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Continuing our work to improve recommendations on YouTube

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Re: Continuing our work to improve recommendations on YouTube

#31

Post by jsheard »

bengale wrote: post #3

It does seem to be getting better, for a long while I had to make sure to clear my history of any conservative leaning videos or I'd end up down a rabbit hole. Too many and all of a sudden its bloody flat earth videos and other insane conspiracies. Made it very difficult to try and watch a balanced set of videos.

The way the algorithm pushes steadily more radical content is really concerning. Try making a completely fresh browser profile and deliberately browsing around right-leaning or "anti-SJW" channels and see how long it takes before YouTube starts pushing videos about white genocide and the impending destruction of western civilization by the muslim hordes (not very long in my experience).

edit:

I just tried this again and not much has changed. Started by viewing Joe Rogan's interview with Elon Musk on a fresh profile. The first suggestion from there is a Jordan Peterson anti-feminist video, from there we get a Jordan Peterson anti-islam video, then "The Suicide of Europe" by PragerU, and from there the floodgates are opened to fear-mongering about "rapefugees". That's less than a dozen clicks on highly related videos to get from Elon Musk smoking weed to videos with an overtly racist agenda, on a profile that's never sought out that kind of content previously.

Re: Continuing our work to improve recommendations on YouTube

#32

Post by tivert »

RodgerTheGreat wrote: post #15
ghostbrainalpha wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you accidentally comment on the wrong story? Or is this a joke that I'm not getting?

They're making a reference to the novel 1984, in which governments routinely recast history such that the current status quo "has always been this way".

> They're making a reference to the novel 1984, in which governments routinely recast history such that the current status quo "has always been this way".

Though the reference they're making is so irrelevant to this story that it verges on a non sequitur. This action is more akin to developing a spam filter for your email service than a government totally rewriting history for political reasons.

If you're going to reference a work as well-known as 1984, make sure it's a very apt reference.

Re: Continuing our work to improve recommendations on YouTube

#35

Post by sam1r »

petermcneeley wrote: post #26
throwaway2048 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yep, feels like they completely ignore it, right up to the point they just re-recommend the same videos.

You should make a video detailing why you have this theory and post it on youtube.

I pledge to rebuttal with a counter theory, if you make this video detailing yours

Re: Continuing our work to improve recommendations on YouTube

#36

Post by vbuwivbiu »

elektor wrote: post #2

Long overdue. Maybe in a few months I can watch a Joe Rogan podcast video without tainting my YouTube recommendations for the next year with Ben Shapiro-style clickbait.

same! I touched a Rogan podcast & ever since I've been getting recommendations for a certain JP

Re: Continuing our work to improve recommendations on YouTube

#37

Post by driverdan »

ilaksh wrote: post #33

Unfortunately things are converging on the Chinese model. Young people in the US have been so brainwashed against anything really critical of the government that they are literally earnestly requesting political censorship.

I downvoted you because YouTube made no indication they're censoring anything at the behest of the government. They're also not removing content, just adjust what's recommended.

Re: Continuing our work to improve recommendations on YouTube

#38

Post by Causality1 »

YouTube suggestions are worthless now. Used to be if you were watching "Jack cooks a 4 course meal part 2" the recommended videos would be "Jack cooks a 4 course meal part 3", Part 1, and some other videos by the same user. Now it's a host of other unrelated bullshit.

Re: Continuing our work to improve recommendations on YouTube

#39

Post by crankylinuxuser »

I know this is about Youtube suggestions, but let me share another google property with suggestions: Google Mail.

https://twitter.com/300_lines/status/1088288289042415617

------------------------

Tweet: "Ugh. G-mail's suggested responses to an update from my aunt about my uncle's fight with cancer.

Google Mail suggests: Will do! So cute! Love it!"

------------------------

If this is the quality of AI and their suggestions machine learning, then I have serious doubts. I'd figure the word "cancer" would be enough for basic sentiment calculators to go 'give somber sad answer', not "Love it!"

Re: Continuing our work to improve recommendations on YouTube

#40

Post by atonse »

We currently don't allow our son to watch anything on youtube, simply because it's a cesspool of horrible videos for children. You're always almost one click away from some violent video where cartoon characters are getting their limbs chopped off, etc. And it's sickening that Google's done nothing about it.

Secondly, I can't watch any video without it taking over my recommendations. Alex Jones for example. I still haven't watched an Alex Jones video (I was curious about what rubbish he spews), without worrying that I'll get a bunch of delusional hyper-conservative drivel taking over my recommendations.

There should be a way to watch a video once and not have it take over your recommendations.

On the one hand, we find that we're making great strides in certain areas with ML. On the other hand, recommendation systems are still just so, so, so naive and bad.

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