Algorithmic Complacency

One of my favourite YouTube channels is Technology Connections. Every one of the videos on this channel is entertaining and informative¹.

For some reason, (ironically) the algorithm today produced this video for me all about “Algorithmic Complacency”. I can’t believe I missed this video a year ago, but it still feels relevant now.

Coincidentally, this week I greatly enjoyed Yancey Strickler’s newsletter Everyone sits in the same traffic now and the Robert Mosesification of the internet.

The point of the Robert Mosesified Internet isn’t to discover or explore. It’s to commute. It’s to scroll. Shop. Travel. It doesn’t matter where we’re going or for what reason, what matters to the platforms is their roads take us there. And that “there” is something they can control, influence, or at least know.

With the acceleration of the AI-driven internet, it feels like “internet browsing” is long a thing of the past. I’m old enough to remember the internet being a place you go to, not something you carry everywhere with you.

I love the internet. I wouldn’t have a job without it. But I often find myself thinking it’s not a net benefit to our day to day lives.

I’m trying to do what I can do reduce my social media usage, and more broadly the use of my phone in general. Twitter’s death greatly accelerated this and I’ve not looked back. The only thing that seems to keep me around is Instagram and Reddit.

It also feels like so much of Reddit is ragebait - either real, acted, or AI generated. It’s because getting reactions get engagement, which gets money. We’ve monetised the worst parts of humanity and are only making this worse.

I also recently watched Everyone Is Lying To You For Money which is a healthy reminder to remember that a lot of the internet is scams to steal money.

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