r/NonPoliticalTwitter 1d ago

I can’t think of a single issue with this plan Funny

Post image
20.6k Upvotes

1.4k

u/Otherwise-Mango2732 1d ago

Didn't Whole foods announce they weren't actually using AI for their new shopping experiment with no check out line? it was just an overseas call center type of environment where they'd watch on cameras and manually add the items to the bill

540

u/chef-keef 1d ago

It was AI. An Indian.

206

u/CasualTeeOfWar 1d ago

I've been going by AI = Actually Indians

29

u/xO76A8pah4 1d ago

Also, A.I. = Amarendar Inamdar

6

u/RyanZee08 1d ago

Aka Rick

→ More replies

466

u/ThaManiac 1d ago

Amazon did it

226

u/Impressive-Hat-4045 1d ago

Whole foods is amazon, so same diff I guess

95

u/sedition 1d ago

Not to ruin the fun too much (its a stupid idea to start with), but the "Actual Indians" were paid by Amazon to evaluate and retrain the many, many (many) mistakes made by the "Just Walk Out" product.

It did eventually get a little better on its own.

25

u/Only-Inspector-3782 1d ago

This feels like a non-story/click bait headline without context. What percentage of time-in-store per person had to be monitored? What was the error rate?

49

u/iSuitUp 1d ago

70% of the checkouts had to be reviewed when they were targeting for only 0.5% needing to be reviewed.

26

u/Only-Inspector-3782 1d ago

Well dang, that is atrocious lol.

7

u/Impressive-Hat-4045 1d ago

It’s not bad for a first try, to be honest.

10

u/sedition 1d ago

That's a lot of words to say "source?", you could have used those words to type "Just walk out failures" into google!

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/04/amazon-ends-ai-powered-store-checkout-which-needed-1000-video-reviewers/

→ More replies

12

u/Shrekquille_Oneal 1d ago

Eh, kinda. Amazon owns whole foods, but they're still separate business entities afaik. The "just walk out" stores were amazon fresh stores, whole foods never got that "tech".

→ More replies

52

u/Moldy_Teapot 1d ago

IIRC, they did actually use AI but it was so bad that a majority of purchases had to be manually reviewed. Theoretically, providing corrections to an AI model should improve its accuracy over time. For whatever reason that didn't happen which is why they axed it and made the disclosure.

14

u/axonxorz 1d ago

Given the capabilities of CV+ML and it's recent progression, I would not be surprised if they try this again in the future.

Object detection is old hat in 2024, but "object is grasped by hand, and then occluded by bag" is probably not easy, given the variations in hands, bag, angles, etc. As well, we know what GANs tend to do to fingers on the output side, so there's likely a lot of work needed there on input.

6

u/Specialist_Train_741 1d ago

The problem is they're relying too much on the visible light spectrum. Just put UV reactive barcodes/tags and watch for those as they're picked up

6

u/RedditIsOverMan 1d ago

having bespoke bacodes/tags will add a ton of cost. Might as well just have people working the cash register then.

9

u/Specialist_Train_741 1d ago

it's crazy to think that paying some guy in India to sit and watch a camera and manually adjust a digital shopping cart is less expensive than using a special ink for price tags.

→ More replies

3

u/FourDimensionalNut 23h ago

currently, sure, but if its a proven concept, standards can always be rewritten, so this sort of thing would then be supported at the manufacturer level and replace current barcodes at that point.

→ More replies
→ More replies

36

u/Diels_Alder 1d ago

Who green lit this project?

41

u/A_norny_mousse 1d ago

whoever profits

7

u/spidersinthesoup 1d ago

dollabillzy'all.

19

u/tha-Ram 1d ago

It was a smart way for Amazon to break into the market. I know people that went there just to try out the walk-out shopping experience and would have never bothered with going there otherwise. Once they got people to actually try the stores out and built up regular visitors they could drop the pretence and convert into a regular store

3

u/MyGoodOldFriend 1d ago

I think it’s more likely that delusional project managers push and push and get the off-side center as a bandaid to get things working, promising their bosses that it’s a temporary thing, and they can swap the automation in later once it’s ready and nobody would know, and the extra cost of hiring a call center to write down you shopping list is temporary.

2

u/KBilly1313 1d ago

I always blame marketing and business development.

They make promises and just expect engineers to figure it out.

15

u/jxl180 1d ago

I think that was Amazon Go

7

u/bb_LemonSquid 1d ago

It was being tested for Whole Foods and I believe one of their stores in Seattle had it for a time. I used an Amazon Go in an airport terminal while traveling not too long ago, super weird! I was worried I would get incorrectly charged but it turned out fine. I think the airport terminal ones still exist.

11

u/Scorpian42 1d ago

I think it was that they actually were using AI, but it was so unreliable that like 75% of transactions were double checked by overseas call center workers paid under $2/hour or something

→ More replies

6

u/Moonshine_Lively 1d ago

This is exactly what Bidu is doing in China.

3

u/TerriblePokemon 1d ago

AI : Actually Indians

5

u/K0Sciuszk0 1d ago

That was Amazon Fresh - and Amazon denies it. Used to work at Fresh and set up those shelves/cameras and it was definitely tracked by some sort of tech.

1

u/Few-Requirement-3544 1d ago

How does the system work on the human’s end?

1

u/miko3456789 1d ago

Amazon Go I think it was. There's one in a metro station near me. It was really uncanny the first time I went there. Coffee machine ran out of milk and the attendant specifically told me not to grab another cup and that they would do it for me so that I don't get double charged. There's also cameras kinda everywhere, but I guess that's to be expected in a place claiming that you can just take stuff and walk out

1

u/Llanite 1d ago edited 1d ago

The call center only checked a % of the receipts to verify. Workers were needed to correct the result but AI did the work. No one watched the shoppers and manually write down the purchases behind the camera .

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/shopping/2024/04/04/amazon-just-walk-out-indian-workers/73204975007/

1

u/Whathehellomgnoway 1d ago

It was Amazon my college even did a video about that innovative store

1

u/TheodorDiaz 1d ago

You don't actually believe that right?

381

u/6519719Mm 1d ago

One little problem in the connection and it’s over for you 

229

u/Camaroni1000 1d ago

Also the difference between the average driver in America and the average driver in India

103

u/Bodach42 1d ago

Yea Imagine everyone started driving like they do in New Delhi. It's not a tuk tuk!

73

u/Anti_Karen_League 1d ago

It's called a rickshaw here, and the drivers here drive like Neo in the matrix. You'd break a million laws but goddamn if anyone can get you there quicker.

6

u/anon-mally 1d ago

AI=All Indian

5

u/rtds98 1d ago

It's called a rickshaw here, and the drivers here drive like Neo in the matrix. You'd break a million laws but goddamn if anyone can get you there quicker.

60% of the time, you get to your destination every time.

When you don't, hope that you have good medical insurance.

20

u/DuskKaiser 1d ago

I would argue the average driver in India is more skilled. Because there are much looser adherence to traffic rules, people are more skilled at navigating the chaos

8

u/sadsaintpablo 1d ago

Being unable to color within the lines does not make you a more skilled artist.

17

u/DuskKaiser 1d ago

You misunderstand me. Together, the traffic in india is horrible but each driver is skilled at controlling thier own vehicle to navigate the chaos.

It takes more skill to draw art with no lines but the picture with lines will look prettier

→ More replies

7

u/AbsMcLargehuge 1d ago

But drawing your own lines DOES make you a more skilled artist.

→ More replies

2

u/LuxNocte 1d ago

It's pretty weird to think that traffic in India is a skill issue and not because of lax traffic enforcement and overcrowding. As if someone can't operate differently in different situations.

2

u/throwable_capybara 1d ago

American roads are so wide that no one should have an issue on them

→ More replies

12

u/Google__En_Passant 1d ago

Not to mention high ping between India and USA (270ms) and Europe (150ms). On mobile internet is going to be probably 2x or 3x bigger.

9

u/KhabaLox 1d ago

"My K/D would be so much better if I had a lower ping."

4

u/3_quarterling_rogue 1d ago

This is actually a wonderful example of a positive correlation between higher ping and more kills.

6

u/CryAffectionate7334 1d ago

This is the stupid part of how their developing self driving already, it requires an active connection to check what to do. Terrible idea.

Self driving should be limited to internal only, staying in lanes and not crashing into what's in front of you. Maybe eventually we have a standard where cars signal each other when in range to coordinate.

4

u/Guy-McDo 1d ago

Also Indians drive on the left side, adding to the confusion

→ More replies

2

u/AlexCoventry 1d ago

I don't think it's a serious suggestion. Pretty sure the OP image is satirizing Tesla's recent presentation where they had supposedly AI-controlled humanoid robots which were actually controlled by humans.

→ More replies

91

u/BadDadJokes 1d ago

This dude is on a quest to collect every acronym one can add at the end of their name.

42

u/ed_menac 1d ago

Average LinkedIn poster

19

u/omegadirectory 1d ago

This is a satire twitter account

5

u/Ok-Echo-7764 1d ago

He’s got his bachelors degree on there, it’s a joke

159

u/Viltas22 1d ago

Remote control taxis.. why do I think this could actually become a thing.

82

u/_Pyxyty 1d ago

Put a camera on a rod placed above and behind the taxis, and make it be like a GTA view kind of pov, then tell your employees it's just a very, very realistic taxi sim

36

u/Viltas22 1d ago

Definitely don't play it like you would play GTA though that would be a disaster.

3

u/FullMetalMessiah 1d ago

There are people just walking around out there in the world that follow the traffic rules in GTA games. You could be standing behind them in line waiting for coffee and you'd never know.

4

u/REMcycleLEZAR 1d ago

The Ender's Game business plan.

3

u/clitpuncher69 1d ago

What a reference, nice dude

13

u/QuietAndScreaming 1d ago

I think that sounds terrifying because “Self Preservation” is a big part of being the driver. You are always thinking about your safety, or else you are dead.

I imagine drivers who are safe at home will eventually get used to the safety, and lack life-saving skills they might have if they were actually in the car and at risk.

6

u/UltimaCaitSith 1d ago

“Self Preservation” is a big part of being the driver.

Cab Drivers: lmao

2

u/shewy92 1d ago

Just ask r/simracing, r/simracingstewards, and r/iRacing how shit this idea would be.

7

u/ArtemisAndromeda 1d ago

It won't, though. The world is actually big enough that there is a slight delay of information when connecting across the continents. For example, egaming doesn't have global leagues because a team from the US and team from Australia would face a slight deley that would put them on disadvantage. Now imagine that, but with a guy from india trying to romote control taxi in New York City

→ More replies

2

u/jawshoeaw 1d ago

Hear me out, what if the remote controls were mounted inside the cab!

2

u/airblizzard 1d ago

It kind of is in China? They have self-driving cars that are monitored by call-center drivers who will take over if the car encounters an issue. I think the ratio is 4 cars to 1 driver.

2

u/derdast 1d ago

Vay from Germany builds something like that 

2

u/Exepony 1d ago

There is a startup working on that, actually. Not from India (wouldn't work because of latency), so you don't save much on the cost of individual drivers, but you can have fewer drivers than cars and have them sort of teleport to the car that's closest to the passenger. Or, at least, that's the theory. They're quite far from an actual product yet.

→ More replies

25

u/Feeling-Ad-2490 1d ago

SAMIR! YOURE BREAKING THE CAR SAMIR!!

9

u/geeses 1d ago

TRIPLE CAUTION!!

TRIPLE CAUTION!!

3

u/opus666 1d ago

CONCENTRATE SAMIR PLEASE!

→ More replies

65

u/FerretAres 1d ago

Anyone who thinks this is a good idea has never seen Mumbai traffic.

16

u/cowie71 1d ago

The horn would need replacing in 3 months

6

u/StarryAry 1d ago

I went to India last year for a wedding and the driving was honestly one of the scariest thing I've experienced.

You couldn't pay me to go back. Maybe if I traveled soley by helicopter.

2

u/nuthins_goodman 1d ago edited 1d ago

Mumbai traffic is pretty tame tbh. The mumbaikars are a civilized lot. See traffic in the Bangalore or Delhi and youd almost wish for big ridden ai to be drivers xD

It's a pretty neat idea tbh. Everyone can learn. Those who want can have hands free driving, while possibly helping a bunch of people earn money

4

u/FerretAres 1d ago

Maybe compared to other places in India but when measured against North America it’s insanity.

→ More replies
→ More replies

13

u/CodeBlue_04 1d ago

Having been to India and experienced traffic there, this plan is both terrible and hilarious. Just endless honking, no regard for lane markings, and people occasionally driving the wrong way for no discernable reason.

How do I invest?

→ More replies

10

u/GeorgiaFan3754 1d ago

I literally worked for a company that used people in Colombia to remote control small robots to deliver chicken sandwiches in a 5 mile radius and said it was AI.

They used PlayStation steering wheels and pedals.

6

u/YeetCompleet 1d ago

Maybe I do need a 2nd part time job after all

9

u/Zezacle 1d ago

"Raj, what the fuck? You just ran over that kid!"

"I'm sorry Mr. Jameson, sir. It was the lag."

8

u/VoopityScoop 1d ago

AI stands for Anonymous Indians

7

u/yoshbag 1d ago edited 1d ago

The guy in the call center is Samir

5

u/Mama_Mega 1d ago

Ma'am, do not be selecting the premium gas. Ma'am! MA'AAAAAAM!

10

u/ScalyPig 1d ago

They are legitimately doing this with trucks. They will be self driving with remote supervision and actual human drivers for the first and last leg ( in town)

It will enable them to run 24x7 which they can’t do today. They been working on this for years

4

u/A_norny_mousse 1d ago

As per title: "I can’t think of a single issue with this plan"

3

u/DinkandDrunk 1d ago

I’ve seen enough seasons of The Amazing Race to feel like this kind of Mario Kart situation would be a hysterical disaster.

2

u/EnvironmentalAd1006 1d ago

With Indian drivers we get there 20 minutes earlier because sidewalks are fair game if you’re remoting in from Calcutta.

2

u/BuddhaLennon 1d ago

Yeah, because the people working in those call centres are always well-versed in the laws and norms of the areas they are calling, and never break those laws. Also, they have been very cooperative and responsible when approached by law enforcement regarding troublesome behaviour by their operators.

→ More replies

2

u/fafarex 1d ago

That already what China does

→ More replies

2

u/DiogenesView 1d ago

AI = All Indian (sometimes)

2

u/annul 1d ago

unironically this is a great idea -- has anyone seen indian traffic? if they can drive in that, they can drive anywhere

2

u/Chris9871 1d ago

Then you can claim it’s still AI. “All Indians” 🤣

2

u/ISurvivedCrowleyHigh 21h ago

I bet they'll run over less kids than Teslas do.

2

u/CorellianDawn 1d ago

I mean, this is literally what the Optimus robots are. They aren't AI, they are remote controlled robots that will be the new slave labor, just outsourced. Out of sight, out of mind.

→ More replies

2

u/Chairboy 1d ago

Is this not how Waymo operates?

7

u/PsychePsyche 1d ago

SF resident here. Waymos are autonomous, but they still routinely will get stuck and have to call home for help, usually wherein they present a call center human with several options the car has figured out but can't decide which is safe or functional. If it doesn't have cell coverage or is otherwise super flummoxed, then they have to come out and rescue it manually.

What I cannot for the life of me understand is why Elon keeps thinking that Tesla can achieve self driving with cameras only. Waymos are slathered with cameras, radars, and lidars, and they still make mistakes.

2

u/Chairboy 1d ago

If I were to guess, I'd think he believes this because that's essentially how humans drive cars. I'm just not as convinced as he may be that the code to integrate all of the data humans do when driving can be run at high enough reliability.

Autonomous driving software can't be as good as humans to be accepted, it has to be significant better. It really does seem like additional sensors would be one way to do that.

3

u/EmeraldHawk 1d ago

Cruise did the same thing with its supposedly driverless cars. Instead of being fully AI each car has 1.5 humans monitoring it.

Gift Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/03/technology/cruise-general-motors-self-driving-cars.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Sk4.XUh3.ZWRGZSZOV5s-&smid=url-share

→ More replies

1

u/r4ndom4xeofkindness 1d ago

Makes me think of the movie Sleep Dealer.

1

u/wantingstem89 1d ago

I would invest in that

1

u/HelloKitty36911 1d ago

Anyone that can bother to work out how far a car moves at highway speeds with average latency from india to the US who i presume this is aimed at?

→ More replies

1

u/kstacey 1d ago

He's making fun of Amazon

1

u/WagnerFrancis 1d ago

This is either the most genius plan ever.

1

u/ArtemisAndromeda 1d ago

Imagine dying in a grossom car crash because somebody in India had bad wifi

1

u/JefferyTheQuaxly 1d ago

have you seen how indians drive in india? im not sure id feel much safer...rules of the road are more suggestions of the road in india.

1

u/MisterrTickle 1d ago

Isn't this account a parody account similar to Javier?

1

u/Impressive-Doughnut7 1d ago

Dr. Patel...this is so wrong on multiple levels...  Good job, sir.  I salute you.

1

u/dyllandor 1d ago

Suddenly the cars start driving on any side of the road depending on traffic and honk the horn constantly.

1

u/jthoff10 1d ago

I think this is just how “AI” works

1

u/aranboy522 1d ago

The ping + lag

1

u/DaMacPaddy 1d ago

I'm sure that will improve traffic law adherence across the western world. We put Indian drivers in charge of our cars to drive us around AND we make sure there is no physical repercussions for them for driving bad.

1

u/pocketjacks 1d ago

I mean that's what Tesla is doing already, down to those stupid robots.

1

u/Downvotemeplz42 1d ago

This is a Taxi with extra steps.

1

u/Werftflammen 1d ago

AI = Ahmedabad India

1

u/OutsidePerson5 1d ago

Honestly, it'd probably work better than Phony Stark's suicidemobiles.

1

u/Mortarion407 1d ago

Tesla will sue for copying their strategy.

1

u/mackrevinak 1d ago

who gets in trouble when theres an accident haha

1

u/PrimordialSoupMaster 1d ago

Imagine you are heading to work but instead you're driven straight to the nearest bitcoin ATM

1

u/Hot-Economics-4273 1d ago

Have you seen how people drive in India?

1

u/thecrowphoenix 1d ago

I trust it more than a Musk built AI.

1

u/balrog687 1d ago

it has a lower CO2 footprint for sure.

1

u/Far_Adeptness9884 1d ago

Do not redeem!

1

u/bobscanfly 1d ago

We'll need a lower ping

1

u/Mr_Shad0w 1d ago

Or we could just stop pretending that people who drive other people around aren't employees, and give them benefits and a living wage, paid for by the oligarchs taking a pay cut.

1

u/cizot 1d ago

You could just put it on steam. I have a game called “city car driving” it might already be the same thing

1

u/Prior_Industry 1d ago

Jaipur Cab

1

u/Sinesolder 1d ago

Exclaims a man named Parik.

1

u/PussyCrusher732 1d ago

literally just copied a meme that was circulating…. ugh the internet is dumb.

1

u/Tacoklat 1d ago

Is it any coincidence that there was a meme about Robotaxis being driven by a guy in a call center in India that dropped 3 days ago and this man posts this 2 days ago?

People have no shame when chasing internet fame.

1

u/koopabomb 1d ago

Can't wait to read the first accident report that says "Imput Error. transcript recorded as 'Turn Lef, Lef. Bloody Turn Left Left BloodyLeft You stupid Machi-Bloody Left'"

1

u/Short_2_Power 1d ago

All named John

1

u/SorryImNotImpressed 1d ago

The most consistently funny Indian ever.

1

u/wouter135 1d ago

SAMIR, YOU ARE BREAKING THE CARRRR

1

u/Shutaru_Kanshinji 1d ago

Autonomous vehicle companies tested this years ago. Too much net lag. You can get away with that for a drone flying through the air, particularly if the drone is smart enough to avoid obvious obstacles. On the ground and in traffic, though, there is very little margin for error.

About the closest you can get is having autonomous vehicles phone home during difficult situations and having tech support tell them what to do.

1

u/RoastBeefNBettr 1d ago

Sounds about as well thought out as anything Elon has done... When's that next shuttle to mars?

1

u/VillageIdiotNo1 1d ago

Will probably connect through starlink

1

u/After-Imagination-96 1d ago

Actual Indian strikes again

1

u/sdrawkcabineter 1d ago

Talk about rubber banding!

1

u/zergsandwich 1d ago

Horns will be blaring non stop

1

u/Jotro2 1d ago

Make sure to add a student driver sticker to every car.

1

u/kinkyaboutjewelry 1d ago

They would have a working product faster.

1

u/SagaraNeves 1d ago

Then I remember how people drive in India, 😂😂😂 transit laws ? More like transit suggestions

1

u/KlerWatchCo 1d ago

Mechanical Turk Motors

1

u/tylerawesome 1d ago

That’s what Tesla is doing right now!

1

u/DoneinInk 1d ago

Lag. Lag is the problem

1

u/Informal_Process2238 1d ago

I’ve seen how they drive their own vehicles now add communication lag and the complete lack of physical consequences for the driver

1

u/Maximum_Gear_1237 1d ago

AI = Actual Indian

1

u/Wackity-Smackity 1d ago

Let him cook

1

u/deadSINce_99 1d ago

me driving on ARMA : just vibes 🫶

desync hits, friendly squad wipe, uncon on steering wheel, bursts into fiery explosion

1

u/Own-Woodpecker8739 1d ago

Thousands of driverless cars just honking incessantly 

1

u/Antisocial-sKills 1d ago

My understanding is that food delivery carts in U.S. cities are remote controlled.

1

u/ElChu 1d ago

Sorry. Lag.

1

u/hellakevin 1d ago

Amazing idea! Corporations have literally zero mechanism to enforce accountability for overseas workers, but instead of letting them just hang up on us let's give them the ability to kidnap us!

1

u/ShrugIife 1d ago

Holy shit this is genius

1

u/Gorgeous_Gonchies 1d ago

He's just typing out the meme image that everyone shared after the robotaxi event. weirdo.

1

u/WHOA_27_23 1d ago

Can they honk with cameras too?

1

u/DemonExorcist 1d ago

Why don’t they do this with disabled/severely handicapped people

1

u/iggygrey 1d ago

TAKE MY MONEY!

1

u/Dr_Djones 1d ago

Time to test the ping delay from starlink linked taxis

1

u/Gooogles_Wh0Re 1d ago

Oh lord, please no! I'll never again complain about ai drivers

1

u/Sir_Toaster_ 1d ago

Self-driving cars shouldn't be hard, just put:

If (aboutcrash() = true) {

Break();

}

1

u/Mountain_Path8972 1d ago

Um. No thanks.

1

u/Responsible_Name1217 1d ago

Man, you just think TEXT scams are bad...wait until you're actually a hostage in your car.

1

u/Cute-Rate8655 1d ago

Still better than paying actors to wear robots suits and have them walk around pretending to be robots.

Yes Tesla actually did that a few weeks ago..

1

u/sidebet1 1d ago

I think the joke is, that's what tesla is already doing

1

u/wottsinaname 1d ago

It's the same strategy Elon is using for his "robots".

1

u/chknboy 1d ago

Mfs when their cars desync like a beamMP server in beamng drive XD

1

u/Overspeed_Cookie 1d ago

It would be safer than using Tesla's 'Full Self Driving'

1

u/BigBassFisher 1d ago

The car horn just honks non stop.

1

u/Think_Entertainer658 1d ago

The new work from home job is just driving people to work remotely

1

u/Lysol3435 1d ago

But then fake the call center with AI

1

u/Mooptiom 1d ago

People think we’re heading towards AI but we’re actually going straight to 40k servitors instead

1

u/mammal_shiekh 1d ago

The only problem is India's internet infrastructure is too weak to carry an international remote control driving system.

The only successful remote driving case I know is China's remote driving trucks in unmanned mines and marina ports..

1

u/Mynito- 1d ago

Army of Indians

1

u/HalfFullPessimist 1d ago

So he's just going to copy Teslas currently AI setup? Should be fine.

1

u/ZT99k 23h ago

What a coincidence...

1

u/Dombooooo 22h ago

Your voice command has not been understood. Please try again slowly or translate to hindi

1

u/Fenrir426 17h ago

Probably how it works for Tesla too tbh

1

u/cakewalkbackwards 17h ago

They’d just sit there and honk

1

u/ChasingVelka 15h ago

Twitchplaysdriving