AI tools mostly fumble basic financial tasks, study finds
AI tools mostly fumble basic financial tasks, study finds
There's no shortage of tech leaders predicting that AI will replace humans, fulfilling even complex tasks with speed and accuracy.
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Boston Globe
4 hours ago
- Boston Globe
‘The city is dead': D.C. restaurant reservations drop amid federal crackdown
This August has been particularly tough on D.C. restaurants, numerous operators told The Washington Post. They were already dealing with a number of destabilizing issues — rising labor and ingredient costs, soaring rents, federal worker layoffs, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement audits — when the president announced last week that he was sending in troops and federal agents to deal with a city where crime is 'totally out of control,' despite local and federal statistics showing otherwise. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'It's like drowning and then someone throws a 100 lb weight to you,' texted one D.C. restaurateur who asked that his name not be used because, he said, he was 'just focused on keeping my businesses alive (this week).' Advertisement Agents from Homeland Security and the FBI patrolled along U Street in northwest Washington, on Friday. Alex Brandon/Associated Press It's difficult to get an exact read on the state of D.C. dining since the federalization of local police. On the day of Trump's announcement, the number of online reservations in Washington dining rooms dropped by 16 percent from the same date the previous year, according to OpenTable. Since then, reservations have dipped almost every day, falling as much as 31 percent in a single day compared to the same period in 2024. But on Monday, the first day of Restaurant Week, OpenTable reservations were up 29 percent compared to the same day the previous year. Some of the decline in reservations could be attributed to timing: The first week of the takeover, Aug. 11 to 17, ended one day before Restaurant Week began. Those same dates in 2024 fell during Restaurant Week, when presumably reservations were increasing as diners scrambled to secure the discounted three-course meals. Townsend with RAMW, which organizes the biannual promotion, says that none of the 380 restaurants involved in this year's event — a record number — have reported a drop in reservations for the seven-day run. But at least two participating restaurant proprietors told The Washington Post that their numbers are well below last year's bookings. 'Reservations are low, low, low' compared to last year, said Mauricio Fraga-Rosenfeld, co-owner of El Secreto de Rosita on U Street near 16th Street NW, across the street from a police station where he said federal troops have often assembled before fanning out across the city. 'The city is dead,' Fraga-Rosenseld said. " If you walk on the street, there's no feeling. People are scared … You don't see any Latinos on the street." Advertisement Nick Pimentel, co-founder of Elle in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood, said he's seen a significant drop in walk-in traffic and reservations since January. But the bottom fell out this month. 'Compared to last year's Summer Restaurant Week reservations — and even Winter Restaurant Week in January — it's looking like we dropped more than 50 percent,' Pimentel said. Washington Metropolitan Police officers and military police soldiers with the District of Columbia National Guard, as activists protested President Trump's federal takeover of policing in D.C. on Saturday. Alex Brandon/Associated Press The numbers suggest, he added, that this will be the slowest August in Elle's seven-year history, including during the pandemic-affected summer of 2020. 'Seeing law enforcement — armored and plainclothed — in the neighborhood, casing our building and looking into our windows definitely put guests and staff on edge,' Pimentel said. Mount Pleasant and The president and White House are disputing the numbers. During a Tuesday call in to the 'Fox & Friends' morning television show, Trump said his orders have transformed Washington into 'just an incredible place in literally four days.' 'Did you see what's happening with the restaurants? They're bursting,' Trump said. 'They were all closing and going bankrupt.' On Monday, Trump disputed local and federal statistics that show crime is declining in the city, claiming in a social media post that 'D.C. gave Fake Crime numbers in order to create a false illusion of safety.' A White House spokeswoman sent a statement to The Post, along with a Fox News story indicating that 52 restaurants closed in Washington in 2023, in part due to crime. Advertisement 'Dozens of DC small businesses, restaurants, and local shops have closed their doors due to the violent crime that has plagued the city. President Trump's bold leadership will restore our nation's capital by creating opportunities for businesses to flourish without fear of criminals looting and destroying their property. President Trump is delivering on his promise to make DC safer, which will inherently make D.C, more prosperous,' spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement. Members of the National Guard were delivered lunch at an entrance to the Smithsonian Metro station in Washington, on Tuesday. TIERNEY L. CROSS/NYT Busboys and Poets, a chain of community-oriented cafes, has seen a small collective drop in August sales among the five locations in Washington while its three suburban outposts are enjoying an uptick, said founder Andy Shallal. 'The streets seem to be a little bit thinner in certain parts of town,' said Shallal. 'There's a little bit of a malaise in the city. I think people are just frustrated and just not in a good mood ." Shallal and others say federal checkpoints are scaring some people from visiting Washington, regardless of their legal status. The unexpected traffic stops may also be preventing workers — particularly back-of-the-house cooks and dishwashers who often hail from Latin American countries — from showing up to shifts. 'I think people would much rather stay where they are and not have to deal with this,' said Shallal. 'A lot of our customers are immigrants that have either newly immigrated to America or have been naturalized Americans. ... In general, they'd rather not expose people or expose themselves to those kinds of conditions or situations that may put them in harm's way ." Related : Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) has spoken to nearly a dozen restaurant owners in his district, which includes Capitol Hill and the NoMa neighborhood, and said they're telling him the same thing: In the last week, they're seeing less foot traffic. Reservations are being canceled. Employees, especially back-of-house staff, are not showing up for work, leaving restaurants shorthanded for evening shifts. Some restaurant owners are hesitant to complain publicly for fear of being targeted by federal agents. Advertisement 'I haven't heard a single restaurant say 'this is great for business,'' Allen said. 'Our businesses are suffering by what they're doing here,' the council member added. 'It's an unwarranted, absolutely ridiculous, unnecessary step that federal government's doing. It sure is more than just immigration issues. This is impacting bread-and-butter local businesses.' Med Lahlou, founder of an eponymous hospitality group operating neighborhood restaurants throughout the city including Lupo Verde on 14th Street NW, said the police presence and public arrests have been demoralizing. Federal agents and local police placed a man under arrest in D.C. on Monday. ERIC LEE/NYT 'It has been heartbreaking to watch my hometown of 40 years feel like it's coming apart,' the restaurateur said. He said the takeover is 'devastating businesses to an unimaginable degree' — including the service industry. 'People are scared to go out, regardless of whether they are U.S. citizens or not. That fear alone is enough to damage restaurant week and the livelihood of countless workers,' Lahlou said. Oji Abbott had been expecting an uptick in sales at Oohh's and Aahh's, his soul food restaurant on U Street, as Howard University students returned to campus last week, preparing for the start of a new semester. But the uptick never arrived. Instead, Abbott says, he has experienced a decline — a small but noticeable one. He pinned some of the blame on the presence of federal law enforcement officers. Advertisement 'We got losses because some people are not coming out and dealing with that,' Abbott told The Post. 'They say, 'You know, I heard they were at 14th Street, they were in U Street. I'm not going.'' Abbott is fortunate compared to other businesses on the U Street corridor, he says. Oohh's and Aahh's has two other locations. If diners don't feel safe — or just don't want to deal with the hassle of navigating the neighborhood with all the extra vehicles on the streets — they can go to one of Abbott's outlets on Georgia Avenue NW or in Alexandria, Virginia. But the chef and owner also worries about the impact of 30 straight days of federal agents and officers on the streets. 'We have to operate within this 30 days, and do you have enough wherewithal to be able to have a week or month of short money coming?' Abbott says. 'Most small businesses, I'll say no. Small businesses, you don't have money to say, 'Oh, yeah, I'll just take the short money for 30 days and I'll still be able to pay the rent and my electric bill and my water bill and my gas bill.' Department of Homeland Security Investigation officers paused at the intersection of 14th and U Streets in northwest Washington, while on patrol on August 13. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press Townsend with RAMW is more bullish on the restaurants that his group represents. They will make Restaurant Week work, regardless of how many staff no-show for a shift. Owners will roll up their sleeves and pitch in. But Townsend is also concerned about the federal takeover of Washington's streets as restaurant week revs up. 'There's a sense from the restaurant community in D.C. that folks who live in Maryland and Virginia will opt to dine in Bethesda or Tysons or Falls Church,' Townsend said, 'as opposed to trying out a new restaurant in D.C. this week.'
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
US spy chief says UK has dropped its Apple backdoor demand
The U.K has dropped its demand for special access to Apple's cloud systems, or a 'backdoor,' following negotiations with the Trump administration, according to U.S. National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard. 'As a result, the U.K. has agreed to drop its mandate for Apple to provide a 'back door' that would have enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens and encroached on our civil liberties,' Gabbard wrote in a post on X. She also claimed that she worked along President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the negotiations. This is the latest (and unexpected) development in a months-long saga that saw the British government secretly demanding Apple to grant its authorities access — essentially asking for a backdoor — to the encrypted data of iCloud users, effectively anywhere in the world, particularly those who turn on Advanced Data Protection (or ADP), an opt-in security feature. ADP turns on end-to-end encryption for iCloud, meaning only the user can access their files stored on Apple's cloud servers. The existence of the legal demand was first reported by The Washington Post in February, which was made under the U.K.'s Investigatory Powers Act 2016, also known as the Snoopers' Charter. The request sparked outrage and condemnation from privacy and security experts worldwide, who argued that if the U.K. government obtained what it wanted, it would weaken privacy for the whole world, and also open the door for more governments to make similar demands, even in other companies' technologies. Apple initially responded by removing ADP from the U.K., meaning new users couldn't turn it on. The company also said it would give guidance to existing users who 'will eventually need to disable this security feature.' In the meantime, Apple also reportedly challenged the backdoor mandate in court, a case that was initially secret but was then ruled to be held in public. Apple and the U.K. Home Office, which initiated the demand on behalf of the British government, did not respond to requests for comment. Olivia Colemanm, the press secretary of the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, referred to a February letter to Sen. Wyden and Rep. Biggs. Apple previously told TechCrunch that the company has 'never built a backdoor or master key' to any of its products or services and it 'never will.' Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Social media opens a window to traditional trades for young workers
In 2023, after he was captivated by a video showing a day in the life of a group of trainees scaling a lattice tower for the first time, Dylan Healy moved from New York to Georgia with some friends to attend the Southeast Lineman Training Center. 'We'd rewatch that video over and over because it got us excited to go to trade school,' said Healy, 20. Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post. Their love of that clip prompted a friend to suggest Healy document his first day of trade school on TikTok. He was stunned when it went viral. It had no music or editing, just snippets of his day: Eating a Clif bar breakfast and reading the Bible, lacing up his boots and chatting before his first class, going to a bonfire with other lineman in training, and capping off the day with some Grand Theft Auto. Healy has been documenting his experiences ever since, from sunrise drives to the unlacing of his boots at the end of the day. And he's constantly fielding questions about his TikTok feed, such as 'How did you do it?' 'Did you have to move from home?' 'Will I have to travel?' Social media is increasingly becoming a destination for a new generation to learn about skilled trades - at a time when many have grown skeptical about the cost of college and the promise of white-collar jobs. These posts offer authentic insight as workers talk openly about everything from their favorite workwear to safety and payday routines. The exposure is also changing the game for trade schools and employers in such industries as manufacturing and construction, which have long struggled to attract workers. Now, some are evolving their recruiting tactics by wading into content creation themselves after decades of relying largely on word of mouth. Trade school enrollment, which had been on a steady decline before the pandemic, has been steadily rising: The share of people aged 17 to 21 with two-year vocational degrees in 2024 hit the highest level ever since data was collected starting in 1992, and has roughly doubled since 2000, according to a Washington Post analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey. The reversal in trade school enrollment comes as many younger Americans grow disillusioned with the notion that colleges and universities offer a guaranteed pathway to a successful, stable future, according to Daniel Zhao, lead economist at Glassdoor. Among younger workers, there's sharp anxiety about 'whether college is still as valuable,' Zhao said, adding that their uncertainty is backed by data showing rising unemployment among college-aged workers compared with other age groups. There are 'many college grads saddled with student debt who don't feel like their degree has gotten them into a higher paying job or a stable career,' he added. In contrast, 'the trades can be attractive as an avenue to entrepreneurship,' which has exploded since the pandemic and is seen as particularly desirable for young workers, Zhao said, noting they're also more willing to experiment with new ways to earn income. 'Part of the appeal of the trades is the ability to be your own boss and set your own hours,' he said. - - - A window on growing fields Despite growing interest in the trades, industries such as construction and manufacturing remain short of workers and are under acute pressure to keep reaching out to new populations, according to Greg Sizemore of Associated Builders and Contractors, a national trade association with more than 23,000 members. Long racked by labor shortages, the construction industry needs roughly 440,000 workers to complete ongoing projects this year, said Sizemore, ABC's vice president of health, safety, environment and workforce development. And the Trump administration's immigration crackdown is shrinking the supply of workers further; more than 1.6 million foreign-born workers have left the workforce since March, according to July jobs data. Lately, construction and other skilled trades have become more attractive to young workers because they're less exposed to artificial intelligence, and 'we have a model that allows them to earn while they learn,' according to Sizemore. 'But we can't just build it and expect them to come,' he said. 'We have to tell them what we're building.' For the past few years, he acknowledged, it's been workers who have been the most effective spokespeople for construction, particularly through organic content on social media, because it reaches people 'within their personal sphere of influence.' 'When I see a young person out there proud to be in the trades … I immediately look at who they're talking to,' Sizemore said. 'Because when they hear it from their peers, it does move the needle for people looking at our industry.' Having struggled to find a career that was a good fit for her after high school, Hunter, 26, signed on for a pipe-fitting apprenticeship several years ago, at a time when there was 'a big push for getting women into the trades.' She wishes she had known earlier in life that this was an option. So the past few years, she has been documenting her professional life as a welder in Michigan alongside her personal one in hopes that others will consider the trades. (She no longer uses her last name on social media because she has faced online harassment, and she spoke on the condition that it not be used for that reason.) Her posts have titles like 'Skip college, learn a skilled trade,' 'How it feels to go to a new jobsite as a woman' and 'What cleaning out your car is like when you're a welder,' in which she smiles while piling up a stack of welding caps in her driver's seat. Commenters, especially younger women, ask for advice about vocational schools, welding techniques, finding entry-level jobs and life as a woman in the trades. There are far more female tradeswomen making content now than when Hunter started out, she said, although it's still rare for her to encounter other women out in the field. 'I do think women are more likely to post,' Hunter said. 'We're looking for that community, we're looking for that support, we're looking for those shared experiences.' - - - Changing the game At Atomic Enrollment, an advertising company working with trade and vocational schools that train technicians for wind and solar equipment; cellphone towers; heating and air conditioning and cosmetology, social media advertising is the company's 'bread and butter,' said chief marketing officer Tom Noh. Video is particularly powerful, he added. When Atomic started working in the space eight years ago, trade schools were in the depths of an enrollment crisis after decades of pressure drove young workers toward white-collar roles in fields such as finance and technology, Noh explained. Back then, career fairs and word of mouth were the dominant recruiting techniques, which 'used to work for people over 35, but people under 30 aren't using those channels,' Noh said. 'Our schools used to go recruit on high school campuses, and it'd just be crickets.' But in the pandemic's wake, a proliferation of TikTok posts took off, featuring both white-collar and blue-collar workers documenting their daily routines and talking frankly about pay. Suddenly, young people stumbling upon these posts from workers in the skilled trades had a window into life on construction sites, in oil fields, atop wind turbines and power lines. The paradox is that 'in theory, trade schools need to be creating that content, but it's the graduates making it,' Noh said. Noh helps trade schools to replicate this by partnering with graduates-turned-influencers to make content, or hiring actors and producing short-form video ads emulating them for TikTok and Instagram. For some of Atomic's clients, as much as 80 percent of their students discover them through social media, Noh said. But it's been tough for Noh to convince some clients that social media is worth the effort because many trade schools are run by baby boomers who 'can't fathom putting a budget internally toward someone creating content all day,' he said. For Grant Johnston, vice president of business development at Airstreams Renewables, a vocational training school specializing in energy and hazardous-duty industrial sectors, social media is now 'invaluable' in recruiting students. Houston-based Airstreams works mainly with veterans, who the company struggled to reach in the past, Johnston said. Before the pandemic, Johnston used to go to about 100 career fairs a year, with mixed results. He tried to run some Google ads by himself at one point but 'failed miserably.' Now, with social media, 'you can go after certain populations,' Johnston explained, adding that Airstreams has had success with video content on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. 'We're reaching veterans, people who want to be outside, people who want to work with their hands.' Ryan Odendahl, president and CEO of Kwest Group, an Ohio-based heavy civil and industrial contractor, said his company has seen an influx of interest from young workers, not only in technical roles but also office jobs like project manager and project coordinator. Along with the ongoing cultural shift around work that began with the pandemic, Odendahl attributed that growth to meeting more potential workers where they are. 'We've realized the best way to get them is when they're scrolling social media,' Odendahl said, adding that it has 'changed the game' in the past few years. The company puts out short-form videos on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram that show 'a quick burst of what it looks like to work at Kwest' - not unlike the ones resonating on TikTok, which Kwest has yet to wade into. Upcoming Kwest releases will cover a day in the life of a project manager and a concrete finisher, he said. 'We really like this geo-fenced, short-snippet, get-their-attention and engage them type of thing,' Odendahl said. 'Who would have thought we'd be spending this much time on social media?' - - - Andrew Van Dam contributed to this report. - - - Graphic: Related Content Ukraine scrambles to roll back Russian eastern advance as summit takes place Her dogs kept dying, and she got cancer. Then they tested her water. D.C.'s homeless begin to see the effects of Trump's crackdown Solve the daily Crossword
