Tractors replaced horses as power source for working the land but every farmer still know HOW the work is done, WHEN you have to do it and WHY. Same thing can be said in almost every trade, the Human mind still "has it". Tech evolution replaced the tools not the knowhow. Now a private company want to replace the thinkers so the next evolution will not replace the tools but the entire frame of thought. Machines will be the only one knowing how, when and why of everything and we will have no hope to comprehend what they are doing. Can you tell the difference?
Do you know exactly how old are artificial neural networks? Artificial neural networks were first theorized in the early 40s. The first practical applications (image and speech recognition) were implemented in the 60s (yes...more than 60 years ago let that sink in). Look up SHDRLU to get an idea of what those ANNs were able to do with computers from 60 years ago. What OpenAI and other corps are doing now is just deploying extremely large models on hardware that have enormous quantities of memory and CPU cores, hoping that building a complex enough system will spawn an artificial general intelligence. No sign of AGI so far but lots of Gwatts of power and some hundreds thousand GPU wasted to generate naked pictures of Putin and Biden...go figure.
Modern smartphones are built with durable materials, they have powerful SOC and plenty of RAM and storage. There is absolutely no reason to force obsolescence on devices that have a price tag of 800+ dollars.
If those devices are used to log driving time, gps data and engine parameters (for regulatory purpose I suppose) why they can interfere with critical systems like braking, steering and fuel pumps?
Exactly that! The Uber app is not rocket science. I will never understand why those indipendent drivers does not band up togheter and undercut those assholes. The same thing goes for food delivery riders, all those gig economy companies may provide the platform but the drivers/riders are doing the heavy lifting, it's time that they wake up.
My employer implemented a BYOD policy before COVID that became a "use your own hardware when you work from home" policy (UYOHWWFH?). Our IT dept gave us "minimal hardware requirements" that must be met but beside that I can work with a 42" gaming display or a TI calculator if I want. Also our when our top managers learned that they had to pay for hardware out of their pocket the "I need this 6k $ laptop" changed quickly to "my 2k $ laptop is working fine".
I was around the Internet around the same time as you and I must tell you that most (not all of them but surprisingly the majority of them) of those people with above average IQ were the most trollish and pompous asshat I ever met in all my life. So much for the Internet utopia.
Not exactly true. You can degauss an HD and be pretty sure no one can read a single bit. Usually this procedure leaves the drive intact and still working.
I have already said that for years now. A mass market economy thrives on a mass of "consumers". Robot and AI agents are not "consumers". They will not buy houses, cars, TV sets, game consoles and so on. They will not buy books or songs, they will not sit down on a coach to see Netflix. Taking away jobs and "consumers" from the market is the single most stupid thing a capitalistic economy could do.