#algorithmic regulation

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Lies, damned lies, and Uber

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me TONIGHT in PHOENIX (Changing Hands, Feb 29) then Tucson (Mar 10-11), San Francisco (Mar 13), and more!

Uber lies about everything, especially money. Oh, and labour. Especially labour. And geometry. Especially geometry! But especially especially money. They constantly lie about money.

Uber are virtuosos of mendacity, but in Toronto, the company has attained a heretofore unseen hat-trick: they told a single lie that is dramatically, materially untruthful about money, labour and geometry! It's an achievement for the ages.

Here's how they did it.

For several decades, Toronto has been clobbered by the misrule of a series of far-right, clownish mayors. This was the result of former Ontario Premier Mike Harris's great gerrymander of 1998, when the city of Toronto was amalgamated with its car-dependent suburbs. This set the tone for the next quarter-century, as these outlying regions – utterly dependent on Toronto for core economic activity and massive subsidies to pay the unsustainable utility and infrastructure bills for sprawling neighborhoods of single-family homes – proceeded to gut the city they relied on.

These "conservative" mayors – the philanderer, the crackhead, the sexual predator – turned the city into a corporate playground, swapping public housing and rent controls for out-of-control real-estate speculation and trading out some of the world's best transit for total car-dependency. As part of that decay, the city rolled out the red carpet for Uber, allowing the company to put as many unlicensed taxis as they wanted on the city's streets.

Now, it's hard to overstate the dire traffic situation in Toronto. Years of neglect and underinvestment in both the roads and the transit system have left both in a state of near collapse and it's not uncommon for multiple, consecutive main arteries to shut down without notice for weeks, months, or, in a few cases, years. The proliferation of Ubers on the road – driven by desperate people trying to survive the city's cost-of-living catastrophe – has only exacerbated this problem.

Uber, of course, would dispute this. The company insists – despite all common sense and peer-reviewed research – that adding more cars to the streets alleviates traffic. This is easily disproved: there just isn't any way to swap buses, streetcars, and subways for cars. The road space needed for all those single-occupancy cars pushes everything further apart, which means we need more cars, which means more roads, which means more distance between things, and so on.

It is an undeniable fact that geometry hates cars. But geometry loathes Uber. Because Ubers have all the problems of single-occupancy vehicles, and then they have the separate problem that they just end up circling idly around the city's streets, waiting for a rider. The more Ubers there are on the road, the longer each car ends up waiting for a passenger:

https://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Uber-Lyft-San-Francisco-pros-cons-ride-hailing-13841277.php

Anything that can't go on forever eventually stops. After years of bumbling-to-sinister municipal rule, Toronto finally reclaimed its political power and voted in a new mayor, Olivia Chow, a progressive of long tenure and great standing (I used to ring doorbells for her when she was campaigning for her city council seat). Mayor Chow announced that she was going to reclaim the city's prerogative to limit the number of Ubers on the road, ending the period of Uber's "self-regulation."

Uber, naturally, lost its shit. The company claims to be more than a (geometrically impossible) provider of convenient transportation for Torontonians, but also a provider of good jobs for working people. And to prove it, the company has promised to pay its drivers "120% of minimum wage." As I write for Ricochet, that's a whopper, even by Uber's standards:

https://ricochet.media/en/4039/uber-is-lying-again-the-company-has-no-intention-of-paying-drivers-a-living-wage

Here's the thing: Uber is only proposing to pay 120% of the minimum wage while drivers have a passenger in the vehicle. And with the number of vehicles Uber wants on the road, most drivers will be earning nothing most of the time. Factor in that unpaid time, as well as expenses for vehicles, and the average Toronto Uber driver stands to make $2.50 per hour (Canadian):

https://ridefair.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Legislated-Poverty.pdf

Now, Uber's told a lot of lies over the years. Right from the start, the company implicitly lied about what it cost to provide an Uber. For its first 12 years, Uber lost $0.41 on every dollar it brought in, lighting tens of billions in investment capital provided by the Saudi royals on fire in an effort to bankrupt rival transportation firms and disinvestment in municipal transit.

Uber then lied to retail investors about the business-case for buying its stock so that the House of Saud and other early investors could unload their stock. Uber claimed that they were on the verge of producing a self-driving car that would allow them to get rid of drivers, zero out their wage bill, and finally turn a profit. The company spent $2.5b on this, making it the most expensive Big Store in the history of cons:

https://www.theinformation.com/articles/infighting-busywork-missed-warnings-how-uber-wasted-2-5-billion-on-self-driving-cars

After years, Uber produced a "self-driving car" that could travel one half of one American mile before experiencing a potentially lethal collision. Uber quietly paid another company $400m to take this disaster off its hands:

https://www.economist.com/business/2020/12/10/why-is-uber-selling-its-autonomous-vehicle-division

The self-driving car lie was tied up in another lie – that somehow, automation could triumph over geometry. Robocabs, we were told, would travel in formations so tight that they would finally end the Red Queen's Race of more cars – more roads – more distance – more cars. That lie wormed its way into the company's IPO prospectus, which promised retail investors that profitability lay in replacing every journey – by car, cab, bike, bus, tram or train – with an Uber ride:

https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN1RN2SK/

The company has been bleeding out money ever since – though you wouldn't know it by looking at its investor disclosures. Every quarter, Uber trumpets that it has finally become profitable, and every quarter, Hubert Horan dissects its balance sheets to find the accounting trick the company thought of this time. There was one quarter where Uber declared profitability by marking up the value of stock it held in Uber-like companies in other countries.

How did it get this stock? Well, Uber tried to run a business in those countries and it was such a total disaster that they had to flee the country, selling their business to a failing domestic competitor in exchange for stock in its collapsing business. Naturally, there's no market for this stock, which, in Uber-land, means you can assign any value you want to it. So that one quarter, Uber just asserted that the stock had shot up in value and voila, profit!

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2022/02/hubert-horan-can-uber-ever-deliver-part-twenty-nine-despite-massive-price-increases-uber-losses-top-31-billion.html

But all of those lies are as nothing to the whopper that Uber is trying to sell to Torontonians by blanketing the city in ads: the lie that by paying drivers $2.50/hour to fill the streets with more single-occupancy cars, they will turn a profit, reduce the city's traffic, and provide good jobs. Uber says it can vanquish geometry, economics and working poverty with the awesome power of narrative.

In other words, it's taking Toronto for a bunch of suckers.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/29/geometry-hates-uber/#toronto-the-gullible

Image: Rob Sinclair (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Night_skyline_of_Toronto_May_2009.jpg

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en

[dad-friend]

ok listen. i know hbomberguy said he doesnt wanna become the type of youtube who spends their time doing drama videos or ruining ppl careers but like. if somebody doesnt start doing crazy detailed research on ryan hall, yall then i will

[princesssarcastia]

listen to me. are you listening? tiktok is not uniquely anything when it comes to the internet. it is a tool and a platform like any other, used by all kinds of people—by nearly every kind of person or entity to whom it is available, in fact! and while what the u.s. government is doing right now to force the ownership of the company to change hands is bad and happening for the wrong reasons, to put it mildly—

claiming that the u.s. establishment is interested in shutting down tiktok because its been sooooo good and revolutionary for progressive/left-wing organizing is uhh. horse shit. that's not true. everyone uses tiktok. you, statistically, probably use tiktok. so do some of the congresspeople endorsing legislation that might end in tiktok being banned. so do right-wing influencers and terfs and trad-wives. just like everyone uses every other social media site.

don't fall into that trap of thinking that just because you and the people in your circle use this tool for good, that this tool is only used for good. it is actually just a tool for everyone!

here's an excerpt from a book called, The Wires of War, by Jacob Helberg which, if you're interested in why the u.s. congress is actually pulling this shit with tiktok, is a great read. this excerpt follows a section where Helberg described the role social media played in the Arab Spring in 2011. emphasis mine.

It would be several years before the 2016 election awakened the West to the ways in which the Internet could exploit the vulnerabilities of their societies. But for the autocrats in Bejing, Moscow, and Tehran, the Arab Spring was a technological awakening of their own. Seeing other repressive governments around the world crumble, illiberal regimes in Russia and China accelerated their treatment of the information space as a domain of war. "Tech-illiterate bureaucrats were replaced by a new generation of enforcers who understood the internet almost as well as the protesters," write Singer and Brooking in their book, LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media. "In truth, democratic activists had no special claim to the internet. They'd simply gotten there first. "

[r0semultiverse]

I refuse to hop in a Zoox car in my entire life if I can avoid it. I refuse to hop into any self-driving robo taxi (or robotaxi) that uses AI to keep it’s passengers “safe.” If this is actually a service they are legally allowed to provide publicly, there’s about to be a whole bunch of new laws made in hopefully very little time! Now you know me, obviously fuck the law, many laws are unjust, but sometimes we need some regulations to keep up with the shit that rich Silicon Valley tech bros “put out” while claiming it’s allegedly their own work. These rich bastards are dangerous! Now I’ll pass along the questions that my partner & I jokingly pondered. If something happens that the AI & detection systems doesn’t know how to handle, will us as the passengers be held legally responsible say if a child gets punted into the air by the self driving car & we can’t do anything to stop it? What if we’re asleep assuming the car is safe & it runs over a legally endangered animal? What if we’re on our phones & these self-driving robot cars cleave someone in half? What if it crashes into someone’s private property? Are we held responsible in any of these cases or is the big rich guy’s company? If it’s anything like Tesla, you should get your kids or pets out of the road when you see a Zoox car coming, it could allegedly cause some mortalities. Two more things. What’s stopping someone from hijacking, hacking, or planting a virus on these self-driving taxi services? What if one of them gets hijacked to take someone to a human trafficker meetup spot? Will the company be held responsible at all? The gifs below pretty much summarizes my feelings.

[cavenewstimestoday]

🧠 Mind Fuel: The Attention Economy: How Big Tech Hijacked Your Mind and What You Can Do About It

In an era where your time online translates directly into corporate profit, your attention has become the most valuable commodity on Earth. From TikTok scrolls to YouTube rabbit holes, Silicon Valley has mastered the art of capturing and monetizing your focus, turning it into data, dollars, and influence. Welcome to the attention economy—a digital ecosystem where everything competes to keep you…

[firstoccupier]

AI Revolution: Balancing Benefits and Dangers

Not too long ago, I was conversing with one of our readers about artificial intelligence. They found it humorous that I believe we are more productive using ChatGPT and other generic AI solutions. Another reader expressed confidence that AI would not take over the music industry because it could never replace live performances. I also spoke with someone who embraced a deep fear of all things AI,…

[pipinfuse]

The Digital Euro in 2025: How This Game-Changer Will Impact Forex Traders

The European Central Bank’s plan to roll out the Digital Euro in 2025 is set to reshape the forex landscape. As a central bank digital currency (CBDC), it promises greater financial inclusion, enhanced security, and faster transactions. But what does this mean for traders? Will it create new opportunities or add more volatility to the market? PipInfuse, a leading Forex & Investment consultancy, explores how the Digital Euro could impact currency trading, offering expert trading solutions to help you navigate the changes.

What is the Digital Euro and Why Does It Matter?

The Digital Euro is a fully digital form of fiat currency issued by the European Central Bank (ECB). Unlike cryptocurrencies, it is centralised and backed by the EU, ensuring stability. The key objectives behind its launch include:

Reducing dependence on cash

Enhancing payment security

Strengthening the EU’s financial sovereignty

Offering an alternative to private digital payment solutions

For forex traders, this introduction means potential shifts in liquidity, volatility, and trading strategies.

Impact on the Forex Market

1. Liquidity and Volatility Shifts

The Digital Euro is expected to influence EUR trading pairs significantly. If widely adopted, it could increase liquidity in the forex market, making it easier to trade. However, during the initial rollout, uncertainty and speculation may create short-term volatility, presenting both risks and opportunities.

2. Changes in EUR/USD and EUR/GBP Dynamics

With the EU strengthening its monetary control, traders may see the Digital Euro influencing major forex pairs like EUR/USD and EUR/GBP. Any policy shifts by the ECB regarding CBDC interest rates or usage restrictions could impact price action, requiring expert market analysis to make informed trading decisions.

3. Effect on Forex Trading Strategies

Profitable forex strategies will need to adapt to the Digital Euro’s influence. Algorithmic trading models, liquidity forecasting, and AI-based analysis will become even more crucial. PipInfuse provides advanced forex tools and expert solutions tailored for all trader types, helping traders stay ahead of market changes.

4. Regulation and Transparency

The introduction of the Digital Euro could lead to stricter regulatory measures affecting brokers and forex trading platforms. While increased transparency may benefit traders, brokers offering unregulated services might face challenges. Trusted forex partners and copy trading solutions will become even more valuable for those looking to trade securely.

How Traders Can Prepare for the Digital Euro

Stay Updated with Expert Insights: Following reliable sources like PipInfuse ensures traders receive timely forex trading insights and expert market analysis on the Digital Euro’s impact.

Upgrade Trading Tools: As the forex market evolves, using advanced analytics and automation tools will be crucial for staying competitive.

Refine Risk Management: Increased volatility requires disciplined risk management. A well-structured forex trading plan is essential to mitigate potential losses.

Seek Expert Consultation: Understanding the broader economic impact of CBDCs can be complex. Free forex trading plan and expert consultation by PipInfuse can help traders develop strategies tailored to the changing forex landscape.

The Digital Euro marks a major shift in the financial world, with significant implications for forex traders. Whether it leads to increased liquidity, regulatory challenges, or new trading opportunities, being prepared is key. PipInfuse, an expert forex trading and investment consultancy, provides traders with the knowledge, tools, and strategies to navigate these changes confidently. By staying informed and leveraging expert trading solutions, traders can turn this disruption into a profitable opportunity.

Happy Trading

PipInfuse

[avandelay20]

We don't need another "platform" but he's got the right assessment of big tech and the current walled-gardens that hold most internet users hostage.

“When an app company doesn’t care about content and asks an AI to maximize usage the result is a service that incentivizes content that maximizes addictiveness,” he writes (emphasis his). “The type of content that gets created and recommended is not the best content, but the content that elicits the most compulsive and predictable response from the human brain.”

Peretti boils this tendency down to the acronym SNARF, which stands for “Stakes/Novelty/Anger/Retention/Fear.”

“Content creators...

...exaggerate stakes to make their content urgent and existential,” he writes.

...“They manufacture novelty.

...They manipulate anger to drive engagement via outrage.

...They hack retention by withholding information and promising a payoff at the end of a video.

...And they provoke fear.”

So how do you stop the runaway SNARF platforms (in order of likelihood)?

Via Lawsuits and/or Regulations

By collective action from App store owners (Apple, Google) and ISPs (Comcast, Verizon, etc) to ban the SNARF platforms/sites

By creators & users deciding to abandon / boycott the SNARF platforms

Wait for the platform owners to change their algorithms and incentives for content

[read-online]

This video explores how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is creating new job opportunities and income streams for young people. It details several ways AI can be used to generate income, such as developing AI-powered apps, creating content using AI tools, and providing AI consulting services.

The video also provides real-world examples of young entrepreneurs who are successfully using AI to earn money. The best way to get started is to get today the “10 Ways To Make Money With AI for Teens and Young Adults”

[zomb13s]

The Paradox of Copyright Law: The Cycle of Ownership and Appropriation in the Digital Age

Abstract This paper explores the complexities of copyright law, particularly how it interacts with data gathering through social networking platforms. It highlights the paradox where media companies claim copyright over content they did not originally produce, appropriating data from users without offering compensation or ownership. By analyzing the behavior of media conglomerates over the past…

[thisisgraeme]

Balancing AI Regulation in Education with Innovation: 6 Insights from Comparative Research

Curious about how AI is shaping the future of education? Our latest report dives into real-world insights from educators and AI experts. Discover the challenges, opportunities, and ethical considerations in AI integration.

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly integral to educational practices, the debate over how to govern this powerful technology grows more pressing. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recently published a working paper titled Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work, Education, and Training, which delves into the potential impact of AI on equity…

[mysticdragon3md3]

🌋💢->☮️🌻

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Daniel Dueñas (@mrdanielduenas)

I was just journaling about how i need to learn how to do this. Maybe cookies in my computer are feeding my journaling to algorithms, but I'm glad this vid came across my feed. Because i genuinely need to learn how to express my dislike for characters without making their fans feel invalidated.

[wat3rm370n]

Conflation of social media with free speech is disingenuous & inaccurate.

Conflation of social media with free speech is disingenuous & inaccurate. We had free speech before social media, algorithms, and manipulation. Anyone arguing that any warning or regulation of social media companies and what they implement is tantamount to suppressing free speech is totally full of crap.

Free speech can exist without algorithms to manipulate people to stay glued to the app, other people gaming those algorithms to push advertising or disinformation, SEO optimization to manipulate what "free speech" anyone even gets to see, and big money paid influencers guiding "free speech" to their marketing and propaganda goals.

[jcmarchi]

Navigating the EU AI Act: Implications for UK businesses

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/navigating-the-eu-ai-act-implications-for-uk-businesses/

Navigating the EU AI Act: Implications for UK businesses

The EU AI Act, which came into effect on August 1, 2024, marks a turning point in the regulation of artificial intelligence. Aimed at governing the use and development of AI, it imposes rigorous standards for organisations operating within the EU or providing AI-driven products and services to its member states. Understanding and complying with the Act is essential for UK businesses seeking to compete in the European market.

The scope and impact of the EU AI Act

The EU AI Act introduces a risk-based framework that classifies AI systems into four categories: minimal, limited, high, and unacceptable risk. High-risk systems, which include AI used in healthcare diagnostics, autonomous vehicles, and financial decision-making, face stringent regulations. This risk-based approach ensures that the level of oversight corresponds to the potential impact of the technology on individuals and society.

For UK businesses, non-compliance with these rules is not an option. Organisations must ensure their AI systems align with the Act’s requirements or risk hefty fines, reputational damage, and exclusion from the lucrative EU market. The first step is to evaluate how their AI systems are classified and adapt operations accordingly. For instance, a company using AI to automate credit scoring must ensure its system meets transparency, fairness, and data privacy standards.

Preparing for the UK’s next steps

While the EU AI Act directly affects UK businesses trading with the EU, the UK is also likely to implement its own AI regulations. The recent King’s Speech highlighted the government’s commitment to AI governance, focusing on ethical AI and data protection. Future UK legislation will likely mirror aspects of the EU framework, making it essential for businesses to proactively prepare for compliance in multiple jurisdictions.

The role of ISO 42001 in ensuring compliance

International standards like ISO 42001 provide a practical solution for businesses navigating this evolving regulatory landscape. As the global benchmark for AI management systems, ISO 42001 offers a structured framework to manage the development and deployment of AI responsibly.

Adopting ISO 42001 enables businesses to demonstrate compliance with EU requirements while fostering trust among customers, partners, and regulators. Its focus on continuous improvement ensures that organisations can adapt to future regulatory changes, whether from the EU, UK, or other regions. Moreover, the standard promotes

transparency, safety, and ethical practices, which are essential for building AI systems that are not only compliant but also aligned with societal values.

Using AI as a catalyst for growth

Compliance with the EU AI Act and ISO 42001 isn’t just about avoiding penalties; it’s an opportunity to use AI as a sustainable growth and innovation driver. Businesses prioritising ethical AI practices can gain a competitive edge by enhancing customer trust and delivering high-value solutions.

For example, AI can revolutionise patient care in the healthcare sector by enabling faster diagnostics and personalised treatments. By aligning these technologies with ISO 42001, organisations can ensure their tools meet the highest safety and privacy standards. Similarly, financial firms can harness AI to optimise decision-making processes while maintaining transparency and fairness in customer interactions.

The risks of non-compliance

Recent incidents, such as AI-driven fraud schemes and cases of algorithmic bias, highlight the risks of neglecting proper governance. The EU AI Act directly addresses these challenges by enforcing strict guidelines on data usage, transparency, and accountability. Failure to comply risks significant fines and undermines stakeholder confidence, with long-lasting consequences for an organisation’s reputation.

The MOVEit and Capita breaches serve as stark reminders of the vulnerabilities associated with technology when governance and security measures are lacking. For UK businesses, robust compliance strategies are essential to mitigate such risks and ensure resilience in an increasingly regulated environment.

How UK businesses can adapt

1. Understand the risk level of AI systems: Conduct a comprehensive review of how AI is used within the organisation to determine risk levels. This assessment should consider the impact of the technology on users, stakeholders, and society.

2. Update compliance programs: Align data collection, system monitoring, and auditing practices with the requirements of the EU AI Act.

3. Adopt ISO 42001: Implementing the standard provides a scalable framework to manage AI responsibly, ensuring compliance while fostering innovation.

4. Invest in employee education: Equip teams with the knowledge to manage AI responsibly and adapt to evolving regulations.

5. Leverage advanced technologies: Use AI itself to monitor compliance, identify risks, and improve operational efficiency.

The future of AI regulation

As AI becomes an integral part of business operations, regulatory frameworks will continue to evolve. The EU AI Act will likely inspire similar legislation worldwide, creating a more complex compliance landscape. Businesses that act now to adopt international standards and align with best practices will be better positioned to navigate these changes.

The EU AI Act is a wake-up call for UK businesses to prioritise ethical AI practices and proactive compliance. By implementing tools like ISO 42001 and preparing for future regulations, organisations can turn compliance into an opportunity for growth, innovation, and resilience.

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