Technology evolves in time and through people using it. When the iPhone was released, Jobs talked about the new possibilities of email, answering on the fly, and having the benefit of asynchronous communication. Email has now become synonymous with inefficient communication – the poison of the workplace – because of the continuously flooded mailbox and back and forth involving too many employees with stuff that could be dealt with in a five-minute call or scratch the subject altogether.
Similarly, social media was a great thing when Facebook started. I remember the time when Zuckerberg claimed the blue app would always remain without advertisements. In 2012, ads were introduced into the main feed. Sharing pictures on Instagram with your friends and connecting with people seems genuinely a better proposition than doom-scrolling cat videos and the profiles of influencers paid to entertain you. In the past years, Meta has experimented with, next to the traditional fake profiles, generating its AI-made profiles to increase engagement (currently on hold due to bugs). Meta is still growing the number of monthly active users on its platforms, and new heights need a new money flow, so WhatsApp has recently introduced ads as well.
One can suggest that once digital technology reaches mass distribution, its disadvantages might outgrow the benefits. A few factors are worth noting here:
1) We talk about a digital technology for consumers that sits on the Internet and often involves interaction between people.
2) The more people use it and interact, the more likely we’ll see side effects like inefficiencies, monetisation, and toxic behaviour.
3) Visual content is the lollypop for our brains.
4) Machine learning algorithms boost our dopamine with personalised content, combined with new features and forms like shorts, compilations, or the automatic next video to play. Creators embrace such trends with clickbait content.
One of the most disgusting things is shorts on porn sites, not to say that watching porn regularly is not good in itself.
There are more recent examples like binge-watching on Netflix. This behaviour got popular in 2013 with the release of House of Cards. An internet search says that binge-watching improves satisfaction, and people tend to drop off less than when waiting for weekly episodes. Simply put, Netflix and others have found a way to keep audiences at their screens for longer. And since you’ve finished that awaited season of your favourite, you start watching something else recommended by the algorithm.
There are also apps like Spotify. You go there to listen to music or podcasts without any anxiety or neediness to come back for another dose of dopamine. It’s an overall enjoyable experience. Daniel Elk, the founder and CEO, also actively thinks about this effect, and I trust him. I believe it’s not a coincidence that Spotify is a European company with its headquarters in Sweden. Although even Spotify is on a slippery slope with new features like in-app messaging, podcast videos, and comments.
To complete the party, we have a new player in the game, the miracle of the AI boom – OpenAI. It may take Sam Altman a few years to figure out a successful business model, as subscriptions won’t do it. Whereas listening to Daniel Elk supports my feeling that he means well, hearing Sam Altman speak about his grand ideas on humanity makes me suspicious. The new Sora “social app” on ChatGPT for content generation might be a warning sign of what to anticipate in the future.
Remaining questions:
How is OpenAI going to evolve, and what will the fuel of growth be?
And when will it turn evil like the rest of the horde?