MidWeek Briefing #10

Good afternoon and welcome to a modified version of the MidWeek Briefing. I’m evaluating a migration to a new back end for this newsletter in the next few weeks because I need something simpler to get these great links out to you. I anticipate zero disruption to your weekly email delivery! Now, onto those great links.

I used a resume spammer to apply for 120 jobs. Chaos ensued.

I love these tit-for-tat types of uses of software and AI. This is the story of Aki Ito and her evaluation of resume software (AI and non-AI versions) to apply for 120 jobs.

After a few days, I started getting a steady stream of automated emails from various employers thanking me for submitting my application. Still, 50 applications a week felt pretty tame in the AI age. What I wanted was a true spray-and-pray machine, the AK-47 of job-application bots. For that, I turned to LazyApply. - via Business Insider

She used LazyApply which started to apply to 100s of job openings and started making up things. She’s Asian but on one application it said she was African American. It dug into her LinkedIn profile grabbed an old cover letter and started using that. In her own words: “LazyApply, I realized in horror, was living up to its name.”

This article is hilarious but also highlights the problems with poorly thought-out automation, whether AI-powered or not.

Facebook, Instagram, and Threads were all down

Oh, the horror! It seems a massive outage to some META-related properties happened on Tuesday and no one knows why.

Facebook logged users out of their accounts, while Instagram users couldn’t refresh their feeds, and Threads displayed a message saying, “Sorry, something went wrong. Try again.” Reports on Downdetector rapidly spiked for all three platforms, while network tracker NetBlocks noted the issue’s global impact. WhatsApp appeared to be unaffected and kept working. - via The Verge

This wasn’t the first time something like this happened to Facebook. In 2021 a misconfiguration took down Facebook for about 6 hours.

Hey! Bitcoin is over $69k

I almost forgot about this world-altering digital currency, but Bitcoin made a new all-time high. It crossed the $69,000 price (per coin) recently.

The cryptocurrency rose to around $69,200 shortly after 15:00 GMT on Tuesday, before falling back. It was trading around $62,185 by 21:00 GMT. - via BBC

Bitcoin is controversial but people seem to like it. I used to own Bitcoin back in the day when it was $400 a coin. Too bad I sold them years ago, I could’ve been a zillionaire by now!

Open AI vs Elon Musk

Elon Musk is suing Open AI for betraying humanity. I don’t get this at all but my personal opinion is that Elon missed the boat with Open AI and now he wants his “ball back.”

His lawsuit claims breach of contract and seeks an injunction preventing anyone — including Microsoft, which has invested billions in OpenAI — from benefiting financially from its technology.

And,

OpenAI said both the startup and Musk recognized the need for the company to become a for-profit entity, posting screenshots of emails between the Tesla CEO and OpenAI leaders in which they discuss the possibility but can't agree on terms. - via MSN

This is just Elon being Elon. Imagine if he used all his wealth to help humanity instead of trolling and making useless lawsuits.

AMD Will Reportedly Need Export License for AI Chips Aimed for China

Coming from the “whoops” file, AMD has landed in a bit of hot water trying to export some of their #AI chips to China.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) reportedly failed to make the artificial intelligence chip it tailored for the Chinese market weak enough to be sold without a license from the Commerce Department, dealing a setback for chipmaker. - via Investopedia

The Biden Administration has clamped down on selling high-performing AI chips to China in 2022 and has been enforcing this. AMD’s competitor, NVIDIA, is working hard to build a semiconductor chip that protects US interests and will open up the market in China for them.

This is an interesting space to watch, especially if you own AMD and NVIDIA stock.