alt Hacker NewsI work at Amazon (standard disclaimer: just sharing my own experience, not an official spokesperson, etc.)
I can't say that this isn't happening, but at least the parts of the company I get visibility into, what the article describes isn't my experience. There is a lot of interest in using GenAI, but people are mostly getting kudos around creative uses for GenAI, not just for raw amount of tokens. For most scaled GenAI efforts, there is a lot of focus on output metrics (metrics like accuracy, number of findings, number of things fixed, and so on).
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Thanks for the inside insight.
I'm surprised how few comments are written with the prior that Amazon managers aren't stupid or uninformed about how incentives work.
My guess would be that someone created the leaderboard without a lot of consultation with managers, and that some employees feel a competitive urge to try to "win" the leaderboard by burning tokens.
> There is a lot of interest in using GenAI, but people are mostly getting kudos around creative uses for GenAI,
LOL, I'd imagine even Amazon HR would be little restraint in showering such praise.
Amazon is a massive company, your single experience is worse than an anecdote because there is no way verify.
What we can verify is how how Amazon already treats workers, they will surveil anyone within their systems regardless of the futility of said surveillance. Why are we suppose to not believe them using LLM systems as a means to further control their expensive employees from unionizing or seeking out solidarity with fellow workers? All LLMs do is enable tyrannical managers more power to hold over other workers, said workers are forced to engage in self alienation for fear of losing your job or forcing to do meaningless work as that is what's being tracked (and what LLMs excel at producing).
Hardly a good proposition for any worker.
I'm sorry but I fully do not believe you. This is a company that fires workers for taking too long of a bathroom break where said workers piss in bottles for fear of getting fired and you're going "hey guys, it's not too bad. Only some workers get whipped, others don't!"
I also work at Amazon and my coworkers are playing 20 questions every morning to keep their metrics up. Like anything else there it depends on your org & managers.