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> I still have not downloaded an AI app of any kind to my phone. If he has an iPhone, there’s no need to download it. It’s already there. That said, he has so
by ChrisMarshallNY 2y ago
> I still have not downloaded an AI app of any kind to my phone.
If he has an iPhone, there’s no need to download it. It’s already there.
That said, he has some good points.
Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), we won’t be able to “opt out,” forever. At some point, ML is bound to become endemic.
It’s like those stupid scan-guns that supermarkets in my area are starting to ask customers to use. They are scan guns that you pick up, as you go in, and scan each purchase. When you check out, you just scan a barcode on the cashier stand, and Bjorn Stronginthearm’s your uncle.
I refuse to use them, as the only reason they exist, is to fire cashiers.
Sooner or later, however, I am unlikely to be able to avoid them.
- whstl 2y ago> I refuse to use them, as the only reason they exist, is to fire cashiers. This reminds me of when the bus company of my hometown transitioned to having a driver + cashier to only having a driver that takes cash. Half of the workforce just gone overnight. Of course the writing was on the wall with electronic ticketing, but still. It makes me feel I'm part of a "First They Came" situation. Sure maybe these people found other jobs for themselves (or so I tell myself) but still.
- protocolture 2y agoPeople get shitty about bullshit jobs and then when they do get cleaned up by ATMs or some other efficiency turn around and pine for them.
- smackeyacky 2y agoThat’s not entirely fair. Jobs automated out of existence weren’t bullshit jobs. Bullshit jobs are HR and project management. Made up fluff nobody really needs.
- _heimdall 2y agoThat's a huge blanket statement. Bullshit jobs aren't tied to any specific industries, and all jobs in HR and project management aren't bullshit.
- DonsDiscountGas 2y agoIf they can be easily automated they should be. Keeping a human doing a job that doesn't need to be done by a human is a bullshit job. It might not have been a bullshit job twenty years ago, that doesn't matter. Things change.
- protocolture 2y agoNo the bullshit jobs I see people complain about are often linked to "Couldnt someone automate this" like taking notes from inbound phonecalls and simply relaying messages inside the office.
- nasmorn 2y agoThis is a strange example because have you heard of the combine harvester. It made, together with other farming machines, useless what 90% of people used to do
- _heimdall 2y agoThe combine wouldn't have been useful without monocropping practices, and those are only possible due to chemical pesticides and herbicides. I'd point to the poisons we're willing to dump on our fields as the primary reason for so many jobs being replaced. The combine is just what replaced them, not the root cause of why they could be replaced.
- whstl 2y agoYeah, I happen to own washing machine AND a dishwasher (luxury!), so I totally understand. My point is that it's still weird seeing people getting fired.
- Gigachad 2y agoIn most cities, public transport service frequency and coverage has expanded massively. So they halved the workers per bus and doubled the number of busses.
- whstl 2y agoI wish this was true for my hometown. :/
- bravetraveler 2y ago"We do what we can because we must." Endure, don't embrace. Or whatever, I'm a random on the internet - not a cop.
- lukan 2y ago"I refuse to use them, as the only reason they exist, is to fire cashiers" But that's not a great job in the first place and I am not a fan of keeping jobs for the sake of it. So we do need to figure out a way of income for those who cannot make a transition, but my mission is not to keep cashiers.
- ghaff 2y agoRight. Let’s eliminate all the online access to government services and make people go into eg DMV offices like the good old days.
- ghiculescu 2y agoActually the main reason they exist is to reduce shoplifting.
- ChrisMarshallNY 2y agoWhy do the cashiers (that still work there), call them "scan and steal," then? From what I have seen, they actually make shoplifting much easier. It's just that the product loss is less than salary and benefits of the cashiers, and I'll bet that the company has some way to recoup the losses.
- Freak_NL 2y agoOh yeah. This is the big open secret. Theft is way up with these. It turns out that when you take people out of the equation and combine that with prices going up, a lot more shoppers figure it is only natural to compensate themselves a little. Just some little things you can plausibly explain as having overlooked them if someone finds out. Buy three chocolate bars, scan two. I have no idea what the next iteration will be, or if this is considered acceptable in terms of profits.
- bravetraveler 2y agoAdmittedly, it's been a while since I've gone, but I used to simply not stop for the door-checkers. They'd want to look in the cart/at the receipt and I'd keep a nice brisk pace about my business. You think I stole it? Get the real cops. I actually paid for everything, enjoy. Why'd I stop going? Armed private security with more ego than training. Much better options. Absolutely not advice, but usually the right look/pace does wonders. It helps to be defensible.
- theshrike79 2y agoThis is highly location specific. In "better" areas where people are by default more honest (or have money to spend), the losses aren't that bad. But stores in less affluent areas have dropped self-checkout completely because it isn't worth it due to theft losses.
- 2y ago
- WmWsjA6B29B4nfk 2y ago> I refuse to use them, as the only reason they exist, is to fire cashiers. That's great, why would I pay someone to do something I absolutely don't mind doing myself, and even save some time while doing it. Do you also still pay someone to pump fuel into your car?
- ChrisMarshallNY 2y ago> Do you also still pay someone to pump fuel into your car? In my town, you actually have to let them. There's a law. I think it has something to do with smoking morons blowing themselves (and others) up. Like I said, I do it on a human principle; not because it's not a good idea. They are annoying, though, because they chirp at you with ads, as you pass items on the shelf.
- nightfly 2y ago> Do you also still pay someone to pump fuel into your car? Until like two years ago I did (now-rural Oregonian). Now I pay the same for gas, getting it no faster and having to do the work and even sometimes I now even have to deal with loud commercials they put on the pumps. The only upside is it's easier to fill up late at night, yay.
- pixxel 2y ago[dead]
- _DeadFred_ 2y agoI don't voluntarily assume legal risks that come in to play if I make a mistake. That and I've been in public restrooms and seen how few people wash their hands. I hate having to touch public screens. Touch public screens and then handle my food? Pass.
- ryandrake 2y agoIf I'm expected to start doing something that they formerly paid employees to do, I'd expect to get something in return, like a grocery discount or something. It's like if restaurants started making you cook your own food. Why even bother to go?
- automatic6131 2y ago>I refuse to use them, as the only reason they exist, is to fire cashiers They are a much faster, more convenient experience than standing in line waiting for a cashier lane, scanning items after picking. It's just great, as the customer. I'm glad they still have 1-4 cashier lanes for refuseniks, pensioners and people without the loyalty card (etc) who don't want to deal with it. Everyone's happy.
- ChrisMarshallNY 2y agoYup. They are more convenient. But they still exist to fire cashiers. Thanks for the "broad-brush" of folks that you don't agree with.
- galangalalgol 2y agoWhy should we protect the existence of jobs that are both unnecessary and make the customer experience worse? Aren't we still in the situation that there are more positions for unskilled labor than applicants?
- _heimdall 2y agoBecause we still live in an economic and societal system that requires everyone to have a job and spend more of their money on useless shit. If we want to truly want to automate away jobs, we should also change our economic system such that people don't have to work like they do today. Without that we'll just create more jobs for everyone to fill, automating away some while cresting others and all we really sis wash shake things up and stress out those involved.
- automatic6131 2y agoMake work jobs will keep us all poor.
- reaperducer 2y ago
- wegfawefgawefg 2y agosir why dont we dig the trench with spoons instead of shovels, that way we can hire ten times as many men for twice as long!
- _heimdall 2y ago> Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), we won’t be able to “opt out,” forever. At some point, ML is bound to become endemic. I don't hear people wanting to opt out of ML though, they want to opt out of AI. Beyond just the bad name of these tools though, one absolutely can opt of out then. It just depends on how far one is willing to go to avoid using them and what all they will give up in the process.
- thunky 2y ago> I refuse to use them, as the only reason they exist, is to fire cashiers. Jobs are not supposed to exist for the sole purpose of generating paychecks. There is supposed to be real work that needs to be done. A "dig a hole and fill it in" job is a symptom of a society unable to benefit from it's own progress. Other animals don't do busywork as a means of survival.
- _DeadFred_ 2y agoOther animals can just eat the food they find and sleep wherever. Humans have decided other humans should just die if they don't work.
- amishdan 2y ago> If he has an iPhone, there’s no need to download it. It’s already there. only if youre on ios 18
- ChrisMarshallNY 2y agoI think that ML stuff has been in place for many Apple apps (like iTunes and Siri), for a lot longer than that. A lot of it is server-based, though. The main thing about 18, is moving into the hardware, and adding a lot more of it.
- gield 2y agoAI is not only LLMs or other generative AI. There is also FaceID, Siri, even the camera uses AI. The author also doesn't make this distinction, sadly.
- theshrike79 2y ago> If he has an iPhone, there’s no need to download it. It’s already there. Google is also replacing Assistant with Gemini on Android: https://gemini.google/assistant/ https://gemini.google/assistant/
- theshrike79 2y ago> I refuse to use them, as the only reason they exist, is to fire cashiers. I use them because it lets people not be cashiers and they can be stocking the store and doing something more useful than being a glorified barcode scanning robot.
- elaus 2y agoHow is stocking shelves more fulfilling than being a cashier? Cashiers at least interact and talk with people. I have nothing against people using self-checkout, but making it sound like you're doing something good for people seems absurd and is only there to make oneself feel better when, in reality, jobs WILL be lost because of it. No need to sugarcoat it.
- theshrike79 2y agoThe people stocking shelves can sit down in the US, cashiers can't because of some fucked up reason. I haven't heard anyone being "fulfilled" by being a cashier in a large supermarket, the kind that usually has self-checkout. It's not like the mom&pop corner bodega is installing them.
- joquarky 2y agoI use them because I wind up having to bag my groceries anyway. Also, I am less rushed because I can go at my own pace.