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Perplexity CEO offers AI company's services to replace striking NYT staff

techcrunch.com

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Re: Perplexity CEO offers AI company's services to replace striking NYT staff

#11

Post by mywittyname »

mandibles wrote: post #5
hobs wrote: post #3

So much work to avoid being upset at this guy: "But to offer its services explicitly as a replacement for striking workers was bound to be an unpopular move." No, really? You'd think these AI guys would have better PR departments.

The LLM never goes on strike.

No, but the companies that operate them are thinking long term. Once they are completely embedded into the company (read: difficult to replace), they ratchet up the fees.

Nevermind all the costs and work involved with onboarding.

Re: Perplexity CEO offers AI company's services to replace striking NYT staff

#12

Post by PKop »

artninja1988 wrote: post #8

Honestly, the fact that he posted it the way he did, publicly in a tweet suggests he wasn’t trying to undermine workers but rather wanted to be seen as supporting election coverage. Based on his past interviews, he seems quite autistic in ways. But really I think this could have been a good opportunity to strike some licensing deal in exchange for technology, had he been a bit more discreet

Why should he care about another company's workers? He should care about his own company and workers and gaining them new customers.

Re: Perplexity CEO offers AI company's services to replace striking NYT staff

#13

Post by dakiol »

mandibles wrote: post #5
hobs wrote: post #3

So much work to avoid being upset at this guy: "But to offer its services explicitly as a replacement for striking workers was bound to be an unpopular move." No, really? You'd think these AI guys would have better PR departments.

The LLM never goes on strike.

Current LLMs can (because they are still maintained by humans). I think it will be a decade still until we have software maintaining itself (i.e., rewriting its own code, fixing vulnerabilities, etc)

Re: Perplexity CEO offers AI company's services to replace striking NYT staff

#15

Post by arsenico »

PKop wrote: post #12
artninja1988 wrote: post #8

Honestly, the fact that he posted it the way he did, publicly in a tweet suggests he wasn’t trying to undermine workers but rather wanted to be seen as supporting election coverage. Based on his past interviews, he seems quite autistic in ways. But really I think this could have been a good opportunity to strike some licensing deal in exchange for technology, had he been a bit more discreet

Why should he care about another company's workers? He should care about his own company and workers and gaining them new customers.

Because we live in a society with some ideas of decency, integrity and so on. He shouldn’t. That’s why he could receive this kind of feedback.

Re: Perplexity CEO offers AI company's services to replace striking NYT staff

#17

Post by KeplerBoy »

fosefx wrote: post #6
hobs wrote: post #3

So much work to avoid being upset at this guy: "But to offer its services explicitly as a replacement for striking workers was bound to be an unpopular move." No, really? You'd think these AI guys would have better PR departments.

They were replaced by AI

Claude would tell you that this is a shitty move PR wise and likely to backfire.

Edit: Tried it, and yes claude started it's answer with: "I need to strongly advise against making such an offer publicly". No wonder these people are so impressed by their AIs, considering they are making worse choices than their models.

Re: Perplexity CEO offers AI company's services to replace striking NYT staff

#18

Post by A4ET8a8uTh0 »

baxtr wrote: post #16

I find it a bit odd that Perplexity still have a human CEO.

I know people get a chuckle out of it, but does it not make more sense to have CEO LLM that will make decisions without regard for its own needs, self-interest, conflicts and so on? Honestly, the longer this particular debate rages on, I think shareholders are looking the wrong set of humans to replace.

Re: Perplexity CEO offers AI company's services to replace striking NYT staff

#20

Post by hiddencost »

IncreasePosts wrote: post #14

Quite recently, lots of people were calling on almost-striking longshoremen to be replaced by machines. How is replacing tech workers with AI any different?

I look forward to executives trying it and discovering exactly how fucked they will be.

I get the chance to talk to a lot of people who think this will work, and, it's really striking how poor their grasp of the business is.

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