The Wall Street Journal

Taco Bell Rethinks Future of Voice AI at the Drive-Through

The most transformative technology in over a century may have finally found its limit: ordering tacos. Since last year, Taco Bell has rolled out voice AI-powered ordering at more than 500 drive-through locations, and now the chain is realizing that not every customer is a fan of the new tech. Mathews said he is now thinking carefully about where and where not to use this tech in the future. It might not make sense to exclusively use artificial intelligence at every drive-through, he said. For example, at super busy restaurants with long lines, a human team member might handle things better, he said.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/taco-bell-rethinks-future-of-voice-ai-at-the-drive-through-72990b5a?mod=tech_lead_story

Was That Amazing Video in Your Feed Real or AI? Tech Platforms Are Struggling to Let You Know

Meta, YouTube and TikTok are grasping for ways to protect users’ trust as their platforms fill with AI-generated photos and videos of events that never happened. But their patchwork of imperfect tools and voluntary policies sometimes inadvertently punishes “real” content and leaves plenty of AI work unlabeled.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/was-that-amazing-video-in-your-feed-real-or-ai-tech-platforms-are-struggling-to-let-you-know-fe7cceb6?mod=tech_lead_pos1

AI Has Upended the Search Game. Marketers Are Scrambling to Catch Up.

In a matter of months, artificial intelligence has begun to change how people search for things online in ways that have alarmed some marketers. Both developments have begun to eat away at the clicks and website traffic that marketers have earned over time by spending millions of dollars on search engine optimization, or SEO. They have also created a wave of businesses claiming to specialize in new industry acronyms such as generative engine optimization (GEO), answer engine optimization (AEO) and, of course, artificial intelligence optimization (AIO).
https://www.wsj.com/articles/ai-has-upended-the-search-game-marketers-are-scrambling-to-catch-up-84264b34?mod=tech_feat1_ai_pos1

Looking for a Job in Tech Is More Confusing Than Ever

A similar role at different companies might be titled with “AI,” or “machine learning,” or “data” or “computer vision,” followed by “engineer,” or “developer” or “architect,” with jargon like “senior” or “associate” or “specialist” thrown in for good measure. “In the last two to three years, we’re seeing an acceleration in the job market’s evolution,” she said, adding that some 20% of the people in the U.S. who took on a new job in the past 12 months took on a job title that didn’t exist in 2000, according to LinkedIn’s data.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/looking-for-a-job-in-tech-is-more-confusing-than-ever-58fbaea1?mod=tech_lead_story

Apple’s Headset Has Metaverse Believers Hoping It Can Save Their Industry

After a period of disillusionment in the industry that some call the metaverse, many of its most fervent believers are banking on Apple to save the day. While an ecosystem of software startups built up around Meta Platforms’ lineup of Quest virtual-reality products, some companies have pulled back recently. Microsoft shut down a social virtual-reality platform it acquired in 2017 and trimmed the team building its HoloLens augmented-reality headset. Walt Disney Co. shuttered the division developing strategies for the metaverse.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/apples-headset-has-metaverse-believers-hoping-it-can-save-their-industry-e692575a

Inside Meta’s Push to Solve the Noisy Office

Coming to the campuses of Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. is a contraption that can block sound, shield workers from their peers and allow for heads-down, uninterrupted work. It’s a cubicle. That is, a noise-canceling cubicle designed using some of the same principles found in soundproof, echo-free anechoic chambers. “The Cube,” which the company is beginning to roll out to offices worldwide after months of development, absorbs sound from multiple directions, says John Tenanes, vice president of global real estate and facilities at Meta. “It’s like a self- cocoon.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/inside-metas-push-to-solve-the-noisy-office-ba43042

It’s Not Just You: 5G Is a Big Letdown

ELENA SCOTTI/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, SHUTTERSTOCK; ISTOCK

The newest network won’t change how you use your phone—but you can still make the most of it.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/its-not-just-you-5g-is-a-big-letdown-11673441300