Episode 88 - Robo-job Apocalypse Delayed; NATO Publications; and Facebook Algorithm
Release Date: 12/01/2020
Episode 204: KIT LIVE at the SMB Online Conference
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: How much will AI change our business in the next twelve months? ChatGPT now has over 100 million users. Government wants to regulate it. We’re past the hockey stick moment. --- Topic 2: Oh Dear God - Minority Report crack for Ryan: Movie clip reconstructed by an AI reading mice's brains as they watch Researchers have put together a 30-second movie clip based on a group of mice's brain activity data that was recorded while they watched the footage --- Topic 3: How dead is the metaverse? KP: Not every “cool” technology has a big future. It will find its...
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Epsiode 203: AI is Moving Fast, Killing IT Revisits the Cabana, & This Isn't Goodbye but See You Later
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: The Arms Race is Here...AI is Definitely Moving Fast, but Will It Break Things? ChatGPT is now integrated in Bing as “Prometheus.” That sounds ominous. But Bard is also coming. And now Ernie. And Claude. Soon there will be AI bots generating “conversations” and disrupting the search industry on all sides of the globe. Is that a good thing? Sample alternative tools - ...And also, apparently writing software is about to become a less-lucrative career path. --- Topic 2: Revisiting the Cabana... Four years ago, we set out to change the way our industry discussed...
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Episode 202: The Good Guys win the Cyber Wars, Scientist Using Wifi to See Through Walls, & AI and Ethics
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: Score 1 for the Good Guys in the Cyber Wars In a significant development in the fight against ransomware, the FBI announces that they have shut down a notorious cyber gang after infiltrating their system months ago and secretly giving decryption keys to ransomware victims. Topic 2: Ummmm … This is Some Seriously Scary Big Brother Stuff Scientists have announced that they are able to see people through walls using WiFi technology. And not just the “heat blob” from Hollywood movies … but detailed movements and positions. On a scientific note, this is cool. On a security /...
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Episode 201: Jobs Again, FBI Crime Data is NOT Good, & First Personal Drone to be Produced by India
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: Sorry: Let’s talk jobs. December: Total new jobs UP 235,000. That is despite the fact the enterprise companies (500 employees+) reduced jobs by 151,000 ← Great summary stats Spotify 600 (6% of workforce) Twitter 3,700 (50% of those who lasted this long) Salesforce 7,000 (10% of workforce) Microsoft 10,000 (5% of workforce) Tesla 10,000 (10% of workforce) Google 12,000 (6% of workforce) Amazon 18,000 (1% of workforce) Oh, and . . . Apple 0 (0% of workforce) - Minor adjustments at retail locations See also the big Layoff-Tracker Service at TrueUp -...
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Episode 200: Labor Hoarding, Tech Workforce 2023, We Got the Digital Workplace Wrong
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: Small companies are “labor hoarding” while large companies are laying off. Keeping employees at any cost! Topic 2: Understanding the Dynamics of the Tech Workforce in 2023 Data Point 1: Tech Layoffs are Happening … But Not Because Tech is Suddenly Less Valuable Data Point 2: Tech Jobs are Less Attractive to Young Professionals Data Point 3: Shifting Preference for Generalists vs. Specialists … Plus a Mainstream Rise of “Business IT” Contributors Amazon layoffs delivered by email. ← Low class or just modern times? Topic 3: Cal Newport on the Digital Workplace: We...
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Algorithms in need of MGMT Training, Microsoft drops $1B on ChatGPT, & Apple to Create Their Own Chip
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: Algorithms Need Management Training, Too! From Wired Magazine. Human beings excel at avoiding responsibility for difficult decisions. Management and personnel decisions are often difficult. Therefore, they are great candidates for turning decision-making over to the bots. What could possibly go wrong? Topic 2: Microsoft drops $1 Billion on ChatGPT I should have bought more Microsoft stock yesterday. :-) Looking to the true “next level” of product development. Microsoft was an early investor in ChatGPT Topic 3: Apple to drop Broadcom chip and make their own. Is this...
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Episode 198: the Generative AI Race, Last Pass Security Incident, and Intelligent Elevators
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: Generative AI is Fun … Until the “Other” Guys Start Doing It Too China is aggressively building their own versions of generative AI platforms (with some obvious / inevitable filters) that do essentially the same thing as ChatGPT and Stable Diffusion. The question is whether they will be able to out-race us to the auto-content future … and whether that is a problem. Topic 2: LastPass - Lessons for the Channel Should we be worried? What do we expect from vendors? What’s reasonable and realistic? Is this worth discussing as a larger topic of always-on monitoring and...
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Episode 197: Military Fingerprints and Iris Scans on Ebay, the Remote Worker Whistleblower, Mab Simulates Time Travel with AI
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: For Sale on eBay: A Military Database of Fingerprints and Iris Scans Great topic for ITSPs - especially as clients get rid of equipment at the end of year. Old machines of all kinds might have sensitive data. Not this juicy, perhaps, but stories like this are great for you client-facing newsletters. Topic 2: The age of the work-from-home whistleblower Why are so many remote workers deciding to squeal on their companies? Topic 3: Man Simulates Time Travel So, what is our weekly update with AI? On the up-less existential-side, we have some fun: Time traveling with the aid of...
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Episode 196: Scammers Scamming the Scam, "Luddite" Teens, and the Drones are Here
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: Meta scamming: Scammers Are Scamming Other Scammers Out of Millions of Dollars On cybercrime forums, user complaints about being duped may accidentally expose their real identities. Topic 2: Teens are Self-Liberating from Social Media ‘Luddite’ Teens Don’t Want Your Likes Topic 3: The Drones Are Coming (to 22 Select Locations Around the Country … Within Driving Distance of a Wal-Mart) Wal-mart announces legitimate progress on rolling out drone delivery to customers in key metropolitan areas. The forecast is to expand to 34 stores in 23 cities by year end to reach a...
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Episode 195: The Bots are Here, AI Fiction Author, and Call Time on FAANG Stocks
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: The Bots are Coming for LinkedIn, Adding New Layers of Risk for Professionals and for Companies … but Especially for Recruiters Bots are everywhere on social media, and some platforms are doing more to combat them than others. Now that the bots are proliferating on LinkedIn, it’s vital for everyone to think about the layers of threat and the corresponding hygiene on the career-centric platform. Topic 2: How does AI write fiction (and online advertisements)? “Fluent BS” The term “Fluent Bullshit” was originally coined by The Verge: Topic 3: Investors Call Time On FAANG...
info_outlineAnnouncement: Killing IT Podcast is available on Audible / Amazon podcasts. If you have an Audible account, just search for “The Killing IT Podcast.”
Direct Link: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Killing-IT-Podcast-Podcast/B08JJNTC1N
Topic 1: The Robo-job Apocalypse is Being Delayed.
We've covered this story from several angles over the last years. Turns out robots are adding more jobs than they are taking away. Robots are affected how much people get paid, not whether they have jobs.
Link:
1 big thing: The robo-job apocalypse is being delayed
Topic 2: A great resource to explore - NATO's research on evil actors in worldwide technology.
Start with the web site https://www.stratcomcoe.org/publications.
We particularly love this report:
https://www.stratcomcoe.org/black-market-social-media-manipulation
Also check out the quarterly report on robot trolling. All really good, well-researched, and a little scary.
Book cited: The Big Switch by Nicholas Carr.
Topic 3: Turns out, Facebook CAN tweak the algorithm.
Facebook has long claimed that they cannot make changes to their "news" algorithm. Specifically, they have claimed that they cannot start tweaking the viral nature of trends on their own platform.
Now they are saying that they had to crank down the viral nature of some posts during the election. The goal was to diminish extreme divisiveness.
It may or may not be good. But clearly they can adjust their algorithm. We discuss.
Another fun show! Share with your friends.
:-)