Can there really be an objective measurement? You should think first thing data harvesters would implement is a sort of cloak, to erase any traces of what’s going on. Think Dieselgate, but more sophisticated. E.g. phone detects it’s being tested the way you described, or is in the hands of a state attorney or whatever, the recording/ forwarding/ prcoessing of data stops.
Same here. Confidential discussion with lawyer/ doctor/ pharmacist, get extremely relevant ads at once. Therefore, I made it a habit to completely turn off my phone before entering such situations, and, if I can, put it in a switched-off microwave or some other Faraday cage structure, Snowden-style.
The “likes by dead people” story broke in 2012. Ever since, I’ve been assuming that most likes for the stuff I’ve been posting, especially from friends I’ve not talked to in many years, are inorganic and inauthentic. Still I post sometimes because I know a few people actually do care about what I’m up to and we don’t meet very often at all. Of course, I strip all EXIF data from my photos first.
Amazon: fake products AND fake reviews
I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. No, we’re not there yet, may never be. Compare what Jesar, one of my favorite artists, can do - and that was in the oh-so-long-ago 2000s - and what an AI can do. It’s simply not up to the task. I do use AI a lot to create what is basically utility art. But it depends on pre-defined textual or visual inputs whereas only an artist can have divine inspiration. AI is more of a sterile tool, like interactive clipart, if you will.
Most humans are born with orifices, I think that counts.
Maybe it was only-secretaries dot com.
I gotta disagree with you here. At least on the sub(s) that I still - on the occasion of big events - take a glance at. To me, Reddit comments are the epitome of staleness and predictability. Also, their user base seems like a bunch of 40-year-old dads that mentally peaked at 16, but keep getting more racist by the year.
I’m certain my productivity at work dropped significantly because of this fucking upgrade. It’s slow as molasses, at times unstable and 50% of the time I send the laptop to “hibernate,” both it and me wake up to yet another update cycle, meaning it did a completely unwanted hard restart and my unsaved work has been lost without a warning. Crazy my company is paying for that shit.
These days, the “suggested searches” are ads in the shape of searches of companies or products, many of which nobody ever heard of. Gone are the days of the genuine “other people searched for this.” It was only a matter of time, I guess.