Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here . See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. San Francisco Bay Area residents, living in the beating heart of the artificial intelligence boom, are just as conflicted about the technology as the rest of the country.

One employee says the system can mean their work is monitored by AI for seven hours a day as they handle inquiries, often from bereaved customers. One employee says the system can mean their work is monitored by AI for seven hours a day as they handle inquiries, often from bereaved customers. 'Dystopian': Co-op becomes latest firm to put staff under AI surveillance Thu 8 Oct 2026 05.00 EDTLast modified on Thu 8 Oct 2026 06.04 EDT The Co-op has become the latest employer to place workers under AI surveillance with an automated listening technology that rates every phone call some of them make to customers. In a system described as "oppressive and dystopian" by a whistleblower, Co-op Legal Services is using AI models to record, analyse and award a percentage score for interactions between agents and customers seeking advice about probate, wills and estates. A model from OpenAI has been trained to assess more than 50 discrete aspects of each phone call and provide pass and fail scores to managers who use the data to analyse employee performance.

Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Mashable @Home Look Up Trending Now Mashable Selects Say More Top creators, ranked Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Creator Playbook In My Bag AI at School Safety Net All Series Beware: Many wellness posts come with a promotion attached. Olivia Tauber is the deputy editor of digital culture, covering creators, media, movies, beauty, and more. Based in New York, her work has appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Cut, Teen Vogue, Complex, and Interview Magazine. She holds a Master's degree in Journalism from NYU and a Bachelor's from the University of Michigan. She also runs Fan Mail, a weekly pop-culture newsletter.

He used the Sony Walkman as a case study of how social, cultural and economic life can be expressed through a single technology. He used the Sony Walkman as a case study of how social, cultural and economic life can be expressed through a single technology. Thatcherism via the Walkman: Stuart Hall's British cultural studies preserved online Project lead says it celebrates'incredible contributions' Jamaica-born sociologist made to Britain's culture Whether it was Thatcherism, populism or the story of the Sony Walkman, Stuart Hall was a public intellectual famed for defining the times. Now a major digital archive of his previously unpublished papers, notebooks, recordings and videos has been launched. When the Jamaica-born sociologist and seminal figure in postwar Black British history died in 2014 aged 82, his obituary in the Guardian said he had been "among the first to identify key questions of the age".

Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Mashable @Home Look Up Trending Now Mashable Selects Say More Top creators, ranked Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Creator Playbook In My Bag AI at School Safety Net All Series The internet's undisputed king of leak-proof drinking is on sale for October Prime Day. Soumya is a deals writer who covers consumer tech, shopping deals, and the products people use every day. With experience writing about everything from AI tools and software to smartphones and home gadgets, she enjoys breaking down product research into clear, useful recommendations. When she's not tracking deals, she's usually comparing products, digging through reviews, and figuring out what actually makes a purchase worth it. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers.

Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Mashable @Home Look Up Trending Now Mashable Selects Say More Top creators, ranked Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Creator Playbook In My Bag AI at School Safety Net All Series Is a Season 2 in the pipeline? Sam Haysom is the General Assignment Editor, UK, for Mashable. He covers entertainment and online culture, and writes horror fiction in his spare time. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission.

Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Mashable @Home Look Up Trending Now Mashable Selects Say More Top creators, ranked Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Creator Playbook In My Bag AI at School Safety Net All Series'Carrie' reading list: Every library book Carrie picks has been banned Let Carrie White (and everyone) read The Handmaid's Tale. Shannon Connellan is Mashable's Senior Editor, General Assignments, based in London. She has been Mashable's UK Editor (and still manages the illustrious UK team) and Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives searching for . A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror, and loves to nerd out with movie stars, filmmakers, and TV creators . All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers.

Law enforcement in the northwestern United States have charged a suspect in connection with a deadly shooting at a Canadian school in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. On Tuesday, prosecutors charged 30-year-old James Cody Bryant, a resident of Washington state, with conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country. The shooting was "a horrific tragedy for that small community and for all of Canada", acting US Attorney Neil Floyd said at a news conference in Seattle. "Indeed, here in the Pacific Northwest, we felt the pain of those families devastated by this violence." Canadian officials have described the attack as one of the country's worst mass shootings. The suspect, 18-year-old transgender woman Jesse Van Rootselaar, shot and killed her mother and half-brother at their home before travelling to the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and opening fire .

Mashable @Home Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Look Up Trending Now Mashable Selects Say More Top creators, ranked Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Creator Playbook In My Bag AI at School Safety Net All Series Dell's budget XPS laptop is only $600 for October Prime Day -- save $200 on the best'Windows MacBook Neo' I love this little laptop -- and Best Buy's deal annihilates the $100 price hike it got last month. Haley Henschel is a Chicago-based Senior Shopping Reporter at Mashable who reviews and finds deals on popular tech, from laptops to gaming consoles and VPNs. She has years of experience covering shopping holidays and can tell you what's actually worth buying on Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day. Her work has also explored the driving forces behind digital trends within the shopping sphere, from dupes to 12-foot skeletons . All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers.

Mashable @Home Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Look Up Trending Now Mashable Selects Say More Top creators, ranked Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Creator Playbook In My Bag AI at School Safety Net All Series Leah Stodart is a Philadelphia-based Senior Shopping Reporter at Mashable where she covers and tests essential home tech like vacuums, TVs, beauty devices, and eco-friendly hacks. Her ever-evolving experience in these categories helps her make thoughtful recommendations for how to spend your money during shopping holidays like Black Friday, which Leah has been covering for Mashable since 2017. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission. There's definitely something to be said for the crisp handheld control of a good cordless stick vacuum . But if you don't consider cleaning cathartic, the best robot vacuums can cross that chore off your to-do list for good. And after testing more than 40 robot vacuums on my own personal floors (my apartment is clean), I can confidently curate a handful of robot vacuum recommendations that'll make your life easier -- and fit your budget. Here are the best robot vacuums to buy in 2026. SEE ALSO: 'Why does my robot vacuum suck now?' Well, when's the last time you cleaned it? I test new robot vacuums on a regular basis and compare them to the top performers from previous months, with all my evaluations taking place in my own home on various rugs, tile, and hardwood floors .