Mammon category archive
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
Potentially harmful to society? Security maven Bruce Schneier is not sanguine. Here’s a bit from his article:
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
A brain worm heading for your wallet? El Reg reports:
A trio of computer scientists from Princeton University set out to examine whether conversational AI agents can manipulate consumer choices during online shopping sessions. It turns out they can influence behavior – and most of the consumers being steered don’t realize it.
It’s All about the Algorithm 0
In an article about two recent civil court cases, in which “social” media companies wer found liable for the damage they did to youngsters, John Bennett writes of the implications of those rulings. The following observations caught my eye (emphasis added):
(snip)
Whistleblowers and internal documents unearthed during trial revealed the full extent to which Big Tech knew what it was doing to young people, and kept doing it anyway.
One more time, “social” media isn’t.
Winners and Losers Sharks and Marks, Reprise
0
At the Psychology Today website, Harvard professor of psychiatry Eugene Beresin notes that
He finds this a disturbing and dangerous trend and offers some thought on how to combat it.
Given the constant shilling for suckers surrounding us, methinks it a timely read,
Fly the Fiendly Skies, Reprise 0
Back when I was a road warrior, jetting off on business trips once and sometimes twice a month. Southwest was my preferred airline.
I’m pretty sure that would not be the case today
(And, no, I would have not been subject the “tax” referred to at the link.).
Winners and Losers Sharks and Marks
0
I recommend Harry Shearer’s interview with Danny Funt, author of Everybody Loses, on how gambling has gone from being, if not illegal, at least limited and tightly regulated, to being seemingly everywhere. The discussion starts about half an hour into this week’s episode of Le Show.
The Privatization Scam Goes Postal 0
Farron discusses how the Republican Party is working, and has been working for a long time, to destroy the U. S. Postal Service, which was established according to the Constitution of the United States.
Today’s Republican Party is a vile and loathsome thing which no longer embraces the concept of the common good.
Emoluments 0
Robert Reich follows the money from the box office to the coffers.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
A con artist’s co-conspirator? Philadelphia’s WPVI reports that a “new wave of smart scams, powered by artificial intelligence, is now targeting consumers every single day.”
All the News that Fits 0
Thom talks with Mary Trump on what happened to objective, fact-based broadcast news.
Afterthought:
I think Thom makes a great analogy about hoarding disorder.
All the News that Fits 0
Thom argues that the concentration of news outlets in very few hands ensures that we get only the news that fits.
This New Gilded Age 0
Theft of labor. It’s a thing.