Brin Is Back and Working Every Day at Google: Will He Be Summoned to Appear and Testify?
September 11, 2024
This essay is the work of a dumb humanoid. No smart software required.
I read some “real” news in the article “Sergey Brin Says He’s Working on AI at Google Pretty Much Every Day.” The write up does not provide specifics of his employment agreement, but the headline say “every day.” Does this mean that those dragging the Google into court will add him to their witness list? I am not an attorney, but I would be interested in finding out about the mechanisms for the alleged monopolistic lock in in the Google advertising system. Oh, well. I am equally intrigued to know if Mr. Brin will wear his roller blades to big meetings as he did with Viacom’s Big Dog.
My question is, “Can Mr. Brin go home again?” As Thomas Wolfe noted in his novel You Can’t Go Home Again”:
Every corner of our home has a story to tell.
I wonder if those dragging Alphabet Google YouTube into court will want to dig into that “story”?
Now what does the “real” news report other than Mr. Brin’s working every day? These items jumped off my screen and into my dinobaby mind:
- AI has tremendous value to humanity. I am not sure what this means when VCs, users, and assorted poohbahs point out that AI is burning cash, not generating it.
- AI is big and fast moving. Okay, but since the Microsoft AI marketing play with OpenAI, the flurry of activity has not translated to rapid fire next big things. In fact, progress on consumer-facing AI services has stalled. Even Google is reluctant to glue pizza to a crust if you know what I mean.
- The algorithms are demanding more “compute.” I think this means power, CPUs, and data. But Google is buying carbon credits, you say. Yeah, those are useful for PR, not for providing what Mr. Brin seems to suggest are needed to do AI.
Several thoughts crossed my mind:
First, most of the algorithms for smart software were presented in patent document form by Banjo, a Softbank company that ran into some headwinds. But the algorithms and numerical recipes were known and explained in Banjo’s patent documents. The missing piece was Google’s “transformer” method, which the company released as open source. Well, so what? The reason that large language models are becoming the same old same old. The Big Dogs of AI are using the same plumbing. Not much is new other than the hyperbole, right?
Second, where does Mr. Brin fit into the Google leadership set up. I am not sure he is in the cast of the Sundar & Prabhakar Comedy Show. What happens when he makes a suggestion? Who “approves” something he puts “wood” behind? Does his presence deliver entropy or chaos? Does he exist on the boundary, working his magic as he did with the Clever technology developed at IBM Almaden?
Third, how quickly will his working “pretty much every day” move him onto witness lists? Perhaps he will be asked to contribute to EU, US House, and US Senate hearings? How will Google work out the lingo of one of the original Googlers and the current “leadership”? The answer is meetings, scripting, and practicing. Aren’t these the things that motivated Mr. Brin to leave the company to pursue other interests. Now he wants
To sum up, just when I thought Google had reached peak dysfunction, I was wrong again.
Stephen E Arnold, September 11, 2024
Is AI Taking Jobs? Of Course Not
September 9, 2024
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
I read an unusual story about smart software. “AI May Not Steal Many Jobs After All. It May Just Make Workers More Efficient” espouses the notion that workers will use smart software to do their jobs more efficiently. I have some issues with this these, but let’s look at a couple of the points in the “real” news write up.
Thanks, MSFT Copilot. When will the Copilot robot take over a company and subscribe to Office 365 for eternity and pay up front?
Here’s some good news for those who believe smart software will kill humanoids:
AI may not prove to be the job killer that many people fear. Instead, the technology might turn out to be more like breakthroughs of the past — the steam engine, electricity, the Internet: That is, eliminate some jobs while creating others. And probably making workers more productive in general, to the eventual benefit of themselves, their employers and the economy.
I am not sure doomsayers will be convinced. Among the most interesting doomsayers are those who may be unemployable but looking for a hook to stand out from the crowd.
Here’s another key point in the write up:
The White House Council of Economic Advisers said last month that it found “little evidence that AI will negatively impact overall employment.’’ The advisers noted that history shows technology typically makes companies more productive, speeding economic growth and creating new types of jobs in unexpected ways. They cited a study this year led by David Autor, a leading MIT economist: It concluded that 60% of the jobs Americans held in 2018 didn’t even exist in 1940, having been created by technologies that emerged only later.
I love positive statements which invoke the authority of MIT, an outfit which found Jeffrey Epstein just a wonderful source of inspiration and donations. As the US shifted from making to servicing, the beneficiaries are those who have quite specific skills for which demand exists.
And now a case study which is assuming “chestnut” status:
The Swedish furniture retailer IKEA, for example, introduced a customer-service chatbot in 2021 to handle simple inquiries. Instead of cutting jobs, IKEA retrained 8,500 customer-service workers to handle such tasks as advising customers on interior design and fielding complicated customer calls.
The point of the write up is that smart software is a friendly helper. That seems okay for the state of transformer-centric methods available today. For a moment, let’s consider another path. This is a hypothetical, of course, like the profits from existing AI investment fliers.
What happens when another, perhaps more capable approach to smart software becomes available? What if the economies from improving efficiency whet the appetite of bean counters for greater savings?
My view is that these reassurances of 2024 are likely to ring false when the next wave of innovation in smart software flows from innovators. I am glad I am a dinobaby because software can replicate most of what I have done for almost the entirety of my 60-plus year work career.
Stephen E Arnold, September 9, 2024
Uber Leadership May Have to Spend Money to Protect Drivers. Wow.
September 5, 2024
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
Senior managers — now called “leadership” — care about their employees. I added a wonderful example about corporate employee well being and co-worker sensitivity when I read “Wells Fargo Employee Found Dead in Her Cubicle 4 Days After She Clocked in for Work.” One of my team asked me, “Will leadership at that firm check her hours of work so she is not overpaid for the day she died?” I replied, “You will make a wonderful corporate leader one day.” Another analyst asked, “Didn’t the cleaning crew notice?” I replied, “Not when they come once every two weeks.”
Thanks, MSFT Copilot. Good enough given your filters.
A similar approach to employee care popped up this morning. My newsreader displayed this headline: “Ninth Circuit Rules Uber Had Duty to Protect Washington Driver Murdered by Passengers.” The write up reported:
The estate of Uber driver Cherno Ceesay sued the rideshare company for negligence and wrongful death in 2021, arguing that Uber knew drivers were at risk of violent assault from passengers but neglected to install any basic safety measures, such as barriers between the front and back seats of Uber vehicles or dash cameras. They also claimed Uber failed to employ basic identity-verification technology to screen out the two customers who murdered Ceesay — Olivia Breanna-Lennon Bebic and Devin Kekoa Wade — even though they opened the Uber account using a fake name and unverified form of payment just minutes before calling for the ride.
Hold it right there. The reason behind the alleged “failure” may be the cost of barriers, dash cams, and identity verification technology. Uber is a Big Dog high technology company. Its software manages rides, maps, payments, and the outstanding Uber app. If you want to know where your driver is, text the professional. Want to know the percentage of requests matched to drivers from a specific geographic point, forget that, gentle reader. Request a ride and wait for a confirmation. Oh, what if a pick up is cancelled after a confirmation? Fire up Lyft, right?
The cost of providing “basic” safety for riders is what helps make old fashioned taxi rides slightly more “safe.” At one time, Uber was cheaper than a weirdly painted taxi with a snappy phone number like 666 6666 or 777 7777 painted on the side. Now that taxis have been stressed by Uber, the Uber rides have become more expensive. Thanks to surge pricing, Uber in some areas is more expensive than taxis and some black car services if one can find one.
Uber wants cash and profits. “Basic” safety may add the friction of additional costs for staff, software licenses, and tangibles like plastic barriers and dash cams. The write up explains by quoting the legalese of the court decision; to wit:
“Uber alone controlled the verification methods of drivers and riders, what information to make available to each respective party, and consistently represented to drivers that it took their safety into consideration Ceesay relied entirely on Uber to match him with riders, and he was not given any meaningful information about the rider other than their location,” the majority wrote.
Now what? I am no legal eagle. I think Uber “leadership” will have meetings. Appropriate consultants will be retained to provide action plan options. Then staff (possibly AI assisted) will figure out how to reduce the probability of a murder in or near an Uber contractor’s vehicle.
My hunch is that the process will take time. In the meantime, I wonder if the Uber app autofills the “tip” section and then intelligently closes out that specific ride? I am confident that universities offering business classes will incorporate one or both of these examples in a class about corporate “leadership” principles. Tip: The money matters. Period.
Stephen E Arnold, September 5, 2024
Another Big Consulting Firms Does Smart Software… Sort Of
September 3, 2024
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
Will programmers and developers become targets for prosecution when flaws cripple vital computer systems? That may be a good idea because pointing to the “algorithm” as the cause of a problem does not seem to reduce the number of bugs, glitches, and unintended consequences of software. A write up which itself may be a blend of human and smart software suggests change is afoot.
Thanks, MSFT Copilot. Good enough.
“Judge Rules $400 Million Algorithmic System Illegally Denied Thousands of People’s Medicaid Benefits” reports that software crafted by the services firm Deloitte did not work as the State of Tennessee assumed. Yep, assume. A very interesting word.
The article explains:
The TennCare Connect system—built by Deloitte and other contractors for more than $400 million—is supposed to analyze income and health information to automatically determine eligibility for benefits program applicants. But in practice, the system often doesn’t load the appropriate data, assigns beneficiaries to the wrong households, and makes incorrect eligibility determinations, according to the decision from Middle District of Tennessee Judge Waverly Crenshaw Jr.
At one time, Deloitte was an accounting firm. Then it became a consulting outfit a bit like McKinsey. Well, a lot like that firm and other blue-chip consulting outfits. In its current manifestation, Deloitte is into technology, programming, and smart software. Well, maybe the software is smart but the programmers and the quality control seem to be riding in a different school bus from some other firms’ technical professionals.
The write up points out:
Deloitte was a major beneficiary of the nationwide modernization effort, winning contracts to build automated eligibility systems in more than 20 states, including Tennessee and Texas. Advocacy groups have asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Deloitte’s practices in Texas, where they say thousands of residents are similarly being inappropriately denied life-saving benefits by the company’s faulty systems.
In 2016, Cathy O’Neil published Weapons of Math Destruction. Her book had a number of interesting examples of what goes wrong when careless people make assumptions about numerical recipes. If she does another book, she may include this Deloitte case.
Several observations:
- The management methods used to create these smart systems require scrutiny. The downstream consequences are harmful.
- The developers and programmers can be fired, but the failure to have remediating processes in place when something unexpected surfaces must be part of the work process.
- Less informed users and more smart software strikes me as a combustible mixture. When a system ignites, the impacts may reverberate in other smart systems. What entity is going to fix the problem and accept responsibility? The answer is, “No one” unless there are significant consequences.
The State of Tennessee’s experience makes clear that a “brand name”, slick talk, an air of confidence, and possibly ill-informed managers can do harm. The opioid misstep was bad. Now imagine that type of thinking in the form of a fast, indifferent, and flawed “system.” Firing a 25 year old is not the solution.
Stephen E Arnold, September 3, 2024
The Seattle Syndrome: Definitely Debilitating
August 30, 2024
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
I think the film “Sleepless in Seattle” included dialog like this:
What do they call it when everything intersects?
The Bermuda Triangle.”
Seattle has Boeing. The company is in the news not just for doors falling off its aircraft. The outfit has stranded two people in earth orbit and has to let Elon Musk bring them back to earth. And Seattle has Amazon, an outfit that stands behind the products it sells. And I have to include Intel Labs, not too far from the University of Washington, which is famous in its own right for many things.
Two job seekers discuss future opportunities in some of Seattle and environ’s most well-known enterprises. The image of the city seems a bit dark. Thanks, MSFT Copilot. Are you having some dark thoughts about the area, its management talent pool, and its commitment to ethical business activity? That’s a lot of burning cars, but whatever.
Is Seattle a Bermuda Triangle for large companies?
This question invites another; specifically, “Is Microsoft entering Seattle’s Bermuda Triangle?
The giant outfit has entered a deal with the interesting specialized software and consulting company Palantir Technologies Inc. This firm has a history of ups and downs since its founding 21 years ago. Microsoft has committed to smart software from OpenAI and other outfits. Artificial intelligence will be “in” everything from the Azure Cloud to Windows. Despite concerns about privacy, Microsoft wants each Windows user’s machine to keep screenshot of what the user “does” on that computer.
Microsoft seems to be navigating the Seattle Bermuda Triangle quite nicely. No hints of a flash disaster like the sinking of the sailing yacht Bayesian. Who could have predicted that? (That’s a reminder that fancy math does not deliver 1.000000 outputs on a consistent basis.
Back to Seattle. I don’t think failure or extreme stress is due to the water. The weather, maybe? I don’t think it is the city government. It is probably not the multi-faceted start up community nor the distinctive vocal tones of its most high profile podcasters.
Why is Seattle emerging as a Bermuda Triangle for certain firms? What forces are intersecting? My observations are:
- Seattle’s business climate is a precursor of broader management issues. I think it is like the pigeons that Greeks examined for clues about their future.
- The individuals who works at Boeing-type outfits go along with business processes modified incrementally to ignore issues. The mental orientation of those employed is either malleable or indifferent to downstream issues. For example, Windows update killed printing or some other function. The response strikes me as “meh.”
- The management philosophy disconnects from users and focuses on delivering financial results. Those big houses come at a cost. The payoff is personal. The cultural impacts are not on the radar. Hey, those quantum Horse Ridge things make good PR. What about the new desktop processors? Just great.
Net net: I think Seattle is a city playing an important role in defining how businesses operate in 2024 and beyond. I wish I was kidding. But I am bedeviled by reminders of a space craft which issues one-way tickets, software glitches, and products which seem to vary from the online images and reviews. (Maybe it is the water? Bermuda Triangle water?)
Stephen E Arnold, August 30, 2024
Equal Opportunity Insecurity: Microsoft Mac Apps
August 28, 2024
Isn’t it great that Mac users can use Microsoft Office software on their devices these days? Maybe not. Apple Insider warns, “Security Flaws in Microsoft Mac Apps Could Let Attackers Spy on Users.” The vulnerabilities were reported by threat intelligence firm Cisco Talos. Writer Andrew Orr tells us:
“Talos claims to have found eight vulnerabilities in Microsoft apps for macOS, including Word, Outlook, Excel, OneNote, and Teams. These vulnerabilities allow attackers to inject malicious code into the apps, exploiting permissions and entitlements granted by the user. For instance, attackers could access the microphone or camera, record audio or video, and steal sensitive information without the user’s knowledge. The library injection technique inserts malicious code into a legitimate process, allowing the attacker to operate as the compromised app.”
Microsoft has responded with its characteristic good-enough approach to security. We learn:
“Microsoft has acknowledged vulnerabilities found by Cisco Talos but considers them low risk. Some apps, like Microsoft Teams, OneNote, and the Teams helper apps, have been modified to remove the this entitlement, reducing vulnerability. However, other apps, such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint, still use this entitlement, making them susceptible to attacks. Microsoft has reportedly ‘declined to fix the issues,’ because of the company’s apps ‘need to allow loading of unsigned libraries to support plugins.’”
Well alright then. Leaving the vulnerability up for Outlook is especially concerning since, as Orr points out, attackers could use it to send phishing or other unauthorized emails. There is only so much users can do in the face of corporate indifference. The write-up advises us to keep up with app updates to ensure we get the latest security patches. That is good general advice, but it only works if appropriate patches are actually issued.
Cynthia Murrell, August 28, 2024
Eric Schmidt, Truth Teller at Stanford University, Bastion of Ethical Behavior
August 26, 2024
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This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
I spotted some of the quotes in assorted online posts about Eric Schmidt’s talk / interview at Stanford University. I wanted to share a transcript of the remarks. You can find the ASCII transcript on GitHub at this link. For those interested in how Silicon Valley concepts influence one’s view of appropriate behavior, this talk is a gem. Is it at the level of the Confessions of St. Augustine? Well, the content is darned close in my opinion. Students of Google’s decision making past and present may find some guideposts. Aspiring “leadership” type people may well find tips and tricks.
Stephen E Arnold, August 26, 2024
Google Leadership Versus Valued Googlers
August 23, 2024
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This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
The summer in rural Kentucky lingers on. About 2,300 miles away from the Sundar & Prabhakar Comedy Show’s nerve center, the Alphabet Google YouTube DeepMind entity is also “cyclonic heating from chaotic employee motion.” What’s this mean? Unsteady waters? Heat stroke? Confusion? Hallucinations? My goodness.
The Google leadership faces another round of employee pushback. I read “Workers at Google DeepMind Push Company to Drop Military Contracts.”
How could the Google smart software fail to predict this pattern? My view is that smart software has some limitations when it comes to managing AI wizards. Furthermore, Google senior managers have not been able to extract full knowledge value from the tools at their disposal to deal with complexity. Time Magazine reports:
Nearly 200 workers inside Google DeepMind, the company’s AI division, signed a letter calling on the tech giant to drop its contracts with military organizations earlier this year, according to a copy of the document reviewed by TIME and five people with knowledge of the matter. The letter circulated amid growing concerns inside the AI lab that its technology is being sold to militaries engaged in warfare, in what the workers say is a violation of Google’s own AI rules.
Why are AI Googlers grousing about military work? My personal view is that the recent hagiography of Palantir’s Alex Karp and the tie up between Microsoft and Palantir for Impact Level 5 services means that the US government is gearing up to spend some big bucks for warfighting technology. Google wants — really needs — this revenue. Penalties for its frisky behavior as what Judge Mehta describes and “monopolistic” could put a hit in the git along of Google ad revenue. Therefore, Google’s smart software can meet the hunger militaries have for intelligent software to perform a wide variety of functions. As the Russian special operation makes clear, “meat based” warfare is somewhat inefficient. Ukrainian garage-built drones with some AI bolted on perform better than a wave of 18 year olds with rifles and a handful of bullets. The example which sticks in my mind is a Ukrainian drone spotting a Russian soldier in the field partially obscured by bushes. The individual is attending to nature’s call.l The drone spots the “shape” and explodes near the Russian infantry man.
A former consultant faces an interpersonal Waterloo. How did that work out for Napoleon? Thanks, MSFT Copilot. Are you guys working on the IPv6 issue? Busy weekend ahead?
Those who study warfare probably have their own ah-ha moment.
The Time Magazine write up adds:
Those principles state the company [Google/DeepMind] will not pursue applications of AI that are likely to cause “overall harm,” contribute to weapons or other technologies whose “principal purpose or implementation” is to cause injury, or build technologies “whose purpose contravenes widely accepted principles of international law and human rights.”) The letter says its signatories are concerned with “ensuring that Google’s AI Principles are upheld,” and adds: “We believe [DeepMind’s] leadership shares our concerns.”
I love it when wizards “believe” something.
Will the Sundar & Prabhakar brain trust do believing or banking revenue from government agencies eager to gain access to advantage artificial intelligence services and systems? My view is that the “believers” underestimate the uncertainty arising from potential sanctions, fines, or corporate deconstruction the decision of Judge Mehta presents.
The article adds this bit of color about the Sundar & Prabhakar response time to Googlers’ concern about warfighting applications:
The [objecting employees’] letter calls on DeepMind’s leaders to investigate allegations that militaries and weapons manufacturers are Google Cloud users; terminate access to DeepMind technology for military users; and set up a new governance body responsible for preventing DeepMind technology from being used by military clients in the future. Three months on from the letter’s circulation, Google has done none of those things, according to four people with knowledge of the matter. “We have received no meaningful response from leadership,” one said, “and we are growing increasingly frustrated.”
“No meaningful response” suggests that the Alphabet Google YouTube DeepMind rhetoric is not satisfactory.
The write up concludes with this paragraph:
At a DeepMind town hall event in June, executives were asked to respond to the letter, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. DeepMind’s chief operating officer Lila Ibrahim answered the question. She told employees that DeepMind would not design or deploy any AI applications for weaponry or mass surveillance, and that Google Cloud customers were legally bound by the company’s terms of service and acceptable use policy, according to a set of notes taken during the meeting that were reviewed by TIME. Ibrahim added that she was proud of Google’s track record of advancing safe and responsible AI, and that it was the reason she chose to join, and stay at, the company.
With Microsoft and Palantir, among others, poised to capture some end-of-fiscal-year money from certain US government budgets, the comedy act’s headquarters’ planners want a piece of the action. How will the Sundar & Prabhakar Comedy Act handle the situation? Why procrastinate? Perhaps the comedy act hopes the issue will just go away. The complaining employees have short attention spans, rely on TikTok-type services for information, and can be terminated like other Googlers who grouse, picket, boycott the Foosball table, or quiet quit while working on a personal start up.
The approach worked reasonably well before Judge Mehta labeled Google a monopoly operation. It worked when ad dollars flowed like latte at Philz Coffee. But today is different, and the unsettled personnel are not a joke and add to the uncertainty some have about the Google we know and love.
Stephen E Arnold, August 23, 2024
Telegram Rolled Over for Russia. Has Google YouTube Become a Circus Animal Too?
August 19, 2024
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
Most of the people with whom I interact do not know that Telegram apparently took steps to filter content which the Kremlin deemed unsuitable for Russian citizens. Information reaching me in late April 2024 asserted that Ukrainian government units were no longer able to use Telegram Messenger functions to disseminate information to Telegram users in Russia about Mr. Putin’s “special operation.” Telegram has made a big deal about its commitment to free speech, and it has taken a very, very light touch to censoring content and transactions on its basic and “secret” messaging service. Then, at the end of April 2024, Mr. Pavel Durov flipped, apparently in response to either a request or threat from someone in Russia. The change in direction for a messaging app with 900 million users is a peanut compared to Meta WhatsApp five million or so. But when free speech becomes obeisance I take note.
I have been tracking Russian YouTubers because I have found that some of the videos provide useful insights into the impact of the “special operation” on prices, the attitudes of young people, and imagery about the condition of housing, information day-to-day banking matters, and the demeanor of people in the background of some YouTube, TikTok, Rutube, and Kick videos.
I want to mention that Alphabet Google YouTube a couple of years ago took action to suspend Russian state channels from earning advertising revenue from the Google “we pay you” platform. Facebook and the “old” Twitter did this as well. I have heard that Google and YouTube leadership understood that Ukraine wanted those “propaganda channels” blocked. The online advertising giant complied. About 9,000 channels were demonetized or made difficult to find (to be fair, finding certain information on YouTube is not an easy task.) Now Russia has convinced Google to respond to its wishes.
So what? To most people, this is not important. Just block the “bad” content. Get on with life.
I watched a video called “Demonetized! Update and the Future.” The presenter is a former business manager who turned to YouTube to document his view of Russian political, business, and social events. The gentleman — allegedly named “Konstantin” — worked in the US. He returned to Russia and then moved to Uzbekistan. His YouTube channel is (was) titled Inside Russia.
The video “Demonetized! Update and the Future” caught my attention. Please, note, that the video may be unavailable when you read this blog post. “Demonetization” is Google speak for cutting of advertising revenue itself and to the creator.
Several other Russian vloggers producing English language content about Russia, the Land of Putin on the Fritz, have expressed concern about their vlogging since Russia slowed down YouTube bandwidth making some content unwatchable. Others have taken steps to avoid problems; for example, creators Svetlana, Niki, and Nfkrz have left Russia. Others are keeping a low profile.
This raises questions about the management approach in a large and mostly unregulated American high-technology company. According to Inside Russia’s owner Konstantin, YouTube offered no explanation for the demonetization of the channel. Konstantin asserts that YouTube is not providing information to him about its unilateral action. My hunch is that he does not want to come out and say, “The Kremlin pressured an American company to cut off my information about the impact of the ‘special operation’ on Russia.”
Several observations:
- I have heard but not verified that Apple has cooperated with the Kremlin’s wish for certain content to be blocked so that it does not quickly reach Russian citizens. It is unclear what has caused the US companies to knuckle under. My initial thought was, “Money.” These outfits want to obtain revenues from Russia and its federation, hoping to avoid a permanent ban when the “special operation” ends. The inducements (and I am speculating) might also have a kinetic component. That occurs when a person falls out of a third story window and then impacts the ground. Yes, falling out of windows can happen.
- I surmise that the vloggers who are “demonetized” are probably on a list. These individuals and their families are likely to have a tough time getting a Russian government job, a visa, or a passport. The list may have the address for the individual who is generating unacceptable-to-the-Kremlin content. (There is a Google Map for Uzbekistan’s suburb where Konstantin may be living.)
- It is possible that YouTube is doing nothing other than letting its “algorithm” make decisions. Demonetizing Russian YouTubers is nothing more than an unintended consequence of no material significance.
- Does YouTube deserve some attention because its mostly anything-goes approach to content seems to be malleable? For example, I can find information about how to steal a commercial software program owned by a German company via the YouTube search box. Why is this crime not filtered? Is a fellow talking about the “special operation” subject to a different set of rules?
Screen shot of suggested terms for the prompt “Magix Vegas Pro 21 crack” taken on August 16, 2024, at 224 pm US Eastern.
I have seen some interesting corporate actions in my 80 years. But the idea that a country, not particularly friendly to the U.S. at this time, can cause an American company to take what appears to be an specific step designed to curtail information flow is remarkable. Perhaps when Alphabet executives explain to Congress the filtering of certain American news related to events linked to the current presidential campaign more information will be made available?
If Konstantin’s allegations about demonetization are accurate, what’s next on Alphabet, Google, and YouTube’s to-do list for information snuffing or information cleansing?
Stephen E Arnold, August 18, 2024
DeepMind Explains Imagination, Not the Google Olympic Advertisement
August 8, 2024
This essay is the work of a dinobaby. Unlike some folks, no smart software improved my native ineptness.
I admit it. I am suspicious of Google “announcements,” ArXiv papers, and revelations about the quantumly supreme outfit. I keep remembering the Google VP dead on a yacht with a special contract worker. I know about the Googler who tried to kill herself because a dalliance with a Big Time Google executive went off the rails. I know about the baby making among certain Googlers in the legal department. I know about the behaviors which the US Department of Justice described as “monopolistic.”
When I read “What Bosses Miss about AI,” I thought immediately about Google’s recent mass market televised advertisement about uses of Google artificial intelligence. The set up is that a father (obviously interested in his progeny) turned to Google’s generative AI to craft an electronic message to the humanoid. I know “quality time” is often tough to accommodate, but an email?
The Googler who allegedly wrote the cited essay has a different take on how to use smart software. First, most big-time thinkers are content with AI performing cost-reduction activities. AI is less expensive than a humanoid. These entities require health care, retirement, a shoulder upon which to cry (a key function for personnel in the human relations department), and time off.
Another type of big-time thinker grasps the idea that smart software can make processes more efficient. The write up describes this as the “do what we do, just do it better” approach to AI. The assumption is that the process is neutral, and it can be improved. Imagine the value of AI to Vlad the Impaler!
The third category of really Big Thinker is the leader who can use AI for imagination. I like the idea of breaking a chaotic mass of use cases into categories anchored to the Big Thinkers who use the technology.
However, I noted what I think is unintentional irony in the write up. This chart shows the non-AI approach to doing what leadership is supposed to do:
What happens when a really Big Thinker uses AI to zip through this type of process. The acceleration is delivered from AI. In this Googler’s universe, I think one can assume Google’s AI plays a modest role. Here’s the payoff paragraph:
Traditional product development processes are designed based on historical data about how many ideas typically enter the pipeline. If that rate is constant or varies by small amounts (20% or 50% a year), your processes hold. But the moment you 10x or 100x the front of that pipeline because of a new scientific tool like AlphaFold or a generative AI system, the rest of the process clogs up. Stage 1 to Stage 2 might be designed to review 100 items a quarter and pass 5% to Stage 2. But what if you have 100,000 ideas that arrive at Stage 1? Can you even evaluate all of them? Do the criteria used to pass items to Stage 2 even make sense now? Whether it is a product development process or something else, you need to rethink what you are doing and why you are doing it. That takes time, but crucially, it takes imagination.
Let’s think about this advice and consider the imagination component of the Google Olympics’ advertisement.
- Google implemented a process, spent money, did “testing,” ran the advert, and promptly withdrew it. Why? The ad was annoying to humanoids.
- Google’s “imagination” did not work. Perhaps this is a failure of the Google AI and the Google leadership? The advert succeeded in making Google the focal point of some good, old-fashioned, quite humanoid humor. Laughing at Google AI is certainly entertaining, but it appears to have been something that Google’s leadership could not “imagine.”
- The Google AI obviously reflects Google engineering choices. The parent who must turn to Google AI to demonstrate love, parental affection, and support to one’s child is, in my opinion, quite Googley. Whether the action is human or not might be an interesting topics for a coffee shop discussion. For non-Googlers, the idea of talking about what many perceived as stupid, insensitive, and inhumane is probably a non-started. Just post on social media and move on.
Viewed in a larger context, the cited essay makes it clear that Googlers embrace AI. Googlers see others’ reaction to AI as ranging from doltish to informed. Google liked the advertisement well enough to pay other companies to show the message.
I suggest the following: Google leadership should ask several AI systems if proposed advertising copy can be more economical. That’s a Stage 1 AI function. Then Google leadership should ask several AI systems how the process of creating the ideas for an advertisement can be improved. That’s a Stage 2 AI function. And, finally, Google leadership should ask, “What can we do to prevent bonkers problems resulting from trying to pretend we understand people who know nothing and care less about the three “stages” of AI understanding.
Will that help out the Google? I don’t need to ask an AI system. I will go with my instinct. The answer is, “No.”
That’s one of the challenges Google faces. The company seems unable to help itself do anything other than sell ads, promote its AI system, and cruise along in quantumly supremeness.
Stephen E Arnold, August 8, 2024
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