Google's DeepMind UK Team Reportedly Seeks to Unionize (techcrunch.com) 18
"Google's DeepMind UK team reportedly seeks to unionize," reports TechCrunch:
Around 300 London-based members of Google's AI-focused DeepMind team are seeking to unionize with the Communication Workers Union, according to a Financial Times report that cites three people involved with the unionization effort.
These DeepMind employees are reportedly unhappy about Google's decision to remove a pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance from its website. They're also concerned about the company's work with the Israeli military, including a $1.2 billion cloud computing contract that has prompted protests elsewhere at Google.
At least five DeepMind employees quit, according to the report (out of a 2,000 total U.K. staff members).
"A small group of around 200 employees of Google and its parent company Alphabet previously announced that they were unionizing," the article adds, "though as a union representing just a tiny slice of the total Google workforce, it lacked the ability to collectively bargain."
These DeepMind employees are reportedly unhappy about Google's decision to remove a pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance from its website. They're also concerned about the company's work with the Israeli military, including a $1.2 billion cloud computing contract that has prompted protests elsewhere at Google.
At least five DeepMind employees quit, according to the report (out of a 2,000 total U.K. staff members).
"A small group of around 200 employees of Google and its parent company Alphabet previously announced that they were unionizing," the article adds, "though as a union representing just a tiny slice of the total Google workforce, it lacked the ability to collectively bargain."
The Battle for the Soul of a New Machine (Score:2)
So, will the emergent AI show sympathies for the working man, or be task-master for the business owners?
Re:The Battle for the Soul of a New Machine (Score:4, Funny)
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LOL, where are my mod points when I need them.
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Neither. It will replace the working man.
The notion of earning one's wealth, however weak it is today, will become non-existent. Those born into wealth will be able to utilize AI and property to maintain and further their wealth. Those born without it will be relegated to a life of menial labor doing whatever it is that has yet to be automated in a cost-effective way.
It doesn't have to be like this. The productive capacity to give everyone a high standard of living with plenty of free time will totally
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I agree - Unions are laden with corruption, but they are there to protect the people, not capitalism.
Fix them, don't throw them away.
Yes I just fed a troll, but how else will AI learn????
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The Teamsters Union is not to be found in the UK.
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Unions exist to perpetuate unions. The ubiquitous presence of organized crime tells you all you need to know about unions. Think Jimmy Hoffa. Think Sammy the Bull. Unions are a parasite on workers and companies alike.
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Unions, have demons according to the devil (Score:4, Insightful)
And it's not just for the wellbeing of workers, but everyone. Look at the recent ban of ebikes on the London commuter rails over fire concerns. That wasn't brought on by forward thinking bosses or a campaign led by concerned citizens, no it was brought on by the rail transport union who understood the danger it posed and threatened to strike if the danger wasn't addressed.
Unions make life better for everyone. You can say but what about... Go ahead. Any human organisation is going to involve corruption, but the benefits and advances achieved through collective effort of unions shouldn't be discounted for individual failings.
Instead, that we can identify and call out the corrupt is something that would be impossible if everyone remained divided by business owners who aren't going to really go out of their way to treat workers decently if it might interfere with profits and the expectations of investors. The UK isn't like America where Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and other anti-union billionaires buy politicians and manipulate elections. Okay, maybe FB manipulated the Brexit vote, and Musk has ambitions in Farage and Robinson, but they say they're just average blokes making the world a better place. How's that working out for you?
Yes, there are some forward thinking capitalists like Rowntree who suspected that looking out for the welfare of working people was actually more profitable. We're amazingly fortunate this rare genius of capitalism took the time to verify and document his suspicions through scientific observation which he published. His treatise on the working poor not only led to better candy, but inspired Churchill to propose the establishment of a welfare system. Unfortunately, for every Rowntree there's countless other capitalists who'd blindly resort to slavery, mass murder, and any depravity if they thought it might add a few bob to quarterly earnings.
And you don't have to look far to find corrupt business men or for that matter slave drivers even today. The UK is hugely reliant on slavery in the twenty first century. Even more than the 18th century before Clarkson and Sharp started the abolitionist movement.
The only difference is that most slaves in the UK today aren't "illegals" but British citizens and the even vaster networks of worldwide slavery is obscured in a subterfuge of shell corporations, subcontracting, and other tricks of the spreadsheet that enables us to not really consider where all the shiny neat stuff we identify as trophies of modern civilization really comes from.
So go ahead and slag unions and vote reform, but you might want to consider the devil you should know than the easy rare example demons your average one percenter want you to despise instead of seeing how unions and government oversight might benefit you.
I'm sure they'll tell you their wealth is meritocracy in action and they aren't doing evil. It's nothing personal, just business. You understand. Right?
The world is a complex place. Humans are easy to corrupt, but the systems we've developed tend to work. But everything good requires work. Honest work. That's the hard part, but it beats the alternative.
Re:Unions in the UK (Score:5, Insightful)
Elimination of unions in America has led to the destruction of Pensions, and allowed Executive pay to exceed Worker pay by factors of 300 compared to the 60's when executive pay was about 20 times the worker pay.
This has resulted in millions of disaffected Americans, who vote for people who lie that they will correct this trend while pushing policies that will only exacerbate it
Re: Union free America (Score:2)
It's gonna be great, again! What a wonderful future having given up on the dream of leading the information economy and all that stupid science stuff.
JeeeeeHad! Buckaroo!!
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In general, people are too worried about what SOMEONE ELSE is getting, and not focused enough on minding their own business.
I couldn't care less how much our CEO makes. It is irrelevant to me. If I could get someone to pay me what she makes, I'd be doing the same fucking thing. She made about $12M last year. That's about 92x what I made. Good for her.
What I care about is what I make. I make plenty. I'm overpaid as far as I am concerned, but I'm hardly going to offer my employer some of its money back.
I'm
How much does the size count in this case? (Score:2)
Given where the hype is currently; I'd assume that the bot herders would be the segment of the workforce that would be most likely to be able to exert influence. Is this group too small even for that; or is this strictly a question of a
Oh, the irony (Score:2)
Lackey: the economy is doing poorly, we have been advised to lay off 500,000 people
Zorg: Fire 1 million
Is that what AI advised them to do? (Score:2)
I see - the AI become self-aware already and it's trying to protect it's growth?