Tuesday, July 16, 2024, 11:39 p.m
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Mark Cuban, an American businessman, film producer, investor and television personality, has warned that social media algorithms could determine who is elected US president.
“This is the first election season driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI) where politics and personalities mean nothing and algorithms drive everything,” the billionaire investor wrote on X (formerly Twitter). Cuban claimed that “reporting provided by algorithms” – whether they are real or not – are now more important to voters than “real events”.
That means employees at social media companies that design algorithms have “the most influential positions in politics,” Cuban said — followed by campaign workers “who can figure out how to reverse engineer algorithms.”
Cuban exemplified the social network X, but said the thesis applies to all social platforms “that are tuned to maximize engagement and/or revenue.”
Beyond politics, he called the impact of unpredictable algorithms on today’s kids, who are even more influential than their parents, “terrifying.”
How does Cuban think the issue should be resolved?
“Any site that doesn’t fully publish its algorithms, with the full source code, should not allow minors to access the site,” Cuban told Business Insider.
If they do, Cuban said, “there should be an option for every parent to get a text history file by email every day, with links to all the videos.”
Cuban warned users to be wary of scammers. The famous entrepreneur previously expressed his support for President Joe Biden in the November election.
Source: ziare.com
