Josh Karthikeyan Week 3 - I, in Data
I, in Data
Opening up Amazon feels like a fortune teller session. The fortune teller predicts my future -- my destiny -- through their seemingly illogical questions and tasks they want me to complete. Similarly, I peer into a version of myself that the corporation wants me to be -- without control and emerging from an algorithm that is a “black box” to me. Based on my search history, their algorithm suggests to me the highest likelihood of the next item that I need: they assume who you are, or who you should grow to become.
Image from Pavil Danyuk
When the algorithm gets my wishes correct, the effect is uncanny. As I scroll past an item I never knew about, my heart connects instantly and my brain desires it, it is as if the algorithm read the deepest, subconscious layers of my brain and pulled information from it. It is equally revealing, when it chooses an item I definitely know I do not need. It is a bet, a guess on the kind of person I am, gambling with their limited knowledge to make a prediction. I can’t shake the thought that in the lines of code I never will see, this version of me may already exist.
There is this worry about how I cannot control this identity and yet it controls me. These corporations with recommendation engines train their models with the data they hold about me, and profit from the version of me they construct. My individuality is being broken down into mere numbers of probability, storing the likelihood of my next desire, my next splurge, and my next human impulse. I’m left negotiating with a shadow of myself that seeps into who I become.
Of course, with these recommendations, a certain comfort is established to me, the consumer. They save me time, introduce me to new items I would never have discovered on my own, and feel like a thoughtful friend anticipating my next needs. However, it is precisely these actions that make the tool dangerous; the convenience hides the cost. Help is a form of surveillance and discovery is hidden manipulation. The algorithmic version of me may be useful and even flattering -- but it is not mine. It belongs to the corporation, and I am only borrowing it. And in borrowing it, the line between who I chose to be and who the algorithm shapes is thinner than I ever imagined.
Maybe the fortune teller isn’t reading my future at all -- they’re writing it.
When you mentioned recommendation engines, my mind immediately went to other companies that use this to predict our likes and dislikes, including Youtube and Instagram. There's definitely some fandoms that I never thought about joining without the introduction by Instagram Reels and did end up falling deep into. It's almost as if they know exactly what I would like. If I'm being honest, it's very worrying how accurate and fast this system is, constantly passing out recommendations like it's a game of trial and error, which I guess it technically is. Your statement about how this system controls your identity is interesting, and something I never would have thought about before. Although I noticed that once I would watch a reel on a specific topic and the following ones would be on the same topic, I never did think about it controlling me in a way. It controls my likes and dislikes, feeding me information that is beneficial to one side more than the other. This makes me think about how this system could be applied outside of our phone screens; or maybe it already is, unbeknownst to us.
ReplyDeleteWhen you mentioned how the algorithm provides you with a product you didn't even know you needed it was something that I could really relate too. Sometimes while I am scrolling online and an ad comes up it will be about something I was either just thinking about or talking about a few moments earlier. It provides this dystopian feeling of being watched or listened to even when no one is there. Your blog does a good job at capturing that dystopian feeling as you are talking from the first person perspective. Seeing it from your viewpoint sets a familiar tone and make us, the reader, feel more immersed into the experience.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, having an algorithm that is specifically tailored to your interest is pretty cool and definitely saves time in the long run. It is a helpful tool that had been refined and developed to save time and clarify doubts. Humans tend to be indecisive about things regarding money and with ads tailored to your specific interests its helpful when trying to decide where to spend your money.
Hello, Josh! I was literally just watching a TikTok similar to your blog (https://www.tiktok.com/@itsanir/video/7555439045787143446?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7550580262510642743). Both your blog and video made me physically put down my phone for a second and walk outside to touch grass (it only lasted a couples minutes though, my teacher wouldn’t allow me to stay out longer. But I’ll get back to it at home!). It’s very eerie and I think both these made me think more about how maybe my interests and wants are somewhat robotically manufactured. But also, could they be holding back some of our potential identity. It’s interesting that you opened with Amazon specifically, as that is one of the last platforms I would think to use an algorithm to trick me. I never noticed how the products shown are literally there for me to buy. Even outside that, I’m wondering the correlation between the time spent intaking algorithms and how they take away from personal time to process one’s own thoughts. Like the algorithm is constantly being fed and simultaneously self development is being taken away. Since the start of school, my physics teacher has been talking to my class about how important it is to form new habits and connections in your brain, and how that means you have to step out of your comfort zone and be uncomfortable. In this case, if the brain only gets its creativity and the same content based on an algorithm it would never form new pathways. I think that leads to a bigger question that, beyond just the individual harm, if our entire generation is becoming more and more dependent on algorithms, will that decrease creativity over time? Algorithms are the opposite of growth.
ReplyDeleteHi again! I just got another one of those TikToks! (https://www.tiktok.com/@thebasedbomber271/video/7551251549964619022). I don’t usually get these types of videos so it’s weird that they’re influxing in now lol. But I don’t possibly know how me reading a blog on my laptop would somehow translate to my TikTok algorithm on my phone. Maybe its confirmation bias, or maybe this is exactly the eeriness you’re warning about. (Also, is the guy talking Nick Fuentes lmao??).
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