Fake AI

[KitaYama]

Builder.ai, a London-based startup once valued at $1.5 billion and backed by major investors including Microsoft and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, has filed for bankruptcy following revelations that its purported AI-powered platform was largely operated by approximately 700 human engineers based in India. The company had marketed itself as an AI-driven app development solution, but investigations uncovered that tasks were manually executed by engineers posing as artificial intelligence, leading to significant regulatory scrutiny.

This disclosure has raised serious concerns about transparency and ethical practices within the tech industry, particularly among companies claiming to utilize advanced AI technologies. The incident underscores the need for greater oversight and accountability to ensure that technological innovations are genuinely as advertised.

Behind bankruptcy plea of London start-up: It hired 700 Indian engineers to pose as AI tools

A major AI scandal has shaken the tech world as Builder.ai, once valued at $1.5 billion, has filed for bankruptcy. The company, backed by Microsoft and a Qatari sovereign fund, falsely claimed to build apps in minutes using AI, while actually relying on hundreds of human engineers in India.

www.firstpost.com

How this billion-dollar London startup backed by Microsoft made 700 engineers sitting in India pose as AI | - The Times of India

Tech News : Builder.ai, once valued at $1.5 billion and backed by tech giants, has filed for bankruptcy after being exposed for misleading investors about its AI

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

 

[The_Doc_Man]

revelations that its purported AI-powered platform was largely operated by approximately 700 human engineers based in India.

Wow... mind-blowing. It means they had to find 700 people who could convincingly pass the meta-Turing test. They had to pretend to be believable non-human responders trying to pass the Turing test. In the New Orleans Assessor's Office, they have some clerks that look human but I'm not sure THEY could pass the Turing test.

 

[KitaYama]

Wow... mind-blowing. It means they had to find 700 people who could convincingly pass the meta-Turing test. They had to pretend to be believable non-human responders trying to pass the Turing test. In the New Orleans Assessor's Office, they have some clerks that look human but I'm not sure THEY could pass the Turing test.

Exactly.
The only hope there is 700 engineer can do what an AI does.

 

[RaptorRaptur]

As bad as this was, it kinda makes my point. If it took 700 engineers to emulate the current levels of AI, how many day to day engineers/programmers will lose their jobs in the future?

Admittedly, I think it will be a long long time before really creative developers and what used to be called "System Analysts" find their positions threatened. In fact the judicious use of AI will probably make them better and more in demand.

As the dB Guy would say, "Just my 2c worth"

Alan

 

[Mark_]

What is bad for AI is the fact AI's work was outsourced to India. Think of those poor computers screaming about "They took my job!"

 

[The_Doc_Man]

What is bad for AI is the fact AI's work was outsourced to India. Think of those poor computers screaming about "They took my job!"

And probably for less money.

 

[KitaYama]

Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” cashier-less stores
Marketed as advanced computer-vision AI that automatically tracked purchases.
Reality: Over 1,000 human workers in India manually reviewed transactions, and about 70 % of purchases needed human verification before receipts were finalized.

Amazon's Just Walk Out technology relies on hundreds of workers in India watching you shop

Amazon promoted Just Walk Out as AI-powered cashierless technology. But the tech reportedly relied on workers in India for accuracy.

www.businessinsider.com