Y Combinator Supports AI Startup Dehumanizing Factory Workers

This is the same article as the following, with an altered headline:<p><i>&#x27;Hey Number 17 &#x27;</i> - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=43175023">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=43175023</a> - Feb 2025 (122 comments)<p>Also recent and related:<p><i>Tell HN: Y Combinator backing AI company to abuse factory workers</i> - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=43170850">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=43170850</a> - Feb 2025 (160 comments)

If too many people comment on this, it will get removed from the front page again. I realize this is a bit hypocritical by commenting this.

The founders simply digitized existing practice into a piece of software. The demo could have been framed in a better way, but simply shifting the blame on the founders is very convenient.<p>Factories loose contract over minor delays and issues. Often times the difference between workers enjoying a little humane working conditions is 20 cents, which big retail refuse to pay while the same goods retail for 4X- 5X margin.<p>The problem isn’t the software, since most factories already employ similar process in other manual ways. Factories that adhere to efficiency survive, those who don’t simply die. Even 10% efficiency boost can mean a lot in industries with razor thin margins.

This is particularly egregious, but I also suspect it&#x27;s exactly how a large portion of the world currently operates. These founders explicitly stated that they grew up observing their parents factories. I doubt they learned such callous disregard for workers at Duke.

Previously discussed 1d ago:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=43166249">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=43166249</a>

I saw that the YC Twitter account has now scrubbed the announcement post, I was surprised to see very little discussion about it here until now

I&#x27;m gonna plug in my latest rant on why it&#x27;s not worth incubating at Y Combinator: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;8figures.substack.com&#x2F;p&#x2F;exposing-the-accelerator-why-y-combinator" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;8figures.substack.com&#x2F;p&#x2F;exposing-the-accelerator-why...</a>

I am surprised this is a new startup. Amazon has long been practicing micro Taylorism on every worker.

What is the right response to a boss who accuses a worker of not meeting the boss&#x27; expected productivity criteria?<p>Assume that both the boss and the worker believe that their productivity expectation and result are fair, respectively. It is obvious that they will never see eye to eye.<p>In my opinion, it is for the worker to become more detached, not less, to treat the employment as temporary, to not invest one&#x27;s expectations into lasting employment. All else is beside the point.

As someone with over a decade in industrial manufacturing, there is only ever the in-group of the masters, and the out-group of the serfs. Actually making things is merely the means to the end of neo-feudalism.

I bet it does not even work accurately. Dooming good workers while enriching themselves and investors.<p>Near-peak Silicon Valley. Surprised they didn’t figure out how to do fraudulent medical tests as well for a side business.

This is the kind of AI that leads to turnover like Amazon that is so bad they are so desperate for warehouse staff they took to mass junk mailing people to try and find new hires because they fired all the eligible ones.<p>serious late stage capitalism stuff right here and goes against the advice of successful business leaders that you have to instill trust and confidence in your team to get them to perform.<p>Whoever made that AI should read Ricardo Semler and Paul Orfalea and stop drinking the tech bro get rich kool-aid and build a business that makes the world better, not worse.