Jacob Ward on 'How Technology is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back'

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 1 February 2022

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

An increasing portion of human life is structured by powerful and opaque technological systems. Getting a loan, parole hearings, resume sorting, the political ads that appear on your device: Across fields, machine learning systems are trying to sort you into statistical buckets. Worse, NBC technology correspondent Jacob Ward argues, the data that artificial intelligence systems use to predict what we’ll do next mostly show “the ancient instincts… the tribalism, the anthropomorphism, the gut feelings,” because targeting those parts of us is the most profitable way for companies to use AI. Ward joins us to talk about his new book, “The Loop: How Technology is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:58.1	From KQED.
1:04.8	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:13.8	It's an uncomfortable reality that an increasing portion of human life is structured by powerful and opaque technologies.
1:20.6	Getting a loan, parole hearings, resume sorting, the political ads that appear on your phone.
1:26.3	Across fields, machine learning systems are out there
1:29.3	trying to sort you into statistical buckets. Worse, NBC technology correspondent Jacob Ward argues
1:35.9	in a new book, the data that artificial intelligence systems use to predict what we'll do next
1:41.0	mostly show, in his words, the ancient instincts, the tribalism.
1:45.5	Targeting those parts of us is profitable. So that's what's happening. He's worried, and we probably
1:50.3	should be too. We'll talk with him.
1:59.9	Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal.
2:02.5	On the surface, Jacob Ward's new book, The Loop,
	...

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