Yesterday I wrote a long LinkedIn post with my thoughts about why a new feature it’s testing—the ability to turn on and off political content—is ethically dicey idea at best, and why it has has the potential for harm.
When you create tools for the public, especially when you have the size and influence of a company like LinkedIn, you have a moral responsibility to think beyond the experience of the individual user.
Read MoreOne silver lining in the COVID-19 crisis: we’re going to make huge advances in virtual medicine—and it’s about time.
I’ve done virtual therapy. My son is doing doctor’s appointments right now via video chat. The technology has been there for a while—with privacy concerns noted and being worked through—but in our experience, it’s the insurance companies that have to catch up.
Read MoreThe COVID-19 crisis is already dramatically reshaping our economy, at a macro and micro level.
From a macroeconomic standpoint, the next few months will be a culling of the herd. Businesses in some key industries that have invested in digital transformation will come out of this crisis stronger, both from having seen their core revenue streams grow and having seen some of their competitors dry up. We’ll also see some of the biggest players get bigger: Big Tech will consolidate its foothold on American life; Amazon will accelerate its takeover of small businesses around the country.
Read MoreConsider three recent examples of the unintended consequences of scale:
Airbnb is accelerating over-tourism, as rental properties are bought up by investors.
Food delivery apps are creating “ghost kitchens”: restaurants that exist only online.
All of these situations are predictable and preventable.
Read MoreBen Thompson has a great counterpoint today about an experiment on data tracking ran by the New York Times. (If you haven’t already read the Times piece, it’s fascinating: a dystopian dive into all the ways our activity is tracked online. It’s also a lot of fear mongering.)
Read MoreGood overview in TechCrunch yesterday of the many, many ways in which algorithms and other forms of artificial intelligence are already affecting our ability to existing in public. An A.I.-driven future isn’t coming—it’s already here.
Read MoreTwo stories stood out to me recently:
Apparently parents are completely OK with summer camps surveilling their children because they get to look in on them. (I thought sending kids away to camp was so they could unplug?)
The rise of “black boxes” that monitor driving patterns in order to provide discounts on car insurance.
If you think surveillance capitalism is something happening behind the scenes—the sinister work of corporate executives creepily monitoring our lives—think again. We’re gladly opening the blinds.
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