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| Andy Jassy |
What’s the fuss? The media provided lots of coverage to the memo from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy saying that increased use of AI is going to cut the size of the retailer’s corporate workforce. Duh! What do you expect?
The World Economic Forum released a report in March saying that AI may be responsible for a decrease in wages and job availability, and that automation tools could displace millions of jobs, especially administrative ones.
Focusing on AI to boost productivity may lead to the devaluation of human capital, potentially worsening conditions for workers even as corporations grow, according to the WEF.
Rather than ignoring AI, WEF sees the need for “fostering a symbiosis of intelligence between human and machine."
It calls that symbiosis “authentic intelligence” which is the nurturing of human skills to enhance AI to ensure that people's ingenuity remains at the forefront of progress. That sure sounds like spin.
Of course, not all Amazon workers will feel the heat of AI. The company’s huge delivery truck driver and warehouse workers are “safe for now,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
But who knows what’s in store from them a decade from now?
Kudos to NAACP CEO Derrick Johnson for his no b.s. statement about why his organization is not inviting Donald Trump to its annual convention next month in Charlotte. It will the first time in 116 years that a sitting president has not been asked to address a NAACP confab.
Here’s part of Johnson’s statement. “Donald Trump is attacking our democracy and our civil rights. He believes more in the fascist playbook than in the U.S. Constitution. This playbook is radical and un-American.
“The president has signed unconstitutional executive orders to oppress voters and undo federal civil rights protections; he has illegally turned the military on our communities, and he continually undermines every pillar of our democracy to make himself more powerful and to personally benefit from the U.S. government.”
The NAACP also has nixed an invite to VP JD Vance because his and Trump’s presence “would be a waste of our time and energy to give a platform to fascism, which would be unacceptable.”
The country needs more straight-talkers like Johnson
America’s reluctant warrior Donald Trump tried his best to imitate Ulysses Grant by demanding the “unconditional surrender” of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
In 1862, Grant delivered the unconditional surrender ultimatum to Confederate general Simon Buckner, who complied by turning over Tennessee’s Fort Donelson to the union army.
No such luck for Trump. Al Khamenei rejected his demand and warned that any US military action against Iran will result in “irreparable harm to them." We will see about that.
The Iranian also took a slap at Trump, saying “intelligent people” know that he will never surrender.
Trump made a weak but true to form statement about the possibility of the US attacking Iran: "I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do.”
General Grant would never have made such a wishy-washy statement.
Reverting to full TACO mode, Trump said on June 19 said he'll make his decision about Iranian intervention during the next two weeks.
His master, Bibi Netanyahu, may not wait that long before launching Israel's attack on Iran's Fordow nuclear site.
Ukraine struck PR gold as its launches drone attack on St. Petersburg oil depot ahead of 'Putin's Davos' designed to put a positive spin on Russia's economy that is reeling under the 'special military operation' that has cost the lives of more than 500K soldiers... Defense Secretary Hegseth ups war against reporters... Extremist government ministers marching in NYC Israel Day Parade further hurts the country's image. 
Cuba will make or break Secretary of State Marco Rubio's bid for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination... Ballard Partners and BGR Group push for justice for the family of Robert Levinson, who was abducted and vanished in Iran 19 years ago... Robert Daley, the pistol-packing larger-than-life PR guy who was PA chief for the NYPD, dies at 96.
Pope Leo's encyclical on dangers of AI has JD Vance rethinking his justification for Trump's war with Iran... Software tools remove guardrails on Google, Meta AI models that aim to protect against biological war, child sex abuse, stealing credit card info, reports the Financial Times... US tech sector drops nearly 100K jobs during first four months of the year.
The audacious autocrat who occupies the White House has achieved what was thought to be impossible. He has united the Hatfields and McCoys of the editorial world in opposition to his $1.776B slush fund... Sign of these sorry times: George Soros' Open Society Foundations plans to spend $300M to promote democracy and economic security in the US... PR play of the week goes to Steven Rosenbaum, author of “The Future of Truth."
Even the most effective communications team couldn't help Shein, which is renowned for its lousy human rights record, recoup its $100M outlay to acquire the beloved Everlane ethical fashion champion... College graduates are tired of baby boomers, such as former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, talking up the wonders of AI. They are the ones facing bleak job prospects.
