I am reminded of the Turing Test thesis: we constantly assume we'll eventually create artificial intelligence that becomes smart enough to pass the Turing test, and that may be so - but it's also possible that while that is happening as a background process, AI will train us to become machines (in our behavior and expression, every human output systemically reduced into countable, binary outcomes) so that when you look, you won't be able to tell man from machine, or machine from man.
How do you get AI to make soul-stirring music as good as the best composer who ever lived? First, you train man to like machine music.
Sometimes I force myself to read something I think I won’t like just to see if I can surprise myself. This article accomplished that - fascinating! But also depressing!
"Maybe that’s why millions of internet users keep watching, sometimes, and other times do not. Or maybe none of that is right. Maybe there is some other arbitrary system governing us all. "
To watch several in succession is to watch increasingly familiar characters endure a kind of psychological experiment, in which they get rewarded, or don’t, according to a system they cannot understand.
Good read! It concisely brings up some kind of helplessness towards understanding the AI-driven scoring of content.
This makes me think of the latest Your Undivided Attention episode, wherein Tristan Harris describes a newspaper as a machine producing human attention (from readers). In this machine, there are humans (journalists, editors) deciding what is published and what is not. Their decisions may be influenced by what article will generate most ad-revenue, but they will also have some kind of moral radar.
Automated attention-generators like TikTok described in the article don't have this type of control. The case of the article is innocuous, but this exact mechanic can also exacerbate fake news/flaming/clickbait rubbish/... Let's be wary, and thanks Readup ;)
I’ll have to listen to that podcast. I think there are important distinctions to be made between both attention and distraction and production and cultivation.
Different mediums and technologies are certainly designed for varying levels of engagement, ranging from mindless distraction to deep focus and attention but in the end individuals have the power to choose how they want to engage.
I think the real mission for the humane tech movement should be to educate people on this power that everyone possesses instead of attacking or regulating certain platforms. From what I’ve read of Tristan’s writing it appears we would disagree quite a bit.
but in the end individuals have the power to choose how they want to engage.
Here you could have a sizeable debate about free choice, addiction, whether we can actually decide what we want and, in Tristan's words, how "gameable" our "paleolithic emotions" are by the platforms that capitalize on distraction. I just don't think it's a black/white story :)
I think the real mission for the humane tech movement should be to educate people on this power that everyone possesses instead of attacking or regulating certain platforms.
Agreed, educating is very important work they're doing. But not all are able exercise that power equally, and companies do have a part in the societal problems addressed. Having conversations with platform builders & regulators to inspire more consideration of these problems, and brainstorming solutions, are important goals as well IMO. But having conversations is not the same as attacking, and I agree, their work has been quite picky & aggressive at times.
As much as it doesn't appeal to me, it is clear that submitting to a higher power is a strategy that works for plenty of people when dealing with addiction. In the end it's certainly best to have as many options available as possible for those who are struggling.
Liking this article and this sentence in particular...
Maybe the story of Angelmamii7 is not one woman and her family trying to hit the jackpot by doing what even they do not understand but a whole culture responding to incentives we can’t articulate but are being trained to follow, moment to moment, by a dopamine-drip system we carry in our pockets
The forced acting and desperate re-creation of previously successful formulas make Angelmamii7’s videos into a profound modern drama of people flailing against absurdity — or perhaps a classic drama of people struggling against fate.
I feel old.
Me too
"We shape our tools, then our tools shape us" - Marshall MacLuhan.
I am reminded of the Turing Test thesis: we constantly assume we'll eventually create artificial intelligence that becomes smart enough to pass the Turing test, and that may be so - but it's also possible that while that is happening as a background process, AI will train us to become machines (in our behavior and expression, every human output systemically reduced into countable, binary outcomes) so that when you look, you won't be able to tell man from machine, or machine from man.
How do you get AI to make soul-stirring music as good as the best composer who ever lived? First, you train man to like machine music.
Love this - great point!
That seems to sum it up...
Sometimes I force myself to read something I think I won’t like just to see if I can surprise myself. This article accomplished that - fascinating! But also depressing!
Love this. I often do the same thing.
Fooled by randomness!
"Maybe that’s why millions of internet users keep watching, sometimes, and other times do not. Or maybe none of that is right. Maybe there is some other arbitrary system governing us all. "
Good read! It concisely brings up some kind of helplessness towards understanding the AI-driven scoring of content.
This makes me think of the latest Your Undivided Attention episode, wherein Tristan Harris describes a newspaper as a machine producing human attention (from readers). In this machine, there are humans (journalists, editors) deciding what is published and what is not. Their decisions may be influenced by what article will generate most ad-revenue, but they will also have some kind of moral radar.
Automated attention-generators like TikTok described in the article don't have this type of control. The case of the article is innocuous, but this exact mechanic can also exacerbate fake news/flaming/clickbait rubbish/... Let's be wary, and thanks Readup ;)
So many a great quotes from this article!
I’ll have to listen to that podcast. I think there are important distinctions to be made between both attention and distraction and production and cultivation.
Different mediums and technologies are certainly designed for varying levels of engagement, ranging from mindless distraction to deep focus and attention but in the end individuals have the power to choose how they want to engage.
I think the real mission for the humane tech movement should be to educate people on this power that everyone possesses instead of attacking or regulating certain platforms. From what I’ve read of Tristan’s writing it appears we would disagree quite a bit.
Good points!
Here you could have a sizeable debate about free choice, addiction, whether we can actually decide what we want and, in Tristan's words, how "gameable" our "paleolithic emotions" are by the platforms that capitalize on distraction. I just don't think it's a black/white story :)
Agreed, educating is very important work they're doing. But not all are able exercise that power equally, and companies do have a part in the societal problems addressed. Having conversations with platform builders & regulators to inspire more consideration of these problems, and brainstorming solutions, are important goals as well IMO. But having conversations is not the same as attacking, and I agree, their work has been quite picky & aggressive at times.
Agreed!
The debate about free will and addiction reminds me of this great article from a few weeks ago: The Patriarchy of Alcoholics Anonymous
As much as it doesn't appeal to me, it is clear that submitting to a higher power is a strategy that works for plenty of people when dealing with addiction. In the end it's certainly best to have as many options available as possible for those who are struggling.
Liking this article and this sentence in particular...
Maybe the story of Angelmamii7 is not one woman and her family trying to hit the jackpot by doing what even they do not understand but a whole culture responding to incentives we can’t articulate but are being trained to follow, moment to moment, by a dopamine-drip system we carry in our pockets
Wow, yeah. Great find. That quote is incredible.
Loved this article!
AI in a nutshell