1 00:00:02,800 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: Zone Media. Hello there, I'm at Zetron and welcome to 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:21,720 Speaker 1: Better Offline and you're on the second part of the 3 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: Business City at Trilogy. And indeed that was a concept 4 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:27,480 Speaker 1: I introduced you to last episode. Think of the business 5 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: idiot as a kind of con artist, except the con 6 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 1: has become the standard way of doing business for an 7 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 1: alarmingly large part of society. The business audiot is the 8 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:37,960 Speaker 1: manager that doesn't seem to do anything but keeps getting promoted, 9 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:40,240 Speaker 1: and the CEO of a public company that says boring, 10 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:44,360 Speaker 1: specious nonsense about artificial intelligence that the tenured professor that 11 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 1: you wish would die, the administrator whose only job appears 12 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:49,919 Speaker 1: to be opening and closing the laptop, and the consultant 13 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: that can come up with a million reasons to charge 14 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 1: you more money, yet not one metric to judge their 15 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:57,240 Speaker 1: success by. Also the marketing executive that's worked exactly three 16 00:00:57,320 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: years at every major cloud player but does not appear 17 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:01,680 Speaker 1: to have done it anything. And of course the investor 18 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 1: that invests based on founders but really means guys that 19 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: look and sound exactly like me. These people are present 20 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: throughout the private and public sector and our governments too, 21 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 1: and they paradoxically do nothing of substance, but somehow damage 22 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:15,639 Speaker 1: everything that they touch. This isn't to say our public 23 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: and private sector is entirely useless, just that these people 24 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:20,959 Speaker 1: are poisoned so many partss of our power structure that 25 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: avoiding them is entirely impossible. Our economy is oriented around them, 26 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: made easier and more illogical for their benefit because their 27 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:30,120 Speaker 1: literal only goal in life has been to take and 28 00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: use power and help others who feel the same. The 29 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: business is also an authoritarian and will do whatever they 30 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:39,400 Speaker 1: need to, including harming the institution that they work for 31 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:42,119 Speaker 1: or those closest to them, like their coworkers, of their community, 32 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 1: as a means of avoiding true accountability or responsibility. Decades 33 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:49,320 Speaker 1: of neoliberalism has incentivized their rise because when you incentivize 34 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:52,240 Speaker 1: society to become management, to manage or run a company, 35 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 1: rather than do something for a reason or purpose, you're 36 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: incentivizing a kind of corporate narcissism, one that bleeds into 37 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 1: whatever field the person goes into, be a public or private. 38 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: Our society is in the thrall of dumb management and functions. 39 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:07,600 Speaker 1: As such, every government, the top quarter of every chart 40 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: features little neroes, who, instead of battling the fire and 41 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:12,520 Speaker 1: gulfing Rome, are sat in their palaces, strumming an off 42 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:15,080 Speaker 1: key version of Wonder Wall and the Lyre and grumbling 43 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:17,560 Speaker 1: about how the firefighters need to work harder and maybe 44 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: we could replace them with an LLM or a smart 45 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: sprinkler system. Every institution keeps its core constituents and labor 46 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:27,400 Speaker 1: forces at arm's length, and effectively, anything built at scale 47 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: quickly becomes distance from both the customer and the laborer. 48 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: This disconnection or alienation better put sits at the center 49 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:36,800 Speaker 1: of almost every problem I've ever talked about. Why would 50 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 1: companies push generative AI in seemingly every part of their 51 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 1: services even though their customers don't like it and it 52 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:45,480 Speaker 1: doesn't really work. It's simple they neither know or care 53 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 1: what the customer wants. They barely know how their businesses function, 54 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:50,800 Speaker 1: They barely know what their products do, and barely understand 55 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,280 Speaker 1: what their workers are doing, meaning that generative AI feels 56 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 1: magical because it does an impression of somebody doing an 57 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:58,520 Speaker 1: impression of somebody doing a job, which is an accurate 58 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 1: way of describing how most existives and middle managers operate. 59 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: But let me get a little more specific. An IBM 60 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,720 Speaker 1: study based on conversations with two thousand global CEOs recently 61 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:11,720 Speaker 1: found that only twenty five percent of AI initiatives have 62 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: delivered their expected return on investment over the last few years, 63 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:18,120 Speaker 1: and were still sixty four percent of the CEO's surveyed 64 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 1: acknowledged that the risks of falling behind drove their investments 65 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:24,120 Speaker 1: in some technologies before they had clear understanding of the 66 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: value they brought to the organization. Fifty percent of respondents 67 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:30,240 Speaker 1: also found that the pace of recent investments has left 68 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 1: their organizations with disconnected, piecemeal technology, almost as if they 69 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: don't know what they're doing and they're just put in 70 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 1: AI and stuff because it feels good or for no reason. 71 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: Johnson and Johnson recently decided to shift from a broad 72 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: generative AI experimentation to a focused approach on high value 73 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 1: use cases. I quote from The Wall Street Journal adding 74 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,080 Speaker 1: that only ten to fifteen percent of use cases were 75 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 1: driving about eight percent of the value pareto principle MVP 76 00:03:56,560 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: baby its last two CEOs, Alex Gorsky and Yoki Duato, 77 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:03,800 Speaker 1: both have MBAs, with current CEO Duato's previous ten years 78 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 1: at J ANDJ being some sort of chairman or vice president, 79 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 1: and the previous two CEOs were both pharmaceutical sales and 80 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: marketing people. A fun fact about Bill Gorsky. During his 81 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:18,239 Speaker 1: first tenure at Johnson Johnson, he led marketing of products 82 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:21,200 Speaker 1: that deliberately underplayed some drug side effects and paid off 83 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: the largest nursing home pharmacy in America to sell more 84 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:27,599 Speaker 1: drugs to old people. Well a lovely man. The term 85 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:30,159 Speaker 1: executive loosely refers to a person who moves around numbers 86 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:33,120 Speaker 1: and hopes for the best. The modern executive does not lead, 87 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: They prod. Their managers are hall monitors for organizations run 88 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,280 Speaker 1: predominantly by people that by design are entirely removed from 89 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:43,240 Speaker 1: the business itself, even in roles like marketing. In sales 90 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 1: were cemos and vps park orders without really participating in 91 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:49,960 Speaker 1: the process. We talk eagerly about how young people in 92 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:53,559 Speaker 1: entry level jobs should earn their stripes by doing grunt work, 93 00:04:53,839 --> 00:04:56,360 Speaker 1: and that too, is the neoliberal poison in the veins 94 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,440 Speaker 1: of our society, because by definition, your very first experience 95 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 1: of the workforce is working hard enough so that you 96 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:03,960 Speaker 1: don't have to work as hard, and you have to 97 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:06,760 Speaker 1: do the shit that nobody else wants to do and anyway. 98 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:09,479 Speaker 1: The same managerial types you bitch about the entitlement and 99 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:12,599 Speaker 1: unrealistic expectations of young people are the same ones that 100 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:15,279 Speaker 1: are also viscerating the bottom rung of the career ladder, 101 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:18,320 Speaker 1: typically by offshoring many of these roles or consolidating them 102 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: in responsibilities that they're increasingly burned out senior workers, or 103 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 1: SEEAI as a way to eliminate what they see as 104 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:27,120 Speaker 1: an optional cost center and not the future of their workforce. 105 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 1: I should also be clear with that this is the 106 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:31,919 Speaker 1: big thing with AI and jobs right now, that people 107 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:34,600 Speaker 1: are afraid of these entry level positions that are going 108 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:37,000 Speaker 1: to get quote automated out. I made a point in 109 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:39,080 Speaker 1: the last monologue that I want to clear up as well. 110 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: I don't think AI will not take any jobs. I 111 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:45,320 Speaker 1: think it's taken jobs already. Tons of freelancers, copy editors, 112 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 1: aren't directors. People are really suffering. The point is these people, 113 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:54,599 Speaker 1: the business idiots. They want you to believe that AI 114 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:58,279 Speaker 1: is going to take every job next year, in three months, 115 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:00,920 Speaker 1: or very soon. It isn't clear how soon. They can't 116 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 1: tell you they don't understand they're fucking wrong. They need 117 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: you to do this so that you start giving up. 118 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: That you give up because you giving up gives them 119 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:12,159 Speaker 1: more power. If you believe they can replace you with 120 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:15,440 Speaker 1: AI that doesn't work or do your job, they will. 121 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:18,400 Speaker 1: They will do so. Now it may happen to you anyway. 122 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:20,599 Speaker 1: They may happen that they'll put an AI that can't 123 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:22,320 Speaker 1: do the shit that you do and replace you with 124 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:27,560 Speaker 1: properly contract labor. That's gonna happen, regardless of whether AI happens. 125 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 1: Off suring and contract to work have being eroding employment 126 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 1: work for a long time at will. Employment in America 127 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:35,880 Speaker 1: is a big fucking problem. It always has been. The 128 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:38,920 Speaker 1: way that labor is treated here is fucking insane. And 129 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 1: a little comment as well for this episode. As I 130 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:44,760 Speaker 1: record this, the Vox Union is yet to get an 131 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:48,200 Speaker 1: agreement with Vox. In the event that Vox does not 132 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:50,720 Speaker 1: give the deal in the next week, you're probably gonna 133 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 1: hear this one that's happening. I request that every single 134 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:58,560 Speaker 1: listener of Better Offline, I need you to actually boycott 135 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:01,159 Speaker 1: every single Vox property, which because the Verge has some 136 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:05,240 Speaker 1: great writers and also Neli Patel, and you should boycott 137 00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:08,760 Speaker 1: everything that Fox is doing right now based on this anyway, 138 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: which sucks because they just hired some really excellent reporter 139 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: called hayden Field. She's excellent. The writers are the ones 140 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:18,280 Speaker 1: who are the victims here. The power structure of Vox 141 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 1: is not giving them a fair deal. Solidarity with Vox, 142 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:25,600 Speaker 1: do not fucking click their websites unless that deal gets done. Anyway, 143 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:28,880 Speaker 1: moving on, one of my favorite things that really fucking 144 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:31,200 Speaker 1: pissed me off was quite ac quitting it. It was 145 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:33,960 Speaker 1: something that they've berated people for in twenty twenty two. 146 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,200 Speaker 1: And is this gas the euphemism for doing the job 147 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 1: as specified in your employment agreement. Because journalism is enthralled 148 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:42,200 Speaker 1: by the management class, and because the management class has 149 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:45,240 Speaker 1: so thoroughly rewritten the concept of what labor means, the 150 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:50,120 Speaker 1: people got called lazy for doing their jobs. And this 151 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:53,119 Speaker 1: is because the middle manager brain doesn't see a worker 152 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 1: as somebody hired and paid for a job, but as 153 00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:57,440 Speaker 1: a kind of an asset that must provide a return. 154 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:00,520 Speaker 1: As a result, if another asset comes long that could 155 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 1: potentially provide a bigger return, like an offshore worker or 156 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:06,520 Speaker 1: a theoretical AI agent, that medal manager won't hesitate to 157 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 1: start getting hot and heavy with the idea of getting 158 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:12,400 Speaker 1: rid of this annoying person who keeps doing the thing 159 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:15,440 Speaker 1: that the manager needs them to, but won't magically read 160 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:19,080 Speaker 1: the manager's mind, and also keeps asking the manager all 161 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:21,840 Speaker 1: these annoying questions. Leave the manager and learn to get paid. 162 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 1: But really, though, our official intelligence is the ultimate paniseer 163 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:28,720 Speaker 1: of the business city, a tool that gives an impression 164 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 1: of productivity with far more production than the business city 165 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:34,840 Speaker 1: it themselves because they don't really do any work. The 166 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:38,320 Speaker 1: Information reported recently that Service Now CEO Bill McDermott, the 167 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:40,720 Speaker 1: chief executive of a company with a market capitalization of 168 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:43,320 Speaker 1: over two hundred billion dollars. By the way, despite the 169 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:45,600 Speaker 1: fact that like Salesforce, nobody really knows what they do, 170 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:49,080 Speaker 1: he chose to bush Ai across his entire organization, both 171 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:51,600 Speaker 1: in the product and in practice in the organization itself, 172 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:55,360 Speaker 1: based on the mental consideration I would usually associate with 173 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:58,760 Speaker 1: a raven finding a shiny object. The following is an 174 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: actual quote from the article HM. When chain GPT debuted 175 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 1: in November twenty twenty, McDermott joined his executives around a 176 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 1: boardroom table and they played with the chatbot together. From there, 177 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:10,800 Speaker 1: he made a quick decision, and this is a guy's voice. 178 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:13,520 Speaker 1: Bill's like, let me make it clear to everybody here. 179 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:18,760 Speaker 1: Everything you do Aiyi Hei Ai AI recalled sitson the 180 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 1: Service Now Vice chair to begin a customer meeting on AI. 181 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:24,640 Speaker 1: Mcdommot has asked his salespeople to do what amounts to 182 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:27,839 Speaker 1: their best impression of him. Hi, I'm Bill McDermott. Ooh, 183 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:30,600 Speaker 1: I'm a fucking idiot. Anyway, present AI not as a 184 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:33,440 Speaker 1: matter of bots or databases, but in grand sounding terms 185 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 1: like business transformation. During the push to grow AI, mcdommot 186 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: has insisted these manager's improve efficiency across their teams. He's 187 00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:44,439 Speaker 1: laser focused on the sales team's participation rate. Let's assume 188 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:47,000 Speaker 1: you're a manager and you have twelve direct reports, he said. Now, 189 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:49,440 Speaker 1: let's assume out of those twelve, two people did good, 190 00:09:49,559 --> 00:09:51,120 Speaker 1: which it was so good that the manager was one 191 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 1: hundred and ten percent of plan. I don't think that's good. 192 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 1: I tell the manager what did the other ten do? 193 00:09:56,720 --> 00:09:59,080 Speaker 1: You'll notice that all of this is complete nonsense. What 194 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:01,240 Speaker 1: do you mean, efficienc See what does that quote even mean? 195 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:04,080 Speaker 1: One hundred and ten percent of plan? What are you 196 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:06,640 Speaker 1: on about? Did you hit your head on something, Bill, 197 00:10:07,720 --> 00:10:10,880 Speaker 1: did you like, do you have a gas leak in service? Now? 198 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:13,960 Speaker 1: I fucking swear these people make so much money, but 199 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 1: when you hear them talk, they sound so stupid. They 200 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:21,440 Speaker 1: sound so very stupid. If you or I said stuff 201 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:24,080 Speaker 1: like that to someone, they check us for a concussion. 202 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:27,440 Speaker 1: But I'd wager that mister McDermot is concussion free. And 203 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 1: then true example of a business idiot, a person with 204 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:32,560 Speaker 1: incredible power and wealth that makes decisions not based on 205 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:35,040 Speaker 1: knowing things or caring about his customers, but on the 206 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 1: latest shiny object that makes him thing line go up. No, 207 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:41,200 Speaker 1: that's really Bill McDermott's thing. Back in twenty twenty two, 208 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:43,520 Speaker 1: he said to Yahoo Financed that the metaverse was real 209 00:10:43,559 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 1: and that service Now could help someone create an emil 210 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,600 Speaker 1: in the metaverse and have a futuristic storefront of some sort. 211 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:52,320 Speaker 1: One might wonder how Service Now provided that, and the 212 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:54,480 Speaker 1: answer is it did not provide that at all. I 213 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:57,680 Speaker 1: cannot find a single product that it's offered that includes 214 00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:01,040 Speaker 1: anything of the sort. But like any of these CEOs, 215 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:04,600 Speaker 1: he doesn't really know stuff or do stuff. He just 216 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:08,560 Speaker 1: is des can't asked. Motherfucker. The corporate equivalent of a 217 00:11:08,559 --> 00:11:10,600 Speaker 1: stain on a carpet that nobody really knows how it 218 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:12,199 Speaker 1: got there, but hasn't been removed, and it's kind of 219 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 1: difficult to get out without ripping the whole fucking thing up. 220 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:17,079 Speaker 1: The modern executive, like I have said, is symbolic, and 221 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:19,240 Speaker 1: the media has due to a large amount of business 222 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:21,720 Speaker 1: idiots running these outlets and middle managers stuffed into the 223 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 1: editorial class, being trained to never ask different questions such as, 224 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:27,959 Speaker 1: what the fuck are you talking about, Bill, or even 225 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:30,600 Speaker 1: the simple what does that mean? Or how would you 226 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:33,000 Speaker 1: do that? Or I'm not sure I understand? Would you 227 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:36,400 Speaker 1: mind explaining? Perhaps the last part is the symptom of 228 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:39,760 Speaker 1: the overall problem. Though so many layers of editorial and 229 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:42,720 Speaker 1: managerial power are filled full of people that don't know anything, 230 00:11:42,760 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 1: and there's never anyone crueler about ignorance than somebody who's 231 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:50,160 Speaker 1: ignorant themselves. We're still, in many fields, journalism included, we're 232 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:53,199 Speaker 1: rarely rewarded for knowing things or being right, being right 233 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:54,720 Speaker 1: in the way that keeps the people with the keys 234 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:58,160 Speaker 1: from scraping them across our cars. We are, however, rewarded 235 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:00,560 Speaker 1: for saying the right thing at the right time, which 236 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:03,640 Speaker 1: more often than not means resembling our white male superiors, 237 00:12:03,679 --> 00:12:05,920 Speaker 1: speaking like our peers, and delivering results in the way 238 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:21,079 Speaker 1: that makes them feel the happiest or the best about themselves. Now. 239 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:23,600 Speaker 1: A great example of our vibeespace society was back in 240 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:26,520 Speaker 1: October twenty twenty one, where a Washington Post article written 241 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 1: by two Harvard professors rallied against remote work by citing 242 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 1: a Microsoft funded anti remote work study and quoting an 243 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:35,640 Speaker 1: one hundred and thirty year old economist called Alfred Marshall 244 00:12:35,679 --> 00:12:38,720 Speaker 1: about how and I quote workers gather in dense clusters, 245 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:41,720 Speaker 1: ignoring the fact that Marshall was so racist that they've 246 00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 1: written academic papers about him, and also ignoring how excited 247 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:47,520 Speaker 1: he was about eugenics or the fact that he was 248 00:12:47,559 --> 00:12:52,400 Speaker 1: writing about fucking factories. Remote work terrifies the business idiot 249 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:54,600 Speaker 1: because it removes the performative layer that allowed them to 250 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:59,000 Speaker 1: stomp around and feel important, reducing their work to work, 251 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:04,240 Speaker 1: you know, stuff they've done. Office culture is inherently heteronormative, 252 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:06,160 Speaker 1: and white and black women are less likely to be 253 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:08,880 Speaker 1: promoted by their managers, and continuing the existence of the 254 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:11,440 Speaker 1: office is all about making sure the business idiot continues 255 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:14,920 Speaker 1: railing supreme. Removing the ability for the MANAGERI or horn 256 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:16,839 Speaker 1: monitors to look at you and try and work out 257 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:18,800 Speaker 1: what you're doing without ever really helping is a big 258 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:20,960 Speaker 1: part of being a manager. And if for a manager 259 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:22,960 Speaker 1: hearing this and saying you don't do this, I challenge 260 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:25,880 Speaker 1: you to talk to another person that doesn't confirm your biases. 261 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:29,600 Speaker 1: The business idiot does reim supreme. Their existence holds up 262 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:32,360 Speaker 1: every public company almost and remote work was the first 263 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:35,640 Speaker 1: time they've willingly raised their heads and started honking angrily. 264 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:39,000 Speaker 1: Google demanded employees returned to the office in twenty twenty one, 265 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:42,080 Speaker 1: but let one executive work remotely from New Zealand because 266 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:45,559 Speaker 1: absolutely none of the decision making was done with people 267 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:49,200 Speaker 1: that actually do work. In mind, while we can, well 268 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:52,760 Speaker 1: you can, I'm not interested debate whether exclusively working remote 269 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:55,080 Speaker 1: is productive or not. The return to office push was 270 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:58,640 Speaker 1: almost entirely done in two ways, one executive's demanding people 271 00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:01,920 Speaker 1: return to the office, two journalists asking executives if remote 272 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:05,280 Speaker 1: work was good or not, entirely ignoring the people that 273 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:08,839 Speaker 1: do the work and mostly not seeing if it was good, 274 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:12,480 Speaker 1: and mostly just asking whether it was bad and how 275 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:16,079 Speaker 1: bad it was, asking managers. This guy called Callum Boucher's 276 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:18,960 Speaker 1: over the Wall Street Journal, and he has written some 277 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:22,360 Speaker 1: real scorches, Borcher scorches, if you call them, by which 278 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:26,480 Speaker 1: I mean, I've never seen someone so interested in publishing 279 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:29,200 Speaker 1: what bosses think in my fucking life. And I run 280 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:32,120 Speaker 1: a PR firm that should tell you everything. But The 281 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:34,200 Speaker 1: New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, 282 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:36,200 Speaker 1: and many many other outlets all fell for this crap 283 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:38,880 Speaker 1: because the business idiots have captured our media too, training 284 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:42,200 Speaker 1: even talented journalists to dever to power every term. When 285 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:44,640 Speaker 1: every power structure is stuff full of do nothing management 286 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:46,560 Speaker 1: types that have learned exactly as little as they need 287 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:49,560 Speaker 1: to get by, it's inevitable that journalism will cater to 288 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:54,160 Speaker 1: them specious, thoughtless reproductions of the powerful sideas Look at 289 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:57,440 Speaker 1: the coverage of AI or the metaverse or cryptocurrency or clubhouse. 290 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:00,840 Speaker 1: Look how willingly reporters will willingly accept narratives not based 291 00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:03,280 Speaker 1: on practical experience or what the technology can do, but 292 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:05,720 Speaker 1: what the powerful and the popular as suddenly interested in. 293 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:08,920 Speaker 1: Every single tech bubble has followed the same path, and 294 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:12,440 Speaker 1: that path was paved with flawed, deferential and specious journalism 295 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:15,640 Speaker 1: from small blogs to the biggest mast heads. Look at 296 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:18,400 Speaker 1: how reporters talk to executives, not just the way they 297 00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:21,360 Speaker 1: ask things like Neeli Ptel's hundred plus word questions to 298 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:25,239 Speaker 1: send off as shy, or his interview with fucking Gary Vaynerchuk, 299 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:29,160 Speaker 1: the constant scam artist who has an FT thing. NELI, 300 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:32,880 Speaker 1: what the pardon me? Pardon me? Let me take this 301 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:35,640 Speaker 1: from the top. If you look at how reporters talk 302 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:38,600 Speaker 1: to executives, you should look not just at the way 303 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:40,480 Speaker 1: they ask things, but the things they accept them saying, 304 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:43,040 Speaker 1: and the willingness they have to just accept what they're told. 305 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:45,280 Speaker 1: Sach An Adela is the CEO of a company with 306 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:48,280 Speaker 1: a market capitalization of over three trillion dollars that's Microsoft, 307 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:50,400 Speaker 1: by the way, and, according to an interview mentioned in 308 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:53,680 Speaker 1: the last episode, uses AI to summarize podcast episodes and 309 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:56,520 Speaker 1: digest emails and effectively do all the obvious parts of 310 00:15:56,520 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 1: his daily working life. I have no idea how you 311 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:02,800 Speaker 1: are a reporter. Do not say, Satcha, what the fuck 312 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:06,680 Speaker 1: you're outsourcing most of your life degenerate ive AI, that's insane, 313 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:09,520 Speaker 1: or even do you actually do that? And then asking 314 00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 1: further questions but that would get you in trouble. And 315 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:15,360 Speaker 1: the editorial class is the managerial class now, and it's 316 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:18,520 Speaker 1: spent decades mentoring young reporters and teaching them how not 317 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:21,040 Speaker 1: to ask questions, how not to push back, and to 318 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:24,320 Speaker 1: believe that a big, strong, powerful CEO would never mislead them. 319 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:27,880 Speaker 1: Karas wish as half asked interviews are considered daring and 320 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:31,760 Speaker 1: critical because journalism has at large lost its teeth, breeding 321 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 1: reporters rewarded for knowing a little bit about a few things, 322 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:36,800 Speaker 1: and punishing those who ask too many questions or refuse 323 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:39,240 Speaker 1: to fall in line. The reason that they don't want 324 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:41,360 Speaker 1: you to ask these questions is that the business idiot 325 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:45,040 Speaker 1: isn't big on answers. Editors that tell you to not 326 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:47,160 Speaker 1: push too hard at doing so because they know the 327 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:49,800 Speaker 1: executive one have an answer, or they themselves don't know 328 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:52,680 Speaker 1: fucking anything. It isn't just about the pr person that 329 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:54,480 Speaker 1: trained them, but the fact that these men more often 330 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:56,560 Speaker 1: than not do not have a glancing understanding of their 331 00:16:56,640 --> 00:17:00,320 Speaker 1: underlying business or even the things they're saying. Yeah, in 332 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:03,080 Speaker 1: the same way that business idiots penetrated every other part 333 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:06,159 Speaker 1: of society, they eventually have found their way to journalism. 334 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:09,840 Speaker 1: While we can and should scream at the disconnected idiots 335 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:13,560 Speaker 1: that ran vice into the ground, the problem is everywhere 336 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:15,960 Speaker 1: because the business idiots aren't just at the top, but 337 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:19,840 Speaker 1: infecting the power structures underlying every newsroom. While there are 338 00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:22,520 Speaker 1: some really great editors, there are plenty more that barely 339 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:25,280 Speaker 1: understand the articles they edit, the stories they commission, or 340 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:28,879 Speaker 1: that make reportersable punches for fear of advertiser blowback, or 341 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:31,960 Speaker 1: worse still, just worried they'll get attacked on social media. 342 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:36,840 Speaker 1: Fucking cowards. Go hide under your table, you fucking coward. 343 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 1: That and mentorship is dead across effectively or parts of society, 344 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 1: meaning that most reporters, as with many jobs, learned by 345 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:44,280 Speaker 1: watching each other, which means they all make sure to 346 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:46,879 Speaker 1: not ask the rough questions and not push back too 347 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:49,640 Speaker 1: hard against the party or market or company messaging until 348 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:53,639 Speaker 1: everybody else is doing it. And under these conditions business 349 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:58,040 Speaker 1: idiots thrive. The business idiot's reign is one of speciousness 350 00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:01,760 Speaker 1: and shortcuts, of acquisition, of dominance, and of theft. Mentoring 351 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:04,000 Speaker 1: people is something you do to pass on knowledge. It 352 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:06,000 Speaker 1: may make them grateful to you, but it ultimately in 353 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:08,000 Speaker 1: the mind of a business that it creates a competitor 354 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:11,400 Speaker 1: or arrival. Investing in talent or worker conditions, or even 355 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:13,520 Speaker 1: really work itself would require you to know what you're 356 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:16,480 Speaker 1: talking about or actually do work, which doesn't really make 357 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:19,080 Speaker 1: sense when you're talking to a work who should be 358 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:21,639 Speaker 1: doing it for you, and they're the ones that are 359 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:23,880 Speaker 1: meant to work, right, you're there to manage them. Yeah, 360 00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: they keep talking back, asking questions about the work you 361 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:28,439 Speaker 1: wanted to do. I ask you need to step in 362 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:32,480 Speaker 1: and help on something. And that's so annoy you. Oh, 363 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:36,120 Speaker 1: I'm a manager. I'm not here to non sir, I'm 364 00:18:36,119 --> 00:18:39,000 Speaker 1: a blog here. I'm not here to do work. Just 365 00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:41,560 Speaker 1: know the stuff, do the stuff. I have to go 366 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:43,120 Speaker 1: get lunch, and then I have to go back out 367 00:18:43,119 --> 00:18:47,000 Speaker 1: because I have another lunch. Okay enough, Oh my god, 368 00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:49,119 Speaker 1: you want another thing. Why haven't you done the thing? 369 00:18:49,119 --> 00:18:51,919 Speaker 1: I didn't tell you yet. Anyway, I believe that this 370 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:54,520 Speaker 1: is the predominant mindset across most of the powerful, to 371 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:57,040 Speaker 1: the point that everything in the world is constructed to 372 00:18:57,080 --> 00:18:59,920 Speaker 1: reaffirm their beliefs rather than follow any kind of logical path. 373 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:03,760 Speaker 1: Our stock market is inherently illogical, driven not by whether 374 00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:05,399 Speaker 1: a company is good or is bad, but whether it 375 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:09,200 Speaker 1: can show growth even if said growth is horrifically unprofitable 376 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:12,200 Speaker 1: or ultimately unsustainable. I'd argue it's because the market has 377 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:15,359 Speaker 1: no idea how to make intelligent decisions, just complex ones 378 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:17,600 Speaker 1: that mean you don't really have to understand the business 379 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:19,920 Speaker 1: so much as you have to understand the associated vibes 380 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:22,480 Speaker 1: of the industry and the weird black magic of how 381 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:26,560 Speaker 1: hedge funds work. Freedman's influence and Reagan's policies have allowed 382 00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:29,240 Speaker 1: our markets to be dominated by business idiocy, where a 383 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:31,919 Speaker 1: bad company can be a good stock because everybody, specifically 384 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:34,120 Speaker 1: other traders and the business press likes how it looks 385 00:19:34,119 --> 00:19:36,800 Speaker 1: and smells, which allows the business idiots to continue making 386 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:40,159 Speaker 1: profit using illogical and partially rigged market making, with the 387 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:43,520 Speaker 1: business press helpfully pushing up their narratives. This also keeps 388 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:46,680 Speaker 1: regular people from accumulating too much wealth. If regular people 389 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:48,879 Speaker 1: could set the tone for the markets as a company 390 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:51,000 Speaker 1: that makes something people like and people pay them for it, 391 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:53,240 Speaker 1: and they make more money than they spend, that may 392 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:56,480 Speaker 1: make things a little too even. It would make things 393 00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:59,400 Speaker 1: too accessible. Why would you hire a hedge one where 394 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:02,360 Speaker 1: you could just follow a common sense No, no, no, 395 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:06,199 Speaker 1: that's not how we run our markets here, sir. It 396 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:08,160 Speaker 1: doesn't matter that core Weave, a company that went from 397 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:10,960 Speaker 1: mining crypto to taking on multi billion dollar contracts to 398 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:13,760 Speaker 1: provide compute for open AI and other companies, quite literally 399 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:16,159 Speaker 1: does not have enough money for its capital expenditures and 400 00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:18,560 Speaker 1: lost over three hundred million dollars in the last quarter. 401 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 1: But everyone still liked it because if it's year over 402 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:22,439 Speaker 1: year of growth, which was four hundred and twenty percent, 403 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:25,679 Speaker 1: it doesn't matter that Corewave has an October loan payment 404 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:27,920 Speaker 1: that will crush the life out of the company either. 405 00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:30,320 Speaker 1: These narratives referred to the media knowing that the media 406 00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:32,440 Speaker 1: will print them because thinking too hard about stock would 407 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:34,439 Speaker 1: mean the business idiot had to think also, and that 408 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:37,760 Speaker 1: is not why they're in this business. The AI trade 409 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:41,080 Speaker 1: is the business idiot nirvana, a fascination for a managerial 410 00:20:41,119 --> 00:20:43,760 Speaker 1: class that long since gave up any kind of meaningful 411 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:46,800 Speaker 1: contribution to the bottom line, as moving away from fundamental 412 00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:49,119 Speaker 1: creation of value as a business naturally leads to the 413 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:52,640 Speaker 1: same kind of specious value that one finds from generative AI. 414 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:11,040 Speaker 1: Not even saying there's no returns from generative AI or 415 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:13,800 Speaker 1: that llms don't do anything or even than there's no 416 00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:17,080 Speaker 1: possible commercial use case for them. They just don't do enough, 417 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:19,600 Speaker 1: almost by design, And we're watching companies desperately try and 418 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:22,760 Speaker 1: contort them into something, anything that might work, pretending so 419 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:25,680 Speaker 1: fucking hard they'll stake their entire futures on the idea 420 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:29,280 Speaker 1: scrimming just fucking work? Will you? Agent Force doesn't make 421 00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:33,440 Speaker 1: any money? It sucks, But goddamn is Marky Mark Bennioff 422 00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:36,840 Speaker 1: gonna make you bear witness? Does it matter that Agent 423 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:40,320 Speaker 1: Force barely makes Salesforce any money? No, because Bennioff and 424 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:43,560 Speaker 1: Salesforce have got rich selling to fellow business idiots who 425 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:47,080 Speaker 1: then shove Salesforce into their organization without thinking about who 426 00:21:47,119 --> 00:21:48,919 Speaker 1: would use it or how they'd use it other than 427 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:52,720 Speaker 1: in most general purposes, which they can barely explain anyway. 428 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 1: Agent Force was and is a fundamentally boring and insane product, 429 00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:00,160 Speaker 1: charging right now two dollars a conversation for a chat 430 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:02,720 Speaker 1: that to quote, the information provides customers with and I 431 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:06,640 Speaker 1: quote incorrect answers AI hallucinations while testing how the software 432 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 1: handles customer service queries. I should also add I've heard 433 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:13,760 Speaker 1: rumblings that salesforce will actually be changing to a different 434 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,200 Speaker 1: model now because the two dollars conversation one has really 435 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:19,119 Speaker 1: not been working for them. I just don't think the 436 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:22,159 Speaker 1: new one is going to work either. But generat of 437 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:25,160 Speaker 1: AI this hit is catnip to the business idio, because 438 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:27,960 Speaker 1: the business idiot really ideally never has to deal with 439 00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:31,119 Speaker 1: work workers or customers. Generave AI doesn't do enough to 440 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:32,960 Speaker 1: actually help us be better at our jobs, but it 441 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:35,159 Speaker 1: gives a good enough impression of something useful so that 442 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:38,399 Speaker 1: it can convince someone really stupid that doesn't understand what 443 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:41,720 Speaker 1: you do that they don't need you. Sometimes, a generative 444 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:44,360 Speaker 1: output is a kind of generic solus version of a production, 445 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:47,119 Speaker 1: one that resembles exactly how a know nothing executive or 446 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:51,159 Speaker 1: manager would summarize your work. Open AI's deep research. Wow's 447 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:53,840 Speaker 1: professional business idiot Ezra Cline, and I'll link to his 448 00:22:54,119 --> 00:22:56,640 Speaker 1: shitty fucking article in the show notes, because he doesn't 449 00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:59,320 Speaker 1: seem to realize that part of research is the research itself, 450 00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:02,400 Speaker 1: not just the out as you learn about stuff. As 451 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:05,800 Speaker 1: you research a topic and you come to a conclusion, 452 00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:08,320 Speaker 1: you search for things, and you don't just go I 453 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:10,920 Speaker 1: have enough research now. You kind of like dig in 454 00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:14,320 Speaker 1: and you learn things and you come to something called 455 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:18,639 Speaker 1: a conclusion. This is what you would know if you 456 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:23,199 Speaker 1: did work. But back to AI. The concept of an 457 00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:26,040 Speaker 1: agent you've sure heard about is the erotic dream of 458 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:28,280 Speaker 1: the managerial sect. It's a work that they can personally 459 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:30,680 Speaker 1: command to generate product that they say as their own, 460 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:33,439 Speaker 1: all without having to know or do anything other than 461 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:35,520 Speaker 1: the bare minimum of keeping up appearances, which is the 462 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:38,480 Speaker 1: entirety of the business that it's resume. I should also 463 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:41,400 Speaker 1: add the other term for this is slave, and it's 464 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:44,199 Speaker 1: something that everyone's fucking dancing around. And the reason the 465 00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:47,160 Speaker 1: AGI people Kevin Ruson included, don't want to talk about 466 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:49,840 Speaker 1: what the actual consequences of conscious AI, which is fictional 467 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:52,960 Speaker 1: by the way, are is because what people are describing 468 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:55,359 Speaker 1: me with AGI is a form of slavery. If this 469 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:58,439 Speaker 1: thing is conscious, it means that we are enslaving a 470 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:01,960 Speaker 1: conscious being to do our bidding. That's called slavery. And 471 00:24:02,359 --> 00:24:05,439 Speaker 1: we're not going to get AGI from these freaks. But 472 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:09,040 Speaker 1: I think the next person that interviews Wario Ama Day 473 00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:12,320 Speaker 1: or Sam Moltman or satchan Adella and they bring up agents, 474 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:14,520 Speaker 1: they should say they should bring up AGI and say 475 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:16,480 Speaker 1: what do you think of AGI? Get talking about it 476 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:21,360 Speaker 1: and then say so this conscious creation? They say yes, 477 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:23,680 Speaker 1: and you say this conscious creation that you own? Yes, 478 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:26,200 Speaker 1: so you own the conscious creation? Yes, I own the agent. Great, 479 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:28,480 Speaker 1: so you own slaves? And just see what they do, 480 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:31,280 Speaker 1: because that really is it. I feel like every AGI 481 00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:34,240 Speaker 1: conversation really that this is what they don't want to 482 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:36,320 Speaker 1: talk about because they're describing how do we make a 483 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:39,760 Speaker 1: digital slave and they're afraid of that language because they 484 00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:41,440 Speaker 1: know the shit storm that would come, which is why 485 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:43,879 Speaker 1: I think everyone needs to start calling it that it 486 00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:46,639 Speaker 1: is slavery. That's what they're trying to do. They want 487 00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:50,840 Speaker 1: a digital wife, or a digital work slaver, or a 488 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:54,359 Speaker 1: digital home slave. They love the idea of a robot 489 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:56,320 Speaker 1: that does things that go up and get them a soda. 490 00:24:56,720 --> 00:24:58,840 Speaker 1: And I drink like eleven diet cokes a day. I 491 00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:00,719 Speaker 1: can get up and do it myself. I'm not fucking 492 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:03,679 Speaker 1: stupid or lazy, but I think it's important. This is 493 00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:06,360 Speaker 1: such a tangent as well. But I'm glad I said 494 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:09,800 Speaker 1: it put back to the thing. As far as the 495 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:12,520 Speaker 1: business idiot career goes, though they've mostly built it on 496 00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:15,640 Speaker 1: only knowing exactly enough to get by, and they don't 497 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:18,400 Speaker 1: dig into what large language models can actually do other 498 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:20,800 Speaker 1: than hammering away at Chat GPT in saying we must 499 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:24,160 Speaker 1: put this in everything, Everything must have AI now. Yet 500 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:26,479 Speaker 1: the real problem is that for every business city it's 501 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:28,600 Speaker 1: selling a product, there are many more that will buy out. 502 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:30,240 Speaker 1: Which has worked in the past for software as a 503 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:33,240 Speaker 1: service or SaaS companies that grew fat and happy, howking 504 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:37,800 Speaker 1: giant annual contracts and continual upsells because CIOs and CTOs 505 00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:41,159 Speaker 1: that's chief information officer and chief technology officers work for 506 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:43,640 Speaker 1: business city at CEOs that demand that they put AI 507 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:46,760 Speaker 1: in everything now, a nonsensical and desperate rebit that's part 508 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:49,639 Speaker 1: of the growth last and part ignorance born of the 509 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:52,280 Speaker 1: fear that one gets when they're out of their depth 510 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:54,600 Speaker 1: and want to follow everyone else, and how they are 511 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:58,200 Speaker 1: honking Look at every single institution installing some kind of 512 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:01,800 Speaker 1: Chat GPT integration and look for the business idiom. Perhaps 513 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:04,920 Speaker 1: it's the cal State University Chancellor Mildred Garcia who claimed 514 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:08,760 Speaker 1: that giving everybody a Chat GPT subscription would elevate students' 515 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:12,800 Speaker 1: educational experiences across all fields of study in powers faculties 516 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:16,000 Speaker 1: teaching and research and help provide the highly educated workforce 517 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:19,679 Speaker 1: that will drive California's future AI driven economy, Which is 518 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:22,400 Speaker 1: a nonsensical series of words to justify a sixteen point 519 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:25,040 Speaker 1: nine million a year single vendor, no bid contract or 520 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:27,040 Speaker 1: a product that is best known as either a shitty 521 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:29,639 Speaker 1: search engine or a way for college students to cheat. 522 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:33,120 Speaker 1: And I think that any actually tons of teachers listen 523 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:35,679 Speaker 1: to this. Sorry for how much that paragraph pissed you 524 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:38,360 Speaker 1: off in some ways. By the way, Sam Altman is 525 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:41,600 Speaker 1: also the business idiot's antichrist. He takes advantage of a 526 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:44,760 Speaker 1: society with a powerful rarely know much other than what 527 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:47,520 Speaker 1: they want to control or dominate. Chat, GPT and other 528 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:49,840 Speaker 1: AI tools are for the most part sold based on 529 00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:51,760 Speaker 1: what they might do in the future to people that 530 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:54,200 Speaker 1: will never really use them. An Aortman has done well 531 00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:57,080 Speaker 1: to manipulate, pest and terrify those empowered the idea that 532 00:26:57,119 --> 00:26:59,959 Speaker 1: they might miss out on something. Does anyone know what 533 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:02,359 Speaker 1: what it is? No, they don't, because the powerful are 534 00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:05,359 Speaker 1: business idiots, too willing to accept anything that somebody brings 535 00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:07,480 Speaker 1: along that makes them feel good or bad in a 536 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:10,000 Speaker 1: way that they can make headlines with in any case, 537 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:13,119 Speaker 1: alltmand's whole Slopenheimer motif has worked wonders on the business 538 00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:15,720 Speaker 1: idiots in the markets and global governments that fear what 539 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:18,600 Speaker 1: AI could do. Even if they can't really define artificial 540 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:20,840 Speaker 1: intelligence or what it could do or what it is, 541 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:23,520 Speaker 1: they're scared of it doing. The fear of China's rise 542 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:27,520 Speaker 1: in AI is one particularly based on sinophobia, but also 543 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 1: based on the fact that China has their own business 544 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:32,520 Speaker 1: idiot's willing to shovel hundreds of millions of dollars into 545 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:36,200 Speaker 1: data centers which are, according to some stories, not being 546 00:27:36,359 --> 00:27:40,199 Speaker 1: used over there is that good anyway. Generative AI has 547 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:42,480 Speaker 1: created a reckoning between the business idiot and the rest 548 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:45,560 Speaker 1: of the society. It's forced adoption and proliferation, providing a 549 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:47,960 Speaker 1: meager return for the massive investment of capital, and the 550 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:50,840 Speaker 1: revulsion it causes in many people, not just in the 551 00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:53,800 Speaker 1: business idiot's excitement in replacing them, but how wrong the 552 00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 1: business idia is. Well, there are people that dick around 553 00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:59,360 Speaker 1: with chat GBT. Years since it launched, we still can't 554 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:00,919 Speaker 1: find a clean way to say what it does and 555 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:03,000 Speaker 1: why it matters, other than the fact that everybody agreed 556 00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:04,680 Speaker 1: it did and a lot of people are putting a 557 00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:07,320 Speaker 1: lot of money into things that look like it. The media, 558 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:11,800 Speaker 1: now piloted by business idiots, has found itself deplored, its reporters, unprepared, unwilling, 559 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:14,800 Speaker 1: and unsupported. The backbone torn out of most newsrooms for 560 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:16,919 Speaker 1: fear that they're being too critical and that doing so 561 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:19,560 Speaker 1: is somehow not being objected, despite the fact that what 562 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:23,479 Speaker 1: you choose to cover objectively is still subjective. Report are 563 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:26,119 Speaker 1: still to this day as these companies burn hundreds of 564 00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:28,080 Speaker 1: billions of dollars to make an industry the size of 565 00:28:28,119 --> 00:28:31,040 Speaker 1: the mobile free to play gaming industry, refuse to save 566 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:34,439 Speaker 1: things that bluntly, because the cost of influence is coming 567 00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:36,760 Speaker 1: down and these companies have some of the smartest people 568 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:39,360 Speaker 1: in the world, they ignore the truth that sits in 569 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:42,000 Speaker 1: front of them that the combined annual recurring revenue of 570 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,520 Speaker 1: the Information's comprehensive database of every single generative AI company 571 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:48,640 Speaker 1: is less than ten billion dollars or four billion dollars 572 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:51,520 Speaker 1: if you remove anthropic and open AI. You can add 573 00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:53,280 Speaker 1: on top of that, by the way, the thirteen billion 574 00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:56,120 Speaker 1: dollars that Microsoft makes, ten billion dollars of which is 575 00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:59,160 Speaker 1: open AI's compute spend on Azure and there's an information 576 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:03,720 Speaker 1: story behind that too. Yeah, it's so small, man, it's 577 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:07,360 Speaker 1: so small. The revenue is so small. I cannot get 578 00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:10,520 Speaker 1: over how small it is. But chat GPT's popularity is 579 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:13,520 Speaker 1: the ultimate business city, its success story. It's the fastest 580 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:16,400 Speaker 1: growing product in Silicon Valley history that didn't grow because 581 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:19,560 Speaker 1: it was super useful or good at anything, or able 582 00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:21,960 Speaker 1: to do a specific thing, but because it could do 583 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:24,760 Speaker 1: a lot of vague things, and because the media is 584 00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:27,600 Speaker 1: controlled by business idiots who decided it was the next 585 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:31,000 Speaker 1: big thing and started talking about it NonStop since November 586 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:34,120 Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, guaranteeing that everybody would try it, and 587 00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:38,200 Speaker 1: even to this day, even if the company can't really 588 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:40,120 Speaker 1: explain what it is you're meant to use it for, 589 00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:44,160 Speaker 1: everybody still acts super impressed. Much like the business city 590 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:47,240 Speaker 1: it themselves. Chat gpt doesn't need to do anything specific. 591 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:49,240 Speaker 1: It just needs to make the right sounds at the 592 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:51,320 Speaker 1: right times to impress people that barely care what it 593 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:54,080 Speaker 1: does other than the fact it makes them feel forward looking, 594 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:59,440 Speaker 1: trail blazing and futuristic. Real people, regular people, not business idiots, 595 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:02,480 Speaker 1: not middle and just not executives, not coaches, not NBA's 596 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:05,840 Speaker 1: not CEOs, not Kevin Bruce, not Neeli Patel have seen 597 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:08,680 Speaker 1: this for what it was early and often, but real 598 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:11,440 Speaker 1: people are seldom the ones with the keys, and the media, 599 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:15,320 Speaker 1: even the people writing good stuff rigally fails to directly 600 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:18,200 Speaker 1: and clearly say what's going on. The media is scared 601 00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:19,960 Speaker 1: of doing the wrong thing, of getting in trouble with 602 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:23,080 Speaker 1: someone for misquoting them or misreading what they said. And 603 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:25,520 Speaker 1: in a society where in depth knowledge is subordinate to 604 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:28,200 Speaker 1: knowing enough catchphrases, the fight often doesn't feel worth it. 605 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:31,120 Speaker 1: Even with Needitor is blessing and frankly, I don't believe 606 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:35,360 Speaker 1: that most outlets give their writers any backing. Sam Willman 607 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:37,920 Speaker 1: humiliated a writer from The Verge last year. I didn't 608 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 1: see fucking Neeli Patel say boo. Probably can see once 609 00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:43,520 Speaker 1: I'm on the pod. I'm backing on Neelight because Neil 610 00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:45,320 Speaker 1: has done some good shit at some point. It's just 611 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:47,080 Speaker 1: that when you have power and you use it in 612 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:50,560 Speaker 1: such a Lasaday's agal power forward way, someone's got to 613 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:54,160 Speaker 1: do it, you know. I wanted to wrap this up 614 00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:56,640 Speaker 1: into a nice two part, so that was the original plan. 615 00:30:57,320 --> 00:31:00,400 Speaker 1: I couldn't do it. It's not going to happen. But 616 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:02,920 Speaker 1: this next one's gonna be fun. The third part is 617 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:05,000 Speaker 1: gonna be a laugh. It's gonna give you some hope, 618 00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:10,360 Speaker 1: and we'll both enjoy being pissy about something together. And 619 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:13,280 Speaker 1: this next episode will truly wrap this up. And I 620 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:17,080 Speaker 1: really appreciate you for listening to our first three part episode. 621 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:28,560 Speaker 1: I'll see you tomorrow. Thank you for listening to Better Offline. 622 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:31,120 Speaker 2: The editor and composer of the Better Offline theme song 623 00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:33,840 Speaker 2: is Matasowski. You can check out more of his music 624 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:37,520 Speaker 2: and audio projects at Matasowski dot com, M A T 625 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:42,000 Speaker 2: T O s O W s ki dot com. You 626 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:44,520 Speaker 2: can email me at easy at Better Offline dot com 627 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:46,960 Speaker 2: or visit Better Offline dot com to find more podcast 628 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:50,320 Speaker 2: links and of course my newsletter. I also really recommend 629 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:52,280 Speaker 2: you go to chat dot Where's Youreed dot at to 630 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:55,160 Speaker 2: visit the discord, and go to our slash Better Offline 631 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:56,280 Speaker 2: to check out our reddit. 632 00:31:57,040 --> 00:32:00,240 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening. Better off Line is 633 00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:01,720 Speaker 1: a production of cool Zone Media. 634 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:05,240 Speaker 2: For more from cool Zone Media, visit our website Coolzonmedia 635 00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:07,880 Speaker 2: dot com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio 636 00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:10,640 Speaker 1: App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts