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> Here's a bitter pill for everyone. If it turns out that a large fraction of people really can have their opinion changed by bots that wouldn't even pass a Tur
by basementcat 7y ago
> Here's a bitter pill for everyone. If it turns out that a large fraction of people really can have their opinion changed by bots that wouldn't even pass a Turing test, maybe its time to rethink the idea that everyone gets to vote.
It isn't clear to me if this is necessarily a bitter pill as much as a possible direction for education reform. If unsophisticated bots are able to efficiently disseminate information to a wide audience, would it be possible to (using analogous techniques) vastly decrease the cost and increase the scalability of public education?
- mc32 7y agoI think you're too much an optimist. If some of the most educated people can be anti-vaxx, which is something which affects their families intimately and in the utmost serious way... Moreso that one election cycle. I don't think there is hope for regularly educated people.
- ryandrake 7y agoNothing new here though. For as long as I’ve been living, public opinion on any topic is roughly a function of media saturation. You can get the majority of people to believe grass is red and Elvis is still alive if you spend enough money and shout it through enough channels.
- tryptophan 7y ago> I don't think there is hope for regularly educated people. Maybe we should start by stopping to conflate being rational and wise with being 'educated'. As if going to college was some sort of panacea for all of our problems. Lately I've started to think that higher education(particularly undergrad) has more in common with a cargo cult than many would like to admit.