The Social Dilemma and Math

When it comes to anything technology related, you can bet that 99% of the time, there is math involved. In the case of the Social Dilemma, there are many things that relate to real life mathematics, all the way from the math of building the apps and websites, to the complex AI systems that know more about us than we do about ourselves. Technology began back in the day as simple math. The binary language of ones and zeros combined with math to create one word on an old monitor. This simple coding has evolved into complex AI systems that use math that many of us cannot even comprehend. Machine learning (the area of computer science that AI falls under) is by far one of the most difficult areas of coding. The amount of complexity involving the process of creating something that can “think” and make its own decisions is insane.

The way machine learning works is that engineers create a program that can “learn.” They feed this program data for a specific subject and then the program begins to match certain pieces of data which it uses to create “guesses.” The best an AI program can do is make predictions about something. For example, when you create a profile for a certain social media, it usually asks you about your preferences and interests. Once you input your preferences and interests, that data is then put into an algorithm that uses all the data that it has collected in the past to find a match of your pickings in its data. Then it recommends the same things that it recommends other people who have similar interests. Once you start using a certain social media, this algorithm collects more and more data about you, the posts you like, the posts you comment on, the people you follow. Over time the program learns more and more about you. Eventually it gets enough information about you to the point where it can make a pretty accurate prediction about what will get you to stay on the platform longer.

This algorithm that I just roughly outlined in the above paragraph is so powerful that it can influence the way we think and act. The fact that I have only very roughly explained the algorithm in a pretty big paragraph shows that the actual algorithm is much much bigger. So big that it in-fact takes multiple computers to run. The math behind this algorithm completely blows my mind because I cannot comprehend how big and complex it might be. In math, the biggest algorithm I have encountered would have to be the steps taken when solving a derivative. But that is very small compared to how many steps are involved in the AI that we all feed constantly.

I think the most thought provoking thing about the documentary is the algorithm behind all social media. Many of us don’t think twice about using apps like YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, etc. But after watching “The Social Dilemma” I am more aware of the pull I feel to stay on whenever I get recommended something on YouTube. And honestly, it’s a little scary. The fact that I have to have a little internal battle with myself to get off makes me worry about the control I have over myself. I find myself wondering how close I am to losing control. It’s very similar to the famous “Just one more game” video game meme. You find yourself telling yourself, “just one more video/post” and before you know it, you have wasted another 30 minutes. The thought about this algorithm also raises the question “what can you trust?”

In the documentary, we saw the fictional character succumb to fake news. How often does that happen in our world? If we are constantly getting fed what we want to hear by this algorithm, how can we decide what sources we trust for our news? These are just a few of the things that this AI can control. What will it be able to control in the future? Another scary part about AI is that the future is driven by it. Tesla driverless cars are just the first step. AI systems are beginning to be found more and more in our society. The more we implement AI systems, the more I think we begin to lose control over them.

That being said, I don’t think AI is all bad. I just think it needs more development before being let loose on the world. Someone said in the documentary that the people who developed the AI behind social media, no longer completely understand how it works. We have to constantly be in control of what we create. Just like how in labs scientists experiment with creating something, they keep it isolated until they understand all the side effects. AI is becoming more and more human-like, we have to keep it isolated until we understand it completely and know all of the side effects and how to stop the bad ones.

Links

Facebook Math

AI Brain

Social Media User