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FILE PHOTO: People walk by a Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, subsidiaries of Yum! Brands, Inc. in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., February 7, 2022.
Watching workers
Businesses are starting to use artificial intelligence to watch their workers. One AI system, called Riley, is in use at 100 different U.S. stores, including Dairy Queen, Taco Bell, and Wendy’s fast-food establishments, according to a new report by Forbes.
Riley is an intelligence surveillance system that effectively surveils employees, evaluates their performance, and suggests feedback and bonuses based on its determinations. One Dairy Queen franchisee said Riley has led to a 3% boost in sales.
There are countless problems with technologies like this. Automated systems might hold workers to harder standards than might a human manager; plus, AI systems are often prone to bias based on the way they were trained. Increasingly, algorithms also govern the process to even get a job—especially lower-wage jobs.
The future of work is eerie: The next time you apply for a job, you might be judged by an unknowable computer program—and if you manage to impress that software, there’s more just like it watching you when you actually get to work.McDonald's restaurant logo seen during the sanctions against Russian banks.
Hard Numbers: Golden Arches close in Russia, Kremlin lists its enemies, nickel blows up, North Korean nuclear program stirs
850: McDonalds will temporarily close its 850 restaurants in Russia in response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The 62,000 people it employs there will, however, stay on payroll. The opening of the first McDonalds in the Soviet Union, in 1990, was a historic and optimistic moment during the Cold War.
48: On Tuesday, the Kremlin published a list of 48 countries and territories deemed “unfriendly” to Russia. The US, EU, and, oddly, Taiwan are all on it. A recent Kremlin decree permits Russians to repay any foreign currency debts to these “unfriendlies” in rubles. However, the decree does not oblige creditors to accept the nearly worthless Russian currency.
100,000: The London Metal Exchange suspended trading of nickel on Tuesday after prices more than doubled to over $100,000 per metric ton. Russia is the world’s third-largest nickel producer, and the war in Ukraine is fueling concern about the supply of the metal, which is used to make stainless steel and EV batteries.
4: Roughly four years since North Korea officially shuttered its Punggye-ri nuclear testing site, experts have detected “very early signs of activity” there. Analysts believe the Hermit Kingdom may be gearing up to resume nuclear and long-range missile testing. Not now, North Korea!
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