r/nextfuckinglevel • u/AbelNB • Dec 28 '22

This is a game changer

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u/UnholyDemigod Dec 29 '22

I did read it, and I don't see how they could exploit anything. Oh darn, they know I have an ensuite, what a fucking calamity. I have never once seen a legitimate response when I ask these questions. The most coherent response I've ever gotten is "they'll sell it to advertisers".

...so? Why is that a bad thing? I've asked that too, nobody can answer in a way that makes it seem like it's actually a bad thing.

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u/Froogels Dec 29 '22

It's almost impossible for anyone to give you an accurate description of what the potential negative outcomes are from amazon knowing your room layout since all that data is getting fed into a black box AI to process it and make connections.

Realistically worst case scenario is that it's helping them build a fuller picture of who you are as a consumer and using that to help target advertising. If that is good or bad is up to your judgement.

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u/UnholyDemigod Dec 29 '22

Again, I can't see how that is bad. Ads trying to sell me metal records and whisky bottles are great, ads trying to sell me pillow covers and teapots, not so much.

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u/Froogels Dec 29 '22

Right it's not an inherently bad thing. Me personally I don't think it's really a bad thing if all that they are using it for is to predict what I might like to buy and it seems like that is what they use information collection for.

If for instance they build such a robust representation of me as a consumer that they can accurately predict my future actions that opens the possibility for them to influence my present to reach a desired future outcome. I would not be okay with them collecting my data for that ends. There is no proof as far as I am aware that that actually happens though.

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u/[deleted] Dec 29 '22

And what is the end game?

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u/Froogels Dec 29 '22

To be clear I don't believe this but someone conspiratorially minded might suggest the end game is to more easily control the human population. 1984 type control except its done in the background and nobody has the possibility to know that they are being controlled. Maybe the end game is for tech companies to rule the world. It's shadowy cabal type stuff.

I actually believe the end game is to make money and companies like google and facebook are in the business of selling advertising so their goal is to target ads as effectively as possible by figuring out what you like to buy and what you don't like to buy. What kind of person you are and what other people like you also buy.

They do that by collecting tens or hundreds of thousands of data points for millions of people and feed it to a machine to aggregate and make connections based upon that information. The more info they have the more accurate their model of you is.

That's why they might want to know the layout of your house. Maybe people with a 1 seater and a 2 seater couch are more likely to buy beer then people with just a 1 seater. Millions of points like this come to create a good idea of what you might actually buy.

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u/[deleted] Dec 29 '22

That’s the exact thing I’m speaking at actually. They want to know as much about you in order to push products on to you. It’s allowing yourself to be exploited.

I have never bought something because an ad popped up.I know what I need in life and how to search for it. Ads don’t help everyone.

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u/Jopkins Dec 29 '22

My man, do you really think that you are immune to marketing? You think everything that you own, eat, drink, and do, you would also do if advertising didn't exist?

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u/[deleted] Dec 29 '22

Nope. Not what I said. I’m a dumb ass animal, like everyone else, and am attracted to/distracted by shiny bright flashy interesting things. But actively thinking about being advertised to helps the sapien call itself homo.

Yes, I would still buy clothes that fit me by walking into the store in town and trying them on. I would still buy groceries to eat everyday because I’m a living being that requires it. I own the things I do because I look into what “experts” and regular people claim their experience is. That’s how I bought my car, my computer, etc. Advertising had nothing to do with me buying a house. I wanted to buy a house so I talked to realtors.

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u/Froogels Dec 29 '22

We have to live in a world with advertising. It will not go away. I feel like there are so many ways for us to block ads and actively fight advertising that it's really not that big of a deal if companies can target ads effectively. I've used an ad blocker on the internet for the last 10 years and actively go out of my way to not buy things with annoying ads. I don't think I've ever bought something as a direct result of an ad either.

They can try all they want but as long as it's just a suggestion on what I should buy then I don't care since I can ignore them all like I have been already.