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If democracy is threatened by a simple automated news feed then it's doomed to fail anyway.
by tree_of_item 9y ago
If democracy is threatened by a simple automated news feed then it's doomed to fail anyway.
- craftyguy 9y agoExactly. The next Facebook news feed will just fill the void, and people who blindly believe what they are exposed to will be in the same situation. Killing Facebook news feed is trying to treat the symptom while completely ignoring the disease.
- theyregreat 9y agoMagnifying gossip is the issue. It’s almost as if we need a few thousand people or AI with really good domain knowlege and common sense whom can somehow handle moderating the onslaught of conspiracy theories, rumors and general BS. Seems very difficult to scale on the tech side. We might be better off finding a path to building in-real life communities whom can educate each other and discuss such things civilly.
- craftyguy 9y agoI think your other comment is spot-on: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15413662 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15413662
- freedomben 9y agoIn theory I agree, but in practice people are much more emotional than we like to admit, and we come with loads of baggage in the form of preconceptions, presuppositions, and ideologies. We also have a tendency to be wrong about things sometimes (to err is human?), even in fields where we have expertise. Could AI fix this for us? Maybe. AI isn't entirely free of the bias of its creators tho. As far as solutions to magnifying gossip and fake news, I don't really have an answer. Perhaps you are on the right track.
- theyregreat 9y agoThe mob is fickle, and prone to learned helplessness, which invites corruption, bureaucracy and the fall of “Rome.”
- Johnny555 9y agoBased on the results of the last USA election, that appears to be the case.