AI food delivery hoax

A few weeks ago, a Reddit post pretended to reveal the unethical practices of a gig-economy food delivery service when it came to exploiting workers (independant contractors) and gouging customers. While it looked like “I can see these companies doing it for greed”, turns out it was fake.

When a reporter trying to verify the claim from the “anonymous” worker from the “unamed company”, the reporter found the document were forged, most likely AI generated. This is the story Casey Newton for the Platformer is telling us: Debunking the AI food delivery hoax that fooled Reddit.

It’s easy to fall for something that sounds credible ; something showing what horrible things these gig-economy companies are doing. Some of the element are reminiscent of some other stuff that have made the rounds, like surge pricing for car-hailing service (taxi disruptors), based on demand and also despair (the mobile app spying on your battery levels).

Beware.

The hoax posted on Reddit made the rounds for a bit on the fediverse and elsewhere. More than ever you shouldn’t believe what you read on internet forums.

Previously: Food Service and AI