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How to save culture from the algorithms, with Filterworld author Kyle Chayka

Seven years later, Kyle’s argument is that AirSpace has turned into what he now calls Filterworld, a phrase he uses to describe how algorithmic recommendations have become one of the most dominating forces in culture, and as a result, have pushed society to converge on a kind of soulless sameness in its tastes.

19 comments

  • I wonder if people who are new to Lemmy feel that loss of algorithm for most instances. It's probably the thing I like most about Lemmy, I don't have the sense of corporate showing me what they want me to see, but I could see how that would be a shock when you're so used to it from other platforms.

  • IMO it's never about the tool, but who controls it. For example, nuclear energy is a neutral thing on its own, when used to generate power it's (arguably) a net positive, when used for bombing it's a net negative.

    The same goes for algorithms, when they are used to save lives at hospitals it's a net positive, when used to harvest people's attention it becomes a net negative.

    (For anyone interested, I have MAB algorithms in mind, they can be used to prioritize patients at hospitals, or make recommendations in social media. You can guess which application of the algorithm is more commonly used, well researched, and well funded.)

    • IMO it’s never about the tool, but who controls it

      I 100% agree, it's extremely powerful and covert though, the hospitals could be using it for both good and bad as well.

    • @souperk @pelespirit

      For example, nuclear energy is a neutral thing on its own, when used to generate power it’s (arguably) a net positive...

      It's more complicated than that.

      Mining uranium has side effects, usually for poorer communities.

      The fuel has to handled safety, as well a the waste which to be safely stored for 1000s of years.

      Nuclear plants have to be designed and built well.

      The most benign democracies have made made a mess of those issues.

      1/n

      • @souperk @pelespirit

        The same goes for algorithms, when they are used to save lives at hospitals it’s a net positive

        Again, more complicated.

        Are the algorithms mathematically sound, or just AI/machine learning magic fairy dust?

        Do the algorithms have implicit biases against poor people, or those with darker skin or who live in certain postcodes?

        2/n

  • This is the best summary I could come up with:

    At the time, he noted that the aesthetics of physical spaces, like coffee shops and co-working offices, were being heavily influenced by Airbnb and Instagram, flattening global interior design into one singular and recognizable vibe.

    Seven years later, Kyle’s argument is that AirSpace has turned into what he now calls Filterworld, a phrase he uses to describe how algorithmic recommendations have become one of the most dominating forces in culture, and as a result, have pushed society to converge on a kind of soulless sameness in its tastes.

    You’ll hear us trace the origins of Filterworld back to the rise of modern social media in the 2010s and how this development has been accelerated by the deterioration of the open web, an erosion of trust in our institutions, and the frankly frightening speed and scale of platforms like TikTok.

    What I find is that, in Filterworld, in this world of digital platforms and algorithmic feeds, one quirk goes viral instantly — a new adaptation, a new aesthetic flourish, can go from one person doing it to 100,000 people doing it in a day, whether it’s a TikTok sound or a dance or whatever, and so I think there are these artistic innovations that happen.

    When we use the same platform for five or six years, we tend to start getting itchy and wanting something else, and I think it’s also been this gradual evolution of the internet from text to more professionalized images, to audio and video, to TikTok, which is this kind of full-featured television, essentially.

    Digital platforms have absorbed different areas of culture that used to be more offline, whether it’s a television equivalent like TikTok or podcasts that used to be radio, over the past decade, more things have gotten more online, and I think that’s been a major shift.

    The original article contains 10,641 words, the summary contains 303 words. Saved 97%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

19 comments