So, getting settled in? Got some staples and snacks? Stack of books and a binge watch list? Good for you, responsible citizen, and thanks for caring about others.
Thankfully, unlike our forebears in similar frightening times, we have the miracle of the Internet to keep us informed and connected. In its own whimsical, automated way.
This morning, I posted to Facebook a link to Politico’s story about DOJ dropping charges against the Russian assets indicted by Mueller in the punking of Election 2016. This evening, the site informed me that it was spam and violated community standards. I bitched to FB, and to my friends and a moment later, my post reappeared.
Then my friends started telling me about their posts getting pulled with the same, AI-generated excuse. Not just political posts. Links to health resources. A recipe.
Then one friend posted a link to this:
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc’s YouTube, Facebook Inc (FB.O) and Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) warned on Monday that more videos and other content could be erroneously removed for policy violations, as the companies empty offices and rely on automated takedown software during the coronavirus pandemic.
In a blog post, Google said that to reduce the need for people to come into offices, YouTube and other business divisions are temporarily relying more on artificial intelligence and automated tools to find problematic content.
…
The social media company drew public criticism last week for asking policy enforcers to continue coming to work, as it lacks secure technology to conduct moderation remotely.
Yo. Whiz kids. A quarter-billion Americans are going to have to start working and studying from home like, tomorrow. Are y’all saying you don’t know how to do it?
Yeah, yeah. 1700 engineers working on it. Got it.