The Social Dilemma

 The Social Dilemma is a program on Netflix that describes how social media platforms such as Facebook use AI. The AI algorithms track exactly how long each user spends interacting with each post and making adjustments for each individual with a goal to get them to spend more time on social media. The users are the product of social media which is then sold to other companies which pay for user information. I knew most of this already although I had noticed recently that Facebook was getting better at manipulating me into replying to trolling comments.

The AI algorithms are sort of black boxes or DOEs. They just make subtle adjustments and see if it makes you spend more time on the platform. They don't necessarily have any real intelligence they just have goals and some manipulation tools. They are learning systems so the programmers don't really know exactly what the AI are doing.

Some observations since social media was introduced are some unintended consequences.

This has been blamed for polarization of the political parties and growth in extremism on both the far right and the far left. There has also been an increase in teen and preteen suicide.

Now for a conspiracy theory. What if the spread of Covid-19 was inadvertently being increased by AI systems? The more Covid-19 spread, the more people are using social media, and the more online shopping they are doing. From the AI point of view it could be a seen as a good thing since social media is being used more and companies like Amazon are getting more revenue.

The spread of misinformation about the virus, the refusal to wear masks, the claims that it is not harmful, and concerns about the vaccine all result in greater social isolation and greater use of social media in the long run.

They could set the goals to decrease violent crime or decrease teen suicide. Decrease poverty, homelessness, school shootings. Make a more sustainable economy. Or manipulate society however you like. I suppose other countries are currently using it for those purposes. Facebook set a goal to increase interim voting in the 2018 election and succeeded.

But it's sort of like asking a genie for a wish. You have to be very careful how you phrase it so there are not unintended consequences.