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Kiwi bots aren't (weren't?) actually AI controlled. They had human drivers in South America that controlled them remotely. If one attacked you, it was either th

Kiwi bots aren't (weren't?) actually AI controlled. They had human drivers in South America that controlled them remotely. If one attacked you, it was either the human driver going agro, or just a problem with the latency of the camera -> cell network -> streamed to South America -> driver inputs command -> sent back to the US -> over the cell network -> back to the bot. And the cameras they have were pretty bad (the ordering app would show you the camera view when the bot was nearing its destination.)

rolandog 5y ago
It's depressing to think that companies have normalized passing "mechanical turks" (exploiting workers from an impoverished country) as AI.
- rexpop 5y ago
  For more in that depressing vein, check out "Ghost Work: How to Stop Silicon Valley from Building a New Global Underclass" by Mary L. Gray
  - iancmceachern 5y ago
    I will, I liked nickel and dimed so I'll give this a read. One side note, in looking up this book to purchase on Amazon, the hardcover is 2 bucks cheaper than the soft cover. I've seen this kind of thing quite a bit lately. What gives?
    - rexpop 5y ago
      If you liked Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed,"[0] you might like a few of her unrelated books as well. I highly recommend her "Dancing in the Streets,"[1] a 5,000 year history of the deadening of European culture (at Europeans' own hands, no less) that pairs nicely with Graeber's "Debt: The First 5,000"[2], a book of similar pacing, as well as a much shorter book on the gendered professionalization/demolition of the medical practice in the medieval era titled "Witches, Midwives, and Nurses" or "W.M.N."[3] Her "Bait and Switch,"[4] however, about the white-collar unemployment industry I found dull and unenlightening. 0. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1869.Nickel_and_Dimed https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1869.Nickel_and_Dimed 1. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24452.Dancing_in_the_Streets https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24452.Dancing_in_the_Str... 2. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6617037-debt https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6617037-debt 3. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24453.Witches_Midwives_and_Nurses https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24453.Witches_Midwives_a... 4. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24450.Bait_and_Switch https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24450.Bait_and_Switch
    - dreamcompiler 5y ago
      I've noticed this too. Hypothesis: Nobody wants books made of atoms any more, and the few that are selling are paperbacks. Therefore hardbacks are cheaper even though they're rarer and more expensive to produce. Just a W.A.G...
      - kevin_thibedeau 5y ago
        Paperbacks have their price inflated to make the ebook look like a deal. Someone forgot to apply the markup to hardcover too.
- MathCodeLove 5y ago
  Those "exploited workers" probably made decent money relative to the cost of living in their location, and they got to do it from the comfort of a computer instead of hard labor in the sun, which is what someone in their same socioeconomic bracket would more likely be doing.
  - balthigor 5y ago
    How would you know? Have you ever been in "their" location living in "their" same socioeconomic bracket? Would it bother you more if "their" was replaced with "our"? Would you then consider it "decent" money?
    - skhr0680 5y ago
      Minimum wage to drive a robot sounds way better than minimum wage in retail
    - MathCodeLove 5y ago
      If it was "our" citizens getting paid near (US) minimum wage to sit at home and monitor a robot all day then yes, I'd still be all for it. Teenage me would have much preferred that to fast food, and even adult me would happily take it as a second or interim job if needed and unable to find better paying work for some reason. And I'm sure it'd be a great opportunity for the physically disabled or other people unable to leave home. This is a win for everyone involved. A US company gets to outsource easy work at a price below our minimum wage that they can afford to a population which can live happily with those lower wages due to their nations cost of living.
    - fivea 5y ago
      > How would you know? How do you know someone hired to drive a remote vehicle is being exploited?
  - Hakashiro 5y ago
    "It is okay to pay sub-living national wages to foreigners in other countries because their cost of living is lower" And I suppose you should also add they must stay there and never come to your country because then your job is at risk?
ladberg 5y ago
I believe (as of a few years ago) that Kiwi bots are semi-autonomous, meaning they do have someone watching the camera feed but the bots themselves can move in a given direction and will stop if an object is detected.
Sxldierman 5y ago
Source?

rolandog 5y ago

It's depressing to think that companies have normalized passing "mechanical turks" (exploiting workers from an impoverished country) as AI.

rexpop 5y ago
For more in that depressing vein, check out "Ghost Work: How to Stop Silicon Valley from Building a New Global Underclass" by Mary L. Gray
- iancmceachern 5y ago
  I will, I liked nickel and dimed so I'll give this a read. One side note, in looking up this book to purchase on Amazon, the hardcover is 2 bucks cheaper than the soft cover. I've seen this kind of thing quite a bit lately. What gives?
  - rexpop 5y ago
    If you liked Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed,"[0] you might like a few of her unrelated books as well. I highly recommend her "Dancing in the Streets,"[1] a 5,000 year history of the deadening of European culture (at Europeans' own hands, no less) that pairs nicely with Graeber's "Debt: The First 5,000"[2], a book of similar pacing, as well as a much shorter book on the gendered professionalization/demolition of the medical practice in the medieval era titled "Witches, Midwives, and Nurses" or "W.M.N."[3] Her "Bait and Switch,"[4] however, about the white-collar unemployment industry I found dull and unenlightening. 0. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1869.Nickel_and_Dimed https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1869.Nickel_and_Dimed 1. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24452.Dancing_in_the_Streets https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24452.Dancing_in_the_Str... 2. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6617037-debt https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6617037-debt 3. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24453.Witches_Midwives_and_Nurses https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24453.Witches_Midwives_a... 4. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24450.Bait_and_Switch https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24450.Bait_and_Switch
  - dreamcompiler 5y ago
    I've noticed this too. Hypothesis: Nobody wants books made of atoms any more, and the few that are selling are paperbacks. Therefore hardbacks are cheaper even though they're rarer and more expensive to produce. Just a W.A.G...
    - kevin_thibedeau 5y ago
      Paperbacks have their price inflated to make the ebook look like a deal. Someone forgot to apply the markup to hardcover too.
MathCodeLove 5y ago
Those "exploited workers" probably made decent money relative to the cost of living in their location, and they got to do it from the comfort of a computer instead of hard labor in the sun, which is what someone in their same socioeconomic bracket would more likely be doing.
- balthigor 5y ago
  How would you know? Have you ever been in "their" location living in "their" same socioeconomic bracket? Would it bother you more if "their" was replaced with "our"? Would you then consider it "decent" money?
  - skhr0680 5y ago
    Minimum wage to drive a robot sounds way better than minimum wage in retail
  - MathCodeLove 5y ago
    If it was "our" citizens getting paid near (US) minimum wage to sit at home and monitor a robot all day then yes, I'd still be all for it. Teenage me would have much preferred that to fast food, and even adult me would happily take it as a second or interim job if needed and unable to find better paying work for some reason. And I'm sure it'd be a great opportunity for the physically disabled or other people unable to leave home. This is a win for everyone involved. A US company gets to outsource easy work at a price below our minimum wage that they can afford to a population which can live happily with those lower wages due to their nations cost of living.
  - fivea 5y ago
    > How would you know? How do you know someone hired to drive a remote vehicle is being exploited?
- Hakashiro 5y ago
  "It is okay to pay sub-living national wages to foreigners in other countries because their cost of living is lower" And I suppose you should also add they must stay there and never come to your country because then your job is at risk?

ladberg 5y ago

I believe (as of a few years ago) that Kiwi bots are semi-autonomous, meaning they do have someone watching the camera feed but the bots themselves can move in a given direction and will stop if an object is detected.

Sxldierman 5y ago

Source?