We often hear about algorithms that can forecast our preferences, suggest products, or even detect health issues before they become apparent. How can a machine, which doesn’t have consciousness or feelings, accurately predict something so complex as human behavior? I’m fascinated by this intersection of technology and psychology and would love to hear from anyone who can shed light on the mysterious ways these algorithms seem to ‘know’ us. What’s happening behind the scenes that makes this possible?
In: 10
There’s an element of brute force to it – a machine can study human behavior with an intensity and repetitiveness that humans can’t match.
And they’re not limited by logic, which is actually a very powerful attribute. If a human attempted to make these kind of connections, they would inevitably try to form logical links, like “what’s the connection between a person’s income and their buying habits?”
The computer doesn’t know or care about that. It’s just as likely to look for a connection between hair color and toothpaste preference as it is to look for one between income and purchase power. Which lets it find connections that would be completely invisible to a human researcher.
That combination – not being bound by pre-conceptions of what should or shouldn’t be connected, and being able to study truly mind-boggling amounts of data – allows them to discover things about human behavior that we would never have suspected.
It’s so powerful that people think their devices are spying on them because they’ll be thinking about buying a jeep for a week, then suddenly they start seeing jeep ads. Because it’s hard to believe that to a computer, we’re THAT predictable.
(I know there’s some spying going on too, but that’s a whole other rabbit hole, and it’s less connected to this issue than some people would probably assume. It’s much more about prediction than it is about listening to you in your home.)
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