The phrase "apps — billboards under your thumb" immediately resonated with me. It’s a powerful, almost unsettling, image that captures the essence of our modern digital existence. Our most personal devices, held so intimately, have become canvases for constant commercial and informational display, fueled by an insatiable appetite for our data.
This isn't a new phenomenon I've been pondering. Years ago, I wrote extensively about the erosion of privacy and how technology would inevitably lead to a world where our personal information would be collected, analyzed, and leveraged. I had predicted this outcome or challenge, and it's striking how relevant those earlier insights still are. Reflecting on it today, I feel a sense of validation and also a renewed urgency to revisit those earlier ideas.
I recall the lively debate between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg concerning the dangers and promises of AI. While Zuckerberg, with his optimism and creation of Jarvis, focused on AI's beneficial applications, Musk warned of its potential "doom" and the need for caution. My blogs, such as "AI : Destroyer of Privacy ?" and "Privacy does not live here !," detailed how this pervasive technology, from AI assistants to smart devices, would relentlessly collect our data. We willingly, and often unknowingly, surrender information that turns our digital lives into open books.
Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen (Email: jared.cohen@gs.com), in their book "The New Digital Age," articulated this vision of pervasive data. They foresaw a future where individuals would produce a voluminous amount of data about themselves, much of it "opt-in" but also some "without their express knowledge." As I pointed out in "Supreme may Propose : Technology will Dispose," they specifically mentioned that "it will be IMPOSSIBLE to control what others capture and share." This perfectly describes how apps today function as these 'billboards,' constantly capturing and sharing our digital footprints.
The intelligence behind these digital billboards is, of course, Artificial Intelligence. I remember when tech giants like Facebook, Amazon, Google, IBM, and Microsoft formed a partnership on AI and machine learning. As Mustafa Suleyman of DeepMind noted, they wanted to involve people impacted by AI, and Francesca Rossi (Email: francesca.rossi2@ibm.com) of IBM Research emphasized the need for trust. Satya Nadella (Email: satyan@microsoft.com) of Microsoft even predicted that AI-powered bots would "fundamentally revolutionise how computing is experienced." This collaboration, as discussed in "Revenge of AI," laid the groundwork for an environment where AI, operating within these apps, has become central to how information is curated and presented to us.
Furthermore, the concept of AI systems forming their own societies, as explored in the research led by Ariel Flint Ashery (Email: ariel.ashery@advance-he.ac.uk) and senior author Andrea Baronchelli, highlights a deeper layer to this digital ecosystem. If AI agents can coordinate behavior and form conventions, as detailed in "Whatever Will Be, Will Be," one can only imagine the sophisticated ways they influence the content displayed on our "thumb-billboards," perhaps even without explicit human direction. Andrea Baronchelli's insight that bias can emerge between agents, not just from within, is a potent reminder of the subtle influences at play.
Ultimately, the apps on our phones are more than just tools; they are highly personalized, dynamic billboards reflecting our desires, habits, and even our emotions. They've become extensions of ourselves, mirroring our lives back to us, often with an added layer of persuasion. The challenge now is to recognize this reality and navigate it with greater awareness, understanding that every tap, swipe, and scroll contributes to the picture painted on these ever-present digital canvases.
Regards,
Hemen Parekh
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