Aron LindegårdMar 10
myrmepropagandist

Would you be surprised to find out that the facebook "smart" glasses have been outsourcing the video for review and processing to Nairobi?

Wealthy people once lived with vast staffs who cooked and cleaned for them, and who often knew intimate details of the lives of the powerful.

Now we have found a way for the rich to outsource ... thinking. Off-load mental work to minds half way around the world. We are suppose to pretend AI is doing this work.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0q33nvj0qpo

ICO writes to Meta over 'concerning' AI smart glasses report

Videos, including of glasses-wearers using the toilet or having sex, are sometimes reviewed by a Kenya-based subcontractor.

Mar 7 at 1:44pmWeb
Show threadmyrmepropagandistMar 7

I can't help but think about how this tech might be used in better ways. What if instead of secretly sending the video off so that some person making next to nothing can identify the milk carton in the fridge or your brand of underwear...

What about a pair of glasses that were paired that would let you show someone how to do a task by projecting a wire-frame of your body in the same orientation as yours over theirs?

All while talking to each other?

Show threadsecretslothMar 7
@futurebird so good for for craft classes!
Show threadmyrmepropagandistMar 7

@secretsloth

The glasses could be the same color and have other indications how they are linked. So it's obvious that when you have them on the person helping you could see what you see and talk you through it while showing you exactly how it's done.

It could be a really useful teaching and assistive technology.

Show threadmyrmepropagandistMar 7

@secretsloth

Why don't ya'll ever want to invent anything useful or exciting?

It's just facial recognition for the secret police, sex spy cams, random people looking at your underwear, creepy stuff and never someone showing you how to do a knit and purl correctly, never making going up the stairs easier for people with limited vision, never a damn good idea. I'm doing this again:

https://sauropods.win/@futurebird/116179558386756385

Show threadsecretslothMar 7
@futurebird yeah I absolutely agree and it makes me never want to leave the house because I hate it the idea of being secretly recorded. Like I understand big tech wanting to create a surveillance state because they're awful? But having been stalked, the idea makes me literally queasy. It could divulge my exact location to my stalker in real time at any point without my knowledge, something I have been very careful to avoid (I don't post my face ANYWHERE and haven't for close to 20 years).
Show threadsecretslothMar 7
@futurebird and worse, this is a bigger nightmare for anyone in a similar situation who has a more recent/public online presence with their real name attached, which I'm betting is most people. As gross as it is for everyone, I'm actually horrified for the real world implications of folks who are trying not to be found, not just by law enforcement but by folks who have been looking for them for other reasons. 😞 it hurts my heart that we all have to be afraid again.
Show threadmyrmepropagandistMar 7

@secretsloth

That sounds incredibly stressful.

The only thing I find any comfort in is this news that they need people to review the footage to make the damn things work proves that their scanning and searching and identification software isn't nearly as god-like as they want us to think it to be.

Processing video remains rather hard, expensive, but we act like it's a solved problem.

It's not.

Show threadsecretslothMar 7
@futurebird yeah. I am a bit comforted by the fact that my old photos are yknow 20 years old. Mostly it's newer situations and others that I'm concerned for, all of this rushing of stuff made by *white men* that is not being vetted for safety and quickly proves dangerous for nonwhite folks, exes in general, gender nonconforming folks, women, basically anyone who has made an entitled person mad, too many groups to count. It's foreseeable. And keeps not being stopped. Or even delayed.
Show threadI_give_u_wormsMar 7

@futurebird @secretsloth

Nausea from Regressive Progress

Show threadI_give_u_wormsMar 7

@futurebird @secretsloth

I feel like what's going on here is they hate paying and training employees so much they are willing to abuse the customer

Show threadJo - pièce de résistanceMar 7

@futurebird @secretsloth

SOOOOOO much this.
I think it’s part patriarchy tech bro capitalism culture eliminating creative voices that aren’t seeking profit over the actual product and idea, and consumer happiness.
They don’t care about the end result at all.

Show threadJestbillMar 7
@futurebird @secretsloth This is actually an improvement!!
Twenty years ago, I had to deal with a customer service that was SAVING MONEY by hiring just any random high schooler.
Bad. Not only didn't understand the problem, but "solved" it by doing something random, "Thank you, sir", and hanging up.
Went through that at least three times before reaching the last actual person on staff. They looked at the log and started laughing.
Show threadSeanMar 7
@futurebird @secretsloth when AR started being a thing I thought “oh wow, airplane engine repair people could get an entire HUD for part status, last replacement time, and schematics when they look at a thing” and while it turned out that was wildly ambitious for the tech at the time, no one seems to even be trying to do things like that because surveillance, games, and porn make more money.
Show threadRachael LMar 7
@complexmath @futurebird @secretsloth That seems like a genuinely cool use of technology that is probably quite feasible to do WELL now and also likely would be appreciated by actual people in those jobs (easier than context switching to look at a maintenance log on some other screen or whatever). But also one that you REALLY can't use an LLM for because getting it wrong even a little could be disastrous.
Show threadKevin GranadeMar 7

@r343l @complexmath @futurebird @secretsloth > But also one that you REALLY can't use an LLM for because getting it wrong even a little could be disastrous.

For LLM fans there is no such thing. Modern AR development is riddled with it.

Show threadRachael LMar 7
@kevingranade @complexmath @futurebird @secretsloth Depressingly unsurprising. But thinking about for something like airplane repair, it seems absurd to even consider using an LLM. :/
Show threadKevin GranadeMar 7
@r343l @complexmath @futurebird @secretsloth I also used to work in avionics...
You probably don't want my opinions on this.
Show threadRachel RawlingsMar 7
@complexmath @futurebird @secretsloth That was why I was tempted to put a preorder on LaForge glasses. Of course, they turned out to be vaporware.
Show threadAlec PerkinsMar 7
@complexmath @futurebird @secretsloth I remember this being a literal plot device in Michael Crichton’s AIRFRAME. It seemed so cool and obviously useful!
Show threadhattifattenerMar 7

@complexmath @futurebird @secretsloth I went to a VR-adjacent trade show like ... 20 years ago?... and aircraft maintenance AR was a thing a bunch of people were working towards. I don't know if it didn't pan out, or if it's old hat now, or what

Even without real lock-to-the-environment AR, a HUD with next steps and instructions seems like it should be super useful when your hands are full of tools

Show threadKevin GranadeMar 7

@hattifattener @complexmath @futurebird @secretsloth the headsets that have the resolution you need for that kind of HUD are some combination of too heavy, too expensive, and obscure vision to much. There are people working on it still but it's not there.

Also concerns about deskilling, outages, ongoing costs...

Show threadKevin GranadeMar 7
@complexmath @futurebird @secretsloth yea it turns out that having incredibly detailed 3d models of every component involved is many orders of magnitude more expensive than anticipated, both computationally and in personal labor.
I've been involved in modern AR for the past two years and my takeaway is it's still not even close to ready. Not the hardware, not the infrastructure, not the programming models, and don't get me started on the UX.
Show threadclewMar 7

Aw, I knew someone working on exactly that HUD decades ago! I thought it had become useful. Maybe only at Boeing? …maybe only old Boeing?

@complexmath @futurebird @secretsloth

Show threadBrian VastagMar 7

@complexmath NASA has used the Hololens on ISS and for Orion assembly...this is a press release so take it as you will...but it seems like they've made it useful.

https://news.microsoft.com/source/features/innovation/hololens-2-nasa-orion-artemis/

Show threadRuchira S. DattaMar 7
@complexmath I did see this kind of thing at a simulation conference in 2024. Those simulations seemed mostly aimed at the US military. They mostly came out of Florida (Orlando, iirc) which is apparently a hub for this sort of work.
Show threadRuchira S. DattaMar 7

@complexmath I wasn't in a position to evaluate how truly ready these demos were. They seemed quite impressive to my non-expert eye.

It seemed like a community that had almost no overlap with tech based in or inspired by Silicon Valley.

Show threadSeanMar 7

@RuchiraSDatta > It seemed like a community that had almost no overlap with tech based in or inspired by Silicon Valley.

This part at least seems like a plus.

Show threadaexanaMar 7
@futurebird i suspect that this will be possible when this technology is reproducible without needing any kind of license and can be developed on libre software made trustworthy. the complexity is location and body tracking, so it'd be simpler to just generate the wireframe body in front of the viewer and let them see how the task is done
Show threadHugo MillsMar 7

@futurebird I have a pair of glasses that allow me to see things further away than a foot in front of my face. It's marvellous technology, and I wear them all the time.

What's even better is that they work completely off-line, and I don't have any concerns about privacy or security.

Show threadHugo MillsMar 7

@futurebird (More seriously).

I think there's already something similar -- not interactive with another person, but with "augmented reality" overlays of complex objects -- used in places like aircraft repair & maintenance. You get to see all the steps needed to replace a part without having to look aside to read a manual.

Show threadJanet FraserMar 7
@futurebird As a visual learner, this would be fabulous. And think of all the kids with similar minds who would be able to learn how to do sports (and other stuff, but that's my weakness) much more easily.
Show threadCatMar 7

@futurebird ugh I attended a webinar demo for this and I can't remember the name of the company that does em

They're AR glasses for manufacturing and one of the use cases was, you need to do on the job training somewhere remote, like an offshore drilling platform, and you need to show the trainee which valves to turn

Show threadJayMar 7

@futurebird The “Be My Eyes” and similar apps had me thinking about an app that connects, say, seniors who would like to talk with people trying to learn their language, so that the older person can chat with their partner while showing them what everyday life is like in their country and provide real-time opportunities for the learner to ask questions and associate words with objects better.

So like calling up your abuela-from-afar to talk with her while she makes dinner.

Show threadEd SoldatMar 8

@futurebird We did something a little like that during the COVID lockdown at a previous job, when I wasn't allowed to travel to our cleanroom site, but my colleagues local to that site were.

We had an AR headset in the cleanroom which our test systems lead used to show and talk me through activities that I could usefully offer remote assistance with. We didn't make much use of the head up display, but just having that situational awareness and a clear audio line into that noisy environment was really helpful to me in understanding what was needed with a minimum of communication.

Show thread砂漠人  x 🏜️Mar 7
@futurebird nope they've been doing this with other products for years now.
Show threadaexanaMar 7
@futurebird why would you have sex with these on
Show threadmyrmepropagandistMar 7

@lilithian

I think we know why in some cases. It's a power thing in a way. A kind of exhibitionism.

Also they may save the video for later.

Show threadaexanaMar 7
@futurebird spyware sex glasses is a special kind of post-2020 idea. either way this entire situation is abhorrent
Show threadxrvsMar 7

@futurebird @lilithian

they may save the video for later

this is litrrally black mirror plot   (not that we haven’t had enough black mirror irl already)

Show threadSamMar 7
@futurebird @lilithian the better question is how, I know I’d never sleep or be able to take some seriously when sleeping with them if they had them on
Show threadaexanaMar 7
@sam @futurebird the idea was how stupid they look, yeah. i just couldnt do it idk.
Show threadCubeOfCheeseMar 7
@lilithian @futurebird is it possible they can continue recording after taking them off? Where do you set your glasses down in a bedroom?
So is it possible some of these cases weren't even purposeful?
Show threadmyrmepropagandistMar 7

@cubeofcheese @lilithian

" is it possible they can continue recording after taking them off? "

Yes they outline one such case in the article I think.

Show threadquangobaudMar 7

@futurebird

uncanny separated at birth #SeparatedAtBirth

Show threadllewellyMar 7
@futurebird no, I thought Canvas had thoroughly monopolized all the underpaid overworked workers of Nairobi in its surveillance of US, CA, and EU students. Kind of impressed there are some left over for meta's raybans.
Show threadDr. SundancerMar 7
@llewelly @futurebird They jumped ship to become paid voyeurs.
Show threadSci-Fi GirlMar 7

@futurebird

What came on my radio* right after I read this post:

🎶
I said "Be careful, his bowtie is really a camera"
🎶

🤔

*"my radio" is @somafm Folk Forward. 😎

Show threadmyrmepropagandistMar 7

@5ciFiGirl @somafm

Not so funny anymore. More like something you'd say to your date on the bus as a sober warning.

Show threadqurlyjoeMar 7

@futurebird
I wonder why “glassholes” got laughed out of the house a couple years ago but not this new crop? Metahole just doesn’t have a ring to it.

@5ciFiGirl @somafm

Show threadGhostOnTheHalfShellMar 7

@futurebird

Epstein eyewear

Show threadbeemohMar 7
@futurebird And to think the CEOs of these companies are the ones who threw the biggest tantrums about people working remotely.
Show threadhnapelMar 7

@futurebird

Mechanical turk.

Show threadzbrownMar 7

@futurebird so this time ‘AI’ is African Intelligence?

To think, we could have invested trillions into that, but instead we gave it to techbros.