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Mall of America Launches Crappy Help Box
Have you ever got what you needed from an AI chat assistant? Me neither. And I’m sorry to say that’s probably not going to change with Mallie, MOA’s new AI question answerer/day planner.
According to a press release, Mallie is "an AI-powered digital concierge designed to help guests explore the destination through natural conversation." But Mallie seems to know about as much about the mall as I do, responding with basic or outright bad information and encouraging me to sign up for some sort of marketing program.
For example, when I ask it where to take a vegan friend for lunch, it tells me to head to the food court for a salad. Which food court? I'm not sure. Which salad? Who knows!
“For goth-inspired clothing at Mall of America, you might want to check out Nordstrom on Level 1, Macy's on Level 3, and Ann Taylor on Level 2,” it responds when I tell it I'm ready to go full goth. Hot Topic, Ragstock, and the piercing studio are all right there, Mallie!
When I ask for a blind date itinerary, Mallie suggests we go to dinner, clothes shopping, and a “romantic gift-buying spree” at a souvenir shop. Later I inquire about where I can go to bathe my grandfather. I’m told to pick up a wheelchair and try the public restroom near guest services—not quite what I was asking but also not a bad response.
Also, Mallie is just a dialogue box. I was kinda hoping for something whimsical like a mall with googly eyes.
Anyway, AI is still bad. Just wander the mall or check in with a map kiosk or use your human brain like a normal person.
“I'm the One Alex Pretti Protected”
That’s the note Jessi Holman sent to KARE 11’s Jana Shortal. Now, for the first time, Holman is publicly sharing her heartbreaking account of the events that led to ICE agents killing Alex Pretti in Minneapolis this past January.
While legally observing ICE activities near Nicollet Avenue, Holman says she was shoved forcefully into a snow bank by an agent and sprayed with a chemical irritant. “That shove begins the 30-second relationship between Jessi and Alex Pretti,” Shortal narrates.
"I hear the first shot as my eyes are starting to open, and the first thing I saw was, because I was still on the ground, I see Alex's knees falling to the ground,” Holman says. “I remember getting up and turning, and hearing more shots and screaming for help, 'Someone call 911.'"
Holman says she has given witness statements to the BCA, FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security, and has also sent a letter to the Pretti family.
"It didn't hit until I got home and... I just walked in and fell in front of my door," she says. "I just felt [what he did] was incredibly courageous and brave, and I felt a lot of survivor's guilt because it's not fair.”
Fourth Gen Grocer Dave Cossetta Dies In Rome
After winning two awards at the World Cup of Panettone baking competition in Milan, Dave Cossetta was riding high. The restaurauter behind St. Paul's Cossetta was traveling through Italy, celebrating his win with 30 or so family members and colleagues. On Thursday morning, he had made his way to Rome, with plans to deliver some treats to the Vatican. But while prepping in his hotel he collapsed and died; his family believes he suffered a heart attack. He was 70 years old.
We here at Racket are careful of how we use words like “iconic” and “beloved,” but Cossetta, which has existed in some form for over 100 years, is truly both. The business began in 1911 as a grocery shop, run by Dave's great-grandfather. When Dave turned 21 he took over, eventually moving Cossetta to its West Seventh Street home in 1988, where he would go on to expand its offerings to include a family-style cafeteria on the first floor and Louis, a posh dining room with a gorgeous rooftop patio.
“The plot couldn’t have been any better for him, going out on a high,” lifelong friend Pat Mancini tells Minnesota Monthly's Jason DeRusha in this sweet obit. “I’m pretty speechless; I’ve known the man my whole life.”
More Budget Woes at the Science Museum
Last year, the Science Museum of Minnesota laid off 43 workers and cut around $7 million from its budget. This week, the organization announced even more changes to make up for a $4.6 million budget gap: 32 more positions are to be cut and the museum’s touring exhibition program, formerly a big money maker, will be concluding.
“When we talk about traveling exhibits, in previous years we would gross maybe $2 million to $2.5 million a year, and this past year we net $400,000, because we rent to other science museums, and some children’s museums, and they’ve suffered financial pressures too,” SMM President Alison Brown tells Frederick Melo for the Pioneer Press.
There’s also this: “Federal and state funding for the museum’s science and education work was cut by nearly 80%,” Brown says. “Meanwhile, the costs of operating and maintaining the museum’s large riverfront building continue to rise.”
