Well, technically not “mind reading”, but it’s close. It’s adaptive artificial intelligence with algorithms that make it seem like someone is reading your mind.
Ok, it’s 2020 and damn near everyone is aware of the fact that Facebook and other companies are “listening” to our conversations through our devices. We can’t prove it 100%, but we can damn sure do some controlled tests that lead to circumstantial evidence that points to “listening” to conversations.
Me and the wife have done such experiments, along with me and a couple of friends have done the same. We’ve actually put the devices in other rooms and whispered our plans to “test” the ability of the device (Facebook) to listen to the conversations and apply what they’ve learned to ads that are served in our news feeds. Now, I will say this, we don’t know for-sure that Facebook is the app that is doing the listening, it *could* be the phone manufacturer or operating system and Facebook is buying the data, regardless, the end result is being served ads based on nothing more than what we say while our devices are present. The control for this situation is to figure out a mutual word or phrase that represents some consumable for sale online that we have NEVER searched for or discussed in the past. One of the easiest ways of testing this is to find a hobby that neither party has an interest in or has ever engaged, researched, etc. such as an “ant farm”. I have never searched for “ant farm”, and neither has my friend. We’ve haven’t said those words together, out loud, for our devices to hear in years, or perhaps, ever. We say the words, “ant farm”, and continue to say them over the course of the next couple of days a few times. Low and behold, an ad comes up on Facebook for an “ant farm”. We do this again and again with different things we’ve never said, researched, entered into a search engine, etc. and it happens again, and again, and again, and again. This has been happening over and over for several years.
Guess what? I’ve found something new. They’re taking this to the next level and guessing, rather well I might add, at things BEFORE we say them. We’re just thinking about it. We’re not saying “…I’ve been thinking about starting an ant farm.” or “…wouldn’t it be cool to watch an ant farm?”
My most recent encounter concerns “ice”. Yes, that’s a common thing. No, one doesn’t search online for “ice” unless you’re looking for one of those self-serve ice vending machines on Google Maps or you’re actively looking for an ice-maker (or perhaps a refrigerator with a built-in ice maker). My wife and I recently put in a pool and expanded our deck area. We have the niece and nephews over a lot, along with a few friends and other family members. One thing we try to do is, add ice regularly to a cooler full of beverages we keep on the deck. It’s no big deal really, we have an ice-maker in our frig, so we use that, along with ice from various ice machines we have access to that aren’t being used like they should be because of the lack of activity during this #covid19 thing that’s been going on. It’s better for an ice maker to cycle the ice that comes out, because that’s what an ice maker is made to do, make ice. We will say things like “…I’ll pick up a bag of ice later.” or “…a friend brought a couple of bags of ice yesterday.” Things like that. We have no intention of buying a big ice maker, although, I have considered it, but only in a theoretical sense, I’ve just been “thinking” about it. I’ve never searched for pricing (I already know the cost because I purchased one for the fire department over 10 years ago and have an idea on the pricing) and I was never seriously considering it, just thinking how much easier it would be to have a large ice maker (I have no real place to put it, would take up way too much space).
So, what can I take from all of this? The algorithms have went from taking a spoken word, conceptualizing that word or phrase and making it available for purchase to advertisers, to creating “what if” scenarios based on extrapolating potential concepts out of the context of the spoken word, while we have never said anything about searching for or buying a new, larger ice maker, by theorizing “they use a lot of ice” into “they may want an ice maker”, we’re now being served ads about large ice makers for the home.
This is of course, one example of many different instances I’ve encountered recently where “the next step” is being handled by the A.I. and a bridge is being created as I take that first step; the bridge is basically “landing under my feet” and being created in real-time, rather than existing before I take the step.
As I said, it’s not really “mind reading”, but it’s as close as we’ve ever come, with a massive amount of evidence to prove it exists.
What is the next level of advertising prediction?
Is this type of advertising predication being used in other, unconnected endeavors?
Is this type of advertising predication being funded for the use in other avenues?
Everything has a beginning, are we seeing the results of another use or is this the beginning of the use? In my opinion on this question, it holds water that a great driving force for new innovation is to monetize the innovation and what better way to monetize than through advertisement? If this is the first step, again, what is the next level?
A lot of things to consider.
