Meta’s AI spending is spiraling—and layoffs are the answer they’re going with Facial recognition errors are putting innocent people in jail while algorithms run amok The social media addiction trial against Meta and YouTube heats up as platforms struggle with their own creations Fake war footage spreads on X while 800M accounts get suspended in the spam chaos Utilities are blocking solar innovation while we’re handing robots jobs—what could go wrong?
It’s fine. Maybe add AI bullet points of 5-6 topics discussed on the show – with emojis before each one. OTOH, you’ve told us you’re allergic to AIs. That’s a dilemma!
Also add: “If you listen, tell me what you think.” Leobot seems to think that’s important to have in every summary.
I’ve recently switched back to using cash transactions as much as possible. I started to grow uncomfortable with the behavior of both card issuers and merchants regarding data privacy and protection, and since I started using cash I’ve found other good reasons to keep the card holstered:
As mentioned in the podcast, its cheaper for the merchant. That’s more relevant for small merchants and restaurants than large organizations. The cost of processing cards is continuing to increase, so I expect small businesses to continue to incentivize cash payments
Cash evades data collection and resale. Most retailers build profiles of their shoppers based partly on repeat transactions, and banks sell transaction data to marketers. Using cash denies both parties that information.
Paying with cash lets you evade drive-by charity prompts and inappropriate tip prompts at POS terminals. I’m still not clear on why every major retailer is trying to ram charity donations down their customer’s throats, but I’m definitely uncomfortable with it.
Paying with cash is often faster, partly because you’re not stuck answering a bunch of stupid prompts at the square/clover/whatever terminal, and partly because you don’t need to fill out a receipt with a tip line. Just drop the right amount of cash down for the bill + tip, and you’re out the door.
Cash denies revenue to Mastercard and Visa, who have started to flex their duopoly muscle in some bothersome ways. Recently they pressured Valve to remove a few games from their store based on their legal (albeit salacious) content. This isn’t new for them, but they’re starting to get more active in content control
I’ve found spending control easier with cash. There’s much less book keeping to do (A single ATM transaction vs lots of debit transactions), and I’m better in tune with what I’m actually spending. I think Leo has highlighted this in the past - Apple Pay/Android Pay both make it easier to spend money. You don’t feel it as much as you do with cash.
I’ve had a couple trips to Tokyo recently, and I’ve come to appreciate the IC card system. If you’re not familiar with it, its basically an RFID cash card, primarily used for the rail system in Japan. You can get a card at a kiosk, load it with cash, and use it to pay metro fares. Its also accepted at convenience stores, restaurants, etc. The card is not attached to your bank account, your name isn’t on the card. Its basically an RFID form of cash.
Here, in Germany, the banks now charge for banking cash.
The card companies and merchants aren’t allowed to sell the data here and have very strict rules on what they can do with the data internally - they can’t use sales data to advertise to you, for example.
Banks in the UK have always charged a cash-handling fee, I think. So once you factor that in, the time taken to cash up every day, time to deposit cash in a bank I reckon there’s not much difference to a business’s costs.
The shop owner has to take it back to the bank, if any of the bank notes are fake then they lose all their profits since the actual note is confiscated and reported to the police.
Even if there are no fakes, handling cash is risky, you either keep it in the premises or someone has to go back to the bank to deposit them.
Either way there is a risk of someone attacking the premises or the person carrying the money.
I have worked in the financial industry for a long time and have seen all of these happen.
I have seen owners of small grocery stores crying because someone scammed with a fake 200€ bill.
I have myself done money transfers and once I was accompanied by a police car.
Even for the customer getting cash is not easy you often have to travel many kilometres to find a cash point. If you are in a rural area this may be very difficult.
Other than that i agree with most of your points.
In Greece recently there is a new b2b b2c and c2c payment system that is free for all. You don’t even need a card.
It is similar to the British fast payment system but simpler.
Afaik there are other similar initiatives across Europe. I think Spain has one and others are rolling out similar systems.
I think that the plan is to roll this out to the whole eu.
So that removes the need to have a card and the power that visa and Mastercard have.
Of course if the government decides to sanction you and freeze your accounts you are screwed and then you can only rely on cash.
You’re not wrong that handling cash has its costs, of course, but I do question whether the cost of losing 2% to 5% of EVERY transaction to transaction fees is any cheaper for the business. The cost to customer of their lost privacy by not using cash is very evident–although these days, with LPRs and cameras feeding AI face recognition, it may no longer matter either way.
I’ve pointed this out to people who say cash is private. There’s a camera on the ATM, CTTV all over town and in the shop and your sale is recorded in the POS.
Yes, i do agree with this point. Legacy mastercard and visa transactions are not cheap and banks are charging for them.
But right now there are many new ways that people can pay, and merchants can accept payments that have no cost.
The system i mentioned for Greece is called IRIS. The system i mentioned in the UK is called fast payment system. These systems have no cost for the merchant and you do not need a card to use them.
This system in the coming years will be expanded to the whole EU.
Of course this is not a Greek innovation, in China people have been using WeChat and barcode payments for a while. I think similar systems have been in use in Africa for a while as well.
I believe gradually Visa and Mastercard will lose their duopoly.
On the other hand, debit card transactions are a fraction of a percent, here in Germany. Most places accept debit cards (and the old minimum of 25€ has dropped away in most stores), even establishments that accept credit cards are still as rare as hen’s teeth around here.
I remember, when I first visited Germany, I needed a new tyre on my motorbike and the local tyre shop only accepted cash or EC cards, I only had my UK debit card and credit card, so I had to go to a bank and withdraw cash to pay for the tyre.
Cash is still king, although debit cards reached around 50% of all transaction for the first time recently, I believe (I saw a report in television, but can’t find actual figures later than 2023 from the banks etc.). Credit cards are still under 5% and less popular than Wero or Klarna etc.
Yeah, I don’t know what the “typical” rate might be here now. Depends on the size of the merchant I would imagine, and how established they are in the eyes of the banks and money processors. I remember reading one time that Walmart was large enough to have negotiated a flat rate for its debit transactions, something on the order of $0.25. I’m willing to bet that small shops using these “alternate” payment processors like Square or whatnot are paying a percentage, and probably a higher one than they’d like.
Meta’s AI spending is spiraling—and layoffs are the answer they’re going with
Facial recognition errors are putting innocent people in jail while algorithms run amok
The social media addiction trial against Meta and YouTube heats up as platforms struggle with their own creations
Fake war footage spreads on X while 800M accounts get suspended in the spam chaos
Utilities are blocking solar innovation while we’re handing robots jobs—what could go wrong?