What caught my eye this week

What is 'AI washing' and why is it a problem?

Amazon received critical headlines this year when reports questioned the “Just Walk Out” technology installed at many of its physical grocery stores .It was widely reported that rather than solely using AI, Just Walk Out needed around 1,000 workers in India to manually check almost three quarters of the transactions.

Whatever the exact details of the Amazon case, it is a high-profile example of a new and growing question – whether companies are making over-inflated claims about their use of AI. It is a phenomenon that has been dubbed “AI washing” in reference to the environmental "green washing".

Source: BBC News

Uber and Lyft drivers in Massachusetts will now get minimum pay

Uber and Lyft agreed to a number of worker benefits on Thursday in order to end a lengthy legal challenge in Massachusetts over drivers’ employment status as independent contractors.?The two gig giants will pay now workers a minimum of $32.50 per hour for active driving time, offer paid sick leave, and provide a stipend for health insurance, along with other benefits.

It’s a win for the gig companies, which have worked for years to essentially carve out a new type of employment. Gig workers would gain access to some traditional benefits, like paid sick leave, but the companies would still be able to call them independent contractors.

Source: Fast Company

The promise of generative AI for credit customer assistance

With the rapid emergence of generative AI (gen AI), credit customer assistance and collection functions are taking advantage of the technology’s potential. They can use it to enhance operational capabilities, improve efficiency, increase effectiveness, and—most importantly—create better outcomes for customers.

Source: McKinsey & Company

PayPal cofounder Max Levchin’s traumatic debt experience motivated him to create Affirm. Now he’s dreaming of a world without credit cards

Max Levchin had just taken his company public and was looking to also go for a spin. On the heels of a PayPal deal that swiftly made him a multimillionaire, Levchin sought to deliver on that classic “making it big” purchase that many dream of—a car.

But his credit card debt pumped the brakes ever so slightly on his goal. “Borrowing was really difficult,” Levchin tells Fortune, noting that he was told to pay cash because his credit card score was too low. “I thought there was a better way to do payments and lending,” he says of his venture that came down the line.

Source: Yahoo

Metaverse And Augmented Reality Remain Unpopular With VCs

The metaverse is not getting funded. That was the unsurprising finding from our latest data dive regarding investment in startups innovating around the metaverse, virtual reality and augmented reality. The space, which was significantly buzzier a few years ago, has apparently lost its cachet with VCs. Dwindling investment comes on the heels of disappointing adoption for the gear and leading metaverse platforms.

Even Apple’s U.S. introduction earlier this year of the Vision Pro headset, marketed as a “spatial computing” device, didn’t produce a notable turn in sentiment. Demand for the $3,500 device is reportedly cooling, with Apple said to have cut its shipment forecast.

Source: Crunchbase

Disney's 'Inside Out 2' could be the first billion-dollar movie of 2024

Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” could be the first film since Warner Bros.′ “Barbie” to top $1 billion at the global box office.

“As a global phenomenon attracting moviegoers well beyond families and kids and a message that resonates and is relatable across all cultures and languages, ‘Inside Out 2’ is the rare film that is both a box-office sprinter and a marathon runner,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “It is the perfect candidate for admission to the billion-dollar club.”

Source: CNBC

It doesn’t make sense: why US tariffs on Chinese cleantech risk the green transition

Global demand for renewable energy is surging so why make solar panels, wind turbines and EVs dearer for western consumers? Alarmingly, new tariffs imposed by the US and the EU on imports of solar panels, EVs, and other equipment, threaten to derail this progress. While estimating the cost of the clean energy transition is a difficult task, even conceptually, the global electricity sector alone is projected to require $3.5tn in capital investment annually between 2021 and 2050. Western countries have demanded that China pay its fair share of these costs, but their own trade policies are starkly at odds with their objectives.

Source: The Guardian

YouTube dominates streaming, forcing media companies to decide whether it’s friend or foe

YouTube made up nearly 10% of all viewership on connected and traditional TVs in the U.S. in May, according to Nielsen. Netflix ranked second, claiming 7.6% of viewership.

“We’re not talking about your mobile phone, your laptop ... but on the biggest screen in the house, the TV,” said LightShed media analyst Rich Greenfield. “Every [media] executive has to be paying attention.” Media companies such as Netflix, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery don’t have a uniform strategy to deal with the threat.

Source: CNBC

Some countries are cutting down their workweeks. Greece is doing the exact opposite.

Greece implements a six-day workweek for select industries. Workers will receive 40% more pay for extra hours and 115% more for holiday work. This contrasts global trends toward shorter workweeks, sparking backlash and protests.

Source: Business Insider