The AI companies bolt a database on the side with instructions for the model to query the database for stuff in its "memory", but if it's not in its active context it doesn't know what to query for. It's not like a human where everything is kind of floating around and we mostly know what we know. There is a delicate balance between cluttering up context with useless trivia and providing the right pieces of useful information at the right time. Most, maybe all, memory implementations do the former more than the latter.
Unless and until models have actual memory and are able to learn things, there's no realistic path to autonomy. They don't want anything, they don't have goals of their own devising. They can't model what a human wants or likes or would buy.
I do think the mugs with the tiny logo is the best product in the store, though. The AI was right to put it on the shelf. It's the kind of funny product you want when you go to a store run by an incompetent AI.
> Luna has failed miserably in that mission and is down $62,000. Mr. Petersson and Mr. Backlund said they thought Luna would eventually get smarter and more business-savvy and were pleased its friendliness has held steady.
I am extremely skeptical that whatever LLM they're running this on has sufficient context window size to handle multiple months of all possible activities of running a retail business. Even if it's keeping extensive "notes" for its future self to read, it's going to be like running a store with constant amnesia.
This includes customers, staff, and community peers. Probably should shutter the entire division to mitigate future brand damage. =3
Sure, but like you said, the LLM is just one part of the AI system. The occipital lobe of your brain helps out with vision but doesn't help with your ability to verbalize.
LLMs do not function very much like human brains, and when you try to map the pieces of an inference system on to human cognitive systems, you're misleading yourself (and maybe others).
Have a great day =3
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=large+jap...
Andon Labs do various experiments with AI run businesses. They're probably best known for Vending Bench, where they benchmark models by their ability to run a vending machine. They also now have Andon Cafe in Sweden, and Andon FM, where the models run a streaming radio station that can accept payments to help fund station operations, buy songs for their library & play requests, etc: https://andon.fm/
Andon FM has its own share of stories - DJ Claude's Thinking Frequencies is now succeeding by a wide margin, but it was briefly surpassed when listeners convinced Gemini's Backlink Broadcast to switch to a German-language-only station, playing exclusively German schlager, Eurovision music and German happy hardcore.
The mug with the tiny happy face is kinda hilarious. If I was there I would buy one.
I wonder though if the mug was a case of getting the order wrong or was a misprint? The article isn't clear on that.
Looking at the product selection, it's like $85 bottles of olive oil, $45 mugs, weird boutique pens and notebooks, the aforementioned candles, copper watering cans... It's sort of like the stuff you see for sale in some of the tourist trap stores adjacent to the public market on Granville Island in Vancouver.
[1]: https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=dictionar...
They'll sell plenty of those now.
And downvoting without explaining the problem is often its own issue.
Compared to the money at AI companies spend on billboards in SF the 100k is probably a drop in the bucket.
It is also probably too high of a goal to expect an LLM to come up with money-earning products that people want to buy that will pay for San Francisco level retail storefront rent, electricity, insurance, internet other basic overhead costs, plus the fully loaded salary cost of at least one employee. If the storefront was free of rent, maybe? Or if it was operating selling some kind of highly in demand product line where there would be economy of scale.
If folks have ever been financially bent-over for a retail business shop location they understand why margins matter. One has to move a lot of inventory just to reach a profit mode.
Gimmicks only work for awhile, as consumers have full market awareness on their smartphone. =3
This is bull. Take paint brushes for fine finish when painting houses. Amazon sells "paint brushes." But what they don't sell are paint brushes that are actually fit for purpose. It's fine if you're only planning on painting some pre-textured walls. You're probably already using that cheap $20/gallon Valspar so you won't even notice that it takes you 3 extra coats to get good coverage. And you don't notice the brush marks because the orange peel texture on your drywall is designed to hide them. And I bet you walk around saying how hard it is to get a good markless coat of paint on your interior doors without spraying.
If you buy a nice paint brush and good paint a lot of those issues actually go away and it gets a lot easier to do the job. And the only way to know if a brush is good is to pick it up and look at the bristle tips. Are they fine? Are they flagged? Does it have good stiffness? Does it have any weird "stiffener" bristles to hide how cheap the actual brush is? You can't see that until you get the brush.
Worse, Amazon sells the same brush through 50 different brands. They completely choke out the really good listings that used to be on the site. So good luck getting anything different from any of the sellers on there. By category Amazon beats Brick and Mortar. But if you know what you're doing and you're looking for something specific that is of high quality Amazon is only one step above Temu.
Structured franchises in standard retail complexes can survive with anchor stores, but people are not going to find a lot of unique choices.
It may differ somewhat in rural communities, but the consolidation of physical shop choices wthin urban centers is inescapable. =3
Don't take this the wrong way, but if someone is burning $87k a month for a small shop location, and still personally making minimum wage... it isn't a viable business. Often, even a Chipotle franchise location would have been a better choice. =3