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From their web page: > Boundless Mind makes it easy to hook your users. That's not that this post's title made me think it was, which was something that make

From their web page: > Boundless Mind makes it easy to hook your users. That's not that this post's title made me think it was, which was something that make people put away their phones[0]. [0]: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/27/mobile-phone-addiction-apps-break-the-habit-take-back-control https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/27/mobile-ph...

rockarage 9y ago
You're right, perhaps the worst headline ever, the company actually wants to do the opposite: "Meet the tech company that wants to make you even more addicted to your phone" – TechCrunch at: https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/08/meet-the-tech-company-that-wants-to-make-you-even-more-addicted-to-your-phone/ https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/08/meet-the-tech-company-that... The Time's editor should be ashamed.
jmcphers 9y ago
Indeed, it's almost the opposite! > > Boundless Mind’s business model is to develop new versions of the same persuasive tools, combined with machine learning, that big tech firms already use–and then to sell them to nonprofits and companies promoting education, health or social welfare.
- RangerScience 9y ago
  But not quite! It's rare to have a running addiction, but common to have a running habit. Is the line the strength of the compulsion, or the effect on the human...?
  - mercer 9y ago
    Both. We all compulsively sleep, eat, and hydrate, but those are not a addictions because they're good for us. With running I suppose the effort to do it, even if it's a habit, prevents most people from getting addicted to it. And then those that have some psychological 'dependence' on running would not generally be considered 'addicted' because running is mostly healthy.
tdaltonc 9y ago
We don't see it as making "tech addictive," but that's the story the press likes to tell about us. Behavioral Design is a lot more than "do it more." The understanding of neuroscience that we now have, and the ability of machine learning to quickly 'understand' a user is opening up a whole new frontier of ways to change people. So far, these techniques have only been used to make games and social media addictive; we're making it possible to use it for everything else.
- haraball 9y ago
  The copy on your webpage[0] makes it seem like you "make any tech addictive" to me. So sounds like the press isn't that far off. [0]: https://www.boundless.ai/ https://www.boundless.ai/
  - tdaltonc 9y ago
    The point of the marketing page is to generate sales leads, not be a pure expression of our manifesto. That copy, in that place, does a good job of advancing our goal, even if it doesn't do a good job of communicating it.
  - RangerScience 9y ago
    "Morally ambiguous technology applied in morally unambiguous ways." There's a difference between the mission (power tools for your habits) and the current stage (which is "garage SaaS startup")

rockarage 9y ago

You're right, perhaps the worst headline ever, the company actually wants to do the opposite: "Meet the tech company that wants to make you even more addicted to your phone" – TechCrunch at: https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/08/meet-the-tech-company-that-wants-to-make-you-even-more-addicted-to-your-phone/ https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/08/meet-the-tech-company-that... The Time's editor should be ashamed.

jmcphers 9y ago

Indeed, it's almost the opposite! > > Boundless Mind’s business model is to develop new versions of the same persuasive tools, combined with machine learning, that big tech firms already use–and then to sell them to nonprofits and companies promoting education, health or social welfare.

RangerScience 9y ago
But not quite! It's rare to have a running addiction, but common to have a running habit. Is the line the strength of the compulsion, or the effect on the human...?
- mercer 9y ago
  Both. We all compulsively sleep, eat, and hydrate, but those are not a addictions because they're good for us. With running I suppose the effort to do it, even if it's a habit, prevents most people from getting addicted to it. And then those that have some psychological 'dependence' on running would not generally be considered 'addicted' because running is mostly healthy.

tdaltonc 9y ago

We don't see it as making "tech addictive," but that's the story the press likes to tell about us. Behavioral Design is a lot more than "do it more." The understanding of neuroscience that we now have, and the ability of machine learning to quickly 'understand' a user is opening up a whole new frontier of ways to change people. So far, these techniques have only been used to make games and social media addictive; we're making it possible to use it for everything else.

haraball 9y ago
The copy on your webpage[0] makes it seem like you "make any tech addictive" to me. So sounds like the press isn't that far off. [0]: https://www.boundless.ai/ https://www.boundless.ai/
- tdaltonc 9y ago
  The point of the marketing page is to generate sales leads, not be a pure expression of our manifesto. That copy, in that place, does a good job of advancing our goal, even if it doesn't do a good job of communicating it.
- RangerScience 9y ago
  "Morally ambiguous technology applied in morally unambiguous ways." There's a difference between the mission (power tools for your habits) and the current stage (which is "garage SaaS startup")