More thoughts on the current AI-hype...
Nobel Prize winning economists Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson (2023) in their book Power and Progress make another interesting point about the persuasive and marketing tactics and strategies employed by technology-promoters. They engage in creating a vision of their product that makes adoption of it both efficacious and the right thing to do, even if that adoption is sometimes detrimental to those who adopt it.
This vision-creation for their technological solutions is an appeal to "common interest."
Acemoglu and Johnson (2023) write:
A vision that articulates a common interest is powerful even when--especially when--there are losers as well as winners from new technologies because it enables those doing the reorganization and the technology adoption to convince the rest. (p. 127)
Silicon Valley minted this tactic early on. Going to back to Steve Jobs who was famous for using promo-tropes like "A computer is a bicycle for the mind" or it is "for every man," the Valley and all of the tech industry has become adept over the years in the utilization of this "appeal to common interest tactic."
Moving ahead a bit, it was Mark Zuckerberg and the social media promoters who employed this same tactic. Social media was in our "common interest" because it was going to connect everyone; give everyone a voice; and equalize society according totheir promo-rhetoric. We listened, and we have never never been less connected and more divided and polarized than ever. Yes, we have given voices to everyone as well, even those who spew misinformation and mal-information across the web with social media megaphones. The result is that finding the truth is nearly impossible on these sites. Never mind whether the tech promoters in this instance really thought it is a good idea to give a megaphone to everyone. Now every bigot and conspiracy theorist has the chance to be of equal standing to those who spend their time and lives trying to ensure they get out reliable information. The information waters of the web are so muddied that it is near impossible to get at the truth, and, you can even live in a bubble where everything you read, view, and hear verifies your own narrow, biased views.
Then there's the smartphone. The techno-promoters worked hard on this one. It was in the common interest of everyone to adopt because it would provide instantaneous access to the web and its world of information, and it would allow us to be forever connected. With this device we can live in a 24-hour cycle of efficiency and productivity. Our jobs can go home with us. And, we have a computer in our pocket to access all the information of the web and also carry our narrow, biased worlds with us too. In addition, this device gives us the ability to "content create" and add to the web babble as well. And, don't forget, all these app companies can now follow us around too and track everything we do and then turn around and sell us "personalized ads" for stuff we don't even want. Sure, the smartphone could be a product that it is in the common interest for all to adopt, but more likely it is in the interest of the tech-promoters.
In both these examples, embedded in the technology-promo marketing rhetoric was an appeal to common interest or the common good. Nothing can be wrong with that, correct?
Now, the AI-Promoters are working overtime and bombarding us with rhetoric that has this vision of common interest embedded in it. "We're going to solve climate change; miraculously cure diseases; and end poverty with the advent of Artificial General Intelligence" they say. It is in our "common interest to adopt and quietly accept AI as a part of our lives.
The truth is, as Acemoglu and Johnson argue, technology adoption rarely works in the common interest and it serves only the interests of those who promote it. This common interest marketing tactic is a classic play in the Silicon Valley marketing playbook.
Asking the questions when AI-promo evangelists come calling such as, "Who is likely to benefit most by the adoption of this technology?" reveals a great deal. History provides an answer as well and it "ain't" necessarily who the AI-promo and cheerleaders say it will be. Just take a glance at the lifestyles of those who run these tech companies and it is clear who benefits most. It is clear that there is a buck to made from AI: just look at the army of promoters and cheerleaders. In the end, however, we are left at best with scraps, and at the worst with their "unintended consequences."
No comments:
Post a Comment