“But technology is a two-edged sword. And I’m not referring to its power to destroy. (At least, not this time),” Justin Bariso writes for Inc. “I’m talking about the power technology brings to manipulate.”
“Two renowned professors of law, Maurice E. Stucke at the University of Tennessee and Ariel Ezrachi at the University of Oxford, recently penned a thoughtful essay for Wired, entitled: The Subtle Ways Your Digital Assistant Might Manipulate You,” Bariso writes. “In it, they argue that we are granting unparalleled control to the companies behind the technology we value most in our day-to-day lives.”
“Stucke and Ezrachi envision a world where our digital butlers compliment and cajole us, encourage us to communicate, and even send personalized notes on our behalf–all of this potentially affecting our moods and those of our friends,” Bariso writes. “It won’t stop there, though. The authors continue: ‘As the digital butler expands its role in our daily lives, it can alter our worldview…”With two billion ‘likes’ a day and one billion comments,” psychiatrist Dr. Eva Ritvo wrote in Psychology Today, “Facebook stimulates the release of loads of dopamine as well as offering an effective cure to loneliness.” Imagine the dopamine spike when your butler secures a personal record in the number of “likes” for a political message it suggested. Your friends won’t know that your butler drafted the post. And none of us will know how that post might sway the public discourse in ways that benefit the super-platform.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Siri, you manipulative little bitch!
Siri responded two ways:
• “I’m doing my best.”
• “Well, I’m still here for you.”