Your comment makes me think about FB's design. Astronomical compute and human power brought to bear to personalize, A-B test, contextualize and curate with the express intention of driving engagement.
In another thread, I remember someone suggesting FB's express goal was getting people addicted, and another user took issue with claiming that was a goal. I mentally sided with the OP, MAXIMUM ENGAGEMENT feels like an A-B tested way to describe driving addiction to me.
It's a shame that resources of such incomprehensible, never before seen enormity can be brought to bear for such a task, but a digital wallet that tries to subtly drive user behavior towards frugality feels intuitively bad.
Less purchases mean your data is built upon a cadre of less valuable consumers. That's bad for your digital wallet business! Not to mention it's manipulative, but then quite a bit of this business is manipulation. I wonder how I'd react if I read a news article about some company manipulating its users to be happier, more prosperous..
What if android's auto complete suggestions were trained on a corpus that promoted the kinds of responses that come from people google knows to have attained high autonomy * feedback?
Subtly manipulating people into negotiating better outcomes to their own personal tyrannies in their workplace or relationships. It would be SO WEIRD.
Facebook made the news a while ago with some salacious headline about using its powers to see if its feed could make teenagers more depressed. They concluded that they have that power.
Instinctually, my wish would be that perhaps companies shouldn't have vast dossiers on every living human -- but to even imagine turning back the clock on that feels like delusion.
Since we're all members of the panopticon anyways, couldn't my phone tell me ways I'm exemplary or special when my self esteem is low? Gah, it's gross to even contemplate, but maybe it's less gross than the current focused laser beam trying to get me to vote, buy and be angry as others wish..
In another thread, I remember someone suggesting FB's express goal was getting people addicted, and another user took issue with claiming that was a goal. I mentally sided with the OP, MAXIMUM ENGAGEMENT feels like an A-B tested way to describe driving addiction to me.
It's a shame that resources of such incomprehensible, never before seen enormity can be brought to bear for such a task, but a digital wallet that tries to subtly drive user behavior towards frugality feels intuitively bad.
Less purchases mean your data is built upon a cadre of less valuable consumers. That's bad for your digital wallet business! Not to mention it's manipulative, but then quite a bit of this business is manipulation. I wonder how I'd react if I read a news article about some company manipulating its users to be happier, more prosperous..
What if android's auto complete suggestions were trained on a corpus that promoted the kinds of responses that come from people google knows to have attained high autonomy * feedback?
Subtly manipulating people into negotiating better outcomes to their own personal tyrannies in their workplace or relationships. It would be SO WEIRD.
Facebook made the news a while ago with some salacious headline about using its powers to see if its feed could make teenagers more depressed. They concluded that they have that power.
Instinctually, my wish would be that perhaps companies shouldn't have vast dossiers on every living human -- but to even imagine turning back the clock on that feels like delusion.
Since we're all members of the panopticon anyways, couldn't my phone tell me ways I'm exemplary or special when my self esteem is low? Gah, it's gross to even contemplate, but maybe it's less gross than the current focused laser beam trying to get me to vote, buy and be angry as others wish..