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Tell HN: Y Combinator backing AI company to abuse factory workers

news.ycombinator.com

71–80 of 205 posts

Re: Tell HN: Y Combinator backing AI company to abuse factory workers

#71
post #63

As someone who grew up in a 3rd world country and whose mother owned a clothing factory, this product seems...fine? The response is an indication of how little people know about how their t-shirts and shoes are made.

Ah ok, my bad then, it's a perfect product and we shouldn't change anything at all then. Let's continue to treat humans as machines, especially in 3rd world countries, who cares right ? Even they say it's fine.

[dead]

Re: Tell HN: Y Combinator backing AI company to abuse factory workers

#73
No comment really, just came here to remind everyone about, "The Yes Men."

NSFW warning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_bWAF-XxQM

The video features a tear-away business suit to reveal a gold lame stretch suit with a giant, inflatable phallus that has a monitor at the end and controls to let a manager electrocute under performing factory workers from the beach.

This was presented live and in person to an unwitting, but credulous breakout session at the WTO in 2003 to awkward applause.

Re: Tell HN: Y Combinator backing AI company to abuse factory workers

#75
post #56

The only thing truly embarrassing is that nobody at YC advised them that this ad is 1) terribly amateur and 2) has the chance to look extremely bad. Did not advise and in fact published to their feed. Weird optics, I am not familiar with what I presume to be Indian factories, other than the wild lack of safety (thanks youtube) but I cannot see how this video does anything positive. As for the product itself I don't t…

Believe it or not, founders don't run every single thing they do by the YC partners!

> Believe it or not, nobody suggested you need to run everything by a partner!

Believe it or not, nobody suggested you need to run everything by a partner! I would expect someone to at least watch a video once before posting it in a congratulatory post on YC's feed. It is not a criticism of startup culture but watching that video I genuinely question how far quality has fallen?

Re: Tell HN: Y Combinator backing AI company to abuse factory workers

#76
post #46

This sort of performance management is unfortunately necessary. The problem is that we need tools for it to be built by people who can empathise with those subjected to them, and who want to do the right thing, and not these sorts of folks who are too immature and inexperienced to get it right. My previous company ran a warehouse and there was a clear bell curve of productivity. Most people were fine, some were excel…

Necessary according to who?

Colleagues, the business. The important things are that performance management is a) used to identify those performing far below what is possible, and b) that there is a good faith effort to support those people to perform better.

Both of these things are mis-handled by many companies, who will use it to encourage more performance out of those who are already as productive as practically possible, and that the tools are used in bad faith or with no intention of helping people, only as an excuse to fire them.

Re: Tell HN: Y Combinator backing AI company to abuse factory workers

#77
post #56

The only thing truly embarrassing is that nobody at YC advised them that this ad is 1) terribly amateur and 2) has the chance to look extremely bad. Did not advise and in fact published to their feed. Weird optics, I am not familiar with what I presume to be Indian factories, other than the wild lack of safety (thanks youtube) but I cannot see how this video does anything positive. As for the product itself I don't t…

Believe it or not, founders don't run every single thing they do by the YC partners!

Sure, but it seems like this was posted to (and now deleted from) the @ycombinator X account with a "Congrats on the launch!" message.

Re: Tell HN: Y Combinator backing AI company to abuse factory workers

#78

As someone who grew up in a 3rd world country and whose mother owned a clothing factory, this product seems...fine? The response is an indication of how little people know about how their t-shirts and shoes are made.

TBH I'd rather buy shirts where I know that people doing them have been well-treated

Re: Tell HN: Y Combinator backing AI company to abuse factory workers

#79
post #70
post #19

Brought to you by the VC famous for InstallMonetizer? Make no mistake, it’ll basically back anything that makes money, there’s no moral high ground. And like it or not, this kind of AI (or should I say A-eye) is here to stay.

Did YC fund (or otherwise back) InstallMonetizer? The way I understood it, they applied to YC with a different idea and worked on IM earlier/on the side/later. (In which case, the controversy was more whether YC works with people who make things like InstallMonetizer.)

> Did YC fund (or otherwise back) InstallMonetizer?

Yes. Quoting Paul Graham:

> Last week there was some controversy online about a company we funded called InstallMonetizer.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5092711

Re: Tell HN: Y Combinator backing AI company to abuse factory workers

#80
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shouldn't the manager of the 'bunch of workers' notice the guy is underperforming and understand why ? Maybe that manager is the one that shouldn't be doing that job

yah this is exactly what labor law says in some countries: a manager standing behind your desk? ok. a machine surveilling you? not ok.

Yeah it’s a matter of scale. The manager can’t stand behind your desk and watch you all day every day. AI can.
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