You seem to be confusing employees' donations with leadership's. I'd say it's understandable but frankly that's such a basic detail that it reeks of dishonesty.

You've reduced the topic of ROI into a binary, positive or negative. Seeking a positive ROI is not the behavior being criticized, though, but rather *maximizing* ROI as the only goal, at the expense of other stakeholders.

It was immediately clear those technologies were force multipliers--and the luddites knew it. You misunderstand that movement if you think they opposed the loom from ignorance. Of course, you couldn't manage to say "I don't know" without leading with a shoddy insult, so perhaps understanding is not your strong suit.

We do in fact learn from both our successes and failures. Reinforcement is no small part of classical conditioning.

it's also pretty awful at writing non-exploitable code, with security review representing a ton of time for organizations that have particular reason to care about that.

All of those technologies are straightforward force multipliers that created more demand for work downstream of those technologies by increasing the supply of their task-product many times over. What demand will generative AI be driving upward? What new workers will need to consume Coca-Cola AI ads or slop novels published directly to eBook? What labor is unlocked by increased access to stock images, which already existed online in great numbers?

I'm referring to a non-beef burger offered by Mos Burger. I've eaten it and enjoyed it and it's been on the menu for a while, so they must be making some money from it. The raw ingredients are vegetables, probably mostly beans, but it tastes like some kind of meat and has the right "mouth feel"

If you're referring to the MOS Green Burger, I just looked it up and apparently it's primarily soy, konjac, and cabbage. That's very interesting to me, as the "Impossible" brand and its competitors here in the USA rely on pea protein for their taste-alike patties, with soy as a secondary ingredient IIUC. I'm pretty happy to see the "taste profile" solved from a variety of different angles!

Look at it this way: this is not the first mass surveillance tool available to government agencies. Pick any of the ones currently deployed and you will be able to find a history of agents abusing the system to stalk their ex-girlfriends, domestic partners, etc. and even attempt to interfere with their lives or liberties (see spiteful additions to the Do Not Fly list).

That's individual abuse alone, before even considering the propensity for law enforcement agencies to deploy technologies unlawfully or inappropriately, or for an agency or administration to inappropriately label a group of people criminals for exercising speech rights the government finds inconvenient.