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Researchers fear a scenario in which smart speakers feed sleepers subliminal ads

sciencemag.org

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Re: Researchers fear a scenario in which smart speakers feed sleepers subliminal ads

#141

Post by southerntofu »

tremon wrote: post #129
amelius wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even better is to join one of the movements against ads, which exist around the world.

Can you list some? I haven't heard/seen about any of those, and the only article I can find is https://newint.org/features/2018/11/23/movement-replacing-ad...

I can name at least Résistance à l'Agression Publicitaire (antipub.org) in the french-speaking world.

It's common for local bands to form and dismantle/replace advertisements. See for example the international campaign there was during COP21 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34958282.amp

In many places across France, we have workshops every week to draw/paint some posters. Then we go on the streets, open the ad panels and replace their ads with our message.

All it takes usually is a 6mm hex key (allen) in which you drilled a hole.

Re: Researchers fear a scenario in which smart speakers feed sleepers subliminal ads

#142

Post by zaphod12 »

filchermcurr wrote: post #59

On the bright side, smart speakers aren't even a little bit essential, so it's easy enough to just not buy them if this starts happening. I don't think the value proposition of an always-on device connected to a vast advertising network is very high to begin with. Throw in subliminal advertising and you'd have to be very... dedicated... to want such a device. If it succeeds even a little, though, they'll bake it into…

Business selling faraday cages for the home, anyone?

Re: Researchers fear a scenario in which smart speakers feed sleepers subliminal ads

#143

Post by southerntofu »

skummetmaelk wrote: post #108
filchermcurr wrote: post #59

On the bright side, smart speakers aren't even a little bit essential, so it's easy enough to just not buy them if this starts happening. I don't think the value proposition of an always-on device connected to a vast advertising network is very high to begin with. Throw in subliminal advertising and you'd have to be very... dedicated... to want such a device. If it succeeds even a little, though, they'll bake it into…

You underestimate what people will sacrifice in order to be able to say "Alexa, what's the weather like today" rather than pull out their phone and open the weather app which is probably faster to do anyway. "But what if I have my hands full with stuff" they'll say. Well, will you really be able to remember what Alexa says about the weather if you're busy doing other stuff anyway? All everyone can ever point out as a…

You underestimate what people will sacrifice in order to be able to ask their phone about the weather instead of taking a look through the window.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Re: Researchers fear a scenario in which smart speakers feed sleepers subliminal ads

#144

Post by acuozzo »

pmlnr wrote: post #34
scoutt wrote: post #30

All this plus "coaxing knowledge into dream"... Brave New World's hypnopaedia comes to my mind...

Brave New World is set 400 years after the Ford T-Model. A 100 passed since; 1/4th of that book has already become true. The interesting bit is that if you're part of Brave New World's society, it's not a bad place... it's just stuck in time. There's an original series Star Trek episode where they ask the question: can they disturb a society which hasn't progressed for centuries; their answer was yes. I have mixed fe…

For what it's worth, I think of the Eloi whenever I think of the ends of unbounded "progress".

Re: Researchers fear a scenario in which smart speakers feed sleepers subliminal ads

#146

Post by walleeee »

streamofdigits wrote: post #105
aerique wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Economic growth is not the solution: it is the problem." -- one single political party in the Netherlands that does not get enough votes

its the defining issue of our times and there is some of nuance: First, there is room (imho) for conventional growth in many parts of the world. Its insane that people go starving, without shelter or water while others throw away truckloads of food - because of "xyz". Then there is the branch of "personal growth" that is decoupled from material consumption. Getting every functioning brain to fully develop its faculti…

Starvation has not been a production issue in a long time. It's a geopolitical distribution issue.

Re: Researchers fear a scenario in which smart speakers feed sleepers subliminal ads

#147

Post by mycologos »

dash2 wrote: post #74

Calm down, Adam Curtis. I see zero evidence here that researchers can in fact implant anything in someone's dreams. Well, except by playing 3 hours of Tetris. The video "documenting" Coors' effort is a joke ad by Coors bemoaning the fact they can't get into the Superbowl. This is just a bunch of shady researchers trying to gin up some publicity for the !!!!terrifying power!!!! of their work (p = 0.048, one-tailed).

Yeah, the article and letter seem to make a huge jump from companies throwing together tongue-in-cheek advertising campaigns about dreams --- the Burger King "nightmare burger" ad campaign was literally just a burger with a green bun that got them media coverage? --- to smart speakers playing subliminal messages. I guess it's their field, and maybe it's very jarring to them to see advertising even approach it from a distance, but this is almost a parody of the "open letter signed by scientists" trope.

Re: Researchers fear a scenario in which smart speakers feed sleepers subliminal ads

#149

Post by hypertele-Xii »

tchalla wrote: post #55
johnchristopher wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is something that I had been venting about for years to anybody I met. There's that (Coca-Cola I think) ad that ends up with teenagers watching the sunrise after a party night, they sit on a roof in what I remember could be suburban California. The ad was in the style of All I need from Air. These are very delicate and precious moments when you are a teenager. But now it's Coca-cola telling people how to feel. F…

A movie scene played out repeatedly- “A person dying and his last moments aka for a cigarette”. There are so many of these that go back to manufacturing consent. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_on_Public_Informat...

That is so scary, I never made that connection until now.

Re: Researchers fear a scenario in which smart speakers feed sleepers subliminal ads

#150

Post by [deleted] »

beebeepka wrote: post #29
IvyMike wrote: post #18

Leela : Didn't you have ads in the 21st century? Fry : Well sure, but not in our dreams. Only on TV and radio, and in magazines, and movies, and at ball games... and on buses and milk cartons and t-shirts, and bananas and written on the sky. But not in dreams, no siree.

We all had commercials in our dreams, but you don't see us running off to buy brand-name merchandise at low, low prices.

[deleted]
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