So we all know some of the controversies involving facial recognition. There are privacy concerns. There are also racial and gender concerns. The latter is the root of the Microsoft conflict with police over facial recognition.
So recently, Microsoft president Brad Smith said they spoke with a California police department (I don’t know which one). They wanted to buy equipment and body cameras with facial recognition technology. However, Microsoft turned them down. One reason is because the police wants to scan every face they pull over. This includes those they pull over even for the most minor of offenses. Apparently, Brad Smith saw where this can lead to.
He expressed concern that this could lead to racial and gender profiling. With this facial recognition, women and minorities could be a bigger target than white men. The IT support technology itself struggles with this. Because the facial recognition itself is trained mostly on ID’ing white men. Therefore, they could easily mistake a woman or a minority man. Then, as we all know, this technology can accuse people for crimes they didn’t commit. Thankfully, Smith says they are working on these flaws. They want these machines to get the person’s gender and skin tone right. Ironically, Smith revealed this at an AI conference in Stanford U., which is in California.
I actually have to agree with Brad Smith on this one. Often, news headlines shout about the law targeting the wrong person. Very often, the victims of this profiling are people of color. So I don’t say this often, but kudos to Microsoft for taking this stand. Many of you in computer repair have followed me for years now. So you know how I feel about AI technology period. If not, then this video pretty much sums it up. But at least this Microsoft conflict with police over facial recognition is starting up a conversation. It’s also raising questions and awareness. Do you trust facial recognition to get this right?
If Alibaba is the Amazon of China, then Jack Ma is the Jeff Bezos of China. He’s the IT support mogul over there. Ma’s story is an inspiration (which I’ll get into later). However, some of his workers are protesting what they call brutal work conditions. Alibaba’s work culture: Inspiring or Detrimental?
So for anyone who wants to work for Alibaba, they must abide by the ‘996 rule’. That means employees work from 9am to 9pm for 6 days a week. Ma defended this ruling. He tells people off the bat if you’re looking for an 8-hour lifestyle, then don’t come to Alibaba. He also calls working 12 hour days ‘a blessing’. But obviously, not everyone thinks so.
Because there is an online labor movement they call 996.ICU. It’s now one of the most popular websites in China. They say the 996 rule exploits workers, and the only reason Ma does it is to benefit himself alone. They say they work these long hours with no overtime compensation. In fact, they name the website 996.ICU because working these long hours will get you in the ICU. They use horror stories of computer repair techs and programmers literally dropping dead because of long hours. Ma calls such stories ‘nonsense’. However, that’s about the only response from Alibaba about this controversy.
Well, here is Ma’s inspiration story. In the late ’90s, he was a teacher in China earning $12 a month. Remember, this is Communist China, here. He came to the USA, only to be kidnapped at gunpoint. He promised the gunman to be business partners if he let him go. Then, he learned about the Internet and e-commerce. Several years later, Alibaba is born, and is today worth over $400 billion. Ma’s personal worth is $36 billion. We don’t know what the Alibaba employee makes, or if there is overtime comp. But looking at Alibaba’s wealth, maybe 996.ICU has a point. Maybe all this long work isn’t for their benefit at all, but simply to serve one man and one man only. And that’s not right. The debate rages on. Alibaba’s work culture: Inspiring or detrimental?
So back in February 2019, Walmart announced it’s getting rid of all it’s greeters. That’s a shocking move for America’s biggest retail chain. But wait…there’s more. Walmart employees: Robots are doing your job.
So let me be specific. First’, they’re letting IT support things like robots serve as janitors. For example, a fleet of 1,500 Auto-C machines will be cleaning and mopping floors. Because according to Wal-Mart spokespeople, they can clean floors better than humans. They can polish floors better, too. Then there is Auto-S, the robot price check. This army of 300 robots will make sure every item on the floor is in the right place and has the right place.
When I worked in retail, one thing we did was get items off the truck and stock them in their proper places. Apparently, those days are over. Because the robots called ‘FAST Unloader’ will sort and scan the products for you now. I’m guessing they will need human beings to get the stuff off the truck. But I think we all know that will change too, if it hasn’t already. There will be 1,000 of those. They even have 900 Pickup Towers. They will process online orders for you. When you get there, the robot, with little human help, will have it ready for you.
So why are they doing this? Walmart says they want their employees to interact with customers more. Therefore, by letting robots do other jobs for them, they can focus more on customer service. I’m, sorry, but I’m not buying it. They’re already getting rid of greeters. And they’re thousands of them. Now, when these robots take over these other manual tasks, chances are Walmart leadership will say, “Well, if robots can do these things, maybe they can do customer service as well.”. I even know consumers who would welcome this. I even hear a few computer repair customers gripe, “I can’t wait until robots take your jobs!”. Walmart employees: Robots are doing your jobs. Where will this really lead: to better customer interaction or outright annihilation of human robot jobs?
So there is one complaint that faces Google. In fact, it faces many IT service and IT support companies. It’s the lack of diversity in their offices. But Google vowed to do something about it and they did. Let’s see how Google’s diversity increases.
So the first thing I noticed is the men/women ration. The number of women Google employees are going up. However, the number of men Google employees are going down. But the numbers are up only slightly, from 25% in 2018 to 26.3% in 2019. That’s women employees. Now let’s look at racial/ethnic diversity. Asians make up for about 40% of Google’s workforce, and that number increased over the past year.
Meanwhile, other minority groups saw their Google employees increase. But many will say it’s not enough. For example, African-Americans in Google now stands at 3.3%. That is an improvement from 3% in 2018, but keep in mind African-Americans represent 14% of the US population. The Latino community also saw their numbers at Google rise in the past year, but the representation still stands at roughly 5%. Other groups saw Google employee numbers increase. For instance, 8% of Google employees identify as GLBTQ, and 7% identify as disabled. Come to think of it, the only group that saw numbers decrease at Google is Caucasian men.
Over the last several years, Google vowed to make their offices a more diverse place. That’s why Google’s diversity increases. They even visited schools and universities, reaching out to the next generation. They’re making other moves as well. This is a good start, but as we can see, Google needs to do more. Because the number of some groups are still very much underrepresented. But it is going in the right direction. We are seeing numbers of people of all walks of life working in Google offices. That’s a good thing because then, you get a perspective from all peoples. What can Google do to further increase it’s diversity?
So In Great Britain, Brexit is coming up. Back in 2016, a slight majority of British voters voted for their nation to leave the European Union. So of course, there is a lot of tension in the British Parliament and public. Then you have guys like Tommy Robinson, a far-right You Tube host that capitalizes off such tension. You Tube restricts British extreme right wing commentator.
So not only do they take away his ability to livestream. But they remove some of his videos too. A You Tube spokesperson said they came up with the restrictions only after careful consulting with third parties. However, we don’t know who these third parties are, and we probably never will know. Furthermore, if you do a search engine check on Tommy Robinson, you won’t even find his You Tube channels. Instead, you will find news from other sources. But wait…there’s more. Because now, you won’t even be able to like or comment on Robinson’s video, or subscribe to his channel. Keep in mind there are millions of You Tube channels. Many of them express controversial and radical beliefs. So why are they coming down on Tommy Robinson? I think we need to dig deeper in who this Robinson character is.
First of all, that’s not even his real name. His real name is Stephen Yaxely-Lennon. This isn’t the first time he’s gotten in trouble because of his extreme views. Because back in February 2019, Facebook banned him for the same reason. Then there is his beef with journalist. According to a Tech Crunch article, he threatened and harassed a journalist late at night. It got to the point someone called the police for intervention. Also, according to an article, Yaxely-Lennon has been involved with far-right organizations like the British National Party. He caused much tension and controversy over his hate speech over the years. However, he uses the online alias, ‘Tommy Robinson’ to get funding for his channel, mostly from far right-wing extreme sympathizers. But he manipulated the system good enough that he was able to get advertising. That is…until January 2019, when the ad dollars stopped flowing because of his extreme views.
So this is how You Tube restricts Bristish extreme right wing commentator. Some of my IT service people will say he gets what he deserves. But some will say You Tube didn’t go far enough. Still, others in the IT support community may say they went too far, and they shouldn’t punish him at all. But I look at the timing here. They knew all about his extremist views for years. However, they wait until this Brexit controversy to do something about it? Obviously, I don’t agree with Tommy Robinson’s extreme views. The fact that he even changed his name shows cowardice on his part. What is he hiding from? What is he ashamed of? At least people are talking. Is this the right thing to do or a threat to free speech?
So Apple fans, including some of our own computer repair clients, glued themselves to the press conference yesterday. Because at their Cupertino theater, they revealed new additions to their new Apple TV features. The new Apple TV: What will it do for me?
So here is a feature that strikes me. With the new Apple TV, you can get third party subscriptions with ease. For example, if you can’t live without Netflix, but you have Apple TV, then you’re now keeping your Netflx. So how is this going to happen? Because the Apple TV app is already available through smartphones. But soon, it’s going to be available through Mac and Apple laptops.
The new Apple TV app will come to smart TV’s. This will include Samsung’s, LG’s, Sony’s and Vizio’s. The app is even coming to the smart TV of their biggest arch rival, Amazon. We don’t know exactly what day, or even month. But they did say it would happen by the end of the year. Still not sure about this new venture? Then you can get a free trial. If you subscribe after that, then you can pay for it monthly through Apple pay. You’ll no longer have to go from app to app. At least that’s the way Apple advertises it.
One one hand, this looks like a genius move on Apple’s part. In fact, some leaders of these companies, were at the press conference and stood in agreement. To eliminate your competition by teaming up with them sounds like a genius move. But let’s talk about the fact it’s just now coming to Macs and Apple laptops. With all due respect Apple, you should have done that some time ago. Do they really want to embrace their IT support competition? Or are they just afraid of them? And what will the new Apple TV do your you?
