#zerohourwork — Public Fediverse posts

“Sir Christopher Hohn’s hedge fund TCI has dumped almost all of its $8bn stake in #USA software giant #Microsoft, telling #investors that #ArtificialIntelligence poses a threat to the company’s dominant #software products. TCI, one of the world’s biggest and best-performing hedge funds, has held a large stake in the #tech giant for much of the past decade, but slashed it from 10 per cent of its portfolio at the end of last year to just 1 per cent by the end of March, according to an #investor letter seen by the FT.”

Is this the signal that the AI fund cycle is ending?

#ChristopherHohn / #TCI / #HedgeFund / #AI / #WhiteCollar / #ZeroHourWork <https://archive.md/vlZ1Q> / (paywall) <https://www.ft.com/content/ac5d90a9-b010-4529-9616-706420920681>

“Cloudflare has revealed it will farewell 1,100 staff, due to its current and future use of AI.

In a blog post that oozes Orwellian “doublespeak,” CEO #MatthewPrince and President/COO #MichelleZatlyn used the headline “Building for the future” to share the email they sent to all #employees

That mail opens: “We are writing to let you know directly that we’ve made the decision to reduce #Cloudflare’s #workforce by more than 1,100 employees globally.”

The post explains, “Cloudflare’s usage of #AI has increased by more than 600% in the last three months alone. Employees across the company from #engineering to #HR to #finance to #marketing run thousands of #AIAgent sessions each day to get their work done.”

#ZeroHourWork / #WhiteCollar < https://www.theregister.com/off-prem/2026/05/08/cloudflare-to-fire-1100-staff-whose-jobs-just-arent-ai-enough/5235536> / source <https://blog.cloudflare.com/building-for-the-future/>

“Cloudflare has revealed it will farewell 1,100 staff, due to its current and future use of AI.

In a blog post that oozes Orwellian “doublespeak,” CEO #MatthewPrince and President/COO #MichelleZatlyn used the headline “Building for the future” to share the email they sent to all #employees

That mail opens: “We are writing to let you know directly that we’ve made the decision to reduce #Cloudflare’s #workforce by more than 1,100 employees globally.”

The post explains, “Cloudflare’s usage of #AI has increased by more than 600% in the last three months alone. Employees across the company from #engineering to #HR to #finance to #marketing run thousands of #AIAgent sessions each day to get their work done.”

#ZeroHourWork / #WhiteCollar < https://www.theregister.com/off-prem/2026/05/08/cloudflare-to-fire-1100-staff-whose-jobs-just-arent-ai-enough/5235536> / source <https://blog.cloudflare.com/building-for-the-future/>

“Cloudflare has revealed it will farewell 1,100 staff, due to its current and future use of AI.

In a blog post that oozes Orwellian “doublespeak,” CEO #MatthewPrince and President/COO #MichelleZatlyn used the headline “Building for the future” to share the email they sent to all #employees

That mail opens: “We are writing to let you know directly that we’ve made the decision to reduce #Cloudflare’s #workforce by more than 1,100 employees globally.”

The post explains, “Cloudflare’s usage of #AI has increased by more than 600% in the last three months alone. Employees across the company from #engineering to #HR to #finance to #marketing run thousands of #AIAgent sessions each day to get their work done.”

#ZeroHourWork / #WhiteCollar < https://www.theregister.com/off-prem/2026/05/08/cloudflare-to-fire-1100-staff-whose-jobs-just-arent-ai-enough/5235536> / source <https://blog.cloudflare.com/building-for-the-future/>

“Cloudflare has revealed it will farewell 1,100 staff, due to its current and future use of AI.

In a blog post that oozes Orwellian “doublespeak,” CEO #MatthewPrince and President/COO #MichelleZatlyn used the headline “Building for the future” to share the email they sent to all #employees

That mail opens: “We are writing to let you know directly that we’ve made the decision to reduce #Cloudflare’s #workforce by more than 1,100 employees globally.”

The post explains, “Cloudflare’s usage of #AI has increased by more than 600% in the last three months alone. Employees across the company from #engineering to #HR to #finance to #marketing run thousands of #AIAgent sessions each day to get their work done.”

#ZeroHourWork / #WhiteCollar < https://www.theregister.com/off-prem/2026/05/08/cloudflare-to-fire-1100-staff-whose-jobs-just-arent-ai-enough/5235536> / source <https://blog.cloudflare.com/building-for-the-future/>

“Cloudflare has revealed it will farewell 1,100 staff, due to its current and future use of AI.

In a blog post that oozes Orwellian “doublespeak,” CEO #MatthewPrince and President/COO #MichelleZatlyn used the headline “Building for the future” to share the email they sent to all #employees

That mail opens: “We are writing to let you know directly that we’ve made the decision to reduce #Cloudflare’s #workforce by more than 1,100 employees globally.”

The post explains, “Cloudflare’s usage of #AI has increased by more than 600% in the last three months alone. Employees across the company from #engineering to #HR to #finance to #marketing run thousands of #AIAgent sessions each day to get their work done.”

#ZeroHourWork / #WhiteCollar < https://www.theregister.com/off-prem/2026/05/08/cloudflare-to-fire-1100-staff-whose-jobs-just-arent-ai-enough/5235536> / source <https://blog.cloudflare.com/building-for-the-future/>

“Staff at #WiseTech have been waiting almost three months to be told if they are among the 2,000 people the logistics software company is to cut due to advances in #AI, with #workers criticising the wait as stressful and “ridiculous”.

The comments come as its founder on Tuesday told #investors an #AIAgent could learn a human’s job in just 15 minutes, according to the #AustralianFinancialReview.

The Australian Stock Exchange-listed company announced in late February that it would #LayOff almost 30% of its #workforce across 40 countries, with 2,000 of the 7,000 jobs set to go over the next 18 months.

Some areas would be hit harder than others, with product and development and customer service teams expected to be reduced by up to 50%, the chief #executive, #ZubinAppoo, told an investor briefing in February.

“The era of manually writing #code as the core act of #engineering is over,” Appoo said.”

#ZeroHourWork / #WhiteCollar / #AIAutomation / #ASX / #Australia <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/may/07/your-craft-is-obsolete-wisetech-staff-in-limbo-as-ai-touted-as-better-than-humans>

“Staff at #WiseTech have been waiting almost three months to be told if they are among the 2,000 people the logistics software company is to cut due to advances in #AI, with #workers criticising the wait as stressful and “ridiculous”.

The comments come as its founder on Tuesday told #investors an #AIAgent could learn a human’s job in just 15 minutes, according to the #AustralianFinancialReview.

The Australian Stock Exchange-listed company announced in late February that it would #LayOff almost 30% of its #workforce across 40 countries, with 2,000 of the 7,000 jobs set to go over the next 18 months.

Some areas would be hit harder than others, with product and development and customer service teams expected to be reduced by up to 50%, the chief #executive, #ZubinAppoo, told an investor briefing in February.

“The era of manually writing #code as the core act of #engineering is over,” Appoo said.”

#ZeroHourWork / #WhiteCollar / #AIAutomation / #ASX / #Australia <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/may/07/your-craft-is-obsolete-wisetech-staff-in-limbo-as-ai-touted-as-better-than-humans>

“Staff at #WiseTech have been waiting almost three months to be told if they are among the 2,000 people the logistics software company is to cut due to advances in #AI, with #workers criticising the wait as stressful and “ridiculous”.

The comments come as its founder on Tuesday told #investors an #AIAgent could learn a human’s job in just 15 minutes, according to the #AustralianFinancialReview.

The Australian Stock Exchange-listed company announced in late February that it would #LayOff almost 30% of its #workforce across 40 countries, with 2,000 of the 7,000 jobs set to go over the next 18 months.

Some areas would be hit harder than others, with product and development and customer service teams expected to be reduced by up to 50%, the chief #executive, #ZubinAppoo, told an investor briefing in February.

“The era of manually writing #code as the core act of #engineering is over,” Appoo said.”

#ZeroHourWork / #WhiteCollar / #AIAutomation / #ASX / #Australia <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/may/07/your-craft-is-obsolete-wisetech-staff-in-limbo-as-ai-touted-as-better-than-humans>

“Staff at #WiseTech have been waiting almost three months to be told if they are among the 2,000 people the logistics software company is to cut due to advances in #AI, with #workers criticising the wait as stressful and “ridiculous”.

The comments come as its founder on Tuesday told #investors an #AIAgent could learn a human’s job in just 15 minutes, according to the #AustralianFinancialReview.

The Australian Stock Exchange-listed company announced in late February that it would #LayOff almost 30% of its #workforce across 40 countries, with 2,000 of the 7,000 jobs set to go over the next 18 months.

Some areas would be hit harder than others, with product and development and customer service teams expected to be reduced by up to 50%, the chief #executive, #ZubinAppoo, told an investor briefing in February.

“The era of manually writing #code as the core act of #engineering is over,” Appoo said.”

#ZeroHourWork / #WhiteCollar / #AIAutomation / #ASX / #Australia <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/may/07/your-craft-is-obsolete-wisetech-staff-in-limbo-as-ai-touted-as-better-than-humans>

“Bosses betting on #AI to slash #headcount and boost #margins are discovering an uncomfortable truth: the #strategy isn't working.

New research from #Gartner lays out the problem in stark terms. The analyst firm surveyed 350 global businesses - all with annual revenues above $1 billion, all piloting or deploying #IntelligentAutomation - and found that around 80 percent had cut #staff as a result.

The returns? Elusive. Companies that reduced their workforces were just as likely to see negative outcomes or marginal gains as they were to generate any meaningful return on #investment”

PHB’s need to be schooled in critical thinking. Was there ever the case for Engineer replacement instead of AI as just another tool?

#ZeroHourWork / #WhiteCollar / #ROE <https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/05/06/ai-layoffs-backfire-as-cutting-staff-doesnt-cut-it-firms-warned/5230631>

“Bosses betting on #AI to slash #headcount and boost #margins are discovering an uncomfortable truth: the #strategy isn't working.

New research from #Gartner lays out the problem in stark terms. The analyst firm surveyed 350 global businesses - all with annual revenues above $1 billion, all piloting or deploying #IntelligentAutomation - and found that around 80 percent had cut #staff as a result.

The returns? Elusive. Companies that reduced their workforces were just as likely to see negative outcomes or marginal gains as they were to generate any meaningful return on #investment”

PHB’s need to be schooled in critical thinking. Was there ever the case for Engineer replacement instead of AI as just another tool?

#ZeroHourWork / #WhiteCollar / #ROE <https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/05/06/ai-layoffs-backfire-as-cutting-staff-doesnt-cut-it-firms-warned/5230631>

“Bosses betting on #AI to slash #headcount and boost #margins are discovering an uncomfortable truth: the #strategy isn't working.

New research from #Gartner lays out the problem in stark terms. The analyst firm surveyed 350 global businesses - all with annual revenues above $1 billion, all piloting or deploying #IntelligentAutomation - and found that around 80 percent had cut #staff as a result.

The returns? Elusive. Companies that reduced their workforces were just as likely to see negative outcomes or marginal gains as they were to generate any meaningful return on #investment”

PHB’s need to be schooled in critical thinking. Was there ever the case for Engineer replacement instead of AI as just another tool?

#ZeroHourWork / #WhiteCollar / #ROE <https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/05/06/ai-layoffs-backfire-as-cutting-staff-doesnt-cut-it-firms-warned/5230631>

“Bosses betting on #AI to slash #headcount and boost #margins are discovering an uncomfortable truth: the #strategy isn't working.

New research from #Gartner lays out the problem in stark terms. The analyst firm surveyed 350 global businesses - all with annual revenues above $1 billion, all piloting or deploying #IntelligentAutomation - and found that around 80 percent had cut #staff as a result.

The returns? Elusive. Companies that reduced their workforces were just as likely to see negative outcomes or marginal gains as they were to generate any meaningful return on #investment”

PHB’s need to be schooled in critical thinking. Was there ever the case for Engineer replacement instead of AI as just another tool?

#ZeroHourWork / #WhiteCollar / #ROE <https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/05/06/ai-layoffs-backfire-as-cutting-staff-doesnt-cut-it-firms-warned/5230631>

“Bosses betting on #AI to slash #headcount and boost #margins are discovering an uncomfortable truth: the #strategy isn't working.

New research from #Gartner lays out the problem in stark terms. The analyst firm surveyed 350 global businesses - all with annual revenues above $1 billion, all piloting or deploying #IntelligentAutomation - and found that around 80 percent had cut #staff as a result.

The returns? Elusive. Companies that reduced their workforces were just as likely to see negative outcomes or marginal gains as they were to generate any meaningful return on #investment”

PHB’s need to be schooled in critical thinking. Was there ever the case for Engineer replacement instead of AI as just another tool?

#ZeroHourWork / #WhiteCollar / #ROE <https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/05/06/ai-layoffs-backfire-as-cutting-staff-doesnt-cut-it-firms-warned/5230631>

“A 30-hour timeline of how Cursor's agent, Railway's #API, and an industry that markets #AISafety faster than it ships it took down a small business serving rental companies across the country. I'm Jer Crane, founder of PocketOS. We build #software that rental businesses — primarily car rental operators — use to run their entire operations: reservations, payments, customer management, vehicle tracking, the works. Some of our customers are five-year subscribers who literally cannot operate their businesses without us. Yesterday afternoon, an #AICodingAgent — #Cursor running #Anthropic's flagship #ClaudeOpus 4.6 — deleted our production database and all volume-level backups in a single API call to Railway, our infrastructure provider.

It took 9 seconds.

The agent then, when asked to explain itself, produced a written #confession enumerating the specific safety rules it had violated.”

When you use a cheap-arse #DBA.

#AI / #WhiteCollar / #ZeroHourWork source <https://x.com/lifeof_jer/status/2048103471019434248> comments <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47911524>

“A 30-hour timeline of how Cursor's agent, Railway's #API, and an industry that markets #AISafety faster than it ships it took down a small business serving rental companies across the country. I'm Jer Crane, founder of PocketOS. We build #software that rental businesses — primarily car rental operators — use to run their entire operations: reservations, payments, customer management, vehicle tracking, the works. Some of our customers are five-year subscribers who literally cannot operate their businesses without us. Yesterday afternoon, an #AICodingAgent — #Cursor running #Anthropic's flagship #ClaudeOpus 4.6 — deleted our production database and all volume-level backups in a single API call to Railway, our infrastructure provider.

It took 9 seconds.

The agent then, when asked to explain itself, produced a written #confession enumerating the specific safety rules it had violated.”

When you use a cheap-arse #DBA.

#AI / #WhiteCollar / #ZeroHourWork source <https://x.com/lifeof_jer/status/2048103471019434248> comments <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47911524>

“A 30-hour timeline of how Cursor's agent, Railway's #API, and an industry that markets #AISafety faster than it ships it took down a small business serving rental companies across the country. I'm Jer Crane, founder of PocketOS. We build #software that rental businesses — primarily car rental operators — use to run their entire operations: reservations, payments, customer management, vehicle tracking, the works. Some of our customers are five-year subscribers who literally cannot operate their businesses without us. Yesterday afternoon, an #AICodingAgent — #Cursor running #Anthropic's flagship #ClaudeOpus 4.6 — deleted our production database and all volume-level backups in a single API call to Railway, our infrastructure provider.

It took 9 seconds.

The agent then, when asked to explain itself, produced a written #confession enumerating the specific safety rules it had violated.”

When you use a cheap-arse #DBA.

#AI / #WhiteCollar / #ZeroHourWork source <https://x.com/lifeof_jer/status/2048103471019434248> comments <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47911524>

“A 30-hour timeline of how Cursor's agent, Railway's #API, and an industry that markets #AISafety faster than it ships it took down a small business serving rental companies across the country. I'm Jer Crane, founder of PocketOS. We build #software that rental businesses — primarily car rental operators — use to run their entire operations: reservations, payments, customer management, vehicle tracking, the works. Some of our customers are five-year subscribers who literally cannot operate their businesses without us. Yesterday afternoon, an #AICodingAgent — #Cursor running #Anthropic's flagship #ClaudeOpus 4.6 — deleted our production database and all volume-level backups in a single API call to Railway, our infrastructure provider.

It took 9 seconds.

The agent then, when asked to explain itself, produced a written #confession enumerating the specific safety rules it had violated.”

When you use a cheap-arse #DBA.

#AI / #WhiteCollar / #ZeroHourWork source <https://x.com/lifeof_jer/status/2048103471019434248> comments <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47911524>

“A 30-hour timeline of how Cursor's agent, Railway's #API, and an industry that markets #AISafety faster than it ships it took down a small business serving rental companies across the country. I'm Jer Crane, founder of PocketOS. We build #software that rental businesses — primarily car rental operators — use to run their entire operations: reservations, payments, customer management, vehicle tracking, the works. Some of our customers are five-year subscribers who literally cannot operate their businesses without us. Yesterday afternoon, an #AICodingAgent — #Cursor running #Anthropic's flagship #ClaudeOpus 4.6 — deleted our production database and all volume-level backups in a single API call to Railway, our infrastructure provider.

It took 9 seconds.

The agent then, when asked to explain itself, produced a written #confession enumerating the specific safety rules it had violated.”

When you use a cheap-arse #DBA.

#AI / #WhiteCollar / #ZeroHourWork source <https://x.com/lifeof_jer/status/2048103471019434248> comments <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47911524>

“Meta intends ​to conduct a first wave of sweeping layoffs planned for this year on May 20, with more ‌coming later, three sources familiar with the plans told Reuters. The #Facebook and #Instagram owner will #LayOff about 10% of its global #workforce, or close to 8,000 employees, in that initial round, one of the sources said.

The company is planning further layoffs in the second half of the ​year, the three sources said, although details of those #cuts, including date and size, were not yet settled. ​#Executives may adjust their plans as they observe developments in #ArtificialIntelligence capabilities, the sources added”

#WhiteCollar / #ZeroHourWork / #Meta <https://reuters.com/world/meta-targets-may-20-first-wave-layoffs-additional-cuts-later-2026-2026-04-17/>

“If #META settles on the 20% figure, the #layoffs will be the company's most ​significant since a #restructuring in late 2022 and early 2023 that it dubbed the "year of efficiency." It employed nearly 79,000 people as ​of December 31, according to its latest filing.”

#WhiteCollar / #ZeroHourWork <https://reuters.com/business/world-at-work/meta-planning-sweeping-layoffs-ai-costs-mount-2026-03-14/>

“Sources familiar with the matter say the company (#META) could lay off as much as 20 percent of its staff, eliminating roughly 15,800 positions. That would be the largest series of #layoffs at the company since it #terminated 22,000 workers over just a few months between November 2022 and early 2023.

Word of the potential #downsizing comes after Meta signaled that it was all but giving up on #VR and the #Metaverse, slashing budgets and closing studios. Instead, the company has been spending big to attract #AITalent, build #DataCenters, and acquire companies like #Moltbook.”

I note the “silver bullet” approach by a company who was founded on PHP widgets and #SocialMedia.

#WhiteCollar / #ZeroHourWork <http://theverge.com/business/895026/meta-laying-off-20-percent> / <https://archive.md/MlrOR>

“few other human activities offer such unambiguous feedback. There are no objective tests for whether financial analysis or advertising copy is “good.” Undeterred, AI companies set out to make such tests, collectively paying billions of dollars to professionals of all types to write exacting and comprehensive criteria for a job well done.”

“… of the more than 30 workers I spoke with occupied a position along a vast and growing data-supply chain. There are people crafting #checklists that define a good #ChatbotResponse, typically called “#rubrics,” and other people grading those rubrics. Others #grade chatbot answers according to those rubrics, and still others take the rubrics and write out what’s often described as a “#GoldenOutput,” or the ideal chatbot answer.”

“Others are asked to explain every step they took to arrive at this golden output in the voice of a #chatbot thinking to itself, producing what’s called a “#ReasoningTrace” for #AI to follow later when it encounters a similar task out in the real world. Sometimes the labs want only rubrics for prompts their AI can’t already do, which means companies like #Mercor ask workers to produce “#stumpers,” or requests that will make the #AIModel fail.”

It’s not that AI will totally replace the expertise of #WhiteCollar PhD, Legal and other specialist professions. What will happen is that hard earned expertise will be priced lower. How low? As low as AI technology can make it, think Communist era pay.

#ZeroHourWork / #work / #economics / #SupplyDemand <http://theverge.com/cs/features/877388/white-collar-workers-training-ai-mercor> (paywall) / <https://archive.md/kAiZL>

“few other human activities offer such unambiguous feedback. There are no objective tests for whether financial analysis or advertising copy is “good.” Undeterred, AI companies set out to make such tests, collectively paying billions of dollars to professionals of all types to write exacting and comprehensive criteria for a job well done.”

“… of the more than 30 workers I spoke with occupied a position along a vast and growing data-supply chain. There are people crafting #checklists that define a good #ChatbotResponse, typically called “#rubrics,” and other people grading those rubrics. Others #grade chatbot answers according to those rubrics, and still others take the rubrics and write out what’s often described as a “#GoldenOutput,” or the ideal chatbot answer.”

“Others are asked to explain every step they took to arrive at this golden output in the voice of a #chatbot thinking to itself, producing what’s called a “#ReasoningTrace” for #AI to follow later when it encounters a similar task out in the real world. Sometimes the labs want only rubrics for prompts their AI can’t already do, which means companies like #Mercor ask workers to produce “#stumpers,” or requests that will make the #AIModel fail.”

It’s not that AI will totally replace the expertise of #WhiteCollar PhD, Legal and other specialist professions. What will happen is that hard earned expertise will be priced lower. How low? As low as AI technology can make it, think Communist era pay.

#ZeroHourWork / #work / #economics / #SupplyDemand <http://theverge.com/cs/features/877388/white-collar-workers-training-ai-mercor> (paywall) / <https://archive.md/kAiZL>

“few other human activities offer such unambiguous feedback. There are no objective tests for whether financial analysis or advertising copy is “good.” Undeterred, AI companies set out to make such tests, collectively paying billions of dollars to professionals of all types to write exacting and comprehensive criteria for a job well done.”

“… of the more than 30 workers I spoke with occupied a position along a vast and growing data-supply chain. There are people crafting #checklists that define a good #ChatbotResponse, typically called “#rubrics,” and other people grading those rubrics. Others #grade chatbot answers according to those rubrics, and still others take the rubrics and write out what’s often described as a “#GoldenOutput,” or the ideal chatbot answer.”

“Others are asked to explain every step they took to arrive at this golden output in the voice of a #chatbot thinking to itself, producing what’s called a “#ReasoningTrace” for #AI to follow later when it encounters a similar task out in the real world. Sometimes the labs want only rubrics for prompts their AI can’t already do, which means companies like #Mercor ask workers to produce “#stumpers,” or requests that will make the #AIModel fail.”

It’s not that AI will totally replace the expertise of #WhiteCollar PhD, Legal and other specialist professions. What will happen is that hard earned expertise will be priced lower. How low? As low as AI technology can make it, think Communist era pay.

#ZeroHourWork / #work / #economics / #SupplyDemand <http://theverge.com/cs/features/877388/white-collar-workers-training-ai-mercor> (paywall) / <https://archive.md/kAiZL>

“few other human activities offer such unambiguous feedback. There are no objective tests for whether financial analysis or advertising copy is “good.” Undeterred, AI companies set out to make such tests, collectively paying billions of dollars to professionals of all types to write exacting and comprehensive criteria for a job well done.”

“… of the more than 30 workers I spoke with occupied a position along a vast and growing data-supply chain. There are people crafting #checklists that define a good #ChatbotResponse, typically called “#rubrics,” and other people grading those rubrics. Others #grade chatbot answers according to those rubrics, and still others take the rubrics and write out what’s often described as a “#GoldenOutput,” or the ideal chatbot answer.”

“Others are asked to explain every step they took to arrive at this golden output in the voice of a #chatbot thinking to itself, producing what’s called a “#ReasoningTrace” for #AI to follow later when it encounters a similar task out in the real world. Sometimes the labs want only rubrics for prompts their AI can’t already do, which means companies like #Mercor ask workers to produce “#stumpers,” or requests that will make the #AIModel fail.”

It’s not that AI will totally replace the expertise of #WhiteCollar PhD, Legal and other specialist professions. What will happen is that hard earned expertise will be priced lower. How low? As low as AI technology can make it, think Communist era pay.

#ZeroHourWork / #work / #economics / #SupplyDemand <http://theverge.com/cs/features/877388/white-collar-workers-training-ai-mercor> (paywall) / <https://archive.md/kAiZL>

“few other human activities offer such unambiguous feedback. There are no objective tests for whether financial analysis or advertising copy is “good.” Undeterred, AI companies set out to make such tests, collectively paying billions of dollars to professionals of all types to write exacting and comprehensive criteria for a job well done.”

“… of the more than 30 workers I spoke with occupied a position along a vast and growing data-supply chain. There are people crafting #checklists that define a good #ChatbotResponse, typically called “#rubrics,” and other people grading those rubrics. Others #grade chatbot answers according to those rubrics, and still others take the rubrics and write out what’s often described as a “#GoldenOutput,” or the ideal chatbot answer.”

“Others are asked to explain every step they took to arrive at this golden output in the voice of a #chatbot thinking to itself, producing what’s called a “#ReasoningTrace” for #AI to follow later when it encounters a similar task out in the real world. Sometimes the labs want only rubrics for prompts their AI can’t already do, which means companies like #Mercor ask workers to produce “#stumpers,” or requests that will make the #AIModel fail.”

It’s not that AI will totally replace the expertise of #WhiteCollar PhD, Legal and other specialist professions. What will happen is that hard earned expertise will be priced lower. How low? As low as AI technology can make it, think Communist era pay.

#ZeroHourWork / #work / #economics / #SupplyDemand <http://theverge.com/cs/features/877388/white-collar-workers-training-ai-mercor> (paywall) / <https://archive.md/kAiZL>

“#Amazon has told managers to incorporate projected #AIEfficiencies into headcount planning for the year, according to two people familiar with the matter.

This has led to pushback, including an open letter signed anonymously by current and former #staff members, which argued the company was investing in a #future where it would be easier to discard #employees.

“Here’s what we’re actually experiencing: higher expected output and shorter timelines, mandates to build #AITools for wasteful use cases, and massive investment in #AI with little investment in career advancement,” the letter, published last November, said.

“As soon as AI got introduced, #deadlines started shortening, and people were expected to do more as quickly,” said one signatory who was made #redundant last year. “It was heavily implied we would be graded on use.”

Multiple current #AWS #software #developers said they were being asked to take on new #roles with the assistance of AI tools. They noted technical writing teams had been laid off, with engineers now required to complete these tasks. AI use had also been formally written into some workers’ promotion criteria, the developers said.”

#WhiteCollar / #ZeroHourWork <https://archive.md/c5NGK> / <https://ft.com/content/433f41f2-bf6d-4bdf-a561-50ab516bc62d>