The problem is not so much that we are increasingly relying on algorithms to be our interface with an increasingly information-intensive world. With the rise of the Internet and AI, his trend is inevitable. The issue is control.
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Rather than letting newsfeed algorithms manipulate us to achieve opaque goals (such as swaying your political opinions, or maximally wasting your time), we should put the user in control of the goals that the algorithms optimize for.
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It should be possible for users to configure their newsfeed to maximize learning and personal growth, for instance (or anything else). In that case, a more sophisticated AI, instead of being a threat, would be beneficial to you -- letting you achieve your goals more efficiently.
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In the long-run, education and self-development will be some of the most impactful applications of AI. This will happen through dynamics that almost entirely mirror that of a nefarious AI-enabled newsfeed trying to control you. Only difference being who sets the algorithm's goals
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AI will be our interface to the world -- a world made of digital information. This can equally lead to empowering individuals and communities to gain greater control over their lives, or to a total loss of agency. And regrettably, we're currently engaged on the wrong road
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As a side note, this is why products like Google search, Gmail, iOS, Android are beneficial while the Facebook newsfeed is destructive. The former are active, they empower users to do more, to know more. The latter manipulates your worldview and seeks to maximally waste your time
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As an industry, we need to develop product categories and markets where the incentives are aligned with placing the user in charge of the AI, instead of using AI to exploit the user's mind for profit or political gain. We need to strive towards products that are the anti-Facebook
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End of conversation
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Exactly!
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1. Ads instinctively by definition try to control thinking. They have increasingly been trying to control our thoughts for years. One example is subliminal advertising until it was finally regulated, example hiding the message in ice cubes of a drink ad. This was a big
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2. thing in the 90s, subliminal advertising which sought to play tricks on the mind. Finally the industry was regulated in this regard. The point is, the same will be required here. Users will also have to become savvy to this as well. For example, I took advertising and
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3. broadcasting. Once I learned how advertising tricks worked, I became much less susceptible to them, as my mind constantly warns me it's a trick. We will have to practice this skill plus figure out needed regulations.
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Don't you think that this 'manipulation' techniques could be used to counter the existing manipulation in opressed societies( Russia, Turkey , China etc) ?
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