Examples
two reasons “Alexa, Siri, and Google don’t understand a word you say.”
Why do they only know specific voice commands· They convert your voice to a text string and then compares that to expected commands.
If it finds an exact match then it follows a set of instructions - then if it can't find anything it looks for an alternative of what to do based on what information it does have and if that doesn't work you get a failure message such as "I'm sorry, but I don't know that."
Ms. Magazine avoided placing recipes next to food advertisements
Why is Ms. Magazine avoided placing recipes next to food advertisements because it would reinforce traditional gender norms by having certain things (ie. cooking and food) associated with women. Therefore, Ms. Magazine tried to ignore advertising ‘women’ things like home decor, beauty products, food, etc. Gloria Steinheim, editor of Ms. Magazine, explains how she tried to reach out to companies that sold products to both men and women, but only advertised to men. For example, credit cards, cars, insurance and financial services. In doing so, Ms. Magazine could break the link between ‘women products’ and abolish traditional gender norms.
French minitel by Feenberg
what is a French postal service system, distributed/rented out terminals that let users look up addresses using a keyboard, sat next to telephone (was like a faster way to search, better than US tech of time). Government facilitated technological invention that was very helpful and innovative, a counterexample to the dominant belief that free capitalism being only way to develop good technology.
The zone
What is a mental state where users are so drawn in to the activity they are pursuing, that they tune out external social interactions. “The exclusion of other people” represents this isolation that is created, where gambling machine players ignore external interactions due to their intense focus in the game. This focus stems from feelings of instant gratification, where players are able to escape from reality and ignore any challenges that they are facing. So in a way, by isolating themselves from external stimuli, including other people, players create an environment and an escape (free from competition with other people, societal expectations, etc).
Natasha Dow Schüll on casino operators improving the designs of gambling machines?
what is the end goal in improving the designs of gambling machines is to make gambling machines as profitable and addictive as possible through stimulants and encouragement cues, ultimately increasing the time on device. To enhance human experience is to make it as immersive and enjoyable as possible so that people inside are only concerned with the game in front of them. Exemplifies time on device, and explains why there are no clocks and windows in casinos. Furthermore, the transition from in-person gambling machines at casinos to digital gambling machines further encourages isolation (stakes), as absolutely no communication is needed.
one of Tufekci’s three major solutions to the problems of digital platforms in politics today.
what is for tech giants to stop their ubiquitous digital surveillance and data collection. She argues that companies should not be allowed to accumulate data on so many people in such a vague and uninformed manner. She says that business models should not be heavily rely on siphoning personal data to make advertising revenue, and can be attached to content instead. For example, it’s alright to advertise scuba gear if the user is on the divers’ discussion board but should not use behaviour on other sites to figure out if she’s a diver, or follow her around online or offline.
Bursting boilers by Feenberg
what is Steamboat boilers are the first technologies to be regulated in the US. They bursted a lot and congress wanted a safer steamboat boiler code, but was pushed by the steamboat community and were hesitant to interfere with private property. The steamboat boiler problem became more of a social judgement about safety, it became a long political problem having to define what a “boiler” is and the protests against regulations. This example shows how technology adapts to social change. The "technical code — the social control of technology” of the object mediates the process. That code responds to the cultural horizon of the society through its technical design. illusion of technical necessity arises from the fact that the code is thus literally "cast in iron.” This relates to his main argument that technology is not an means to an end, and defines major portions of the social environment, life patterns, etc. technology is then changed and framed by the wider human implications.
probabilistic language modelling predicts what you will type next on your phone.
How they look at your behaviours (which words you use most often) and the most likely next words based on language data sets from millions of language examples fed to them.
Machine Learning
What is AI is based on human intelligence and people are using AI in vague and undefined ways. The actual intelligence that goes into these artificial machine learning systems is human intelligence, not machine “intelligence”. The term machine learning is more specific and provides transparency, AI is broad and includes lots of technology that mimic human intelligence. For both reasons, machine learning is a more precise description of the phenomenon.
Professor Luke Stark on Facial Recognition
What is being careful with the use and considerations of facial recognition systems, highlighting their inherent biases and potential inaccuracies. He highlights that facial recognition systems are racist and fails to accurately recognize non-white individuals. This bias stems from the training datasets used, which disproportionately represent lighter-skinned individuals. Stark recommends for more regulation and strict testing to ensure these systems perform equitably, and emphasizes the need for ongoing improvements, prioritizing fairness, transparency and accountability to prevent its use from perpetuating racial biases and other forms of discrimination.
the underlying reasons why facial recognition systems have repeatedly misidentified people of color, sometimes with tragic consequences.
what is coded bias. Human coders develop these algorithm, and we come with biases (whether we are aware of them or not) which get encoded into the programs we build. Those biases include racial prejudices.
Teufekci on Egyptian Leader Mubarak‘S internet block
What is it backfired because it spiked international attention to the anti-government uprisings in Egypt. Mubarak didn’t understand that in the 21st century, attention matters more than information. This interested global news organizations and gave the uprisings more media coverage, playing into the dissidents’ favour. This poor decision resulted in Mubarak being forced out and replaced by a military council.
Two reasons Zeynep Tufekci thinks the internet has been associated with the rise of authoritarianism and misinformation.
What is because social media platforms are characterized by algorithms designed to maximize revenue by keeping users “glued” to their screens. The algorithms prioritize certain content and reinforce existing beliefs. This issue is especially true with political actors collecting more personal data to control and tailor the content exposed to users so that it aligns with their values and beliefs. This leads to misinformation as algorithms spread biased information tailored toward users to satisfy social media platform’s goals.
Another reason is the way these technologies have been used to manipulate public opinion through authoritarian governments. Tufekci argues that authoritarian regimes have been able to use internet technologies and social media to spread propaganda and disinformation to shape public opinion, and suppress dissent. For example, through using tactics like creating fake news stories and spreading conspiracy theories, internet technologies have been used to monitor and suppress oppositional voices by tracking and censoring online activity, and to disrupt democratic institutions by hacking and releasing sensitive information.
Chomsky and Herman’s theory particularly relevant to the media coverage of the Vietnam War in the US, given the concentrated media of the time
Why is Chomsky and Herman’s theory was relevant to the media coverage of the Vietnam War in the US because many of the media outlets were controlled by corporations that had political and economic ties. This resulted in skewed media coverage – bias to the government’s perspective and marginalizing dissenting voices.
A major change that has occurred since is the rise of social media and citizen journalism allowing diverse and challenging perspectives to be heard. Furthermore, many traditional media outlets have been declining because of the influence of corporate interest on the content.
Constructivism
what is technologies aren’t solely determined by technical and scientific standards. The bicycle is used to illustrate how a simple technology actually started off as two different things. At the beginning there were equal-sized wheels and high front wheel—two designs that met different needs and were two different technologies with shared elements. One which eventually got phased out by comity needs and preferences. Finch and Bjiker called this original ambiguity of the bicycle “interpretive ambiguity”. Unlike determinism which makes things seem like the end was inevitable from the beginning by projecting the abstract technical logic of the finished object back into the past as a cause of development. This analogy basically promotes constructivism which says problem-definition often changes in the course of solution which opens up the future and how we should view society/ technology as fluid entities.
Bogost argues this predilection makes chatbots a matter of concern for society.
What is this predilection makes chatbots a concern for society because we fail to recognize chatbots for what they are: programs that answer our questions by looking at common patterns of language found on the internet. They can’t provide actual advice or understand human feeling, as they do not actually understand anything/are incapable of real thought. Similar to the Eliza effect, Bogost is worried we will take what chatbots say as trusted sources of information and advice when they should not be.
search engine optimization led to the proliferation of ‘garbage text’ rather than greater accuracy in search results or better website content?
what is Although search engine optimization (SEO) was intended to help users find the most relevant and useful content based on their search quotes, online small businesses end up writing for robots, tweaking their writing for Google’s search algorithm so it can be picked up and found by internet users. The pressure to conform to algorithmic preferences and use AI tools to do the search-related work has prompted content creators to produce vast amounts of low-quality, AI-generated, bait articles or poorly crafted text that prioritizes visibility over value, thereby cluttering the digital landscape with ‘garbage text’. For example, with more AI companies offering tools to generate product descriptions using automated keywords, fake customer testimonials, and images for cheap to feed Google’s search algorithm. What Google algorithms like is not what you would want as a person.
Relevance of Raymond William’s “Structures of Feeling” to contemporary digital media that vies for user attention in order to keep them stuck in what Natasha Dow Schüll call’s “the zone.”
what is
The relevance of Raymond Williams’ theory to the growing designs that hold user attention is strongly rooted in capitalistic ideals. In the current economy, people are struggling to sustain the most essential parts of their life. Large corporations and media companies earn money through the time spent on a platform or website, and selling information and data of users. This perpetuates a relentless cycle where individuals seek shortcuts to wealth, are sold the promise of wealth, and ultimately benefit those who are already affluent. “The zone” is a result of intentional technological design by the people who benefit from the retention of user attention. A cycle of dependence and exploitation, wherein users are both the consumers and the product being sold.
Andrew Feenberg’s substansive point
what is Why has democracy not been extended to technically mediated domains of social life despite a century of struggles? Is it because technology excludes democracy, or because it has been used to suppress it? The weight of the argument supports the second conclusion. Technology can support more than one type of technological civilization, and may someday be incorporated into a more democratic society than ours.