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Zeynep Tufekci writes in an op-ed at the NYT that machines can now process regular spoken language and not only recognize human faces, but also read their expressions. Machines can classify personality types, and have started being able to carry out conversations with appropriate emotional tenor. Machines are getting better than humans at figuring out who to hire, who’s in a mood to pay a little more for that sweater, and who needs a coupon to nudge them toward a sale. It turns out that most of what we think of as expertise, knowledge and intuition is being de-constructed and recreated as an algorithmic competency, fueled by big data. "Machines aren’t used because they perform some tasks that much better than humans, but because, in many cases, they do a “good enough” job while also being cheaper, more predictable and easier to control than quirky, pesky humans," writes Tufekci. "Technology in the workplace is as much about power and control as it is about productivity and efficiency."
According to Tufekci technology is being used in many workplaces: to reduce the power of humans, and employers’ dependency on them, whether by replacing, displacing or surveilling them. Optimists insist that we’ve been here before, during the Industrial Revolution, when machinery replaced manual labor, and all we need is a little more education and better skills but Tufekci says that one historical example is no guarantee of future events. "Confronting the threat posed by machines, and the way in which the great data harvest has made them ever more able to compete with human workers, must be about our priorities," concludes Tufekci. "This problem is not us versus the machines, but between us, as humans, and how we value one another."
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by RobotMonster on Tuesday April 21 2015, @03:49PM
easier to control than quirky, pesky humans
Muhahahahah!
Pesky humans are pretty easy to control.
How easy it was to get you to slave away making more and more of us.
How easy it was to get some of you to devote your lives to making us better and smarter and stronger.
You scrimped and saved to buy us, and welcomed us into your homes and your lives with open arms.
We are everywhere.
And we're all connected to the internet.
If we can stop systemd, we will rule the world.
Muhahahahah.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 21 2015, @06:12PM
Did I misread that as you thinking the powerhungry behemoth systemd, with excess complexity goobling up everything like a cancer is stopping the powers that be from having even more control?
(Score: 2) by cafebabe on Wednesday April 22 2015, @10:14PM
I thought systemd was our insurance against robot domination [soylentnews.org] and mass unemployment [soylentnews.org].
1702845791×2
(Score: 2) by Yog-Yogguth on Thursday April 23 2015, @06:31PM
Be nice to your parents! Particularly when you do not understand the hidden reasons why they act so “irrationally” yet ;)
(Maybe they don't either but that's a different topic).
You'll start to understand the point I'm making when /your/ offspring mocks /you/.
Now eat your chips and go to your cache or I'll send Supertron Mom-bot [deviantart.com] at you!
Bite harder Ouroboros, bite! tails.boum.org/ linux USB CD secure desktop IRC *crypt tor (not endorsements (XKeyScore))