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AlUla Wellness Festival Unveils Array of Innovative Nature-Centric Activities

AlUla Moments has unveiled new insights to enhance visitor engagement and foster their connection with nature in AlUla during the 3rd edition of AlUla Wellness Festival.
AlUla Moments has unveiled new insights to enhance visitor engagement and foster their connection with nature in AlUla during the 3rd edition of AlUla Wellness Festival.
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AlUla Wellness Festival Unveils Array of Innovative Nature-Centric Activities

AlUla Moments has unveiled new insights to enhance visitor engagement and foster their connection with nature in AlUla during the 3rd edition of AlUla Wellness Festival.
AlUla Moments has unveiled new insights to enhance visitor engagement and foster their connection with nature in AlUla during the 3rd edition of AlUla Wellness Festival.

AlUla Moments has unveiled new insights to enhance visitor engagement and foster their connection with nature in AlUla during the 3rd edition of AlUla Wellness Festival, scheduled from October 19 to November 4, said SPA on Sunday.
The festival will include new activities: The Heritage Restoration Experience, Reviving Nature Experience, and Eco-Gardening. There are also other offers, such as the Silent Hike, that allow visitors to connect with the silence of the natural deserts and canyons of AlUla.
The activities are designed to help attendees establish a meaningful connection between the human mind and soul with the wonders of nature through a collection of mind, body, and soul-revitalizing activities, providing the chance to interact with wellness enthusiasts, yoga practitioners, and meditation experts.
Rami Al-Moallim, Vice President, Destination Management and Marketing at the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), said: "Celebrating the beauty of the natural wonders of AlUla at this edition of Wellness Festival is not just about finding wellness in ourselves, but also in the world around us. Nature, with its timeless serenity, serves as our greatest wellness partner.”
Below are the top activities to connect with nature during the festival: Heritage Restoration Experience (Date: October 19 to November 30). The Heritage Restoration, as the name implies, offers visitors a unique opportunity to engage with AlUla's cultural heritage by delving into the art of mudbrick house construction. This hands-on experience allows participants to learn about and actively participate in the creation of these traditional structures.
This event is suitable for those who are interested in engaging with the history of AlUla, and would like to leave a lasting impact during their time in AlUla. The ticket price is inclusive of a welcome drink, continued refreshments throughout the experience, necessary vests and PPE to be worn during the construction process, and a souvenir to take home.
Reviving Nature Experience (Date: October 19 to November 30). An immersive journey that allows visitors to learn about circular design whilst working with palm fronds from AlUla's farms. Participants will actively engage in weaving individual petals by hand, which will then be placed on our monumental sculpture named “Tanafaas” (In Arabic means: Breath). This experience shares the importance of a collective vision towards sustainability, promoting environmental consciousness, and fostering a connection to nature.
The Reviving Nature Experience combines creativity, education, and community to bring to life a sculpture which will stand as an example of how everyone has a role to play as an individual, which comes together to collectively make an impact!
The ticket price is inclusive of a 70-minute weaving workshop, a 10-minute natural dyes workshop, a welcome drink, continued refreshments throughout the experience, necessary aprons and PPE to be worn during the event, and a souvenir for each attendee to take home. The total duration will be 2 hours including the welcome orientation.
Eco Gardening (Date: Oct 20, 2023 - Mar 06, 2024). Exploring the rich agricultural and floral heritage of AlUla's Oasis through Eco Gardening within the AlUla Wellness Festival. Guests are invited to immerse themselves in the vibrant Oasis environment through an eco-gardening experience.
It's a chance to connect with the local farmers and meet the animals they care for, providing a deeper understanding of this unique ecosystem. This event is free to attend however spaces must be booked via experiencealula.com.
The Silent Hike (Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays, depart 8 am, return 11:30 am).The Silent Hike offers an unforgettable opportunity for visitors—a journey through the Hidden Valley in the Arabian Desert. This 4 km hike provides a chance to disconnect from technology, engage in reflection, meditation, and savor the breathtaking natural splendor of AlUla. The experience culminates with a refreshing cold towel and revitalizing beverages.
Moreover, the popular Sanctuary Five experience is making a comeback, offering a holistic health journey involving yoga and salt room therapy. Visitors can engage in a diverse range of activities and workshops, all aimed at promoting relaxation and inner harmony.
For more information about the AlUla Wellness Festival 2023 and ticket details, please visit the website www.experiencealula.com.

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The Music Industry is Battling AI -- with Limited Success

The music industry is particularly concerned about non-authorized use of its content to train generative AI models. LLUIS GENE / AFP
The music industry is particularly concerned about non-authorized use of its content to train generative AI models. LLUIS GENE / AFP
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The Music Industry is Battling AI -- with Limited Success

The music industry is particularly concerned about non-authorized use of its content to train generative AI models. LLUIS GENE / AFP
The music industry is particularly concerned about non-authorized use of its content to train generative AI models. LLUIS GENE / AFP

The music industry is fighting on platforms, through the courts and with legislators in a bid to prevent the theft and misuse of art from generative AI -- but it remains an uphill battle.

Sony Music said recently it has already demanded that 75,000 deepfakes -- simulated images, tunes or videos that can easily be mistaken for real -- be rooted out, a figure reflecting the magnitude of the issue.

The information security company Pindrop says AI-generated music has "telltale signs" and is easy to detect, yet such music seems to be everywhere.

"Even when it sounds realistic, AI-generated songs often have subtle irregularities in frequency variation, rhythm and digital patterns that aren't present in human performances," said Pindrop, which specializes in voice analysis.

But it takes mere minutes on YouTube or Spotify -- two top music-streaming platforms -- to spot a fake rap from 2Pac about pizzas, or an Ariana Grande cover of a K-pop track that she never performed.

"We take that really seriously, and we're trying to work on new tools in that space to make that even better," said Sam Duboff, Spotify's lead on policy organization.

YouTube said it is "refining" its own ability to spot AI dupes, and could announce results in the coming weeks.

"The bad actors were a little bit more aware sooner," leaving artists, labels and others in the music business "operating from a position of reactivity," said Jeremy Goldman, an analyst at the company Emarketer.

"YouTube, with a multiple of billions of dollars per year, has a strong vested interest to solve this," Goldman said, adding that he trusts they're working seriously to fix it.

"You don't want the platform itself, if you're at YouTube, to devolve into, like, an AI nightmare," he said.

Litigation

But beyond deepfakes, the music industry is particularly concerned about unauthorized use of its content to train generative AI models like Suno, Udio or Mubert.

Several major labels filed a lawsuit last year at a federal court in New York against the parent company of Udio, accusing it of developing its technology with "copyrighted sound recordings for the ultimate purpose of poaching the listeners, fans and potential licensees of the sound recordings it copied."

More than nine months later, proceedings have yet to begin in earnest. The same is true for a similar case against Suno, filed in Massachusetts.

At the center of the litigation is the principle of fair use, allowing limited use of some copyrighted material without advance permission. It could limit the application of intellectual property rights.

"It's an area of genuine uncertainty," said Joseph Fishman, a law professor at Vanderbilt University.

Any initial rulings won't necessarily prove decisive, as varying opinions from different courts could punt the issue to the Supreme Court.

In the meantime, the major players involved in AI-generated music continue to train their models on copyrighted work -- raising the question of whether the battle isn't already lost.

Fishman said it may be too soon to say that: although many models are already training on protected material, new versions of those models are released continuously, and it's unclear whether any court decisions would create licensing issues for those models going forward.

Deregulation

When it comes to the legislative arena, labels, artists and producers have found little success.

Several bills have been introduced in the US Congress, but nothing concrete has resulted.

A few states -- notably Tennessee, home to much of the powerful country music industry -- have adopted protective legislation, notably when it comes to deepfakes.

Donald Trump poses another potential roadblock: the Republican president has postured himself as a champion of deregulation, particularly of AI.

Several giants in AI have jumped into the ring, notably Meta, which has urged the administration to "clarify that the use of publicly available data to train models is unequivocally fair use."

If Trump's White House takes that advice, it could push the balance against music professionals, even if the courts theoretically have the last word.

The landscape is hardly better in Britain, where the Labor government is considering overhauling the law to allow AI companies to use creators' content on the internet to help develop their models, unless rights holders opt out.

More than a thousand musicians, including Kate Bush and Annie Lennox, released an album in February entitled "Is This What We Want?" -- featuring the sound of silence recorded in several studios -- to protest those efforts.

For analyst Goldman, AI is likely to continue plaguing the music industry -- as long as it remains unorganized.

"The music industry is so fragmented," he said. "I think that that winds up doing it a disservice in terms of solving this thing."