Could your profile picture use an update? Not everyone has the time or money to hire a professional whenever they need a headshot, and a smartphone picture doesn’t usually make a good impression. Designed to automatically give your photos a professional look, an AI headshot generator might be the perfect solution—but which is the right choice for you?

Portrait Pal’s service is highly rated. It takes amateur pictures and transforms them into professional headshots that would have otherwise seemed impossible. Its polished but authentic look generates natural poses for even initially stiff-looking photos. Even the backgrounds don’t have the usual signs of AI.

Facial features and skin tone remain true to life without the typical unnatural distortions. The images convey warmth and approachability, giving the user confidence in their new visual presentation.

Creating an image with Portrait Pal takes less than a few hours, and there are only a few steps to complete before starting. Create an account with your email address and choose from a starter package with 20 photos and a 3-hour wait for $35, a basic package with 60 photos and a 2.5-hour wait for $45 or a premium package with 100 photos and a 2-hour wait for $75.

Portrait Pal will ask for your gender, ethnicity, hair and eye color, hair length and if you want glasses in the photos. Then, submit your photos and payment information. A few hours later, your high-quality headshots will be ready.

PixelPose promises highly realistic AI headshots, with a fast and user-friendly process yielding impressive results. This platform is similar to Portrait Pal, most likely using a comparable AI model to achieve their results.

To create an image with PixelPose, you will first be asked to create an account. Afterward, you select a package. The starter, basic, and premium packages offered by PixelPose are priced the same as Portrait Pal’s but boast 2-hour, 1-hour and 30-minute processing times, respectively, instead. They also provide various outfits and backgrounds based on the package.

PixelPose asks for gender, age and body type before you upload your photos and enter payment information. The resulting images are quality and professional, setting them apart in a crowded market.

3. Dreamwave

Dreamwave is another impressive headshot generator that delivers satisfying results. Its process begins on the homepage, requiring you to upload at least five photos to get started. Much like other generators, they guide the best photos to upload. After uploading your photos, Dreamweave will ask for your email address and ask you to select your gender.

Dreamweave has a free option regarding pricing, but the queue times can extend for weeks. The starter package has 120 photos with a 2-hour wait at $35, the standard package has 240 photos with a 2-hour wait and one free redo at $59, and the best value package has 500 photos with a 2-hour wait, two free redos and human touch-ups available from Photoshop experts at $99.

After receiving your photos, you have the option to edit the photos, with options to auto-improve teeth, auto-improve eyes, remove blemishes, crop the image or apply filters. While still in beta, these features are nice additions.

Is It worth considering AI headshot generators?

Interface.ai, a customer automation platform for banks and other financial institutions, today announced that it closed a $30 million funding round led by Avataar Venture Partners.

Twenty million dollars of the round was equity, while the remaining $10 million was in the form of debt. It’s Interface’s first outside capital; the startup had been completely bootstrapped.

“Interface is trusted by more than 100 financial institutions across North America, processing millions of interactions every day,” CEO and co-founder Srinivas Njay told TechCrunch. “We’re generating tens of millions in annual recurring revenue.”

Njay said that the inspiration for Interface came from his father, who owned a credit union in India. Previously, Njay worked at Microsoft as a product manager on the Bing advertising team and at EA as a senior product manager on mobile games.

Njay teamed up with Bruce Kim, the founder of customer management and billing company Inovaware, in 2019 to launch Interface.

“The big national banks are investing heavily in AI to transform their banking operations,” Njay said. “But for many regional and community-based financial institutions, staffing and resourcing this capability is simply out of reach. Interface democratizes access to AI.”

Interface’s core product is a collection of voice- and text-based AI agents designed to handle basic bank customer service requests. Powered by models trained on in-house data, the agents can perform tasks like helping modify mortgage payments and opening new accounts.

Banks can customize the agents by fine-tuning them on their internal data. The agents can also be configured to upsell products based on information like the content of prior chats.

“Our AI is specifically designed for the banking industry,” Njay said, “complete with pre-built integrations, data models, and workflows.”

Financial institutions are piloting AI — and in particular generative AI — for applications ranging from customer service to predictive analytics. According to a March survey cited in American Banker, more than half of global and U.S. banks intend to implement generative AI at some level over the next year.

Besides Interface, AI startups trying to nab a slice of banks’ business include Hyperplane, which builds AI models to predict customer behavior; Cambio, which creates AI to talk to a bank’s customers; and Digital Onboarding, which specializes in strengthening banks’ relationships with customers.

Banking customers are wary of the tech, however. In a J.D. Power poll, only 27% said that they’d trust AI for financial information and advice, while less than half said they’d take product recommendations from AI.

Institutions also aren’t necessarily deploying AI for customer communications — which is a big portion of Interface’s business. But in a spot of bright news, credit unions — one of Interface’s largest customer segments — have been aggressively adopting chatbot tech this year.

“Our platform has multiple levers for creating value,” Njay said. “The number of unique applications of AI is one of the main factors contributing to Interface’s ability to weather potential headwinds.”

With the new money from the funding round, Interface plans to expand its 120-person team across North America and India and “accelerate go-to-market initiatives.”

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“We are coordinating with the satellite manufacturer, Boeing, and government agencies to analyze data and observations,” Intelsat said. The company has since established a board to conduct a “comprehensive analysis of the cause of the anomaly.”

U.S. Space Forces-Space (S4S) has confirmed the breakup of Intelsat 33E (#41748, 2016-053B) in GEO on October 19, 2024, at approximately 0430 UTC. Currently tracking around 20 associated pieces – analysis ongoing. S4S has observed no immediate threats and is continuing to conduct routine conjunction assessments to support the safety and sustainability of the space domain.

It’s unclear how many pieces there are, as satellite-tracking company ExoAnalytic Solutions says it’s monitoring 57 pieces of debris, Space News reports.

Strands is the NYT’s latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it’s great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games.

Health-tech startup sehatUP has launched India’s first integrated digital health clinic. The platform claims to combine allopathy, ayurveda and homoeopathy to deliver personalized health and wellness solutions, marking a significant step towards making healthcare more comprehensive and accessible.

The startup collaborates with over 50 expert doctors and health coaches to create tailored wellness journeys. The company states that it uses advanced technology to develop treatment plans that seamlessly integrate various medical systems.

In recent years, the ‘One Nation, One Health System’, as a concept, has gained momentum in India. This is a concept that aims to establish a unified healthcare system that ensures consistent standards and promotes social equity by providing all citizens with access to quality services. It also focuses on improving efficiency by streamlining resources to reduce costs and enhance service delivery, while strengthening disaster preparedness to create a system capable of responding effectively during health emergencies. 

However, many experts have noted that India’s geographical diversity and infrastructure gaps present challenges in establishing an integrated healthcare system. Encouraging private players to participate in the national health framework and effectively utilizing digital technology have been suggested as key strategies for addressing these challenges.

According to sehatUP’s leadership, their platform was created in alignment with the ‘One Nation, One Health System’ initiative. sehatUP’s platform provides personalized healthcare plans and free doctor consultations, initially focusing on sexual wellness and weight management. The platform also offers a range of affordable,  clinically-approved medicines and natural supplements.

Speaking about the launch, Karan Bhargava, Founder and CEO of sehatUP, said, “sehatUP is designed to offer a more holistic and inclusive approach to healthcare. By  blending modern medicine with traditional practices like Ayurveda and homeopathy, we aim to provide users with a balanced path to well-being that addresses root causes and promotes long-term health.”

From 21 October until 1 November, delegates are meeting in Cali, Colombia to take stock of national pledges to protect nature, amid concerns countries are back-sliding on their promises.

Recent analysis suggests, external most countries are set to miss the deadline to submit new national action plans for preserving nature.

Key issues include the scale of ambition in meeting specific targets, finance for biodiversity projects in poorer countries and making sure profits from genetic resources are shared fairly.

Colombian environment minister, Susana Muhamad, who is overseeing the meeting, has set the theme, ‘Peace with Nature’, a call to rethink our relationship with the natural world.

Several presidents are expected to attend, including Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Mexico’s incoming president, Claudia Sheinbaum.