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Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

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Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#121

Post by ryandrake »

bdcravens wrote: post #57
atmosx wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because up to this point my experience with automated systems in banks, phone companies and web services companies has been awful even for trivial requests. Until shit improves, I will be bashing on those and prefer companies that allow me to get human interaction asap.

Many "human interactions" are little more than automated bots, since they are cost-optimized call centers with scripts they are locked into with no power to act autonomously.

Almost every encounter I've had with "human" tech support in the last 5 years or so has been: 1. Me asking a question, 2. Support entering it into a computer, 3. Computer does something, 4. Support tells me what computer says. They aren't empowered to go off their scripts, exercise human judgment or to solve problems. Sadly, this work might as well be an AI chat bot at this point.

In a just world, the profits and cost savings captured by AI and automation would go to the displaced workers rather than the owners and customers, but that's politically impossible at least in the USA.

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#122

Post by fifteen1506 »

I thought they were all like family?

Seriously though, what are the mental implications of surprise layoffs?

You stop trusting everyone's word, specially when you're just a number? How does a structured capitalist society hold with this?

Or you just double-down on the false belief those fired deserved it?

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#123

Post by [deleted] »

indy wrote: post #91
krainboltgreene wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I built careers on making labour easier, I want the result of that labour to benefit the workers, not the exceptionally short term vision of shareholders. Just because you can't understand why this affects your future doesn't mean it's hollow outrage.

If you think that AI only benefits shareholders then you're the one with exceptional short term vision. Broadening access to AI will massively benefit all humans

[deleted]

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#124

Post by gorlilla »

ghaff wrote: post #44
gnufied wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same goes for almost all grocery shops here - Publix, Kroger, target etc replacing checkout with self-checkout kiosks completely. I absolute hate using self-checkout for non-packaged groceries items. Especially if I have lots of stuff. Freaking "unintended item in baggage area". Not to mention, I feel like Publix etc in particular employed lots of folks with disability. It warmed my heart to talk to them. I don't kno…

Grocery stores and others absolutely still need cashier checkout. If I have a handful of items I can barcode swipe and even a couple pieces of produce that's fine. But they simply aren't designed for a full shopping cart which includes a ton of non-barcoded items. Ditto with home repair stores. Scan a new smoke detector? Sure. Check out a bunch of lumber etc. That would be no. In my experience, most stores are findin…

Maybe it's just because self-checkout has always played into my intorvertedness. But i have become very effecient at self checkout no matter how much i buy.

I shop for myself, spouse and 4 adolescent/teenage children. I can typically ring myself out faster and more orderly than the cashier.

Most cashiers are super wasteful with bags and just pack things illogically. These aren't the trained baggers of yester-year afterall.

Either way, my favorite way to shop at my local wholesale warehouse has been the app which lets you ring up as you load up the cart, pay and simply walk out the door.

Cashiers are not in fact still necessary, the self-checkout lanes are merely a stop-gap yo better automation.

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#125

Post by silisili »

smt88 wrote: post #84
gnufied wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same goes for almost all grocery shops here - Publix, Kroger, target etc replacing checkout with self-checkout kiosks completely. I absolute hate using self-checkout for non-packaged groceries items. Especially if I have lots of stuff. Freaking "unintended item in baggage area". Not to mention, I feel like Publix etc in particular employed lots of folks with disability. It warmed my heart to talk to them. I don't kno…

So far, I've never seen a Publix with even a single self-checkout. I'm not saying they don't exist, but they're rolling them out much more slowly than the other stores. This is likely because Publix is 80% employee-owned[1]. 1. https://fourweekmba.com/who-owns-publix/#:~:text=Key%20takea... .

The newer ones seem to have them. Which to me is like a breach of the unspoken contract.

Publix has always been more expensive, but gave you great people experience, a cashier, and usually a bag boy asking if you wanted help out to the car.

Now that they're moving to self checkout, what the hell are we paying more for?

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#126

Post by indy »

mike_hock wrote: post #110
jarjoura wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the response you expect from everyone? Americans were replaced with off-shore call centers last decade. Now they're replaced with AI. Both are equally shitty because there's a very real human cost here. I certainly don't feel good about building technology that puts anyone out of a job like that. Maybe that person was working there as a means to pay for school to get a better job, and now has to find other wo…

And you lose quality of service with each move like this. Generic call centers serving a myriad of companies are completely useless to the customer, just read off a script and can't fix anything. AI is essentially the same.

"read off a script and can't fix anything" has been a hallmark of customer service for the past 20 years. If anything, the shift to AI offers a path away from this and towards offering actually useful feedback.

Would anyone whose been keeping up with LLM progress be surprised if within the next 3 years all AI powered call centers are significantly more useful than all of the current call centers?

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#128

Post by finnh »

bdangubic wrote: post #119
gnufied wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same goes for almost all grocery shops here - Publix, Kroger, target etc replacing checkout with self-checkout kiosks completely. I absolute hate using self-checkout for non-packaged groceries items. Especially if I have lots of stuff. Freaking "unintended item in baggage area". Not to mention, I feel like Publix etc in particular employed lots of folks with disability. It warmed my heart to talk to them. I don't kno…

[flagged]

so, you are a thief. congratulations

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#129

Post by klyrs »

rcme wrote: post #71
ghaff wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Grocery stores and others absolutely still need cashier checkout. If I have a handful of items I can barcode swipe and even a couple pieces of produce that's fine. But they simply aren't designed for a full shopping cart which includes a ton of non-barcoded items. Ditto with home repair stores. Scan a new smoke detector? Sure. Check out a bunch of lumber etc. That would be no. In my experience, most stores are findin…

Order groceries online. It's much more convenient for large orders.

I got a cake delivered upside down. So convenient.

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#130

Post by phpisthebest »

avery17 wrote: post #58
RugnirViking wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

in theory: customer support automation frees up support workers from focusing on repetetive customer issues to being able to devote more time to those difficult issues, providing better service at lower cost in practise: have you ever used any automated customer support for anything? it speaks for itself - it's literally worse than nothing.

We've never had a gpt powered customer support though. It will be fine tuned on all of their recorded customer interactions ever. I could see this being way better than typical customer support where you have minimally trained, low wage employees who barely know how to use a computer just reading a script.

You do understand that your comment is self nullifying right?

If the majority of support people are "minimally trained, low wage employees who barely know how to use a computer just reading a script." then how exactly is the AI going to be better by using the recorded interactions of "low wage employees who barely know how to use a computer just reading a script"

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