"There's a whole lot of AI I used that saved a whole lot of grunt work time in the production process and freed me up for creativity. But if you're dealing with an unreliable research tool, and you're checking up on it, you're not saving time, you're adding labour ..."
#DrLewisTennant, School of Communication Studies, AUT, 2026
https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/mediawatch?share=7ecf3686-c69e-4786-be7c-1d36940b5fa8
(1/?)
"We have a [AI]-driven transcription tool that we use here at RNZ, and whenever I use it - since day 1 - it has identified me as Sgt Darcy Lange, and I don't know if such a person even exists ... when I transcribed an interview with the English-accented media academic Dr Peter Thompson, it identified him - unprompted - as Dr Robert Patman, who's an English-accented international affairs specialist at Otago University
..."
#ColinPeacock, 2026
https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/mediawatch?share=7ecf3686-c69e-4786-be7c-1d36940b5fa8
(2/?)
Remember folks, this is the "AI" that's being promoted for use by overworked and stressed public servants, to keep their numbers down, both by NatAct First;
https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/@strypey/116615039504292561
... and Labour;
https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/@strypey/116493749248315041
Putting aside the fact that it makes our #PublicServices even more dependent on proprietary services controlled by corporations;
https://davelane.nz/new-zealand-dependence-microsoft-corporation
... it's not even particularly reliable or labour-saving, and needs micromanaging to be useful.
(3/?)
Because to add idiocy to injury, "The Government's Chief Digital Officer will oversee investment in digital systems to move human resources, payroll, case management and other systems to the cloud and to embed AI deployment as a basic expectation for all public entities. We’re going to ensure government is fully on board the digitisation and AI revolutions sweeping the world." #NicolaWillis, 2026 https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/05/19/thousands-of-public-service-jobs-to-go-major-govt-shake-up-announced/ (3/?)
If I was a cynical man, I'd assume that NatACT First's attempts to shovel digital asbestos into the walls of our public services (to borrow @pluralistic's phrase) were intended to fail. To create problems they can 'solve' by replacing public services agencies with for-profit businesses, and let The Market (™️) sort it out. But that doesn't explain why Labour are leaning into this long con.
(4/4)
Strypey