The stream of consciousness flow below was generated after reading this article in The Guardian today. Some might consider this post a form of torture.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/oct/29/is-my-phone-listening-to-me-we-ask-the-expert

The idea that “We need to have control over who has this information and why. Data protection is a key battleground for human rights.” is as phony as a carbon tax. Someone or something (an algorithm somewhere) wants us to not actually eliminate the problem, but to instead talk about it more.

instead: don’t tax carbon, stop creating carbon.
instead: don’t control personal data, stop collecting it.

I have watched Google News present the same story different times of day but with different picture or headlines. The AI behind the scenes is learning which pictures or headlines produce the most interest (clicks).

Then there are the articles that AI writes itself. Those are getting to be more interesting than real opinionated news!

I have watched Google News present more articles about a subject I previously clicked on. In fact, I have to be careful that I don’t accidentally click on a subject I don’t like, or I will get more of it.

I have multiple devices. Google News follows me from device to device, learning from each one. The Google News on my Pixel phone really knows the most about me since it is a Google controlled environment. True, it really does try to help me sometimes. Pixel News (as I call it) even asks if a particular “card” is useful to me right now. Sometimes I lie! Shhh. I wish they had an option to say “not right now, but maybe later”. My iPad Google News App never asks what I like!

If I want “pure” News from Google, I have to use a computer at the office where I am a volunteer which does not have Google News in the Favorite list.

We have AT&T T-V. I am suspicious that AT&T is buying my data from Google. Why else would it suddenly start showing adds for Depends after I search for local urologists! And you should see the adverts for medicines that we are forced to mute. True, we are older people in this house, but how does AT&T know that without buying data from Google or Amazon or Facebook. I wonder if there are 3rd party data brokers.

Yes, AI is alive and growing.

Think about the stock market. Long ago Google made AI software routines available for free on the internet. Did you expect those hedge funds in NYC to ignore that? Hell no, they hired brainy AI programmers who downloaded the software for free and then set about developing AI systems that always go up. Markets generally cycle up and down. This old bull market should have cycled down a few years ago, but no, it just keeps going up (ever since Google uploaded those AI routines to Github). Some slick AI is helping to maintain the growth of the growth stocks. Think Tesla… it is just a freaking car company, after all.

You must realize that AI is behind this super ultra bull market.

I just wish my Pixel had told me this was going to happen. It tells me everything else I think I ought to want to know. Maybe I should ask in a nicer way?

Should I be concerned that Pixel News is now showing me articles about memory loss?

Should I be concerned that T-V News now presents some stories that first appeared in Google News?