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#1

Off the Record / Re: [Canada] Canadian Politics...

Last post by HVC - Today at 05:52:24 PM

Looks like Mr. P got jealous of Carneys speech and tried one of his own.

Still some required kowtowing though. Wonder how it'll play with his Maple MAGA backers.

#2

Off the Record / Re: The AI dooooooom thread

Last post by HVC - Today at 05:20:03 PM

Probably sounds worse to European ears, but phony service hospitality is a big thing in the US (and to a lesser extent Canada). Probably why we think euro* waiters are rude.

*except in Paris, where the are rude rest of France is nicer.

#3

Off the Record / Re: Hungarian Politics

Last post by HVC - Today at 05:16:48 PM

Thanks to you both.

I often forget how much Trianon carved up Hungary. But I guess it's fair, live by the ethnic self determination sword die by the ethnic self determination sword.

[Burger King is testing AI headsets that will know if employees say 'welcome' or 'thank you]

#4

Off the Record / Re: The AI dooooooom thread

Last post by Syt - Today at 04:56:29 PM

https://apnews.com/article/burger-king-ai-artificial-intelligence-headsets-friendliness-b7d5a4120dc669fe338a4da3eedb0016

Burger King is testing AI headsets that will know if employees say 'welcome' or 'thank you

Burger King is testing AI-powered headsets that can recite recipes, alert managers when inventories are low and even track how friendly employees are to customers.

Restaurant Brands International – the Miami-based company that owns Burger King, Popeyes and other brands – said Thursday it's currently testing the OpenAI-powered headsets in 500 U.S. restaurants.

The system collects data on restaurant operations and shares it via "Patty," a voice that talks to employees through their headsets. If the drink machine is low on Diet Coke, Patty will tell the store's manager. If a customer uses a QR code to report a messy bathroom, the manager will be alerted.

Employees can ask Patty how to make various menu items or tell Patty to remove items from digital menus if they've run out of ingredients.

Burger King said it's also exploring using Patty as a way to improve customer service. The system can track when employees say key words like "welcome," "please" and "thank you" and share that with managers.

When asked about that capability Thursday by The Associated Press, Burger King said the intent is to use Patty as a coaching tool, not a tracker of individual employees.

"It's not about scoring individuals or enforcing scripts. It's about reinforcing great hospitality and giving managers helpful, real-time insights so they can recognize their teams more effectively," Burger King said in a statement.

Burger King added that the key words are "one of many signals to help managers understand service patterns."

"We believe hospitality is fundamentally human. The role of this technology is to support our teams so they can stay present with guests," Burger King said.

Patty is part of a larger app-based BK Assistant platform that will be available to all U.S. restaurants later this year.

Burger King is one of several fast food chains experimenting with artificial intelligence. Yum Brands said last spring it was partnering with Nvidia to develop AI technologies for its brands, which include KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.

McDonald's ended a partnership with IBM in 2024 that was testing automated orders at its drive-thrus. The company is now working with Google on AI systems.

#5

Off the Record / Re: Climate Change/Mass Extinc...

Last post by crazy canuck - Today at 04:44:49 PM

Chevron required the courts to defer to the agency's reading of the statute as long as the interpretation was "permissible" - i.e. a plausible reading of the text.  In its original usage (Chevron) it was used to uphold the legality of Anne Gorsuch's attempt to gut the Clean Air Act by a highly restrictive interpretation of its source rules.

Sorry, I slipped into Canadian law verbiage - our concept of reasonable is very similar to your concept of permissible.

Loper Bright, in which Gorsuch's son joined the majority to overrule the case that she won - eliminated that deference so the court can interpret the statute as it wishes without giving any deference to the agency's interpretation.

For us the concept of deference has become less important as our courts have recognized that deference is built into the reasonableness (permissible) analysis.

#6

Off the Record / Re: Hungarian Politics

Last post by Tamas - Today at 04:37:04 PM

Is Ukraine one of the countries Hungarians think stole their land so were already hated, or is this purely a Putin funded dislike?

There is a portion of old Hungary owned by them yes but it's the least significant of them all. There is no meaningful history of Ukraine hatred since the last few years when the propaganda started, and I am not sure how much of it actually exists in the populace.

#7

Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...

Last post by Sheilbh - Today at 03:34:01 PM

Yes, they are doing themselves no favor when under threat from right wing detractors.

I think some of it is the permanent bind the BBC always has a publicly funded, public broadcaster. In particular I think there's an inherent tension between needing to demonstrate relevance and that they are appealing to the public as a whole, which often means producing basically the sort of content that any commercial broadcaster would be thrilled to have (e.g. Strictly, the Traitors etc) v the worth of publicly funded broadcaster is to do what the commercial sector can't or won't which includes quality, depth, areas that are not commercial, taking risk etc. And I think they sort of swing between the two but have been in the pretty broad commercial phase for a long time (the decline of the BBC News website is my personal obsession - as well as apparently deciding that no-one's interested in arts or culture broadcasting ).

But I think the really big existential challenge for the BBC which they are obsessed with is the decline of linear TV. Even if the right-wing did not exist we are a generation away from no-one needing to pay the TV licence. And what does a sustainable model for a publicly funded (but not taxpayer/Treasury funded) broadcaster look like in the age of streaming and online consumption. You currently need a TV licence if you use iPlayer, watch live TV or stream live content on any other streamer - there's a lot of people who don't do that and they're mostly young and it's a growing share of the audience. I genuinely don't know the answer of what the Lord Reith solution is 100 years on.

I think that big challenge drives a lot of their problems. I think in terms of quality and sort of self-confidence or purpose - I think they kind of automatically have that when they're a mass broadcaster and we're in a less fragmented broadcasting world. Similarly there have always been right-wing detractors - that was an issue when Hugh Green was Director-General in the 60s, the Thatcher government hated the BBC. In both cases there's just a bit of swagger you have with million of viewers every hour, you can shrug off political attacks and have faith in your content and a clear idea of purpose.

It reminds me a bit of the press in the early days of the internet - which is not a positive example

Separately as I never say much nice about this government - from everything I've read the SEND plans seem to have been pretty broadly very well received. It looks a bit like learning some lessons from earlier mistakes in how it was thought-through, prepared and launched. But it's impressive because it is a really difficult issue but also, I believe, the single biggest issue MPs get letters and emails about from constituents with a lot of people with different conflicting interests and concerns. So if they manage to go through with the reforms that'll be positive and very good.

#8

Off the Record / Re: Hungarian Politics

Last post by Valmy - Today at 03:22:09 PM

Is Ukraine one of the countries Hungarians think stole their land so were already hated, or is this purely a Putin funded dislike?

Here is your guide to who Hungary hates:



See that little bit at the tip of Czechoslavakia? Hungary took it after Germany ate the Czechlands:



This bit went to the Ukrainian SSR after WWII:



So there is a tiny bit of western Ukraine that was once part of Hungary. Do they still want it? Eh...I think this is mostly on behalf of Russia, I haven't heard Hungary demanding that part back. But maybe Tamas can correct me.

#9

Off the Record / Re: Hungarian Politics

Last post by HVC - Today at 02:55:47 PM

Is Ukraine one of the countries Hungarians think stole their land so were already hated, or is this purely a Putin funded dislike?

#10

Off the Record / Re: Climate Change/Mass Extinc...

Last post by Sheilbh - Today at 02:19:21 PM

To be honest I don't entirely disagree with the court's take on Chevron. As with everything in the US though - it does kind of require a functioning legislature and that doesn't exist.

Also I wonder if they'll apply the same logic and lack of deference to the administrative state when it comes to, say, ICE.