anthem2025

Yeah, unquestioning “journalists” have allowed them to turn laying off thousands into an ad for their new tech.

It’s also just natural cost cutting from businesses that were previously massively over hiring, and outside of AI don’t exactly have a ton of areas with huge growing investment.

Plus slashing jobs like this keeps the plebs in line. They don’t like software engineers having the money and job security to raise a stink over things. They want drones terrified of losing everything.

So take the broken god awful experience of self checkout and add another layer of “I think you did something wrong so now you have to stand around waiting for an actual person”?

No thanks.

They absolutely do. It’s not the cashiers being security, it’s having adequate staffing making people less likely to steal. Its not stopping crimes that have occurred it’s just reducing opportunistic theft.

It’s also just resulting in atrocious customer experience.

I can go to Safeway or the smaller chain half a block away.

The Safeway went all in on self checkouts. The store is barely staffed, shelves are constantly empty, you have to have your receipt checked by security every time, they closed the second entrance permanently, and for some reason the place smells.

Other store has self checkouts but they also have loads of staff. I usually go through the normal checkout because it’s easier and since they have adequate staff and self checkout lines it tends to be about the same speed to.

End result is I don’t shop at Safeway if I can avoid it.

They don’t need AI for that, they just cut staff to the bare minimum and put in self checkouts.

Ironic to post that quote about AI considering the hype is pretty much entirely from people who stand to make obscene wealth from it.

LLMs have no ability to reason whatsoever.

They do have the ability to fool people and exacerbate or cause mental problems.

Lots of technology is cool if you get to just say “if we get rid of the limitations” while offering no practical way to do so.

It’s still horrible btw.

Pretty crazy, and all you have to do is assume exponential performance growth for as long as it takes.

Being smart doesn’t necessarily make your tech better.

That’s nice.

It’s not an argument at all IMO, but good for you.

> I'm far left myself, by the way

So you would, logically, describe yourself as a fascist then?

I think the obvious conclusion from my post is that I don’t find any of those people credible. At all.

I’d go so far as to say I think anyone peddling horseshoe theory is a politically illiterate fool regardless of their supposed qualifications.

It’s funny that you want me to read the imitation though.

“ Several political scientists, psychologists, and sociologists have criticized the horseshoe theory.[3][4][5] Proponents point to a number of perceived similarities between extremes and allege that both tend to support authoritarianism or totalitarianism; political scientists do not appear to support this notion, and instances of peer-reviewed research on the subject are scarce. Existing studies and comprehensive reviews often find only limited support and only under certain conditions; they generally contradict the theory's central premises.”

But horseshoe theory isn’t valid. It’s entirely nonsense. It’s mostly an excuse for centrists to feel morally superior as the results of their useless ideology lead inevitably to fascism.

I don’t need to hear any more, I’m completely convinced.

Running too much is bad for me and I will not do it.

Thank you science!

I don’t understand what you’re even trying to say here.

AfD is objectively far more popular in the former east Germany. Look at a map of votes, it’s clear as day. The borders are exact. They are not a left wing party, not at all. They are a far right party.

It makes sense that the the economically struggling former communist areas would be both more drawn to extreme parties and have a distaste for the left.

It morphed into the cult of the founder a long time ago.

Or it’s a way for people to make a choice for themselves.

The key was spending 14 billion to hire a guy who hasn’t actually built AI

Tech people vs startup types.

Literally every person I have any respect for as an intellectual has described Ayn Rand as slop.

I have yet to hear positive things come from anyone who isn’t a libertarian. The sort of person who identifies with the characters because they could also envision themselves doing a monologue that lasts 45 pages.