Man versus machine: who controls the game? (en)
2016 will be remembered for painful disillusions, featuring
technology as an important agent, but for once not a positive one.
Critical approach to what can be achieved with it – speaking of
political and social changes – exploded and moved mainstream deb
18 Minuten
Podcast
Podcaster
Beschreibung
vor 7 Jahren
Katarzyna Szymielewicz Brexit reminded us that facts and knowledge
("what, actually, is the EU?") matter less than emotions and good
narratives (“let’s make Britain great again”) – it is the latter
that people understand and act upon. Emotions and memes spread
faster than facts. It has always been that way, but before the era
of social media not everybody could share what they feel. Now
everyboby can click "publish" and become visible. But it is no
longer humans, and certainly not the users, who control what *is
visible* on the net. Welcome to algorithmic media paradigm! Trump
proved that to win presidential race one does not even need a
majority of votes, not mentioning a minimum dose of respect for
what that majority believes in. In fact, outright disrespect for
those who think differently and shameless lies may help a lot.
Especially if it goes in line with the tactical use of big data and
targeting techniques. In Poland Kaczyński – leader of the ruling
party – proved that it is even possible to ruin democratic
institutions and still sell it to the society as a “good change”.
An army of 'human bots' turned out to be helpful in shaping the
debate the way government wanted it to go. If everything in
politics is a matter of narrative, the power lies in how this
narrative is shaped and fuelled. We have no other choice than break
this information asymmetry: find a way to control those who design
the algorithms and build engines behind online media. But it is not
going to be easy... I would like to explore possible
counter-strategies involving data, social media and civic activity.
We have already seen many fact-checking initiatives emerging
online. We have heard from Facebook that the company is willing to
start flagging fake news. New European data protection regulation
has prepared legal ground for “opening” algorithms and demanding
more transparency from online platforms... Will that be enough?
What more can we do to regain control over the mechanisms and tools
that shape our public debate and political processes? Who can be
our natural ally and who is likely to be against us in this fight?
("what, actually, is the EU?") matter less than emotions and good
narratives (“let’s make Britain great again”) – it is the latter
that people understand and act upon. Emotions and memes spread
faster than facts. It has always been that way, but before the era
of social media not everybody could share what they feel. Now
everyboby can click "publish" and become visible. But it is no
longer humans, and certainly not the users, who control what *is
visible* on the net. Welcome to algorithmic media paradigm! Trump
proved that to win presidential race one does not even need a
majority of votes, not mentioning a minimum dose of respect for
what that majority believes in. In fact, outright disrespect for
those who think differently and shameless lies may help a lot.
Especially if it goes in line with the tactical use of big data and
targeting techniques. In Poland Kaczyński – leader of the ruling
party – proved that it is even possible to ruin democratic
institutions and still sell it to the society as a “good change”.
An army of 'human bots' turned out to be helpful in shaping the
debate the way government wanted it to go. If everything in
politics is a matter of narrative, the power lies in how this
narrative is shaped and fuelled. We have no other choice than break
this information asymmetry: find a way to control those who design
the algorithms and build engines behind online media. But it is not
going to be easy... I would like to explore possible
counter-strategies involving data, social media and civic activity.
We have already seen many fact-checking initiatives emerging
online. We have heard from Facebook that the company is willing to
start flagging fake news. New European data protection regulation
has prepared legal ground for “opening” algorithms and demanding
more transparency from online platforms... Will that be enough?
What more can we do to regain control over the mechanisms and tools
that shape our public debate and political processes? Who can be
our natural ally and who is likely to be against us in this fight?
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