Liverpool Emerges as the UK’s Crypto Capital, Survey Reveals

The city’s renowned musicians may have claimed that love can’t be bought with money, but that was before Bitcoin came onto the scene.

Recently, Liverpool has been recognized as the UK’s cryptocurrency capital, based on a study evaluating online behaviors among citizens nationwide.

A survey by telecommunications provider OpenReach revealed that 13% of participants from Liverpool regularly invest in cryptocurrency and stocks, more frequently than any other region in the UK.

Several cities across the UK have emerged as hotspots for various activities. London is identified as the UK’s online dating hub, with 24% of respondents stating they have engaged with dating apps for at least three days.

In contrast, only 4% of the national respondents indicated that they spend time on dating applications according to this survey.

The survey suggests that the average British citizen dedicates 3.5 hours a day to the internet, but 20% confessed to spending more than five hours daily online.

Although online activity varies, 64% of participants reported being active from 11 PM to 6 AM, with 19% saying it’s time to visit YouTube.

In the North, the analysis highlights the digital habits of three cities. Manchester residents utilize Instagram more than anywhere else, with 27% of the population engaging with the platform regularly.

Meanwhile, Sheffield stands out as the leading city for both TikTok engagement and music streaming, with 32% and 30% of its residents participating, respectively. It also ranks as the city where households spend the most time online, with 32% admitting to exceeding five hours each day on the internet.

In Leeds, residents seem to favor the older social media platforms, with 43% spending a significant portion of their time on Facebook.

This research was commissioned by OpenReach to mark the anniversary of the first broadband installation in a British home, which took place in Basildon, Essex, in April 2000.

The findings revealed that many participants expressed dissatisfaction with their internet usage; 43% reported wasting time online, 37% were concerned about “doom scrolling,” and 33% stated they felt more relaxed when they reduced their online activity.

Katie Milligan, Associate CEO of OpenReach, commented:

“At the same time, we encourage many people to recognize the importance of taking time away from devices and digital connections.”

Source: www.theguardian.com

Liverpool FC and DeepMind collaborate to create artificial intelligence for soccer strategy consultation

Corner kicks like this one taken by Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold can lead to goal-scoring opportunities.

Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty

Artificial intelligence models predict the outcome of corner kicks in soccer matches and help coaches design tactics that increase or decrease the probability of a player taking a shot on goal.

petar veličković Google's DeepMind and colleagues have developed a tool called TacticAI as part of a three-year research collaboration with Liverpool Football Club.

A corner kick is awarded when the ball crosses the goal line and goes out of play, creating a good scoring opportunity for the attacking team. For this reason, football coaches make detailed plans for different scenarios, which players study before the game.

TacticAI was trained on data from 7176 corner kicks from England's 2020-2021 Premier League season. This includes each player's position over time as well as their height and weight. You learned to predict which player will touch the ball first after a corner kick has been taken. In testing, Ball's receiver ranked him among TacticAI's top three candidates 78% of the time.

Coaches can use AI to generate tactics for attacking or defending corners that maximize or minimize the chances of a particular player receiving the ball or a team getting a shot on goal. This is done by mining real-life examples of corner kicks with similar patterns and providing suggestions on how to change tactics to achieve the desired result.

Liverpool FC's soccer experts were unable to distinguish between AI-generated tactics and human-designed tactics in a blind test, favoring AI-generated tactics 90% of the time.

But despite its capabilities, Veličković says TacticAI was never intended to put human coaches out of work. “We are strong supporters of AI systems, not systems that replace AI, but augment human capabilities and allow people to spend more time on the creative parts of their jobs,” he says.

Velicković said the research has a wide range of applications beyond sports. “If you can model a football game, you can better model some aspects of human psychology,” he says. “As AI becomes more capable, it needs to understand the world better, especially under uncertainty. Our systems can make decisions and make recommendations even under uncertainty. It’s a good testing ground because it’s a skill that we believe can be applied to future AI systems.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com