Caught in a Web
When an algorithm tells us that we are going to like something, we trust the algorithm more than ourselves.
In a world where the internet saturates everything, where does the internet stop, and our human selves begin? Nudged and pushed by an endless stream of alerts, notifications and recommendations, our attention and money are pulled in directions that serve the interests of the platforms. The New York Times tech columnist Kevin Roose asks, are our personalities and thoughts our own, or are we becoming what the algorithms make us? Roose’s keynote talk is followed by a conversation with UNSW Scientia Professor of AI, Toby Walsh.
To access a transcript of this podcast please head here.
This talk was a part of the 2022 Festival of Dangerous Ideas.
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Kevin Roose
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Kevin Roose and Toby Walsh
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Caught in a Web panel discussion
Kevin Roose
Kevin Roose is an award-winning technology columnist for The New York Times and the best-selling author of three books, Futureproof, Young Money, and The Unlikely Disciple. His column, 'The Shift', examines the intersection of tech, business, culture, and the combined effect they have on society. Recently, that has meant a lot of coverage of companies like Facebook and YouTube, as well as profiles of internet personalities like PewDiePie, and social phenomena like online radicalisation and workplace automation. He is the host of Rabbit Hole, a New York Times produced narrative audio series about what the internet is doing to us, and a regular guest on The Daily, as well as other leading TV and radio shows. He frequently writes and speaks on topics including automation and AI, social media, disinformation and cybersecurity, and digital wellness. Before joining The New York Times, he was a writer at New York Magazine, and a host and executive producer of Real Future, a documentary TV series about technology and innovation.
Toby Walsh (Host)
Toby Walsh is an ARC Laureate Fellow and Scientia Professor of AI at UNSW Sydney and CSIRO Data61. He is a strong advocate for limits to ensure AI is used to improve our lives, having spoken at the UN, and to heads of state, parliamentary bodies, company boards and many other bodies on this topic. He is a Fellow of the Australia Academy of Science, and was named on the international Who's Who in AI list of influencers. He has authored three books on AI for a general audience, the most recent entitled Machines Behaving Badly: the morality of AI.
