions and discover their fate. Get to know the members of Expedition 33 as they learn to work together against impossible odds.
Features and System Requirements:
Attacks can be manually aimed for maximum damage, adding a skill component to classic RPG-style fights.
Control a diverse cast of characters, each with unique abilities and upgrade paths.
Form tactical synergies to exploit enemy weaknesses and survive increasingly bizarre foes.
Every frame feels like a living painting, with vibrant palettes and surreal creature designs.
Screenshots
System Requirements
Recommended
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10/Windows 11
Processor: Intel Core i5 or AMD equivalent or above
Memory: 4 GB RAM
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 10 GB available space
Support the game developers by purchasing the game on Steam
Installation Guide
Turn Off Your Antivirus Before Installing Any Game
1 :: Download Game 2 :: Extract Game 3 :: Launch The Game 4 :: Have Fun 🙂
One of the biggest setbacks for marketing agencies has been scaling content without increasing headcount. To address this, marketing agencies are increasingly leveraging generative AI to maximize content production while maintaining lean team structures. Advanced AI content creation tools are becoming essential components of their operational toolkit.
However, the approach seems to be hazy as there are so many AI content creation tools in the market. You might sign up for a content writing tool, but for SEO optimization, visuals, graphics, and banners, you need other tools. Sure, hiring an expert increases your production value, but it creates a dent in your bank account. So, to overcome this darn if you do, darn it if you don’t problem, we have a solution. Read along!
Key Applications of Advanced AI Content Creation Tools for Scale
From generating a script for a video to generating an entire video, AI content creation tools have come a long way. Is it because of AI, or do you think they were bound to scale? Just think, if AI were not in their core mechanism, would they have scaled to provide features the same way they do now? A simple yet effective question.
Part of the answer lies in learning the actual benefits of using advanced content creation tools. For this, we have considered various areas of content where AI shines. Starting with ideation to enhancement, we will cover every phase. We will consider what is important for each phase and how AI helps in that particular phase.
Content Ideation & Strategy
The Content Ideation & Strategy phase serves as the blueprint for effective content creation. It defines the “why” and “how” behind content, ensuring objectives are aligned with audience needs and industry trends. The value behind incorporating AI content creation tools into the phase is to accelerate time-to-market, but also provides content is well-positioned to engage target audiences.
AI tools utilize extensive datasets to uncover audience insights, competitor gaps, and trending topics, offering marketers a strategic edge. Platforms like Weam AI, Jasper, ChatGPT, BuzzSumo, and SparkToro empower teams to quickly generate content themes, campaign concepts, and headline variations. Tools like HubSpot’s AI content creation tools for writing blogs also enable teams to effortlessly create blog drafts while aligning with brand guidelines and SEO best practices.
Rather than relying solely on traditional brainstorming methods, which can be time-consuming and subjective, AI enables marketers to back their strategies with data-driven insights and trend analyses.
Real-Life Application: HubSpot
HubSpot, a pioneer in CRM and inbound marketing, integrated AI content creation tools into its content ideation and strategy process to scale its operations effectively. Facing the challenge of producing high-quality, personalized content for a diverse user base, HubSpot adopted AI tools like BuzzSumo and SEMrush to analyze competitor strategies and discover untapped trends.
The results were significant:
50% Faster Ideation:Reduced brainstorming and strategy time significantly, enabling the team to focus on production.
30% Increased Engagement: AI-crafted content achieved higher clicks and time spent on posts.
25% Organic Traffic Growth: Improved blog traffic using AI-generated SEO-optimized ideas.
Speed Up Content Production with AI Content
To dramatically increase the speed and efficiency of creating various forms of content, you may take the help of AI content creation tools. Content Production Acceleration refers to using technology to optimize your overall workflows rather than one phase or component. Acceleration strategies focus on streamlining ideation, creation, editing, and distribution processes.
AI has become a cornerstone of content acceleration by automating repetitive tasks and enhancing human creativity. AI tools can generate initial drafts, suggest improvements, create variations of existing content, and help repurpose content across formats.
Many organizations find success with a hybrid approach where AI handles routine elements while humans focus on strategic direction, emotional nuance, and final quality control.
Implementation Approach
Start with an audit of your current content workflow. Your first step is to identify bottlenecks and repetitive tasks that are prime for automation.
Your findings should be divided into three categories;
Areas that need full automation, like outreach through email.
Areas that need partial automation, like graphical resources.
Lastly, areas in need of no automation, for example, real-life podcasts, reels, success stories videos.
For later, find tools that provide you way to measure impact on production speed and quality.
Personalization & Targeting with AI Content Creation Tools
We’ve come almost ot the end, and next one is personalization & targeting. Hard one cause either you need to fully trust AI content creation tools that may cost a fortune.
Personalization in content creation has evolved. It has evolved from basic demographic segmentation to dynamic individual-level customization. It’s to act on the idea to adapt in real-time based on behavior patterns, preferences, and contextual data. Analyzing vast data sets allows creators to develop dynamically adaptive content frameworks rather than static audience buckets.
In targeting, the shift has moved beyond traditional placement strategies to intent-based engagement where AI identifies precisely when, where, and how users are most receptive to specific messaging, particularly on platforms like YouTube where viewer retention metrics and comment analysis can reveal deeper engagement opportunities than simple view counts.
Implementation Without Increasing Headcount
Implement AI content personalization platforms that integrate with your existing CMS to dynamically modify content elements (headlines, images, CTAs) based on user data without requiring manual intervention for each variation.
Deploy natural language processing tools that can analyze user feedback across channels to automatically refine targeting parameters and content recommendations without additional analyst resources.
Utilize AI-driven UX tools that conduct continuous multivariate testing of content presentation and automatically implement winning variations based on engagement metrics, reducing the need for dedicated testing specialists.
Optimization & Enhancement
Companies currently look for a single helpful insight that can impact your brand’s visibility or recall effectively. Using that insight fruitfully is what optimization and enhancement are all about. Let’s take an example of prompting your brand on YouTube. Whether they are product reviews, experience videos or straight-up guerrilla marketing using AI content creation tools has fundamentally transformed YouTube video production.
Sure, featuring real people gives an edge, but by automating technical aspects while enhancing the human elements that connect with viewers. This dual optimization approach allows agencies to produce more engaging content faster without expanding teams.
For YouTube videos with real presenters:
AI analyzes top videos to create optimized scripts aligned with audience preferences.
Real-time teleprompter systems adapt to the presenter’s natural pace.
Post-production AI identifies the most engaging segments for efficient editing.
Automatic thumbnail testing identifies the highest-converting visual options.
Natural language dubbing creates authentic multilingual versions.
General agency optimization benefits:
Workflow intelligence eliminates production bottlenecks.
Cross-channel prediction tools prioritize the highest-impact content.
Brand voice maintenance ensures consistency across creator teams.
Faster Content Production: 93% of marketers leveraging AI confirm it accelerates content generation, dramatically cutting down time spent on ideation and drafting.
Improved ROI and Cost Efficiency: AI content creation toolsI has the potential to increase marketing productivity by 5-15% of total spend—translating to roughly $463 billion in annual savings globally (From Superagency in the workplace: Empowering people to unlock AI’s full potential, published by McKinsey).
Enhanced Content Quality and Engagement: 67% of businesses currently employ AI for content marketing and SEO, with 78% reporting satisfaction with the outcomes.
SEO and Traffic Gains: Over a third of companies (35%) rely on AI to develop data-driven SEO content strategies, optimizing discoverability and ROI.
Adoption Strategies: While only a small fraction of companies currently achieve substantial business outcomes from AI content creation tools, 92% plan to ramp up investments over the next three years—signaling untapped growth potential in the space (From Superagency in the workplace: Empowering people to unlock AI’s full potential, published by McKinsey).
Scale. Create. Dominate.
Weam is an AI-powered content tool that boosts efficiency, while cutting costs—maximize your ROI today.
Future Outlook for AI Content Creation Tools
As AI content creation tools continue to evolve, we’re witnessing a shift toward specialized applications. Every effort seems to be towards navigating complex industry verticals with remarkable precision. This specialization will allow agencies to deliver expert-level content across diverse industries without maintaining separate specialist teams for each vertical.
By integrating Weam AI systems that handle routine content tasks and amplify creative capabilities, agencies can measure concrete ROI improvements before making headcount decisions.
Once these efficiencies are established, strategic team expansion can focus exclusively on roles that leverage uniquely human capabilities—strategic insight, client relationship management, and creative direction—creating a virtuous cycle where each new hire delivers exponentially more value through AI-enhanced workflows.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do AI tools help agencies produce more content with fewer resources?
AI automates repetitive tasks like drafting, editing, and scheduling, letting agencies create high volumes of content quickly without expanding their teams
Can AI improve the quality and relevance of content?
AI besides the audience data and trends to deliver customised, optimized and engaging content for a certain customer segment in a very efficient way,Yes
What types of content can AI generate for agencies?
There are AI tools that can write blog posts, social media captions, product descriptions, emails — even images and videos to help agencies tick all of the client boxes at scale in any format
How does AI impact content marketing costs for agencies?
AI helps agencies by streamlining production and process automation, so that operational costs come down and we can see a higher ROI with content marketing being cheaper, faster.
Does AI allow agencies to focus more on strategy and creativity?
Absolutely—by taking on those routine content tasks, AI really helps human teams focus more on the big stuff—like strategic planning and creative campaigns—while also nurturing client relationships. You know, it’s like having a trusty sidekick that handles the mundane, allowing the team to unleash their creativity and strategic thinking.
Remedy’s first foray into co-op shooters, FBC: Firebreak, is officially launching on June 17. Following employees tasked with cleaning up The Oldest House, the mysterious headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Control, the game balances team-based action with the supernatural abilities and enemies that made Control so interesting.
In our hands-on with the game, the biggest and most positive point of comparison for Firebreak’‘s chaotic action was Left 4 Dead, but the game’s unique collection of “jobs” (Remedy’s name for missions) includes plenty of weirder tasks, too, like dealing with ominously multiplying sticky notes. Remedy plans to support Firebreak with new jobs after launch and into 2026. All new playable content will be for free, save for cosmetics, which Remedy plans to charge for.
FBC: Firebreak will be available on June 17 for $39.99 on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 and PC. A $49.99 “deluxe edition” will also be available with exclusive cosmetics. If you subscribe to Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass or PlayStation Plus Premium or Extra, you’ll be able to download and play the game for no additional cost.
TechCrunch Disrupt returns October 27-29 to Moscone West in San Francisco — and we’re inviting thought leaders, founders, VCs, and tech experts to apply for a chance to take the stage at one of the most anticipated tech events of the year.
Applications are now open to speak at Disrupt 2025, where over 10,000+ tech leaders, investors, and startup experts come together to shape the future of innovation.
The application deadline is May 16 — Apply here and don’t miss your chance to lead the conversation.
Pick your session format
We’re looking for high-impact speakers to lead one of two session types:
Breakout Sessions — A 30-minute talk (up to four speakers, including a moderator) with a 20-minute audience Q&A. Capacity: 100 attendees.
Roundtables — A 30-minute speaker-led group discussion, designed for up to 40 participants. No slides or AV — just insight and conversation.
Breakout Session at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 at Moscone West in San Francisco.Image Credits:Slava Blazer Photography
Roundtable session led by Mike Seckler, President and CEO from Justworks. TechCrunch Disrupt 2024, October 28-30, 2024 at Moscone West in San Francisco.Image Credits:Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunch
How the application process works
Each application will be carefully reviewed by our editorial team. Finalists will be selected for the Audience Choice vote — where TechCrunch readers choose which sessions make it to the Disrupt stage. Learn more about speaking on Disrupt’s Call for Content page.
Lead the conversation at Disrupt 2025
If you have actionable insights, real-world experience, and a desire to contribute meaningfully to the tech ecosystem — we want to hear from you.
Considering the current state of affairs, the best gifts for the women in our lives are the ones that let them mentally clock out for a bit. The world is on fire—literally and figuratively. Human rightsare beingstripped away; the climate is in free fall. Some days, I’ll catch myself staring at the sky and think, I wish I could hitch a ride to space, but of course, that fantasy has been ruined too. If the remarkable woman in your life is exhausted by the headlines, by the slow-motion collapse of democracy, by the sheer audacity of men in power, or perhaps just the overall state of humanity, she deserves a unique gift that offers more than just distraction. She frankly needs a portal to another reality, but since that’s not possible just yet (to my knowledge), a temporary escape will have to do.
Skip the gift cards and scented candles, I’ve rounded up the best gifts for women surviving the dystopian quest that is 2025. You can’t buy her a ticket to an exoplanet (yet), but you can wrap up a TheraFace depuffing wand ($149) or a Deco Gravity Bong ($88) to make life on Earth slightly more bearable.
Updated April 2025: I’ve added the Biird Namii clitoral stimulator, the Litter Robot 4, and the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer.
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