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I'm a developer for a major food delivery app

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Re: I'm a developer for a major food delivery app

#231

Post by mlrtime »

jacobrussell wrote: post #95

I thought I would share this just because I found it interesting: https://www.pangram.com/history/a22e7372-5970-4537-b511-0416... Pangram is an interesting company and, to me, seems to be SOTA in AI detection. This came back as “Fully AI Generated.” It has been interesting to read about the methodology. Still not sure how I feel about it! Either way, as other comments have suggested, important to take things with a g…

Every time this happens the OP says they're not a native english speaker so they used AI to write it from their language or notes.

Wonder if the tool can detect this phenomenon?

Re: I'm a developer for a major food delivery app

#232

Post by mlrtime »

kaizenb wrote: post #104

Greed. There are many ways to do good business, but we constantly push for exploitation. Technology will be blamed as always, not the operators. Humans such a disappointment.

>Humans such a disappointment.

Compared to what, and idealized versions of ourselves? Or animals who rip the throats out of other mammals to eat?

Re: I'm a developer for a major food delivery app

#233

Post by dueyfinster »

forinti wrote: post #211

There's very good restaurant in my neighbourhood that I order from regularly. I tried ordering directly from them after hearing about how nasty the delivery app company was. I thought they would appreciate it: they wouldn't have to pay the intermediary. But it turns out they prioritise the app and my orders took longer to arrive. So I'm back on the app...

It may be that they have no choice since it's their biggest source of customers. I spoke to a hotel receptionist before and she said the order of upgrades was: booked direct, booking.com, Expedia and all the rest after. The hotel couldn't afford to piss off booking as they would suffer a lot in occupancy, the other platforms couldn't match. I think it's worth giving the feedback to the restaurant direct and see if they can fix it. It's always a delicate balance depending on time and the app may penalize them.

Re: I'm a developer for a major food delivery app

#234

Post by bdangubic »

raffael_de wrote: post #216
nxtfari wrote: post #135

Believability aside (I do think it’s believable personally) this is pretty much how “evil” (from outsider perspective) is done at every company, including mine. Inside it’s all sprint meetings, KPIs and terminology that are either intentionally or unintentionally designed to keep engineers far from thinking about impact on real people. It’s easy to convince a 25 year old whiz kid to optimize human assets, it’s just l…

> Defense (my field) is very much the same way. First step here in terms of terminology is to call it "defense" instead of "weapon technology to maim or kill human beings". Having said that, I do believe we need weapon technology to maim and kill human beings.

It is defense against others making weapon technology to maim or kill human beings

Re: I'm a developer for a major food delivery app

#237

Post by [deleted] »

nothrabannosir wrote: post #215
muppetman wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or the app shows you a few fake deliveries... If this story is real then there's no reason you can believe what the app shows you.

It would have to do very accurate parallel construction of GPS signal to lie about the driver's location yet correctly predict the arrival time, which cannot be faked.

[deleted]

Re: I'm a developer for a major food delivery app

#238

Post by kayge »

michaelbuck wrote: post #208
prartichoke wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are two datapoints in the text. One is the 2 weeks notice, the other is that they knew of this since 8 months ago. If this were me, I would give random made up information of this kind to throw off anyone trying to investigate this. Also, this is not that far from what we already know from whistleblowers of similar gig economy companies so my believability is not stretched at all.

Other comments pointed out the semi-obvious use of AI due to em dashes. I'm honestly at a point where every suspicious aspect of that post could as well be counted as a countermeasure to getting caught. Said engineer could still be working at the company or could've left years ago. In my opinion the mentioned financial adjustments could've been a discussion topic for higher ups far far earlier than 2025. Considering…

Counterpoint: I've been using em dashes and bulleted lists in my writing (especially in work emails) since around 2015. There are dozens of us! Or maybe I'm just an LLM in a meat suit — who knows at this point.

Re: I'm a developer for a major food delivery app

#239

Post by hoherd »

nxtfari wrote: post #135

Believability aside (I do think it’s believable personally) this is pretty much how “evil” (from outsider perspective) is done at every company, including mine. Inside it’s all sprint meetings, KPIs and terminology that are either intentionally or unintentionally designed to keep engineers far from thinking about impact on real people. It’s easy to convince a 25 year old whiz kid to optimize human assets, it’s just l…

Relevant quote from Screwtape Letters:

I live in the Managerial Age, in a world of "Admin." The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid "dens of crime" that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices.

Re: I'm a developer for a major food delivery app

#240

Post by danaris »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #173
rich_sasha wrote: post #116

If true (I'm not sure), this is kind of economics in action. There's a monopolistic market maker, screwing every last cent out of providers, with enormous power imbalances. The market maker is semi monopolistic, the labour is low-skilled, with little bargaining power and few better options. The "winners" are shareholders of the company and to some extent the end customers (who, other things being equal, would have to…

> There's a monopolistic market maker But there isn't? Doordash and Uber Eats compete nationally. Most cities have a litany of local competitors. And that's before we get to restaurants that handle delivery in house.

Sure, they "compete", but would you be surprised if they have some kind of under-the-table agreement to keep prices high and payments low...?
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