James Bridle – Something is wrong on the internet (Medium)
This essay talks about how the youtube algorithm could lead underaged/ young children to be exposed to not appropriate content. This is because people do anything for the views (such as making the video longer like the article states). Especially if there is a common computer that the family shares, a child may be exposed to something violent. I remember when I was little my mom yelled at me for watching gaming videos that involved shooting.
How can we regulate / protect children from inappropriate content?
Rachel Metz – There’s a new obstacle to landing a job after college: Getting approved by AI (CNN)
This article freaks me out as I look for jobs and internships. The process of getting hired by non-empathetic machines is something that is ridiculous to me. Though the use of selective AI, that means that the algorithm is looking for one specific type of individual, and that may be negative because it demonstrates some sort of conformity. There will be no dynamic interactions nor ideas due to the lack of individualism, since I feel like everyone would be similar.
How do you feel if HR (Human Resources) became autonomous?
Jia Tolentino – How TikTok Holds our Attention (New Yorker) (read or listen)
I personally get really addicted to tiktok once I start watching, and could just scroll endlessly. The article talks about how the recommended algorithm gets users hooked, but I also know that people try to get on the “for you page” with the #fyp in order to utilize this algorithm to get famous. The article also talks about how young individuals like Lil Nas have the ability to be famous, but I also know that many vine people and youtubers become easily famous on tiktok compared to normal individuals.
Do you feel like anyone can become famous if they tried/ just manipulated the algorithms?
Eric Meyer – Inadvertent Algorithmic Cruelty (article)
This article talks about how algorithms are “thoughtless” and doesn’t concern for emotions. The author of this article/ post talks about fixing awareness and considerations for. The failure modes and worst case scenarios. This article is sad because our social media brings up memories of our past which we may not want to remember. I know snapchat does a similar thing where they take you to a memory you had last year on this date.
I know some people who just don’t use social media, do you think you could do that?
Rachel Thomas – The problem with metrics is a big problem for AI (article)
This article talks about how AI plays a key role in optimizing metrics. While this can be useful, the article states that it can also be harmful when they are “unthinkingly applied”. This article talks about over-emphasizing metrics, and how it can mislabel useful data and bad data. I think I agree that although metrics are useful, it can be easily taken advantage/ misused. For example, I remember that I saw this college “life-hack” where students began writing random words in white while writing their essays in order for the word count to be the number they wanted it to be.
How can we make metrics more empathetic?