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Biased AI, social media manipulation

Design inspiration series. Biased AI, tricks to overcome smartphone addiction and ten arguments for deleting social media accounts.

Design, Digested 7 by Silvia Maggi
Image credits - Clara Juliano, designer at Coding Rights; Eddy Billard

The Future Is TransFeminist: from Imagination to Action

My friend Mel pointed me to this article, saying that it ties in with my thinking, and she’s right. Joana Varon’s question is: what would the future look like if algorithms that command our daily interactions were developed based on feminist values? The article is a deep dive into feminism, the internet, video games, social media and much more. It’s a compelling read.

🔗 Read the article (on Medium)

Biased AI Perpetuates Racial Injustice

In her article for TechCrunch, Miriam Vogel explains how AI exacerbates racism and disparities. Machines are neutral and scientific, but, if AI teams are not diverse and educated on ethics and in recognising bias, they become a mirror that reflects the defects of our society.

🔗 Read the article (on TechCrunch)

Webwaste

A List Apart shared an excerpt from Chapter 9 of Gerry McGovern’s Book World Wide Waste, a fascinating read on how the web changed since 1994. The number of websites, the weight of pages, third-party content and scripts hanging off them, all contribute to increasing our digital waste. Which, in turn, creates pollution. Time to tidy up.

🔗 Read the excerpt (on A List Apart)

It’s Not You. Phones Are Designed to Be Addicting.

Your smartphone and the apps you’re using are designed to be addicting. The goal is to grab your attention, keep you engaged and likely sell you something. Find out how they do it and learn a few tricks to spend less screen time in the following video. And breathe.

Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now

The time we spend hooked on our devices is not the only thing that should worry us. Jaron Lanier explains how social media work and why their toxic effects are at the heart of big companies’ business models and design. If you, like me, ever thought about deleting or deactivating your accounts, this book could be for you.

🔗 Read more about the book (on Goodreads)

Comments

  • 💬 Simone – If there ever was a good time for leaving social media and build a more sane digital life, it is now. Great resources, as always. I'm currently reading Lanier's book on my Kobo and it's extraordinary.
  • ↪️ Silvia Maggi – @Simone Thank you! Staying away from social media seems like the right choice, especially during this moment in time. Not sure which I’ll delete, or when, but staying away feels already liberating.

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