Business Bullshit
@businessbullshit.bsky.social
Constantly "going forward" to lands of "deliverables", stopping off on the "journey" to "drill down" into "best practice".
Pinned
Action Point (n.): something to be avoided in a meeting at all costs, except when suggesting on behalf of a colleague with their camera off and mic muted.
A Timeless A to Z of Business Bullshit 👇
Reposted by Business Bullshit
![[Scene is a kitchen - a middle aged woman called JANET is boiling peas at the stove. A younger more colourfully dressed woman named LIZ approached her.]
JANET:
Ugh...
LIZ:
What's up?
JANET:
I am so bored of cooking peas!
LIZ:
Have you tried...
AI peas?
JANET:
AI peas?
LIZ:
They're peas with AI!
[Liz holds up to us a packet of peas labelled: Pea-i AI - Peas with AI].
LIZ:
Al-powered peas harness the potential of your peas
JANET:
What
LIZ [Now a voiceover as we cut to a whizzy technology diagram of peas all connected by meaningless dotted lines]
Why not take your peas to the next level with Al Peas' new Al tools to power your peas?
[Show a techno diagram of a pea with a label reading 'AI' pointing to a random zone in it]
LIZ:
Each pea has Al in a way we haven't quite worked out yet but it's fine
[Show Janet and Liz now in a Matrix-style world of peas]
LIZ:
With Al peas you can supercharge productivity and make AI work for your peas!
JANET:
What
LIZ:
Shut up
LIZ:
Our game-changing Pea-Al gives you the freedom to unlock the potential of the power of the future of your peas workflow
From opening the bag of peas
to boiling the peas
to eating the peas
To spending millions on adding Al to the peas and then having to work out what that even means.
JANET:
Is it really necessary to-
LIZ [Grabbing Janet by the collar]:
THE PEAS HAVE GOT AI, JANET
[Cut to an advert ending screen, with the bag of peas and the slogan:
AI PEAS: Just 'Peas' for god's sake buy the AI peas.
[Ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreiayqa37f7kik7l7s7fbtfp2sir5ckb662ry2lylinyjrfa2rkvvka@jpeg)
Glorified spellchecker Grammarly rebrands to ludicrously grandiose "superhuman"
www.edtechinnovationhub.com/news/grammar...
www.edtechinnovationhub.com/news/grammar...
Grammarly rebrands to Superhuman and launches new AI assistant Superhuman Go — EdTech Innovation Hub
Grammarly will continue to be offered as part of Superhuman’s suite of products, alongside collaborative workspace Coda, AI email client Superhuman Mail, and a new AI assistant called Superhuman Go.
www.edtechinnovationhub.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Glorified spellchecker Grammarly rebrands to ludicrously grandiose "superhuman"
www.edtechinnovationhub.com/news/grammar...
www.edtechinnovationhub.com/news/grammar...
Reposted by Business Bullshit
Mamdani's bullshit-eating grin, now available in gif form.
November 5, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Mamdani's bullshit-eating grin, now available in gif form.
Reposted by Business Bullshit
wake up babe, a new way of saying "we just put 14,000 people out of a job" just dropped
October 28, 2025 at 6:43 PM
wake up babe, a new way of saying "we just put 14,000 people out of a job" just dropped
Reposted by Business Bullshit
from my lunch today; "the trouble is not so much AI making you more productive, but that it's tripling the output of the biggest f***ing idiot where you work"
October 21, 2025 at 9:21 PM
from my lunch today; "the trouble is not so much AI making you more productive, but that it's tripling the output of the biggest f***ing idiot where you work"
Reposted by Business Bullshit
Win probability calculators are one of the more absurd artifacts of our obsession with data. I look into how they are made and who they are for.
What is the chance of a Beast Quake?
How win probabilities are made and who they're for.
www.argmin.net
October 20, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Win probability calculators are one of the more absurd artifacts of our obsession with data. I look into how they are made and who they are for.
Reposted by Business Bullshit
Reposted by Business Bullshit
Instead of cutting BS jobs, AI floods us with “workslop” - with comments from me cybernews.com/ai-news/ai-b...
Instead of cutting BS jobs, AI floods us with “workslop”
Experts say artificial intelligence is unlikely to reduce “bullshit jobs,” which are jobs that even people who perform them think are meaningless.
cybernews.com
October 15, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Instead of cutting BS jobs, AI floods us with “workslop” - with comments from me cybernews.com/ai-news/ai-b...
Reposted by Business Bullshit
i am so ready for quantum to be the next dumb buzzword the tech industry forces everyone to pretend to care about. "how are you incorporating quantum into your daily work?" i'm not but it's so refreshing you asked me a new and different stupid question
October 13, 2025 at 6:09 PM
i am so ready for quantum to be the next dumb buzzword the tech industry forces everyone to pretend to care about. "how are you incorporating quantum into your daily work?" i'm not but it's so refreshing you asked me a new and different stupid question
Reposted by Business Bullshit
AI is a "good bubble" and "millions of people will be living in space ... in the next couple of decades”. Sure Jeff. on.ft.com/4nBsWwL
Jeff Bezos hails AI boom as ‘good’ kind of bubble
Amazon founder’s comments follow warning by Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon that ‘it’s not different this time’
on.ft.com
October 6, 2025 at 8:20 AM
AI is a "good bubble" and "millions of people will be living in space ... in the next couple of decades”. Sure Jeff. on.ft.com/4nBsWwL
Reposted by Business Bullshit
Simon called it the "Information Fallacy." We call it "efficient inefficiency"--more efficiently doing things which aren't worth doing:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Efficient Inefficiency: Organisational challenges of realising economic gains from AI
Organisations are increasingly using artificial intelligence (AI). Where AI performs productive tasks more efficiently than humans, organisations will…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 2, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Simon called it the "Information Fallacy." We call it "efficient inefficiency"--more efficiently doing things which aren't worth doing:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Business Bullshit
Here's a hypothesis: AI exists to make your job obsolete because the alternative is that AI makes managers obsolete.
AI could easily replace most management tasks: engagement metrics, OKRs, performance reviews, agile methods, innovation labs... You get it. Bullshit jobs as Graeber would say.
AI could easily replace most management tasks: engagement metrics, OKRs, performance reviews, agile methods, innovation labs... You get it. Bullshit jobs as Graeber would say.
September 27, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Here's a hypothesis: AI exists to make your job obsolete because the alternative is that AI makes managers obsolete.
AI could easily replace most management tasks: engagement metrics, OKRs, performance reviews, agile methods, innovation labs... You get it. Bullshit jobs as Graeber would say.
AI could easily replace most management tasks: engagement metrics, OKRs, performance reviews, agile methods, innovation labs... You get it. Bullshit jobs as Graeber would say.
Reposted by Business Bullshit
Today's article is about a form of bad-faith speech somewhat akin to bullshit, which I'm calling (because why not) wank. I don't quite think I've focused the ideas down as much as I can, but I think it says some interesting things regardless:
An essay on wank | deadSimpleTech
This captures well the uncomfortable, slightly disorienting feeling that wank creates when you're subjected to it, wherein you're expected to speak about and think about the statement as though it say...
deadsimpletech.com
September 29, 2025 at 4:06 AM
Today's article is about a form of bad-faith speech somewhat akin to bullshit, which I'm calling (because why not) wank. I don't quite think I've focused the ideas down as much as I can, but I think it says some interesting things regardless:
"Employees are using AI tools to create low-effort, passable looking work that ends up creating more work for their coworkers ... We define workslop as AI generated work content that masquerades as good work, but lacks the substance to meaningfully advance a task." @hbr.org hbr.org/2025/09/ai-g...
AI-Generated “Workslop” Is Destroying Productivity
Despite a surge in generative AI use across workplaces, most companies are seeing little measurable ROI. One possible reason is because AI tools are being used to produce “workslop”—content that appea...
hbr.org
September 26, 2025 at 11:57 AM
"Employees are using AI tools to create low-effort, passable looking work that ends up creating more work for their coworkers ... We define workslop as AI generated work content that masquerades as good work, but lacks the substance to meaningfully advance a task." @hbr.org hbr.org/2025/09/ai-g...
"How can intellectuals chronicle [the AI] shift — one that threatens their ability to chronicle anything at all ... resisting AI’s further creep into intellectual labor will also require blunt-force militancy. The steps are simple. Don’t publish AI bullshit." www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/the...
Large Language Muddle | The Editors
The AI upheaval is unique in its ability to metabolize any number of dread-inducing transformations. The university is becoming more corporate, more politically oppressive, and all but hostile to the ...
www.nplusonemag.com
September 26, 2025 at 11:48 AM
"How can intellectuals chronicle [the AI] shift — one that threatens their ability to chronicle anything at all ... resisting AI’s further creep into intellectual labor will also require blunt-force militancy. The steps are simple. Don’t publish AI bullshit." www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/the...
Reposted by Business Bullshit
“When we spoke to executives, they would often say the internal tool was very successful,” said Challapally. “But when we spoke to employees, we found zero usage.”
This must be the Rapture because I am dyingggg
This must be the Rapture because I am dyingggg
“The biggest US-listed companies keep talking about artificial intelligence. But other than the ‘fear of missing out,’ few appear to be able to describe how the technology is changing their businesses for the better.”
America’s top companies keep talking about AI — but can’t explain the upsides
FT analysis of hundreds of filings suggest the S&P 500 businesses are clearer about the risks than benefits
www.ft.com
September 23, 2025 at 12:06 PM
“When we spoke to executives, they would often say the internal tool was very successful,” said Challapally. “But when we spoke to employees, we found zero usage.”
This must be the Rapture because I am dyingggg
This must be the Rapture because I am dyingggg
"When we spoke to the emperor's leadership team, they would often say his clothing was very beautiful, but when we spoke to the emperor's subjects, we found zero clothing.”
“When we spoke to executives, they would often say the internal tool was very successful,” said Challapally. “But when we spoke to employees, we found zero usage.”
This must be the Rapture because I am dyingggg
This must be the Rapture because I am dyingggg
“The biggest US-listed companies keep talking about artificial intelligence. But other than the ‘fear of missing out,’ few appear to be able to describe how the technology is changing their businesses for the better.”
September 24, 2025 at 4:27 AM
"When we spoke to the emperor's leadership team, they would often say his clothing was very beautiful, but when we spoke to the emperor's subjects, we found zero clothing.”
Reposted by Business Bullshit
This is brilliant: a compilation of popular (business) buzzwords across decades.
Next: A sociological analysis of how these relate to the broader societal circumstances at the time of their conception?
Next: A sociological analysis of how these relate to the broader societal circumstances at the time of their conception?
Circling Back on 70 Years of Impactful Buzzwords
www.gsb.stanford.edu
September 15, 2025 at 1:21 PM
This is brilliant: a compilation of popular (business) buzzwords across decades.
Next: A sociological analysis of how these relate to the broader societal circumstances at the time of their conception?
Next: A sociological analysis of how these relate to the broader societal circumstances at the time of their conception?
Reposted by Business Bullshit
It used to be that you had to spend 5-10 years locking in customers before you could completely break your entire service. But thanks to the power of generative AI, today's companies can do it within a matter of months!
Replit, a vibe coding startup, pushed a new product called "agent 3" that appears to be completely broken other than in its ability to burn tons of money
September 16, 2025 at 1:40 AM
It used to be that you had to spend 5-10 years locking in customers before you could completely break your entire service. But thanks to the power of generative AI, today's companies can do it within a matter of months!
"You don’t even have to be human to produce bullshit these days: the way ChatGPT mixes truth with confident assertions of error makes it a dead fit for Frankfurt-style bullshit." archive.ph/pXI7l
September 1, 2025 at 10:55 AM
"You don’t even have to be human to produce bullshit these days: the way ChatGPT mixes truth with confident assertions of error makes it a dead fit for Frankfurt-style bullshit." archive.ph/pXI7l
Reposted by Business Bullshit
Please God, next time you think about using the word, “utilize”, just try “use” out instead. “Utilize” is such a long, clunky, articulated, mechanical word. “Use” is shorter, clearer and lets you let the spotlight fall on the actual content words in your sentence.
August 30, 2025 at 4:29 AM
Please God, next time you think about using the word, “utilize”, just try “use” out instead. “Utilize” is such a long, clunky, articulated, mechanical word. “Use” is shorter, clearer and lets you let the spotlight fall on the actual content words in your sentence.
"Caveat perusor—let the browser beware"
Wrote a review of ChatGPT 5 for the company newsletter. aboard.com/desperately-...
Desperately Seeking Software: Paul Ford reviews ChatGPT 5
If you want to be a true platform for the future, you have to actually make the thing work.
aboard.com
August 25, 2025 at 9:17 AM
"Caveat perusor—let the browser beware"
In the old days, when faced with the word "smart" it was helpful to substitute with "surveillance". Now try it to replace "AI"...
Users hate AI. So tech made it mandatory. Even if you don't use it, it pollutes what you read and how systems make decisions. The computer's hallucinated word is final.
And it needs all of your data to do it.
In the age of no consent, UX exists to normalized complete acquiescence to surveillance:
And it needs all of your data to do it.
In the age of no consent, UX exists to normalized complete acquiescence to surveillance:
The AI age is the "age of no consent"
"Inevitability" means design decisions are no longer informed by user needs; now they are unilaterally imposed. The users are the ones being designed.
productpicnic.beehiiv.com
August 24, 2025 at 7:40 AM
In the old days, when faced with the word "smart" it was helpful to substitute with "surveillance". Now try it to replace "AI"...
And when we get to the "go girl, give us nothing" moment for AGI the roles it was supposed to replace will just be outsourced and offshored instead.
share.google/EvDeQZyYmjXr...
share.google/EvDeQZyYmjXr...
August 23, 2025 at 5:53 AM
And when we get to the "go girl, give us nothing" moment for AGI the roles it was supposed to replace will just be outsourced and offshored instead.
share.google/EvDeQZyYmjXr...
share.google/EvDeQZyYmjXr...
The people telling you that you can't work from home anymore are the same people who want you to leave to create vacancies that they believe will be magic'd away by AGI.
The people telling you that your job can be replaced by AI are the same people who said you can't work from home anymore because your job needs to be done in person.
August 23, 2025 at 5:45 AM
The people telling you that you can't work from home anymore are the same people who want you to leave to create vacancies that they believe will be magic'd away by AGI.