BIG BROTHER — AI & MACHINE LEARNING ALGORITHMS
According to stats, people spend an average of 4hrs 25min of their time online, and at least over 2 hours of their time on social media daily.
A major aspect of our perception will undoubtedly be shaped by the contents we digest from these platforms. The caveat here is that a majority of the contents we see on our feed are determined by ruthlessly-efficient algorithms.
Even the results we get on Google search are determined by independent algorithms. Recently Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai was summoned before the United States congress to explain why an image search for the word idiot will show picture after picture of President Trump. Many of the other congressmen also complained about the negative connotations that came up with their name search.
The response of Google’s CEO was simple; there are robot algorithms controlling these results that even Google’s CEO himself cannot tweak to favor the president of the United States.
Even national issues such as a nation’s election can be affected by the way algorithms are made to swing on social media (Case of Facebook/Cambridge Analytical).
These algorithms were initially designed to keep us engaged, but as they get more efficient, our access to ‘non-masterminded’ varying sources of information becomes more limited.
You are targeted by marketers and ads that study your online behavior and know your location at every given time.
You are recommended friends within a closed loop of former school mates, family members, similar interests etc.
You are inherently forced to live within a closed loop or bubble of familiars. For example, say you are struggling to come out of the habit of gambling: but the majority of your friends on social media are still actively engaged in the practice — the social media algorithm that controls your feed will know no better but to do that which will reinforce the habit by showing contents related to gambling and recommending you more gambling friends.
In the case of politics, if the majority of your friends are left-winged or members of a particular party; then the majority of the contents you would see will be biased. You may always end up having a partial or one-sided account on issues that need balanced dialectics.
Issues such as one-sided or even fake news will continue to grow; fueled by algorithms that are smart enough to maximize engagement, but not smart enough to discriminate against sentiments.
On a personal level, you and I must make conscious effort to systematically and periodically weed-out our online gardens (especially social media platforms). Periodically review your personal and business brand presence. Take cognizance of what appears when you or your business name is searched for online.
Be careful with the people you connect with, the groups you join, the nature of discussion you publicly contribute in: because the algorithmic big brother eyes of the Machine Learning Lord is watching you.
Remember your digital presence and identity is a real thing. The human perception is volatile.
You must cultivate and guard it jealously from the hands of a big-brother algorithm designed with one purpose only — to make profit off of your digital soul at any cost.
I look forward to your claps, thoughts and reviews on how Machine Learning Algorithms could be locking humans into a black box, without us even knowing.
You can connect with me on Twitter — @Iconickelx
