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

sciencemag.org

211–220 of 329 posts

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

#211
post #204
post #195

I think people underestimate the degree to which the general population is susceptible to mass manipulation following the recent death of personal computing.

How recent are we talking? 15 years ago I was working at my college's IT helpdesk. The majority of students that brought in their machines told me they didn't use their computers for anything besides MS Word, AIM, Flash games and DVDs. Of course there were the art students with Adobe troubleshooting issues, or Econ students with STATA questions, but 90% of the time the computer was an entertainment-centric device.

>...AIM, Flash games

15 years ago Microsoft wasn't dictating moderation rules and content for these.

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

#212
post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you stop buying bottled water and use tap water, economy is shrinking. Reduce tap water and get some from your backyard and it shrinks again. Healthier economy growth

Question: what happens to all the money you don't spend on bottled water? The economy does not shrink because you make a process more efficient.

The money isn't generated.

The company doesn't get money (didn't sell the bottles) -> pay less salary for some employee (that didn't operated the machine for that bottle) -> that didn't spent that money because he got a cheaper water

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

#214
Years ago I attended a seminar by Wilson Bryan Key about Subliminal Advertising. I purchased 2 of his paperbacks and read them. Things that people laughed off as "overly active imagination" and "you're seeing things that aren't there" now seem to be a common fear. If you don't recognize when you are being manipulated, or you don't believe you can be manipulated, IMHO - you are a prime target. Ref: Media Sexploitation: Key, Wilson Bryan, also Subliminal Seduction: Key, Wilson Bryan.

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

#215
post #23

Has anyone noticed 2-3 ads per YouTube video (especially midstream)? It’s getting ridiculous. There’s got to be a stop to this madness.

On an Android phone you can use NewPipe app from FDroid repository, it gives you YT without ads (and you can use it in background for free too)

There's also Youtube Vanced.

It has an adblocker but also SponsorBlock, which is amazing. It skips all the annoying tedium of YouTube videos (intro, self promotion, sponsors, credits)

I couldn't go back to Youtube without adblock and SponsorBlock.

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

#216
post #198
post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Again, this is not what economic growth is. Any efficiency improvement, any self-improvement, anything, is economic growth. If you don't have economic growth, then tomorrow cannot be better then today. But that is a very different question to "should we cut down more rainforest?" You've got the cause and effect backwards, and it's exactly what lobbyists for the problem areas want: arguing against economic growth is p…

You're conflating economic growth with efficiency. Economic growth is measured in gross domestic product . The total of goods and services produced in a given year. So as efficiency increases, you actually need to consume more to achieve the same growth since your production costs decrease.

That's not conflating, that's basic definitions.

The problem with this whole thread is that economic growth can come from multiple sources. Increases in efficiency are a very positive source of sustainable economic growth with major environmental benefits. Slash and burn farming or strip-mining is temporary economic growth that will leave the future impoverished.

That's why everybody here is talking past each other.

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

#217
post #173
post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"When a measure becomes a goal, it seizes to be a good measure." But as you say, the problem isn't economic growth in itself, but the fact that our entire (debt-based) economy is predicated on eternal growth. Eventually, every population reaches a steady-state equilibrium with its environment (even an artificial environment such as "the economy"). The hyper-focus on economic growth and our dependence on it causes all…

Again, this is not what economic growth is. Any efficiency improvement, any self-improvement, anything, is economic growth. If you don't have economic growth, then tomorrow cannot be better then today. But that is a very different question to "should we cut down more rainforest?" You've got the cause and effect backwards, and it's exactly what lobbyists for the problem areas want: arguing against economic growth is p…

> If you don't have economic growth, then tomorrow cannot be better then today.

Untrue, just look at Europe before and after the Bubonic Plague.

You see massive economic collapse, but people are better off.

Well, the people who are still alive are better off.

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

#219
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For $15/mo I don't see any YouTube ads

Also works as opposed to donating to individual Patreons and such. I still don't like a cut being taken by YT because I disagree with their business practices though. Sponsorships are the future of online media creation, I guess. The YT ads are obviously dealt with through an adblocker.

Aha disagree with business practices, but happy to use their infrastructure to consume content, and still complaining about watching ads - ok

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

#220
post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't need anything else, it does.

Then how do you have all that money? And where are you keeping it? (1) Earning that money is still growing the economy, and (2) even a zero-interest bank account is growing the economy (you're just not seeing any remuneration for your part in that) - and (3) even if you took the money home and destroyed it, since you're still working, you're providing a very useful deflationary function since it means someone else ca…

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