AI Deception: How Tech Companies Are Fooling Us
Summary
TLDRThe video discusses the hype and reality of AI technology, drawing parallels with historical hoaxes like the Mechanical Turk. It highlights the misleading advertising and overpromises by companies about their AI capabilities, often relying on human labor behind the scenes. The script also explores the impact of AI on jobs, with examples of both failed AI implementations and its potential to replace human workers, emphasizing the need for a balanced view of AI's role in society and its development.
Takeaways
- 🎭 The Mechanical Turk, a famous 18th-century hoax, highlights the historical tendency to overstate technological capabilities.
- 📈 In 2016, Amazon's 'Just Walk Out' technology was marketed as an AI-powered checkout system, but it relied heavily on human labor for accuracy.
- 💡 The overuse of the term 'AI' in advertising can lead to inflated expectations and potential disappointment when the technology does not meet these expectations.
- 🌐 AI washing is a concern, where companies mislead about the capabilities or use of AI in their products, leading to distrust and potential legal consequences.
- 💼 The hype around AI has led to a significant increase in corporate investments, with a sevenfold increase from 2015 to 2022.
- 📉 The AI industry may be following the Gartner hype cycle, suggesting a peak of inflated expectations followed by a trough of disillusionment.
- 🚀 Despite the hype, there are real-world applications of AI that have the potential to transform industries, but the timeline for these applications may be uncertain.
- 🤖 AI has the unique ability to mimic cognitive labor, which could lead to significant changes in the job market and the way work is done.
- 💬 There have been notable AI failures, such as customer service chatbots providing incorrect or inappropriate responses, and AI-generated content causing embarrassment or harm.
- 🔄 The narrative of AI creating more jobs than it replaces is being questioned, as major tech companies continue to lay off employees, potentially due to the integration of AI.
- 🌟 While there are concerns about the overpromise and underdelivery of AI, there are also successful integrations of AI that are driving innovation and efficiency.
Q & A
What was the Mechanical Turk and how was it later revealed to be a hoax?
-The Mechanical Turk was a machine built by Hungarian author and inventor Wolfgang von Kempelen in 1770, which appeared to play chess automatically. It was demonstrated in Europe and supposedly won most of its games against human players. However, it was later revealed to be a hoax, with a human operator secretly controlling the machine from underneath the table.
How did Amazon's Just Walk Out technology compare to the Mechanical Turk in terms of being a hoax?
-Amazon's Just Walk Out technology, launched in 2016, allowed customers to grab items from a store and leave without manually scanning their purchases. The system used AI to handle transactions and logistics behind the scenes. However, it was later revealed that the technology was not as autonomous as advertised, with a thousand people in India manually reviewing and labeling videos to ensure accurate checkouts, similar to the Mechanical Turk's hidden operator.
What is AI washing and how does it manifest in the industry?
-AI washing is a term used when companies create a fake buzz and mislead investors or consumers by providing manipulative or false information about the capabilities, limitations, or risks of their AI products. This can involve exaggerating the use of AI or outright lying about how and when AI is being utilized in their products or services.
What is the significance of the Gartner hype cycle in relation to AI development?
-The Gartner hype cycle describes the pattern of human reaction to new, revolutionary technologies. It suggests that there is an initial phase of inflated expectations, followed by a trough of disillusionment. In the context of AI, the cycle helps to understand that while there is a lot of hype and overestimation of AI's current capabilities, the technology will eventually mature and find its real-world applications after the hype fades.
What are some examples of AI failures mentioned in the script?
-The script mentions a few AI failures: a parcel delivery firm's AI chatbot that provided irrelevant answers and swore at a customer; academics using AI-generated material in a complaint to the Australian government, which included false information; and AI-generated images of animals with noticeable flaws.
How has AI impacted the job market according to the script?
-The script suggests that AI has led to job losses in the tech industry and beyond. Despite companies claiming that AI would act as an assistant and create new jobs, there have been significant layoffs, with tech companies shedding workers even when they are making record profits. AI is being integrated into operations, leading to more efficient teams and structures, which can result in fewer human workers being needed.
What is the current state of AI in relation to the Gartner hype cycle?
-According to the script, AI is currently at the closing stages of the peak of inflated expectations in the Gartner hype cycle and is slowly entering the trough of disillusionment. This suggests that while there is a lot of hype around AI, there will be a period of disappointment and reevaluation ahead.
What does the script suggest about the future of AI and its impact on jobs?
-The script suggests that while AI has the potential to create new jobs and positively impact GDP, there is also a significant risk of job displacement, particularly for lower wage workers and those in customer service, sales, and office support roles. It emphasizes the importance of adapting to the changing job market and acknowledges that some jobs will be at risk regardless.
How does the script address the issue of AI replacing human jobs?
-The script discusses the narrative that AI will not replace humans but rather empower them, acting as an assistant. However, it also presents the reality that AI is leading to job losses, with companies using AI to create more efficient operations that require fewer human workers. It highlights the need for a cautious approach to AI's impact on the workforce.
What is the role of data brokers in the misuse of AI?
-Data brokers play a role in the misuse of AI by selling personal information to robocallers and scammers, which allows AI to generate convincing texts, emails, and robocalls aimed at tricking individuals. Companies like Aura work to help individuals opt-out from being sold to data brokers, thus mitigating some of the negative impacts of AI in this context.
What is the script's perspective on the potential of AI?
-While the script acknowledges the current limitations and overhyped promises of AI, it also recognizes the exponential progress made in the field over the past decade. It suggests that despite current challenges, AI has the potential to continue advancing and bring about significant positive changes once it overcomes the current bottlenecks in compute and efficiency.
Outlines
🤖 The Hype and Hoax of AI Technology
This paragraph discusses the historical context of AI as a buzzword and the tendency of companies to exaggerate its capabilities. It begins with the story of the Mechanical Turk, a famous 18th-century hoax, and compares it to modern-day instances where companies like Amazon have been accused of misleading the public about the true extent of AI integration in their systems. The paragraph highlights the issue of companies overhyping AI technology without delivering on their promises, leading to customer distrust and potential negative impacts on the reputation of the AI industry.
💡 The Dangers of AI Washing and Misrepresentation
The second paragraph delves into the concept of AI washing, where companies create a false impression of their AI capabilities to attract investors and customers. It cites statistics from Goldman Sachs about the increasing number of companies mentioning AI in their earnings reports, and discusses the consequences of such misleading practices. The paragraph also mentions specific instances of companies like Delia and Wirecard being penalized for false claims about their AI technology, and raises concerns about the potential for an AI bubble similar to the dot-com bubble of the early 2000s.
📈 The Gartner Hype Cycle and AI's Future
This paragraph explores the Gartner hype cycle in relation to AI, suggesting that the industry may be nearing the end of the 'peak of inflated expectations' phase and entering the 'trough of disillusionment'. It discusses the pattern of overestimating the impact of new technologies and the subsequent market crash. The paragraph also addresses the potential for AI to mimic cognitive labor, which is a significant departure from previous technologies, and raises the question of whether the current AI applications will live up to the hype or lead to disappointment.
🏢 AI's Impact on Jobs and the Workforce
The final paragraph examines the impact of AI on employment, highlighting both the potential risks and the successful integration of AI in various industries. It discusses instances where AI has led to job losses and the narrative that AI will replace human workers. The paragraph also addresses the idea that AI might not be creating new jobs as promised, but instead is leading to layoffs and restructuring within companies. It concludes with a call for a cautious approach to AI, emphasizing the need for a balanced perspective on its benefits and drawbacks.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡AI Washing
💡Data Brokers
💡AI Bubble
💡Gartner Hype Cycle
💡AI-Generated Content
💡AI in Customer Service
💡Job Displacement by AI
💡AI Ethics
💡AI Transparency
💡AI and Privacy
💡AI in Tech Industry
Highlights
In 1770, Hungarian author and inventor Wolfgang von Kempelen built a self-operating chess-playing machine called The Mechanical Turk, which was a hoax.
Amazon's 'Just Walk Out' technology, launched in 2016, was initially presented as an AI-powered checkout system, but it was later revealed to be assisted by human operators.
As of 2022, around 1,000 people were still manually reviewing 70% of transactions in Amazon's stores, despite the company's promotion of the technology as a utopian AI solution.
The use of AI technology by other companies, such as sports stadiums and airports, was based on Amazon's 'Just Walk Out' system, which raised questions about the transparency of AI capabilities.
AI washing is a term used to describe when companies create a fake buzz and mislead investors by providing manipulative information about their AI products or capabilities.
A record 36% of S&P 500 companies mentioned AI in their Q4 earnings reports, indicating a widespread hype around AI technology.
Global corporate AI investments have increased seven times from 2015 to 2022, leading to a pressure to integrate AI into business models or products, even if it's not genuine AI.
The term AI is being overused and thrown around casually, which can lead to inflated expectations and potential disappointment.
AI technology has the potential to mimic cognitive labor, which is a significant change compared to previous technologies that required human intervention.
AI has been compared to the dot-com bubble and the crypto fiasco, with concerns about overpromising and underdelivering.
The Gartner hype cycle suggests that we may be entering the trough of disillusionment with AI, where the real applications will emerge after the hype fades.
There have been notable AI failures, such as an AI chatbot swearing at a customer and AI-generated content causing embarrassment in formal submissions.
Some companies are successfully integrating AI, but there is also a trend of AI being used to replace human workers rather than assist them.
Tech-related layoffs have continued into 2024, with companies citing AI as a factor in employee reductions, despite record profits.
AI's impact on job displacement is more nuanced than simply replacing individual workers; it can lead to more efficient team structures that require fewer employees.
There is a growing concern that AI will lead to significant job losses, especially in customer service, sales, and office support roles.
The narrative that AI will create more jobs than it replaces is being questioned, as major companies continue to lay off workers and reduce hiring.
The video concludes by emphasizing the need for a cautious approach to AI and its promises, and the importance of understanding the full scope of its potential impacts.
Transcripts
this video is brought to you by Aura hi
welcome to another episode of Cold
Fusion in 1770 Hungarian author and
inventor wolf Gan Von kemplin built and
unveiled a self-operating chess playing
machine called The Mechanical Turk in
demonstrations around Europe his chess
playing invention won most of its games
against actual human chess players and
it's even said that it went on to beat
players like Napoleon and Benjamin
Franklin naturally The Invention was
extremely popular a Marvel of its day
however it was actually just some guy
under the table secretly operating the
machine in other words it was a hoax
some 250 years later in 2016 Amazon
pulled a similar stunt their checkout
system called just walk out allowed
customers to Simply grab items from the
store and leave under this system
customers didn't have to manually scan
their items at the checkout the
transactions and Logistics were
automatically taken care of behind the
scenes by AI An Elegant combination of
Compu Vision sense of fusion and deep
learning or was it just like the
Mechanical Turk all was not as it seemed
Amazon's so-called AI technology was
actually powered by a thousand people in
India watching and labeling videos to
ensure accurate checkouts now humans
labeling data is often how AI models are
first trained and that's fine but the
point is the advertising was misleading
even by 2022 these 1,000 people were
still manually reviewing 70% of of
transactions in 20 Amazon go stores 40
Amazon fresh grocery stores and two
Whole Food
stores although some saw it as dystopian
Amazon promoted their just walkout
technology as a utopian magical solution
powered by Ai and here in lies the
problem companies often leave out
critical information in the fine print
it wasn't until 2023 that Amazon mention
the use of the a thousand people in
India and it gets worse according to a
report by the information other
companies were swindled too quote 30
stores operated by other companies in
the US sports stadiums 12 airports and
one University all used Amazon's walk
out
technology and this is where things
become murky when companies promis
revolutionary technology but don't
follow up on them it creates distrust
but it can even spoil it for those who
are doing legitimate work in the field
with the AI Revolution that we've seen
over the past couple of years there
needs to be a more critical look at
what's happening with AI in this episode
we'll see the reasons for the AI hype
and its consequences we'll look at if
there is indeed an AI bubble and what
real world impact that might be having
this includes companies releasing
half-baked AI products but also
simultaneously replacing actual humans
with AI it's a dichotomy of the industry
so sit back and relax as we make sense
of it
all you are watching C Fusion
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absolutely nobody is thrilled about is
the fact that it can make scammers lives
easier AI can help generate convincing
texts that try to trick you into
clicking a fishing link and then there's
the spam emails and Robo calls you've
all experienced it but why does it
happen it's because your information has
been sold to data Brokers they're making
a fortune from selling your information
to robocallers and scammers they can
know a lot about you including your name
phone number and address but there's a
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Fusion to get started on a 2-e free
trial offer only available in the United
States okay so let's
continue no it's not just you the term
AI is really being thrown around
everywhere for older cold fusion viewers
you'd know that I've been covering AI
for the good part of a decade now before
2022 the word artificial intelligence
was limited to Industry verbage in
obscure research papers the general
public didn't know or care and even as
late as 21 when I covered gpt3 there was
a lot of people that thought I was just
making it up how could a computer
possibly talk like that well as you all
know after 2022 especially following the
launch of chat GPT it was a different
story from your smartphone to LinkedIn
to your local government site a lot of
organizations today will boast the term
powered by
AI while in a lot of cases it makes
sense the overuse of the term and it
being thrown around so casually is a
symptom of something called AI
washing AI washing simply put is when
companies create a fake buzz and mislead
investors by providing manipulative
information about the capabilities
limitations or risks of their AI
products or simply wholesale lie about
how and when they're using AI according
to Goldman Sachs a record 36% of S&P 500
companies mentioned AI in their Q4
earnings reports if the biggest
companies in the world are hyping it up
there's no doubt that small companies
are following suit and some without
tangible results backing up their claims
and the Investments are there to match
too from 2015 to 20122 Global corporate
AI Investments have increased seven
times a lot of companies have seen
tremendous growth in the recent AI hype
and this puts pressure on other
companies to integrate AI into their
business model or their products in
order to compete and that's even if it's
not really AI Monkey C Monkey Do For
example the Canadian investment firm
Delia claimed that that had built an AI
to predict upcoming companies and
Industry Trends despite not having any
such capabilities the SEC caught wind of
the scam and has since ordered them to
pay
$225,000 and this was for false
advertising and misleading statements
about the use of AI and I have a feeling
that this is just the start I previously
talked about the wire card fraud where
CEO Marcus Brawn boasted about having
Advanced proprietary AI throughout their
fintech products and services in reality
it was just spreadsheets in the end
there was $2 billion missing from the
books but that was a story for a
different day you might have also heard
about the npu or neural Processing Unit
it's a dedicated processor specifically
designed for AI tasks among other things
they're becoming increasingly common in
the world of PCS and laptops and
Microsoft has even claimed that we're
now in the age of the AI PC but recent
reviews of the current crop of these
products have left consumers with a bad
taste in their mouth let's talk a bit
more about AI yes the Snapdragon
processors dominate here but AI is still
very nent many people either won't use
these tasks all that much or these tasks
themselves just don't work that well yet
for example they demo generating images
of animals and they highlighted how fast
the processes were versus Intel but when
I look closely at the images generated
they were all garbage the AI dogs all
had very lopsided eyes so who cares if
one of these processors is faster than
the other if they are both generating
garbage right now I just wouldn't advise
anyone buy a laptop based on its AI
capabilities a news analyst from
computer world has mentioned that these
AI PCS aren't quote all they cracked out
to be and if you're expecting something
transformative when you buy one from the
start of 2024 you're going to be
disappointed they might one day deliver
a lot of cool features just not yet end
quote but are there consequences of such
misplaced promises other than distrust
from customers companies that Miss The
Mark with AI product launches are
constantly trying to save face even the
most popular companies in the world are
not immune to mistakes perhaps the
biggest consequence of AI washing is a
certain b word that might be lurking
around the
corner almost as soon as AI started
going Uber mainstream from late 2022 a
lot of people immediately liken the
phenomenon to the dotom bubble or even
the crypto Fiasco in fact some people
still do today even when we talk about
the.com Bubble it's not the worldwide
web that was the problem because of
course you're using a right now instead
it was mostly the e-commerce side of
things which over promised reeling in
investors but underd delivered leading
to a crash when everyone realized that
the companies that they invested in
weren't making any
money with AI there's no doubt that
we'll see some more investment in the
space and Monumental growth too
according to Oppenheimer no not the one
you're thinking of who's a chief Global
Equity strategist at Goldman Sachs
research quote we believe we are in the
relatively early stages of a new
technology cycle that is likely to lead
to further outperformance end quote
Nvidia who designs the chips that are
powering big Tech's AI Revolution is
tentative proof of this their stock is
up 80% this year alone perhaps excessive
but it's indicative of what the market
thinks of AI Mark Cuban who made his
fortune during the era also doesn't see
AI as a bubble in a recent interview
with Lex fredman he expressed that the
biggest sign that we're not in a bubble
is the lack of IPOs in the AI sector
also the absence of companies with no
intrinsic value going public and the
lack of quote funky AI companies is a
key indicator he noted that the current
market doesn't exhibit such
characteristics and I think that I
largely agree with that there's
obviously some bad players in the
industry who are just trying to make a
quick Buck but there might be more to it
and here's what I mean there's a known
pattern for emerging Technologies called
the Gartner hype cycle it describes how
humans tend to be overzealous about a
new revolutionary technology we
overestimate and overshoot its impact
hype it up until the market crashes and
after the crash the real companies with
the real value come through and
spearhead the development of the new
technology until it's mature if we look
at the Gardner hype cycle for AI it
seems like we're at the closing stages
of the peak of inflated expectations and
are slowly entering the trough of
disillusionment this interpretation of
the current market means that there's
going to be a lot of disappointment
ahead the real applications of AI will
come after the hype and fatigue Fades
but but this time could be a little bit
different because at its core AI has the
ability to mimic cognitive labor a
change that no previous technology has
been able to do without intrinsic human
intervention whereas as pointed out in a
previous podcast episode during the dot
bubble there were a lot of people simply
making a random website and going public
and investors would throw money at
anything with a do at the end of its
name there's been a lot of organizations
that have been ring to launch AI
products or replace humans with AI
altogether but the ones who are hastily
adding the ever popular quote powered by
AI gimmick are failing badly and there
have been some spectacular AI failures
for example a parcel delivery firm
called dpd enabled an AI online chat for
answering questions for One customer it
was not only useless at answering
relevant questions regarding his order
but instead when asked it provided him
with a poem and swore at him this
amazing poem came forth about a dpd
chatot who who wasn't able to do
anything it was quite amazing it
appeared to even disregard its own rules
and started swearing and even started
dissing its own employer adding dpd is
the worst delivery firm in the world I
would never recommend them to anyone in
Australia a group of academics used AI
generated material as part of their
complaint submission to the Australian
parliament against four of Australia's
biggest banks of course the AI made up a
whole bunch of information including SC
scandals that never existed and
implicating deoe when they had nothing
to do with the original complaint
someone on the team didn't read the
entire submission before it went to the
Australian government so it was a huge
embarrassment and the academics were
forced to apologize this is just one of
many examples and I'm going to include a
website that keeps a running tab of
these AI blunders but on the other hand
there are companies who are integrating
AI successfully and this is where we
come to the other kind of broken promise
when it comes to AI it's not CEO's over
promising ai's usefulness but under
promising instead in other words we were
told that AI would be our assistant and
create new jobs not replace us but what
if that's just not true not about
replacing the human in the loop in fact
it's about empowering the human like
it's an assistant it's an assistant this
clip from SAA is a bit hard to believe
now even though later he did mention the
flip side yes I'm sure a lot of us use
chat GPT to help get work done on
personal projects but AI eventually
creating more jobs than it would replace
maybe not so fast you may have noticed
that since 2022 there's been a lot of
tech related layoffs The Narrative is
that this is happening due to the over
hiring during the pandemic times and
that would make sense for 2022 and even
2023 but in 2024 we're still seeing Mass
layoffs now if companies were just
struggling to make a profit the
explanation would be as simple as the
common business cycle but strangely some
of the biggest companies in the world
are seeing record profits they're almost
cyclically shedding
workers according to reports tech
companies fired 165,000 people in 2022
260,000 in 2023 and so far the
projection is 270,000 in 2024 so if
companies are doing fine why are workers
being kicked out the door well marketing
professor and author Scott Galloway
thinks quote there's something else
going on end quote in his recent blog
post dissecting the impact of AI on
corporations he mentions quote AI is
playing a larger role in layoffs than
CEOs are willing to admit end quot the
normal way we think about Job
Replacements caused by AI is that Joe
blogs is working at his computer
analyzing company figures or something
like that and then suddenly the next day
he's replaced by an AI but the truth is
it's a bit more nuanced than that as
companies slowly get better at
understanding how AI can Aid in their
operations they'll create better teams
and structure with higher outcomes
basically instead of three people doing
the work of three you'll have one person
doing the work of five with AI the
problem is that none of these companies
are being sincere about it because if
you're a CEO and you've been hyping up
AI as the single greatest thing to
happen to the industry and then you
follow it up with a memo that you've
laid off 30% of your staff because of AI
the hypocrisy becomes clear but in 2024
it seems like the truth is slowly coming
out and there's hints everywhere IBM
made headlines when CEO arvind chrish
mentioned that they're planning to pause
hiring roles that could be replaced with
AI same with UPS where recently their
CEO Carol Tom acknowledged that AI is
playing a part in employee layoffs and
this came after UPS had the largest
layoff in its 116e history 12,000
workers in both cases spokes people
later clarified saying quote AI is not
replacing workers end quote which is
basically PR talk to save face in fact a
Shopify employee broke their
non-disclosure agreement to expose that
the company has been secretly firing
employees because of AI the shift is
even having an impact far outside the
tech industry TV and media producer
Tyler Perry was building an $800 million
Studio expansion but paused its
construction after he saw the results of
open aiora an AI video generator he made
the remark quote I am very very
concerned that in the near future a lot
of jobs are going to be lost end quote
in the last couple of years you probably
would have heard this phrase a bit AI
will not replace humans but humans who
utilize AI replace humans who don't
there's definitely some truth to it but
some jobs will be at risk regardless we
don't have to imagine this it is already
happening Mega caps like meta and
alphabet they are shrinking their
workforces and and shrinking their
hiring it's this idea that senior AI
researchers or data analysts they can do
more with Gen than an army of Junior
Engineers who code a recent report from
Mackenzie found that around 12 million
us workers may need to switch jobs by
2030 lower wage workers are 14 times
more likely to be impacted stem
Healthcare Builders and professional
Fields will continue to add jobs but
generative AI could change work
significantly for occupations like
customer service and sales and office
support there's been repeated reports of
how AI will be adding hundreds of
millions of jobs in the next decade and
how it's going to positively impact GDP
while by some miracle this could happen
right now as has been the case in many
times in history the train will leave
the station without telling us whether
we're aware to jump on board or not is
the
question so wrapping this all up I do
have to mention that in no way am I
saying that all forms of AI and all of
these giant corporations are elaborate
hoaxes in fact on this channel I've been
making videos about AI progress for the
better part of a decade now and I've
seen exponential progress right in front
of my eyes and so will many of you we
may have hit a temporary bottleneck when
it comes to compute but all it takes is
a breakthrough in model efficiency and
the curve continues upwards but I just
think that it's important to still have
a cautious approach when it comes to
looking at all sides of a story I'm also
working on a video that's all about the
positive real life impacts of AI so
hopefully that's going to balance things
out a
bit so far it seems like the promises of
AI are yet to be fully realized whether
that's creating and not taking jobs
solving Global issues or even providing
us with a Dependable AI customer service
spot that doesn't swear at us with such
big and bold promises from these
companies over the years it's important
for all of us to ask ourselves do we
have technological gold a trojan horse
or a chess master hiding under a
table anyways that's about it from me my
name is toogo and You' been watching
cold fusion if you did like that episode
feel free to subscribe there's plenty of
other interesting stuff on the Channel
all right so I'll catch you again soon
cheers guys have a good
one a better
future Heaven Help Us make a better
[Music]
future cold fusion it's new
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