Outnumbered: From Facebook and Google to Fake News and Filter-bubbles – The Algorithms That Control Our Lives by David Sumpter. He is a professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Uppsala, Sweden. David was awarded the UK’s Institute of Mathematics 2015 prize for communicating mathematics to a wider audience in his research How to Model Honeybee Colonies.
As this title implies, the exploitation of algorithms is brought into focus. The timing of reading this book today is almost perfect. The abuse by Facebook and Google continue. The fallout of the Cambridge Analytica scandal also continues. In fact, David’s work is perhaps even more poignant as OpenAI’s ChatGPT-3 has taken the world by storm.
Perhaps now in early 2023 the coming GPT4 will shift the common misconception that AI algorithms are actually more advanced that many considered.
While the world was somewhat confused by the integrity of ChatGPT-3 data, OpenAI’s collaboration integrating Wolfram|Alpha as the Way to Bring Computational Knowledge Superpowers to ChatGPT.
Give it less than six to eight months and this will spin the ChatGPT non-believers into new knots.
However there are certainly many interesting examples that follow revealing when statistical techniques require advanced mathematical knowledge and ultimately requiring more time (and effort) to fully understand and ultimately communicate outcomes effectively to general audience.
ChatGPT and the future of AI
Perhaps the impact of GPT4 will inspire David to launch a new book. GPT will certainly demonstrate that OpenAI can indeed upset the applecart, and perhaps rocking the world’s markets.
Nate Silver’s 2015 work The Signal and the Noise plays a key element within Outnumbered. The Cambridge Analytica model promised a lot for Ted Cruz. However, like many early technologies, it was too early to solidify how Cambridge Analytica will manipulate elections. In many respects David is missing the point as a UK resident:
Instead of Democrats focusing a campaign purely around traditional liberal media, they could focus on getting the vote out among Harry Potter fans. Republicans could target people who drink Starbucks coffee and people who go camping.
pg. 76
Without a doubt Outnumbered is suggesting that neural networks will be the future and provides a brief but good introduction to neural nets. David is obviously revealing that Google and Facebook are now able to successfully manipulate human behavior.
AI will get worse before it get’s better….perhaps
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff takes David’s messages even further into the darker side of driving Facebook’s quarterly billions in revenue based upon YOU and YOUR online activities. David does reveals that as the product, they sell YOU, regardless of how all the big tech lawyers spin ‘sell’ into micro categories of surveillance and data harvesting.
In conclusion, Outnumbered shows the shady side and power of algorithms is certainly addressed. There is certainly proof that our early engagements with AI (for sales and politics) is certainly still within its infancy. That may not be a good sign.