Bridging-based algorithms are emerging as a possible alternative to heretofore dominant recommendation algorithms that will often serve up antagonistic, divisive content to viewers. The idea of bridging-based algorithms is that users will see more posts of positive interactions, rather than conflict.
The Five Most Key Takeaways from This Blog Post
- A significant question to ask oneself when envisioning a future of bridge-building algorithms is whether these things will significantly increase or decrease engagement. If it ends up being the latter, then platforms will likely be unwilling to use an algorithm that affects the bottom line. (The bottom line being to make money, even if just to keep the passion project afloat.)
- For business owners, the question to figure out is whether these algorithms could affect consumer behavior on the platform. A question with an answer the size of a research paper or two would be whether Internet-bred agitation and antagonization or good vibes are more conducive to online purchases.
- Another advertising-related question is whether the advertisements themselves will be affected by these algorithms. For instance, if the ad-targeting is based partly on users’ data and fulfilled A.I. ad-placement algorithms, what if such an algorithm inhibits the reach of an ad that it deems, for whatever reason, contrary to its goal of bridging differences?
- Some consumer products may inherently be controversial, for whatever reason. For businesses that make such products, would the advertising reach of these companies on platforms suddenly become more limited?
- This will become especially prevalent in the cases of sponsorships through e-celebrity (and just regular-celebrity) endorsers who create controversial, divisive content while also serving up Sponsored content to their followers and others who happen upon their content.
Will Building Bridges Between Users Build Bridges to More Purchases?
In a whitepaper-looking thing published by Harvard’s Belfer Center, the pitch for bridging-based algorithms is made with many arguments, a salient one of which is that engagement-based algorithms that serve up the content that users want to see, regardless of what that content may be, can have a net negative effect on users.
Business owners may benefit from this if it turns out to be the case that fellowship-feeling among users of a given platform leads to a greater willingness to make purchases.
Does This Have Any Chance of Actually Happening?
The writer of this blog post finds it hard to believe that e.g. a social-media company would overhaul its entire recommendation scheme just for the sake of potentially improving fellowship-feeling among the users.
That expensive endeavor, after all, may not even pay off, and could potentially harm profits in the long run if it really does turn out to be the case that humanity makes less purchases when bridging-based algorithms are in place.
Another issue is that people simply may not take to online platforms that use bridging-based algorithms, migrating instead to places that are more engagement-based. It may indeed just be the case that divisiveness may just be more “fun”, and therefore attractive to people.
And plus also what would content that supposedly “bridges divides” even resemble? Surely one of the sources of divisive content is not just the content itself, but just the complex and diverse array of perspectives that lead to warring interpretations over the veracity, merits, potential agendas, etc. behind any article.
Then there’s the issue of who gets to decide what content is decisive or not. That alone is enough to encourage conflict.
The Upshot for Business Owners
So the overall point the writer of this blog is trying to make here is that any business owners reading this who begin to see things about bridging-based algorithms pop up in articles and other platforms, it is perhaps quite unlikely that such algorithms will fully replace the existing engagement-based algorithms.
Other Great GO AI Blog Posts
GO AI the blog offers a combination of information about, analysis of, and editorializing on A.I. technologies of interest to business owners, with especial focus on the impact this tech will have on commerce as a whole.
On a usual week, there are multiple GO AI blog posts going out. Here are some notable recent articles:
- For Businesses and Other Organizations, What Makes a Successful Chatbot?
- IBM Watson vs. ChatGPT vs. Gemini: How Will Each Affect Search Engines?
- Using A.I. to Find Resources for Business Owners
- How Would Restricting Open-Source A.I. Affect Business Owners?
- The EU’s A.I. Act Has Become Law: The Implications for Business Owners (Especially American)
In addition to our GO AI blog, we also have a blog that offers important updates in the world of search engine optimization (SEO), with blog posts like “Google Ends Its Plan to End Third-Party Cookies”.
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