Today, UPS announced it will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to reduce office workers. It Joins Google, Amazon, and others in the shift. If only we could do the same for government.
UPS to Cut 12,000 Jobs
The Wall Street Journal reports UPS to Cut 12,000 Jobs and Mandate Return to Offices Five Days a Week
United Parcel Service UPS said it plans to shed about 12,000 jobs this year and mandated staff work from offices five days a week starting March 4. The cuts are primarily targeted at management staff as well as contract workers, UPS executives said Tuesday, adding that those jobs aren’t likely to return even when parcel volumes rebound. The company has around 85,000 workers in management.
Chief Executive Carol Tomé said that the cuts are part of efforts to change how UPS works. That initiative includes using artificial intelligence and other new technologies to boost its operations, she said.
UPS, based in Atlanta, is also joining a number of companies that want employees to work from offices every weekday. The company faced contentious labor negotiations last year in which union officials said that drivers and warehouse staff believed it was unfair that office staffers could work from home during the Covid-19 pandemic and they couldn’t.
Reflections on Unfairness
The drivers say it is unfair for office workers to work at home but they can’t.
I have the fair solution: Let everyone work from home provided they can still meet their job requirements.
Q: What’s the work from home requirement really about?
A: Encouraging workers to quit voluntarily.
Google Warns of Further Layoffs
Please note Google CEO’s Internal Memo Warns of Further Layoffs Ahead
Google CEO Sundar Pichai warned employees to expect additional layoffs in the months to come as the tech giant reorients itself toward artificial intelligence “and beyond.”
Duolingo Shifts Toward AI
Also note, Duolingo Lays Off Staff in Shifts Toward AI.
Duolingo laid off around 10% of its contract workers, the company told CNN Tuesday, as the educational technology app moves to rely more heavily on artificial intelligence.
While not all layoffs were due to the technology, the language learning company let go of some contractors at the end of 2023 to make room for AI-related changes in how content is generated and shared.
It has been proactive in adding AI to its platform, creating a new subscription tier dubbed “Duolingo Max” in March that incorporates OpenAI’s advanced language model GPT-4 to add AI-powered features that include having full conversations with a chatbot to practice skills and getting AI-generated explanations about why an answer is right or wrong.
“Generative AI is accelerating our work by helping us create new content dramatically faster,” CEO Luis von Ahn wrote in a November shareholder letter.
Artificial Intelligence Ads and Palm Reading
Amazon is at the forefront of Generative Artificial Intelligence.
“Generative AI helps advertisers make their ads more engaging and visually rich, and delivers a better advertising experience for customers.”
Using the Amazon Ad Console, advertisers simply select their product and click “Generate.” In just seconds, the tool delivers a series of lifestyle and brand-themed images.
Pay with Your Palm
No wallet? No problem. Amazon used generative AI to develop Amazon One, a fast and convenient contactless identity service that enables customers to use their palm to make payments, verify their ages, or enter locations.
Amazon One delivers an accuracy rate of 99.9999%, which exceeds the accuracy of other biometric alternatives—it’s even more accurate than scanning two irises. You can use Amazon One at all of the more than 500 Whole Foods Market stores in the U.S. and at over 100 customer locations across the country, including Crunch Fitness, Hudson stores at airports, and multiple stadiums and entertainment venues.
Predict the Blitz
Defensive Alerts is the newest AI-enhanced feature from Thursday Night Football. The feature, which airs during TNF’s weekly alternate stream, Prime Vision with Next Gen Stats, tracks defensive players’ movements before the snap and highlights in real time the “players of interest” who are likely to rush the quarterback.
Artificial Intelligence and Beyond
I really didn’t write anything above. Instead, a generative AI robot read my mind. All I had to do was think, not say, “Hello AI, write about UPS layoffs from an angle no one else has covered.”
Poof that was it. Alexa read my mind and generated this post.
Real Intelligence is Hard to Find
There is a desperate need for artificial intelligence in government because a search for real intelligence turns up empty.
For example, Biden Lets Tik-Tok Set US Energy Policy, US Loses, Russia Wins
Following demands by the TikTok lobby, Biden will pause LNG exports. The ironic winners are coal and Russia. The losers are the US and the environment.
And here’s a real doozie. Biden’s Trojan Horse Immigration Deal Would Allow Another 1.8 Million Migrants
Republicans actually bargained for that compromise.
Business is not immune either as noted in Dealers Beg GM for Hybrid Vehicles, Can GM Do Anything Right?
Please send in the AI ASAP.
