Saturday 2 December 2017

Well, Jonathan, There's Some Good Suggestions Below The Line...

These are not the robots of science fiction past, lumbering towards us, their arms stiff and eyes cold. They are unseen, ghosts in the machine. But they are exerting enormous influence on our lives. They understand our foibles, poke at our fears, keep us hooked to our screens – and are now involved in raising our children and picking our leaders in ways we would never have chosen.
Run away! Run away! THE ALGORITHMS ARE COMING!!!
As individuals, we can assert ourselves. Don’t let Twitter or Facebook “curate” your news feed; go to settings and select “show most recent”, rather than what the algorithm regards as the “top” items.
Wait, so the answer is there at our fingertips? Hmmmm. So why the panic?
We’re used to raging at politicians or bureaucrats, in the way that our forebears railed against princes and kings. But today the masters of so much of our universe are invisible strings of ones and zeroes and the corporations that own them. They’re shaping our lives much more than Brussels ever did. We need to take back control.
Oh, if only there was some advice we could heed that wo...

Oh. There is.

*gasp* Such a novel concept!

2 comments:

Antisthenes said...

The human ability to make highly technological advances has proceeded at a tremendous rate. So much so that it is of bewildering complexity. Unfortunately it is having a negative effect on human behaviour as evolution has not equipped the brain to adapt rapidly enough to changing circumstances so are ill equipped to deal with those complexities. Hence the search for means to assist the brain that now does not have the wit, intellect or maturity to cope. Not that has not always been the case but in the past it has not been as crucial as it is now. Hence the search for artificial intelligence to take over biological intelligence. "ALGORITHMS" are part of that process. Others are delving even deeper to acquire AI and no doubt will succeed. However as the human brain is never likely to attain a level that it needs to cope with advancing technology then eventually humans will become subservient to brains that can. AI.

JuliaM said...

" However as the human brain is never likely to attain a level that it needs to cope with advancing technology then eventually humans will become subservient to brains that can. AI."

At the moment, Alexa obeys me, rather than the other way round.

At the moment....