AI Deception: How Tech Companies Are Fooling Us
ColdFusion・2 minutes read
The author discusses the deceptive nature of AI technology, highlighting how companies like Amazon and IBM mislead consumers and potentially harm legitimate AI work, leading to distrust and inflated expectations in the market. Furthermore, the text points out the impact of AI on the job market, with mega-corporations like Meta and Alphabet reducing workforces and hiring, potentially requiring around 12 million US workers to switch jobs by 2030 due to AI advancements.
Insights
- The Mechanical Turk, created in 1770 by Wolf Gan Von Kempelen, was a hoax with a hidden person operating it, deceiving notable figures like Napoleon and Benjamin Franklin.
- Companies often mislead consumers about AI technology, with Amazon's checkout system using manual labor disguised as AI, leading to distrust and potential harm, exemplifying a broader issue of companies overstating AI capabilities and causing inflated expectations that may result in market crashes.
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Recent questions
What was the Mechanical Turk?
A hoax chess-playing machine operated by a person.
How does Amazon's Just Walk Out work?
Allows customers to grab items without manual scanning.
What is AI washing?
Misleading investors about AI product capabilities.
How does Aura protect against data brokers?
Offers online security features like parental controls.
What is the Gartner hype cycle?
Indicates AI market at peak of inflated expectations.
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Summary
00:00
Deceptive AI: Misleading Consumers, Inflated Expectations
- In 1770, Hungarian author and inventor Wolf Gan Von Kempelen created a self-operating chess-playing machine called The Mechanical Turk, which won games against human players like Napoleon and Benjamin Franklin.
- The Mechanical Turk was a hoax, with a person secretly operating the machine under the table.
- In 2016, Amazon introduced a checkout system called Just Walk Out, allowing customers to grab items and leave without manual scanning, using AI for transactions and logistics.
- Amazon's AI technology was actually powered by a thousand people in India, manually reviewing 70% of transactions in various stores.
- Other companies, including sports stadiums, airports, and universities, also used Amazon's walkout technology, with misleading advertising.
- Companies often mislead consumers by omitting critical information about their AI technology, leading to distrust and potential harm to legitimate AI work.
- AI technology aids scammers in generating convincing texts for phishing, spam emails, and robocalls by selling personal information to data brokers.
- Aura offers protection against data brokers, providing various online security features like parental controls, antivirus, VPN, and more.
- The term "AI washing" refers to companies misleading investors about their AI products' capabilities, leading to inflated expectations and potential market crashes.
- The Gartner hype cycle suggests that the AI market is at the peak of inflated expectations, potentially leading to disappointment and a focus on real AI applications after the hype fades.
14:52
AI Impact: Job Losses in Major Corporations
- IBM and UPS have hinted at the increasing role of AI in replacing human workers, with IBM planning to pause hiring roles that could be replaced by AI and UPS acknowledging AI's involvement in recent employee layoffs, despite spokespersons denying that AI is replacing workers.
- Shopify has been secretly firing employees due to AI, while outside the tech industry, Tyler Perry paused an $800 million Studio expansion after seeing the impact of AI video generation, expressing concerns about future job losses.
- Mega corporations like Meta and Alphabet are reducing workforces and hiring, with a report suggesting around 12 million US workers may need to switch jobs by 2030 due to AI, particularly affecting lower wage workers and occupations like customer service, sales, and office support.
