YouTube's tendency to push everyday users toward politically extreme content

Re:YouTube's tendency to push everyday users toward politica... by Brakenshire on Saturday September 08, 2018 @06:20AM (#17940310)

As an interpretation of people who worked on the algorithms:

> The YouTube algorithm I worked on heavily promoted Brexit, because divisiveness is efficient for watch time, and watch time leads to ads.

https://www.twitter.com/gchaslot/status/1036323806242066432

Not clear what exactly technically he is referring to, whether your explanation fits. I suppose an algorithm that tended to cluster people together could be described as divisive.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:YouTube's tendency to push everyday users toward politica... by js8 on Saturday September 08, 2018 @08:34AM (#17940595)

You know, when I read the tweet and the discussion I think, people worry about AI becoming paperclip maximizer, but this is worse.

Our own society is becoming paperclip maximizer! We want to spend more time watching interesting videos and more dopamine shots.. And the company and people working for it, even indirectly, oblige.

We worry that there will be an AI where all of what it does is a consequence of giant misunderstanding of human nature. But what if there is nothing to misunderstand about humans, but it's rather our own design flaws that cause our desires, when being taken as an objective function to be ruthlessly maximized, lead to society that is, at best, extremely dull.

[ Parent | on HN ]