There is a sound to be heard, when you're alone at night, or even in the middle of the day, to those with ears to hear. It is a plodding machine like sound, and while it is subtle, when truly understood, it will fill your soul with horror.
It is the sound of AI (Artificial Intelligence), coming ever closer to your world. With talks of algorithms, and terms like machine learning, as pop culture phrases we have come to associate with this phenomenon. This thing has become part of our every day life.
These things don't go bump in the night, they come right into your life, like a friend, in your social media streams they tell you who is interesting and deserves your attention. However, you never think about how this entity knows so much about you. That is the real mystery, but it is easy to solve.
Algorithms aren't as mysterious as we may be led to believe, if you can understand a simple flow chart, you can peer into the mechanisms that bring these so called mysterious entities to life. These entities are simply methodical cruncher s of numbers, and they are ultimately no more mysterious, than the cell phone in your hand.
These devices we have in our homes, in our pockets, devices like computers, tablets, cell phones etc., these devices are literally designed to process numbers. For example, how many times do you lift your phone, or turn on your computer these small bits of information seem simple and unimportant, but these are the building blocks of machine learning.
You see if your phone keeps track of how many times you pick it up, and your phone is then, in turn, is asked by another computer, let's say the Facebook server you just accessed to tell your mom happy birthday, which act seems so innocuous. However, the moment you log in, that simple information your loyal phone gathered, is given to an algorithm, and through complex equations, your simple quantitative information is processed, and now Facebook knows when, and where you pick up your phone and why. These algorithms, can now target these opportunities to catch you on the phone, and it can alert you to information, IT, wants you to see or be exposed to.
This information now changes your perceptions, and your behavior can now be modified, almost on the fly.
Because, the information you are exposed to influences the choices you make, and more importantly the things that you believe. We can now see, how simple information can be used to change the very way you view the world; you think that could be dangerous?
I do.
I wish you all good things.
In Light and Love
Giant Hugs<3<3<3
