 |
|
|
|||||
Artificial intelligence might be the future of the workplace, but companies that are trying to get a head start on that future are running into all sorts of problems. Klarna and Duloingo have been some of the poster children for the “AI-first” workplace. Two years ago, Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski announced he wanted his company to be the “favorite guinea pig” of OpenAI, instituting a hiring freeze and replacing as many workers as possible with AI systems. Last month, Duolingo announced an AI-first shift, saying it would stop using contractors to do work AI can handle and only increase headcount when teams have maximized all possible automation. Klarna, while still investing in AI, seems to have renewed appreciation for the human touch. And Duolingo is finding itself under attack on social media for its decision. Klarna CEO Siemiatkowski tells Bloomberg the fintech company is about to go on a hiring spree, in order to ensure customers will always have the option to speak to a live representative. The company did not say how many people it plans to add, but Siemiatkowski indicated Klarna would look at students and rural areas to boost its workforce. Last year, Klarna, in an announcement, said AI was doing the work of 700 customer service agents. Now, it’s focusing on adding human connections. As cost unfortunately seems to have been a too predominant evaluation factor when organizing this, what you end up having is lower quality, Siemiatkowski said. Really investing in the quality of the human support is the way of the future for us. But Klarna says it is still enthusiastic about AI. Duolingo’s AI-first push is much newer, and there have been no policy reversals on its part as yet. But the company is facing a tsunami of pushback from the general public on social media after announcing the move, particularly on TikTok. The top comments on virtually every recent post have nothing to do with the video or the company and everything to do with the company’s embrace of AI. For example, a Duolingo TikTok video jumping on board the “Mama may I have a cookie” trend saw replies like “mama may I have real people running the company ” (with 69,000 likes) and, “How about NO ai, keep your employees.” Another video that tied into the How to Train Your Dragon character Hiccup brought comments like “Was firing all your employees and replacing them with AI also a hiccup?” Other comments are more serious: “Using AI is disgusting,” wrote one user. “Language learning should be pioneered by PEOPLE. By making this decision duolingo is actively harming the environment, their customers, and employees when it hurts the most.” Another wrote, “What kind of audience do you think you’ve built that it’s okay to go ‘AI first’. we don’t want AI, we want real people doing good work. Goodbye Duo, if this is the way you’re going you wont be missed.” Others claimed to have deleted the app: “Deleted Duolingo last week. A 650+ day streak never felt so meaningless once I saw the news.” Duolingo says much of that feedback is coming from people who dont understand what AI-first means. A lot of the feedback weve seen comes from a place of passion for Duolingo, which we really appreciate, a representative told Fast Company. To clarify, AI isnt replacing our learning expertsits a tool they use to make Duolingo better. Everything we create with AI is guided by our team of learning design experts. . Were committed to using AI with human oversight, to help us deliver on our mission to make the best education in the world available to everyone.” Companies, in general, remain excited about the potential cost savings of AI, sometimes for good reason. Duolingos stock is at an all time high and the company recently raised its sales forecast for 2025. A study by the World Economic Forum (WEF) found that 40% of employers expect to reduce their workforce and hand over automated tasks to the technology. As bullish as executives might be, however, that excitement has not made its way into the consumer space. Almost half of the Generation Z job hunters told the WEF they believed AI has reduced the value of their college education. And researchers at Harvard University say the technology is still threatening to people. “From early on in life humans strive to manage their surroundings to achieve their goals. So theyre naturally reluctant to adopt innovations that seem to reduce their control over a situation,” wrote Julian De Freitas, an assistant professor in the marketing unit at Harvard Business School. “The possibility that AI tools might completely take over tasks previously handled by humans, rather than just assist with them, stirs up deep concerns and worries.”Update, May 12, 2025: This article has been updated with comments from Klarna and Duolingo.
Category:
E-Commerce
Despite a strong start to the year, traffic at U.S. quick service restaurants (QSR), which has been steadily declining month by month, was down 1.7% year-over-year compared to last April, signaling growing consumer caution or shifts in dining behaviors, according to Revenue Management Solutions (RMS), a company that analyzes data and provides insights about the restaurant industry. At the same time, RMS found on average, fast food prices increased in April by +2.0% year-over-year, steady with inflation trends. In case you’re not familiar with restaurant industry lingo, a quick service restaurant (QSR) describes establishments that prioritize speed and convenience, sometimes used interchangeably with the term “fast food”which brings to mind McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger King, but also includes a wider variety of restaurant chains such as Dunkin Donuts, Chipotle, Dominos, and Boston Market. Many fast food and fast casual chains are seeing slower growth and declining sales fueled by high prices, inflation, and fears that President Trump’s tariffs will cause a recession, which have prompted fewer Americans to eat out. For example, for the first quarter of 2025, Chipotle not only missed revenue estimates but said same-store sales dropped for the first time since 2020. And McDonalds, which reported earnings on May 1, said sales dropped in the beginning of the year, marking its second consecutive quarter of declines. The chain’s same-store sales dropped 3.6% in the U.S. the worst drop since 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to CNN. RMS’s Q1 consumer survey also found 40% of American diners said theyre spending less of their disposable income on restaurants, with 1 in 4 U.S. consumers reporting instead that they’re shopping at grocery stores, citing better value. As Fast Company previously reported, rising menu prices in 2024 at McDonalds, Taco Bell, Wendys, KFC, and other fast food chains caused a consumer backlash as price-conscious customers decided the food wasnt worth the cost. This lead to sales declines and the closure of some underperforming chain locations, including for Wendys and Shake Shack. A closer look at RMS’s April numbers, which compare fast food performance trends YOY (April 2025 to April 2024), shows that while average prices increase 2.0% YOY, net sales also increased 0.5% YOY, with the average check price rising 2.1% YOY. Broken down by meal time, the numbers show breakfast traffic decreased the most by some -9.1% YOY, and lunch was down 3.1% compared to April of 2024, but customers for dinner were up 1.2% YOY, highlighting that Americans were still going out for dinner.
Category:
E-Commerce
Shares of many companies that source at least some of their goods from China are surging on Monday as U.S. and Chinese officials announced that they had reached a deal to roll back most of their recent tariffs and called a 90-day truce in their trade war to allow for more talks on resolving their trade disputes. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the U.S. agreed to drop its 145% tariff rate on Chinese goods by 115 percentage points to 30%, while China agreed to lower its rate on U.S. goods by the same amount to 10%. There’s still big challenges remaining in the negotiations between China and the United States, but the mood nevertheless was ebullient across Wall Street on Monday, and gains were widespread. Here’s a look at some of the sectors impacted by the U.S.-China tariff announcement. Footwear and athletic gear Many of these companies have some of their production in China and elsewhere in Asia. About 97% of the clothes and shoes purchased in the U.S. are imported, predominantly from Asia, the American Apparel & Footwear Association said last month, citing its most recent data. Nike, up 6.7% Foot Locker, up 10.1% Dick’s Sporting Goods, up 11.4% Under Armour, up 6.9% Apparel companies Similar to footwear companies, many clothing companies make at least some of their items in China and other parts of Asia. In March companies like Abercrombie & Fitch began to caution about their full-year sales potential as American shoppers began to pull back on their spending. Lululemon Athletica, up 7.7% Gap, up 7.7% Ralph Lauren, up 5.2% Abercrombie & Fitch, up 5.8% Retail Retailers that sell a variety of goods are feeling some market relief because the announced trade deal means these companies wont have to pass on high costs caused by tariffs to their own customers. Before the agreement was announced, many consumers were fearful of the potential additional costs. Amazon even came out and said that it was not planning to display added tariff costs next to product prices on its site. And Target cautioned in March that there would be meaningful pressure on its profits to start the year because of tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China and other costs. Best Buy, up 5.7% Amazon, up 7.2% Target, up 2.9% Travel companies Shares of travel companies are climbing on hopes that lower tariffs will encourage more customers to fly and feel comfortable enough to spend on trips. Prior to the U.S.-China tariff announcement, major U.S. airlines were reducing their flight schedules and revising or withdrawing their profit outlooks for the year due to less domestic travel demand as sentiment about the national and global economies soured. Carnival, up 8.3% Norwegian Cruise Line, up 6.6% Royal Caribbean Cruises, up 3.4% American Airlines Group, up 5.4% Delta Air Lines, up 6% Michelle Chapman, AP business writer
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||