Like most of us who are plugged in to one form of information sharing or another on the world wide web, I generally see posts catering specifically to my point of view. Whether it’s about art, humanity, politics (oh, yes… politics), religion, business, philosophy, entertainment, or my hobbies and interests, I can rely on the invisible hand of the social media algorithm and the mass media data crunching that tries to sell me the kitchen knives I was just randomly discussing with my neighbor to quietly curate the content of my everyday perusal of online mundanities. But weirdly – and you may have noticed this in your own perusals – there are rather significant differences in presentation of ideas and opinions based on how arcane the content happens to be.
Allow me to demonstrate.
Like much of the modern world, you probably live within an information silo. Nearly everything we encounter online is presented with a focus on engagement. Social media tracks what kind of articles you read or memes you share and categorically designs your online experience to feed you more of the same. Amazon consistently pushes you toward collections of consumer goods related to items you’ve purchased or examined, while the news app on your phone monitors your topics of interest and produces endless articles and videos of similar merit. You’ll note, however, that in the case of, say, political discourse, your feed will inevitably shape up provide almost no dissenting viewpoints (except in the context of outrage, because rage-baiting is a huge source of engagement, of course). More to the point, if I am randomly tossed an opinion piece that discusses a political issue vehemently at odds with my own, I tend to move past it and try to tell the platform not to do that again.
But if you apply the same examination to other highly divisive trends, you will often discover that the information is considerably less deterministic. Strangely, if you ask me, given that I know people for whom hating the Star Wars sequels is every bit as monumental as hating on a political idea. And yet, I am just as likely to see articles agreeing with my rather unpopular admiration of Episode VIII as I am those who feel like the entire franchise effectively ceased to exist after Disney took the helm (often with a few choice epithets to round out their opinion). All the algorithm seems to care about is “the dude digs Star Wars.”
Consider, for example, that I hold some very divisive opinions regarding my favorite hobby, and I frequently get to read articles or watch videos that dismiss my perspective entirely as if only an idiot or inexperienced noob could possibly feel that way. It’s discouraging at times, to say the least.
But one divisive, very high profile field of study continues to provide me with a host of interesting opinions in my daily discourse: A.I., or Artificial Intelligence. So much so, in fact, that I would find it unrealistic to try and address the topic in any meaningful way in just one post. It’s particularly notable that AI invasively touches on most (if not all) of my other hobbies and interests in ways that strike me very differently in context. And as usual, my own opinions, while dare-I-say thoughtfully considered, educated opinions, tend to be varied and kind of jarring.
And since this is my little corner of the Internet, where almost no one ever ruminates, I’d like to discuss it. Over the next several days, I’m going to explore several facets of the massive topic of AI and how it affects my life, how it is likely to affect my life in the future, and why I feel that’s important enough to explore.