algorithmic anxiety

Elan: How do you think about success when publishing a piece? If you have the traditional KPIs of number of page views or how far it spreads, what does success look like for The Pudding?

Matt: Great question. It’s definitely not hard metrics for us. Everyone has their own barometer of success, just as they have their own barometer of quality.

For exa... See more

At scale, algorithms create the future they forecast.

The flattening of intent across algorithms has created a new competitive landscape. The musician isn’t competing for attention/fandom between others in their genre. An artist being forced to be an influencer before they are an artist is not a “I think we are good” software environment. Far from it. They are competing against a pornstar on a podcast... See more

Are these algorithms so good at analysing our behaviour that they end up reflecting them back to us in a digested 20 seconds video that allows us to identify things in ourselves that we weren’t aware of? Or are we consuming this content at such a large and quick rate that we end up becoming what they predict us to be? In other words, are we fulfill... See more

So, I believe we have some personal agency. But I also believe that a 12-year-old’s mind is no match for a giant corporation using the most advanced AI to manipulate her behavior. Gen Z were the guinea pigs in this uncontrolled global social experiment. We were the first to have our vulnerabilities and insecurities fed into a machine that magnified... See more

as a human, my tastes, interests and attention are shaped by what is put in front of me. I’ve seen my 3-year old granddaughter, on her way to do one thing, decide she wants to do something else, simply because the button for it appeared in her vision cone. I know I’m not so different. I want to stop being constantly bombarded by the click-me button... See more

The trouble with the internet, Mr. Williams says, is that it rewards extremes. Say you’re driving down the road and see a car crash. Of course you look. Everyone looks. The internet interprets behavior like this to mean everyone is asking for car crashes, so it tries to supply them.

models, despite their reputation for impartiality, reflect goals and ideology