<story><title>When Algorithms Think You Want to Die</title><url>https://www.wired.com/story/when-algorithms-think-you-want-to-die/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>xg15</author><text>Interesting article, though I find some of the reached conclusions somewhat unexpected:&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; &lt;i&gt;The issue is not just about making graphic content disappear. Platforms need to better recognize when content is right for some and not for others, when finding what you searched for is not the same as being invited to see more, and when what‘s good for the individual may not be good for the public as a whole.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; &lt;i&gt;And these algorithms are optimized to serve the individual wants of individual users; it is much more difficult to optimize them for the collective benefit.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;This seems to suggest that the psychological effects of recommenders and &amp;quot;engagement maximizers&amp;quot; are not problematic per se - but today are simply not used with the right objectives in mind.&lt;p&gt;I find this view problematic, because &amp;quot;what&amp;#x27;s good for the public&amp;quot; is so vaguely defined, especially if you divorce it from &amp;quot;what&amp;#x27;s good for the individual&amp;quot;. In the most extreme cases, this could even justify actively driving people into depression or self-harm if you determined that they would otherwise channel their pain into political protests.&lt;p&gt;If we&amp;#x27;re looking for a metric, how about keeping it at an individual level but trying to maximize the &lt;i&gt;long-term&lt;/i&gt; wellbeing?</text></comment>
<story><title>When Algorithms Think You Want to Die</title><url>https://www.wired.com/story/when-algorithms-think-you-want-to-die/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>weddpros</author><text>Instagram thinks you want to starve yourself to death when you search for #fasting and offers help... but has no problem with #bingeeating or #meth...&lt;p&gt;Maybe it&amp;#x27;s not only algorithms that have a problem: I think it&amp;#x27;s our very belief that Instagram should do something to curb certain ideas and push others that&amp;#x27;s wrong.</text></comment>