4 ms·

"She rejected several applicants with PhDs and engineering backgrounds, reasoning that their level of education could not compensate for a lack of hands-on spec

by ej88 5mo ago

"She rejected several applicants with PhDs and engineering backgrounds, reasoning that their level of education could not compensate for a lack of hands-on specialty coffee experience." This is depressing.

JohnMakin 5mo ago
Don't worry, it's fiction.
- sureMan6 5mo ago
  I've lived in Sweden, it's real
  - JohnMakin 5mo ago
    Yes, it is literally a place, I wasn't saying it wasn't. The fiction is that this is pure PR fluff of what is actually going on, a human/dev team is prodding this thing in ways to "manage" the employees. This was pointed out in their last PR stunt: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47794391 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47794391 So yes, it is a type of fiction. They also have every incentive to hype this up, given what their company does. I really wish people had more skepticism and critical thought with these things, it isn't actually good at all for the AI space and its future success.
  - deleted 5mo ago
    [deleted]
- DavidVoid 5mo ago
  I don't think so. The cafe is a real place and it's owned by the company mentioned in the article. It was in the local news the other week [1]. If you're going to do an experiment like this, then Stockholm is a good place to do it, since the bureaucracy here is very digitalized. [1]: https://www.mitti.se/nyheter/ai-driver-eget-kafe-i-vasastan-basta-chefen-6.3.360680.8f52d29139 https://www.mitti.se/nyheter/ai-driver-eget-kafe-i-vasastan-...
  - JohnMakin 5mo ago
    Yes, it is literally a place, I wasn't saying it wasn't. The fiction is that this is pure PR fluff of what is actually going on, a human/dev team is prodding this thing in ways to "manage" the employees. This was pointed out in their last PR stunt: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47794391 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47794391 So yes, it is a type of fiction. They also have every incentive to hype this up, given what their company does. I really wish people had more skepticism and critical thought with these things, it isn't actually good at all for the AI space and its future success.
p1necone 5mo ago
This seems pretty reasonable to me? If I was hiring a single new staff member in an already staffed cafe (and I trust the existing staff to be good mentors), sure, hire anyone, train them up. But if I'm hiring the first handful of employees, especially if I'm trying to make good coffee and run a smooth operation, I'd want someone with some experience already - their PhD doesn't really tell me anything about their ability to work in a cafe. This goes doubly so when I'm some ethereal AI that isn't going to be working alongside them. There's no such thing as "unskilled labor".
- deleted 5mo ago
  [deleted]
shell0x 5mo ago
[dead]
xandrius 5mo ago
Btw, you'd be surprised how incapable of doing some menial tasks are some people the higher you go into the academic ladder. And it makes total sense: most people with PhDs were not the ones who loved tinkering with stuff, fixing motorbikes, etc. They stayed inside and either liked books, computers or something akin. (not everyone ofc)
Aurornis 5mo ago
Experience isn't a hierarchy. Having a PhD doesn't make someone good at tasks they've never done before. This ignores the real reason that over-qualified people are often skipped for jobs: They are never interested in staying at that job. It's always something temporary until they find the job they really want, which could happen in days, weeks, or months. They probably won't give 2 weeks' notice because they don't care about their references in the retail industry, meaning you're emergency short-staffed and have to repeat the hiring process all over again.

by ej88 5mo ago

JohnMakin 5mo ago

Don't worry, it's fiction.

sureMan6 5mo ago
I've lived in Sweden, it's real
- JohnMakin 5mo ago
  Yes, it is literally a place, I wasn't saying it wasn't. The fiction is that this is pure PR fluff of what is actually going on, a human/dev team is prodding this thing in ways to "manage" the employees. This was pointed out in their last PR stunt: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47794391 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47794391 So yes, it is a type of fiction. They also have every incentive to hype this up, given what their company does. I really wish people had more skepticism and critical thought with these things, it isn't actually good at all for the AI space and its future success.
- deleted 5mo ago
  [deleted]
DavidVoid 5mo ago
I don't think so. The cafe is a real place and it's owned by the company mentioned in the article. It was in the local news the other week [1]. If you're going to do an experiment like this, then Stockholm is a good place to do it, since the bureaucracy here is very digitalized. [1]: https://www.mitti.se/nyheter/ai-driver-eget-kafe-i-vasastan-basta-chefen-6.3.360680.8f52d29139 https://www.mitti.se/nyheter/ai-driver-eget-kafe-i-vasastan-...
- JohnMakin 5mo ago
  Yes, it is literally a place, I wasn't saying it wasn't. The fiction is that this is pure PR fluff of what is actually going on, a human/dev team is prodding this thing in ways to "manage" the employees. This was pointed out in their last PR stunt: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47794391 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47794391 So yes, it is a type of fiction. They also have every incentive to hype this up, given what their company does. I really wish people had more skepticism and critical thought with these things, it isn't actually good at all for the AI space and its future success.

p1necone 5mo ago

This seems pretty reasonable to me? If I was hiring a single new staff member in an already staffed cafe (and I trust the existing staff to be good mentors), sure, hire anyone, train them up. But if I'm hiring the first handful of employees, especially if I'm trying to make good coffee and run a smooth operation, I'd want someone with some experience already - their PhD doesn't really tell me anything about their ability to work in a cafe. This goes doubly so when I'm some ethereal AI that isn't going to be working alongside them. There's no such thing as "unskilled labor".

deleted 5mo ago
[deleted]

shell0x 5mo ago

[dead]

xandrius 5mo ago

Btw, you'd be surprised how incapable of doing some menial tasks are some people the higher you go into the academic ladder. And it makes total sense: most people with PhDs were not the ones who loved tinkering with stuff, fixing motorbikes, etc. They stayed inside and either liked books, computers or something akin. (not everyone ofc)

Aurornis 5mo ago

Experience isn't a hierarchy. Having a PhD doesn't make someone good at tasks they've never done before. This ignores the real reason that over-qualified people are often skipped for jobs: They are never interested in staying at that job. It's always something temporary until they find the job they really want, which could happen in days, weeks, or months. They probably won't give 2 weeks' notice because they don't care about their references in the retail industry, meaning you're emergency short-staffed and have to repeat the hiring process all over again.