Wellsbaum.blog

Writing about life and arts

algorithms

  • Nothing is random

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    1 min read

    Discoverability will forever be twisted in the maw of internet algorithms. Nothing is ever truly random. We are data’s significant other with a bullseye on our back. Facebook has been triangulating our data for years, matching our likes with the highest bidder. Designers, copy-writers, and marketers work together to create internet ads that strangle our…

  • Dancing with the algorithms

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    2 min read

    We dance with the algorithms, yielding time-saving results. How else are we to discover all these gems in a sea of content? How are we to land on the right words in a swamp of choice? From Spotify to Gmail’s suggestive text, we accept the computer’s recommendations to curate and write for us. We allow…

  • What do we read next?

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    2 min read

    We suffer from the infinity of choice, to what type of books we’re interested in, all the way down to the format we want to read them in. Amazon’s recommended book algorithms allay the frustration of making decisions by taking into account your past reads and what others have read to suggest what to consume…

  • Punching back against nihilism

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    1 min read

    The brain is stuck on hype rather than facts and figures. It devours the external stimuli of incessant feeds and 24/7 news and predictably shuns the details. If we want to overthrow the swathe of nihilism, then we need to create a system that supports credibility. The algorithm failed to do it. Pre-programmed maths exposed…

  • How algorithms destroy personal taste

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    1 min read

    Taste comes from an amalgamation of sources. It assumes that we’ve dabbled in both good and bad, and actively seek to find new things to recommend. But in this algorithmic world, taste gets delivered. Whether it’s the next Spotify song or someone to follow on Instagram, we adhere to the machine rather than following our…

  • ORCAA, a logo to certify organic algorithms

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    2 min read

    “The internet is a propaganda machine,” writes author Cathy O’Neil in her book Weapons of Math Destruction where she criticizes the algorithms which have come to disrupt society and politics. Her latest project ORCAA, O’Neil Risk Consulting and Algorithmic Auditing, offers services to companies that promise to maintain a more honest algorithm that unlike Facebook, doesn’t sacrifice…

  • Beware the algorithms

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    2 min read

    Six hundred red years ago, there was no such thing as personal identity. Only when people owned mirrors did they start seeing themselves as individuals. One hundred years ago, all fighter pilot seats were the same size until there became unnecessary deaths. The US Air Force adapted and customized its seating options. The mass markets ushered in by…