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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 15th, 2023

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  • It is an interesting article, even if it’s conclusions are entirely too rosy. The “storefront” was a single vending machine, and the bot was instructed to interact with Anthropic employees (with an hourly cost attached) to do all physical interactions. While the bot did a decent job managing the stock most of the time, it made a lot of bad decisions based on trying to be too helpful to it’s customers. It also frequently hallucinated, with some hilarious results I wont spoil here. But as anyone who owns a small business knows, one bad decision could put it under, so saying that an AI can manage a vending machine well “most of the time” is equivalent to saying it cant do the job at all.

    Their conclusion is that with a bit more work, Claude might be able to perform as a middle-manager. To me, that says more about how useless middle-management is than how capable their AI is.







  • I’ll save you all a click

    Disney is planning to introduce “virtual storefronts” to its popular streaming services, including Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN. These storefronts will allow viewers to order snacks or pick out products they’ve seen in their favorite shows, all while continuing to stream their movie or show. Disney+ subscribers will see interactive ads pop up as well.

    So, basically, stuffing more ads into the premium service you paid for (presumably to avoid ads). These people don’t get it, do they?


  • As a man, I’ve never been made to feel excluded by gender equality in any way whatsoever.

    Same here. However, I suspect you and I are not zero-sum thinkers, and can conceive of a future in which both men and women can apply themselves to their full potential.

    But it seems like a key part of the counter-movement to gender equality is based on the notion that every time a woman gets a job, they are taking it away from a more qualified man. It seems to be built on a mountain of insecurity more than anything else.


  • My experience is that managers don’t normally “overcompensate in the other direction” on purpose. After all, if they are friendly with someone, they will be inclined to help them.

    Two exceptions:

    1. Bad managers make bad decisions generally, and usually for illogical reasons, so they might do this by accident.

    2. Owners of family businesses can be much harder on their kids when they first start out, because the owners mean to have the kids run the business when they retire, so want to do a “trial by fire”