Technology & the Media
MEDIA | TECHNOLOGY
How has technology transformed the landscape of media, from personalized content to social manipulation?"
By Adam Anouti
February 5, 2024In recent times, technology has been advancing at an unprecedented rate. This exponential development of technology has had a significant impact on different realms of human endeavor. In specific, technology has had a significant impact on the quality, distribution and influence of the media.
First off, technology has greatly increased the volume and quality that media is produced at. For example, the average internet user views between 6,000 and 10,000 advertisements a day. This astronomical statistic would be unheard of without the development of the world wide web, and other technologies which allow for digital media creation. Moreover, the advantage which digital technology gives to the producers of different media has been signified by the heavy blows to the market share of older technologies. For example, according to a magna advertising forecast in December of 2020, cinema’s market share has decreased by 80%. Finally, the media has become more personalized and more satisfactory with the development of AI technology. Recently, tech giants such as Amazon have been using AI technologies to provide their users with more personalized content, thus pinpointing each user’s interests, and more accurately providing individuals with content they would want.
However, while technology has made media more distributable and specialized, it has also provided tech giants with a method of manipulating the consumers of their contents. Social media platforms have been a facilitator of this epidemic of mass social manipulation. The social algorithm is designed to take advantage of human instinct and biology, as it successfully addicts millions of people to social media, thus allowing them to consume more content. The algorithm accomplishes this by building a digital model of each individual user, based on the data accumulated off of them, and then predicting what would maximize the users engagement. Additionally, with the development of AI, this phenomenon has become more severe and accurate, as the algorithm is capable of learning from and fixing its misinterpretations and calculations. The inherent problem with mathematically maximizing the usage of social platforms is that it does not protect the user from social manipulation which can come in many forms, mainly in advertisements. Recently, experts have become increasingly worried about the role that AI and social technologies might play in manipulating society’s opinion, and thus manipulating crucial events such as the US presidential election. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI has stated that he is indeed concerned that some people might use language models to manipulate, persuade and engage in one-on-one interactions with voters. This manipulation may undermine democracy, as it puts the opinion of the people in the hands of the uber-wealthy technological giants.
In conclusion, technology has had a great impact on the way media influences society, and the way it is created and distributed. However, this impact can be severely detrimental if the usage of new technologies such as AI is not kept in check. While these technologies have the potential to greatly aid in the development of media, they can also turn the media from a tool of expression and education into a weapon used to biologically and coldly manipulate the minds of many.
Works Cited
Magna Global. “Magna Advertising Forecasts December 2020.” Magna Global, https://magnaglobal.com/magna-advertising-forecasts-december-2020/.
Silverline CRM. “How Technology Has Changed the Media Industry and What’s Next.” Silverline CRM Blog, https://silverlinecrm.com/blog/media/how-technology-has-changed-the-media-industry-and-whats-next/.
The Conversation. “How AI Could Take Over Elections and Undermine Democracy.” The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/how-ai-could-take-over-elections-and-undermine-democracy-206051.
