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The Star
07-08-2025
- Business
- The Star
Where human labour meets 'digital labour'
In a still largely speculative vision of the future, AI tools would be full employees that work independently, with a bit of management. — JACKSON GIBBS/The New York Times A digital native is a person raised on the Internet. A digital nomad is a person who moves around doing a computer job. And a digital labourer is not a person at all. With the rise of agentic AI, or generative artificial intelligence tools that can operate without explicit instructions, tech enthusiasts have started promoting the idea of a workforce made up of human labourers working alongside AI tools that serve as 'digital labourers'. AI agents, in this still largely speculative vision of the future, will be promoted to full employees. In its most basic definition, 'digital labour is computers doing the work traditionally done by human beings,' Marc Benioff, CEO of the business software giant Salesforce, said in an interview. As for its origins, he said, 'I think I made it up, but I'm not sure.' Benioff noted that already, Salesforce is using AI agents for customer service tasks, driving down the total cost of customer support by 17% over a nine-month period. He claimed earlier this year that he would be 'the last CEO of Salesforce who only managed humans.' If this sounds like mere automation, or an efficiency tool, proponents insist that it's different. Like a human employee, these tools would work independently with a bit of management, said Jen Stave, a director of Harvard's Digital Data Design Institute. (The meaning of 'digital labour' has changed from a few years ago, Stave said, when it described humans whose work relied on algorithms and platforms, especially gig workers.) How the fruits of digital labour will be treated in economic terms is still unsettled, Stave said. As the usage of agentic tools spreads, big questions will emerge around who captures their value. If Company A 'hires' a digital labourer made by Company B, for example, and Company A helps the tool grow and mature with its own data, who should get the credit (and profits) for making the AI agent work that much better? Another big question is who will be accountable when the tools mess up, asked Stephan Meier, a business professor at Columbia University. Will it be the team that created the bot? Or the human who 'hired' it and assigned it a task? For now, some human guardrails are in place: Salesforce customers unhappy with a digital agent can escalate to a human. That's important because 'agents are built on large language models which are inherently not accurate,' Benioff said. He said that these AI tools would fill in cracks in the labour force, adding that 'I don't really see any potential risks.' Meier sees a few: One is that some organisations might simply axe human workers and replace them with the tools, an approach he said would be 'a mistake'. He thinks the AI tools can best operate as assistants to human workers. In the long term, Meier predicts, new jobs will open up for humans displaced by AI. But that transition, in the short term, will not be easy. The good news for concerned humans is that agentic tools are not really in wide use yet. Some large tech and finance firms are incorporating autonomous AI products to complete suites of tasks previously done by humans. But, at least for now, anthropomorphic programs are not popping up on mainstream organizational charts. – ©2025 The New York Times Company This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
New York Times
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
This Mother's Day, Consider a Pair of Boxer Shorts
Welcome to the T List, a newsletter from the editors of T Magazine. This week, in addition to our usual suggestions, we're offering a Mother's Day gift guide, with recommendations on what we're coveting for ourselves and considering for our maternal figures. Sign up here to find us in your inbox every Wednesday, along with monthly travel and beauty guides, and the latest stories from our print issues. And you can always reach us at tmagazine@ Lounge Act Airy Boxers Fit for a Sunday Stroll By Laura Regensdorf If there's an underlying theme to the usual clothing gifts for mothers, it's comfort. Robes, slippers, monogrammed pajamas: These are the sartorial equivalents to a well-deserved breakfast in bed. But what if such soft styling were a little less domesticated? A new wave of ladylike boxers suggests an indoor-outdoor ease, with refined detailing and elongated cuts. The cotton poplin Stave shorts by the French Danish brand Baserange have a breezy fit and sun-faded disposition that would be at home on a Mediterranean ferry. Vaquera's knee-grazing pink-and-white boxers offer a subversive edge — especially when paired with tall leather boots, as seen on the label's spring 2025 runway in Paris. On the side of whimsical restraint, the Garment's Cyprus shorts are trimmed in a series of micropleats with a scalloped hem; they come in crisp white or black, in keeping with the Copenhagen line's monochromatic palette. For fans of smooth-on-skin silk, Comme Si's La Boxer Bermuda marries an athletic silhouette with a delicate floral by Liberty. The garden print recalls the boxer Muhammad Ali's self-described winning technique, which also sums up a mother's protective instincts: 'Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.' Aegean Treat Made-in-Greece Pantry Goods By Luke Fortney In ancient Greece, Rhea, the mother of gods, was honored each spring with cakes, flowers and fine wines in an early iteration of Mother's Day. Draw from that history with a range of Greek imports that are now available in the United States. Damian Primis, a bassoonist with the New York Philharmonic, started Primis Imports during the pandemic, when performance halls were closed. After selling out of olive oil, he expanded into pantry staples, like sea salt flakes and seeded sesame brittle. 'They're some of the most addicting little treats you can have,' he says. The Athens-based company Daphnis and Chloe specializes in organic seasonings and teas, including one variety made for wine lovers. The tea's notes of sage and chamomile — meant to be restorative after a night out — were developed with the Barcelona-based Natural Wine Company. In Thessaloniki in northern Greece, Yiayia and Friends produces its yellow fruit vinegar with local grapes, orange, lemon and mandarin. Each 200-milliliter bottle features custom artwork from the Greek studio Beetroot Design. Psyche Organic is based in Copenhagen, but its small-batch olive oils come from single-estate Greek farms. Its founder, Theophilos Constantinou, ships his oils in one-liter pouches, inspired by budget wine, that seal in precious aromas and flavors. Growth Potential An English Estate's Take on Japanese Gardening Gear By Aemilia Madden Even the most experienced gardener is bound to face some failure. That's why Niwaki, a company that specializes in Japanese tools, and the Newt, a country estate and hotel in Somerset, England, turned to the Japanese proverb 'nana korobi ya oki' as inspiration for their four-piece collection of horticultural accessories, launching May 2. The saying, which translates to 'fall down seven times, stand up eight,' evokes the patience and persistence required in tending beds of tulips or patches of strawberries. To accompany gardeners on that journey, Niwaki and the Newt have created a Samue work jacket with deep pockets and a kimono collar, a Hori Hori knife for digging and weeding, carbon steel Higurashi secateurs for pruning and a hedge green canvas tool bag, all designed with a quaint English garden in mind. But the stylishly austere, durable designs make them a utilitarian choice for all those exercising a green thumb, no matter where their patch of dirt may be. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
