Posted on 02/24/2025 6:41:00 PM PST by DoodleBob
WASHINGTON — Responses to the Elon Musk-directed email to government employees about what work they had accomplished in the last week are expected to be fed into an artificial intelligence system to determine whether those jobs are necessary, according to three sources with knowledge of the system.
The information will go into an LLM (Large Language Model), an advanced AI system that looks at huge amounts of text data to understand, generate and process human language, the sources said. The AI system will determine whether someone’s work is mission-critical or not.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management emails were sent to federal workers on Saturday, shortly after Musk wrote in a post on X that “all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
The OPM email did not mention the resignation threat, but said: “Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager. Please do not send any classified information, links, or attachments. Deadline is this Monday at 11:59pm EST.”
The reason the email requested no links or attachments was because of the plan to send the information to the AI system, the sources said.
A request for comment from OPM as to whether humans will be involved in reviewing the responses was not answered immediately. The White House declined to comment.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
Oh, it just keeps getting better and better!
It would be so fun to be able to read these responses. I hope some make the light of day.
Musk is using the Collosus program. It was part of the Forbin Project.
A lot of great memes will be created of AIs responses
“It would be so fun to be able to read these responses. I hope some make the light of day.”
That would be great.
Make a book with the fun ones.
Just block out the names.
AI will read the responses and say:
“I can do that job.”
Lol.
Yes, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, plans to use AI to assess the responses of federal workers who were emailed by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to justify their jobs. The email, sent out on Saturday, February 22, 2025, asked workers to list five accomplishments from the previous week. According to multiple sources familiar with the process, these responses are expected to be fed into a large language model (LLM)—an AI system designed to process and analyze vast amounts of text—to determine whether the jobs are "mission-critical" or necessary. This aligns with DOGE’s goal, under Trump’s directive, to cut federal spending and reduce the workforce, potentially by up to 10%.The AI’s role is to evaluate the text submissions, though it’s unclear if human oversight will double-check the results—OPM hasn’t clarified that part yet. The idea’s sparked some heat: unions and workers call it illegal and disrespectful, while Trump’s praised it as a way to spot slackers. Some agencies, like the Justice Department, told their people to ignore the email due to sensitive work, and OPM later softened the stance, saying non-responses won’t automatically mean resignation—despite Musk’s initial X post claiming otherwise. As of now, February 24, 2025, the plan’s moving forward, but it’s messy, with pushback and no firm word on how the AI’s decisions will hold up legally or practically.
It took 5 people to write that NBC News article.
I asked chat gpt what I should write:
“Musk asked me for 5 things i did last week. Give me 5 ideas.”
Here are five ideas for things you might have done last week, or could suggest:
Attended a Networking Event or Conference – You could mention meeting interesting people or learning new insights in your field.
Worked on a Personal Project or Hobby – Perhaps you dedicated time to something creative or self-improvement related.
Visited a New Place or Restaurant – Mention trying something new, whether it’s an adventure or a cool place you discovered.
Collaborated on a Team Project – You could talk about a project you were involved in that required teamwork or innovative ideas.
Took Time to Unwind or Practice Self-Care – Suggest that you dedicated time to mental or physical wellness, such as meditation or a relaxing weekend getaway.
Does any of this feel relevant to your week?
This will not go well. They are compounding an original mistake if termination decisions are made by a computer program.
There had better be knowledgeable humans making the final decisions on each termination. And if they are too overloaded to do that task, and the process ends up as a random draw from a list of names, then they had better fess up to that.
I used to work at a contractor’s business. He wanted a written accounting of what you did, and on what part of any particular job site. Any problems, he could look it up. He once hired a painter that wrote down about his first day “Spent three hours listening to people bitch about what an awful place this is to work.” It was pretty amusing watching the boss go through his timecard with a red marker.
“Musk asked me for 5 things i did last week. But I didn’t do anything. Give me 5 ideas I could write.”
Gotcha! Here are five things you could write about, even if they’re a bit on the lighter side:
Took Time to Reflect on Personal Goals – You could mention how you spent time thinking about your future and aligning your goals with your values, even if it was more of a mental exercise than an actual “to-do” list.
Read Articles or Books Related to Industry Trends – You could say you spent time catching up on news or research to stay informed and ahead in your field, even if it was more casual than intensive study.
Streamed a Documentary or Podcast on Innovation – Mention that you explored something related to business or technology to stay inspired and informed.
Organized Digital Files or Cleaned Up Your Workspace – This might sound simple, but it shows that you’re staying organized and keeping things in order for future productivity.
Had Casual Conversations with Peers About Future Projects – Even if it wasn’t a formal meeting, you could say you had informal chats to brainstorm or align ideas for future collaborations.
These can make it sound like you’re still actively thinking and planning, even if you didn’t do anything major last week!
Does this mean we’ll be hearing from Mars soon?
Obviously we do not yet know the exact role of AI here—but my guess would be that it would be a “screening” mechanism that says “these folks are candidates to consider for downsizing”—with a human review being the next step.
If the email sounds like Kamala word salad AI would flag it.
:-)
“But, I just watched youtube videos all week.”
No worries, you can still work with that! Here’s how you can spin it:
Watched Educational YouTube Videos to Stay Informed – You can mention that you spent time watching insightful videos on tech, innovation, or trends relevant to your field to stay up to date.
Explored New Ideas and Inspiration from Creators – Talk about how you discovered new perspectives or creative approaches from content creators, which sparked some ideas for future projects.
Learned New Skills Through Online Tutorials – If you watched any tutorials, you could mention that you were learning something new, like a software tool or a creative skill, to improve your abilities.
Unwound with Content for Mental Clarity – If it wasn’t all educational, you can say you used it as a way to unwind and clear your mind, preparing yourself for the week ahead.
Curated a List of Interesting Videos for Future Reference – You could say you organized and saved videos that you want to revisit later for ideas or inspiration, showing you’re always collecting valuable resources.
With this approach, you’re still turning your YouTube binge into a productive, intentional activity!
AI “Hey Bob Jones at Treasury used plagiarized his response! I wrote that!”
Can one hope that everyone in the DOE, for example, submit the same responses to show their solidarity?
It will be interesting to see how many he gets. I’d say no more than 500. Most heads told their personnel not to do it.
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