Launch YC: Optifye.ai – AI performance monitoring for factory workers
ycombinator.com
ycombinator.com
YC is backtracking on them and rightly so. I don't blame them, they probably pitched something relatively ok-ish; today's demo is just a disaster from every angle.
Incidentally, this also shows why 2020s YC is a different beast than 2010s YC, they don't really care about your startup, they don't even really know what is it about, its just a pure numbers game at this point.
Methaphorically, YC also optifye-d itself into what it is nowadays.
It is not. Lots of exposure. Those who complain were not customers. Those who are potential customers don't care about comments on twitter.
Can argue backlash hurts YC but for the company itself probably helps in long run.
1) Someone actually thought this was a good idea
2) Someone actually built it
3) YC actually funded it
5) Someone actually made the video
6) Someone actually shared it with YC
7) YC thought it was a good idea to post it
This went through too many layers
Legitimately feel like just crashing out of this industry and taking up farming or something
Most factories practice two modes of compensation: 1. Per pc rate - Payment is directly tied to the output, more efficient. Requires skilled workers and can sometimes be a little costlier and impractical. Defects are deducted from the workers pay.
2. Monthly salary - This setup can accommodate semi skilled workers since each worker only handles one part of the whole. It’s a relatively cheaper process. However inefficiencies can easily creep in, defects can pile up which can wipe off the whole margin and ruin the factory.
I don’t believe in running a sweatshop, but even well run humane factories have to battle inefficiencies all the time. The line between marginal point inefficiencies can mean canceled contracts, cancelled goods and financial losses. At the end of the day it’s the workers who have to take the brunt. The upside of efficiency is timely wages; the downside is already obvious. The upside of inefficiency is a little break for workers; the downside is job loss and unpaid wages.
Hence I am not a fan of mass production esp under contract from Big retailers.
I seem to remember some person using this argument. I think it's called https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superior_orders
There are still a few Holocaust survivors left. Go ask some of them how their experience compares to that of factory workers who can, ultimately, walk out the door anytime they want.
There are a number of solutions to this problem that exist various places, militaries typically empower officers to disobey orders, professionals use licensure to uphold moral and ethical standards, whistleblower laws provide financial incentives the other way, unions can flex on immoral behavior.
I don't believe anyone is arguing the two situations are comparable outside of the fact the defense of the behavior follows the same line of reasoning, a line that was very famously rejected.
https://www.ilo.org/topics-and-sectors/forced-labour-modern-...
you may want to ask some of them about their experiences before displaying your privilege
At the end of the day, it’s all about efficiency.But running efficiently shouldn’t come at the cost of low paid workers.
you understood EXACTLY what I meant when quoting this. You can always say no. always.
> It’s a misplaced backlash on the founders or the factories, while the main enablers are the Big retailers. Factories are at the mercy of big retailers.
Everyone always think the fault lies somewhere else. Go ask big retailers and they will say they are the mercy of competition and consumers' demands.
Ultimately, everyone is trying to extract the maximum profit they can, and that includes factories.
Not every factories are sweatshops; even good humane factories are under tremendous pressure to run efficiently. Running a business efficiently isn’t a crime. However I do agree that the demo could have been a little more better.
Day by day things are moving towards dystopia.
This story was even flagged. Like wtf?
The launch video was disgraceful.
This guy knows marketing. Agreed it would not have been as controversial
Using humans in pipelines irrevocably sets this kind of dynamic up, sadly.
- Yuck.
- This is capitalism and, like it or not, I personally benefit from capitalism.
- When the capital comes from affluent countries and the labour comes from countries with weak labour laws, we get a bad situation where the workers are exploited.
- I need to up my game on purchasing from ethical clothing brands.
Tl;dr; We place cameras in manufacturing lines and use computer vision to show line supervisors who’s working and who’s not in real-time.
Alternative TL;DR: privileged kids turn exploitation into a dashboard feature.
Technology is supposed to make the world better. This is vile, and the script itself shows the founders do not care or understand what they are doing.
edit: it looks like they’ve now removed it, and yc removed their launch tweet
I'm a factory worker. Have been for most of the last 30 years. It's nice to know what some people in the tech industry think of us.