Social Media Warning Labels, LA Kids Go Offline, and the Rise of Slop AI
Jun 23, 2024
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Jon Lovett takes extreme Offline challenge in Fiji, Surgeon General's warning label for social media proposed by Vivek Murthy, Brian M discusses AI development slowdown and workers organizing against tech. Topics include AI progress plateau, AI monitoring in workplace, effects of automation on skilled workers, challenges of AI integration, and ethical implications in the tech industry.
AI regulating emotions in the workplace poses ethical concerns and challenges for worker well-being.
Limited viable AI use cases lead to cautious adoption by companies despite corporate interest in innovation.
AI's impact on creative fields and employment raises issues of job security and exploitation of labor.
Deep dives
AI Monitoring System for Call Center Workers at First Horizon Bank
First Horizon Bank implemented an AI system to monitor the emotions of call center workers, playing soothing music and showing family vacation montages when workers seemed agitated. This move aimed to address high turnover rates and worker frustration. The AI's role was to ensure workers remain calm and productive, highlighting a dystopian future where AI regulates emotions for maximum profitability.
Challenges of Utilizing AI in Corporate Environments
Despite corporate interest in AI for automating tasks and reducing labor costs, challenges in implementation emerge. Many companies find limited viable use cases due to unreliable systems and concerns over output quality and intellectual property issues. While managers push for AI adoption to showcase innovation, the reality is that only specific use cases are suitable, resulting in a cautious approach to widespread AI integration.
Impact of AI on Creative Fields like Art and Design
AI tools like Mid-Journey that generate images are affecting creative fields such as art and design. While businesses use AI-generated art for internal purposes to avoid public scrutiny, artists and designers face challenges. AI-created work is gaining traction internally, creating vulnerabilities for creative professionals. However, the notion that AI threatens all jobs serves as leverage for managers while actual adoption remains selective.
Impact of AI on Labor
The introduction of AI in the workplace poses challenges for labor as companies seek to cut costs by de-skilling workers and using AI to increase profits. Historical examples like the Luddites' rebellion against automation in the early 19th century demonstrate how technology can lead to de-skilling and exploitation of labor. The fear is not that AI will outperform humans in creative tasks, but that it will be used to replace skilled workers with cheaper alternatives, eroding job quality and workers' livelihoods.
Ethical Implementation of AI
The ethical deployment of AI in various sectors, such as healthcare and education, highlights the importance of worker involvement and oversight in integrating AI tools. While AI advancements can offer benefits like improved diagnostics, there is a concern that corporations may prioritize cost-cutting over quality and worker well-being, leading to over-reliance on AI tools and potential job losses. Workers advocating for agency in AI usage, similar to the nurses protesting against excessive AI implementation in hospitals, emphasize the need for a more equitable distribution of technological gains and empowering workers in decision-making processes.
Has this pod saved America…from phone addiction?! We got Jon Lovett to take a rather extreme version of the Offline challenge in Fiji, AND America’s top doctor and friend of the pod Vivek Murthy is now calling for a Surgeon General’s warning label on social media platforms. Max and Jon bask in their success, then mourn the dismantling of the Stanford Internet Observatory, the nation’s leading mis- and disinformation research organization. Then, Max sits down with longtime tech journalist Brian Merchant to talk about whether AI development is slowing down, why workers should organize against the technology, and what good AI use cases and centaurs have in common.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
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