Category: Tech

I, For One, Welcome Our New Self-Driving Overlords

AI 36 Comments

Will Lockett;

Recently, senior executives at Salesforce have admitted, both internally and publicly, that they massively overestimated AI’s capabilities. They have found that AI simply can’t cope with the complex nature of customer service and totally fails at nuanced issues, escalations, and long-tail customer problems. They even say that it has caused a marked decline in service quality and far more complaints.

But the problems go far deeper than that.

Both employees and executives have said that the company is wasting countless resources on firefighting to stabilise operations since the mass AI layoff. Employees have to spend so much time stepping in to correct the wildly wrong AI-generated responses that AI is wasting more time than it saves. In other words, this AI reduces productivity, not increases it.

But there is also a huge problem here with expertise and skill debt. On top of the firefighting to correct the AI, executives have also highlighted how they are also having to firefight to stabilise their systems from problems that were previously easily solved by staff who had the required experience and skill. However, these staff were fired in the AI layoffs.

Expertise, experience and skilled employees are really hard for a company to acquire. You see, much of the expertise, experience, and skills required are unique to the company and its operations. These operations will have quirks, common problems, and unique issues that even the most experienced outsider will really struggle with, but are effortless to someone with experience within the company. As such, these attributes are not only vital, but are nurtured and grown within a company, and cannot be hired in on a whim. What Salesforce has done is chuck all this experience out the window, and now they are suffering.

To say this is a damning indictment on Benioff, his capabilities as a CEO, and his cult-like push for AI is an understatement. It demonstrates that he is dangerously ignorant, as it was painfully evident that this would happen; more on that in a minute.

AI and Public Healthcare

AI Tommy Douglas: Not Dead Enough 14 Comments

What can possibly go wrong?

Carl Heneghan and Tom Jefferson- The Government’s Obsession with Artificial Intelligence and Tech

Streeting has framed the NHS as under enormous pressure from chronic waiting lists, staff shortages and outdated systems, saying the service is “broken” and needs reform alongside investment. Introducing AI and digital technology is a key part of his efforts to transform the NHS into a more digital, modern, and efficient system.

I, For One, Welcome Our New Self-Driving Overlords

AI The Deplorables 15 Comments

The peasants are revolting;

Earlier this year, Microsoft officially yanked the cord on Windows 10, ending support for an operating system that had been superseded by Windows 11 four years earlier.

But the tech giant’s controversial attempts to shoehorn AI into every aspect of the software appear to have turned off a staggering number of users from upgrading. While it’s to be expected at this point that not everybody will have jumped at the opportunity to update their machine’s operating system, the sheer scale of that refusal is staggering.

As Forbes reports, a whopping 1 billion PCs are still running Windows 10 — despite half of them technically being eligible for an upgrade.[…]

It’s an already familiar battle, with AI emerging as a major turn-off for consumers across several other industries as well.

Last month, Windows president Pavan Davuluri announced that the operating system would become an “agentic OS,” baking AI features directly into the software.

Core users, however, were appalled by the notion.

You’re going to live in a pod, eat bugs, wait for MAID and you’ll like it: After Outcry, Firefox Promises “Kill Switch” That Turns Off All AI Features

The House Always Wins

Surveillance State Tech 4 Comments

David Clinton- What Do Loyalty Rewards Programs Cost Us?

Every time you participate in such a program, the data associated with that activity will be collected and aggregated along with everything else known about you. It’s more than likely that points-based data is being combined with everything connected to your mobile phone account, email addresses, credit cards, provincial health card, and – possibly – your Social Insurance number. The depth and accuracy of your digital profile improves daily.

Let That Sink In

47 Freespeechers Tech 17 Comments

The US State Department said Tuesday it would deny visas to a former EU commissioner and four others, accusing them of seeking to “coerce” American social media platforms into censoring viewpoints they oppose.

“These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states — in each case targeting American speakers and American companies,” the department said in a statement announcing the sanctions.

The measure targeted Thierry Breton, the former top tech regulator at the European Commission, who often clashed with tech tycoons such as Elon Musk over their obligations to follow EU rules.

Breton was described by the State Department as the “mastermind” of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), a major piece of legislation that imposes content moderation and other standards on major social media platforms operating in Europe.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X his country “strongly condemns” the visa restrictions, adding that Europe “cannot let the rules governing their digital space be imposed by others upon them”.

Where do I submit nominations?

A world wide system of censorship: Here is the full length video report into the mysterious ‘Global Disinformation Index’ and how it censors political speech across Europe and the US.

I, For One, Welcome Our New Self-Driving Overlords

AI Roadkill 15 Comments

Waymo announced Saturday night…

…that the Google-owned robotaxi company would suspend rides in San Francisco after riders reported vehicles causing traffic jams and … well, kinda just throwing their hands (wheels?) in the air.

“We have temporarily suspended our ride-hailing services given the broad power outage in San Francisco,” wrote Suzanne Philion, a company spokesperson, a little after 7 p.m., reports Mission Local. “We are focused on keeping our riders safe and ensuring emergency personnel have the clear access they need to do their work.”

Waymos use an advanced array of LiDAR sensors to navigate roads, using the mapped images to heeld at pedestrians, work around traffic lights, etc.; a collection of cameras also offers input for the onboard AI software to operate and “solve” traffic problems and operate; without proper input or cues, Waymo cars effectively “brick” when they doesn’t know what to do next — as was evident earlier this year when Waymos got stuck behind fireworks and left listless after dozens were summoned to a dead-end street.

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