Oct 16, 2020
The Social Dilemma
The discussion around big tech is getting intense these days, for one part, because of the massive influence they have on our lives and society. The consequences and effects are just too big to ignore. Governments are starting to put forward regulations. Ethical design is becoming an important and urgent task in the tech community. But, these are far from enough. To help with this situation, there are three critical roles that come into play: the government & policy makers; the tech companies; and finally the users (that’s us). Here I’d like to focus on the role of users. What should we do in this social dilemma?
As technology becomes smarter, so should we, so we don’t easily get manipulated. The tools (however they’re improved and regulated) will still not be perfect and they could still be misused. It’s us, the people who’re using the technology, that should be the last guard to protect ourselves and our family from intended manipulation.
Yet most of us are still too weak to resist what’s brought us in the digital world. The Social Dilemma documentary by Netflix has articulated some points which hopefully could raise the alarm in our minds, so we could start taking actions now: be aware, be cautious, and be responsible for ourselves and our next generation. Here I borrow some quotes from The Social Dilemma and explain what I mean.
- “The technology that connects us also controls us.” We should be aware that the world has “changed from a tool-based technology environment to an addiction- and manipulation-based environment”. Don’t get me wrong. We all like digital products. I still do, and I can’t imagine living without them. They make my life so much easier, and most of them are free! However, what makes me a bit uncomfortable is that, “free product” is such a misconception. We are not the customers at all. In fact, we are the PRODUCT that is to serve the real customers, advertisers. As said in the documentary, “if you are not paying for the product, then you are the product.”
- The digital tools that we give almost all of our attention to have been shaping our thoughts and behaviours, (well, most of the time) for monetisation purposes. This could develop to something a bit scary though. Imagine, your whole life (what you eat, who you date, what you believe and how you behave) could be easily changed just by a set of parameters of the data models in the digital tools, (what’s worse) not as your own wish, but as the wish of the companies.
- Each one of us has a virtual representation (i.e. data model) in the digital world. This model is built by the data of our online behaviours: “Everything that we do online is being watched, it being tracked, is being measured. Every single action you take is carefully monitored and recorded. Exactly what image you stop and look at, for how long you look at it.”
Given all these, what should we do? Well, we should first be aware of all these happening, and be cautious when we sense some signals. More importantly, we need to take actions.
- Maybe next time, instead of hitting whatever is “recommended” to you, think twice and select actively; alert yourself when you see similar information appearing repeatedly in your feeds; be critical of the information you’re about to take in.
- We should also learn to differentiate what’s good and bad; learn to spot signals of us being tracked and manipulated; learn to react to block these signals, e.g. to search for useful tools and plugins, and to use them.
- More importantly, we need to educate those who are vulnerable, like the elderly and our next generation. We need to have curriculums in schools, to help them develop critical thinking towards the digital world.
Despite all these, I still feel optimistic about the roles technology can play. I believe it will do more good than harm. Besides policy regulations and ethical design practices, I think we (who consume the technology) should all start to seriously take responsibilities for ourselves and our loved ones. We are smarter than AI after all. At least I hope and believe so:)
Originally published at http://yxspensieve.wordpress.com on October 16, 2020.
