Cartoon: May We Recommend...
Between the iTunes Genius Sidebar, Amazon's recommender system and Pandora's virtual DJ, recommender systems are now getting close to knowing my tastes better than I do.
There's a certain seductive attraction to the idea that collaborative filtering and artificial intelligence could hand us our heart's desire before our hearts even think of it. Think of the time and effort I could save if I didn't have to make decisions about what to eat, buy, wear, listen to, watch or read. When it comes right down to it, free will is a genuine time suck, and seriously cuts into my blogging schedule.
Then again, as I speak, iTunes is trying to convince me that if I like the Electric Light Orchestra, I'm gonna love Styx. So maybe there's a role for my brain's frontal lobes yet.
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I think that Styx recommendation is the canary in the mine that SkyNet has already turned against us. God help us all.
Sorry if I sound cliche'd, but get a life guys! What's next, you'd have a robot eat your food for ya! If you let computer programs make choices for you, you're just getting stuck to limitations - and I say that because while we're free to change our preferences, most of the times, we'll just want to let it be and take care of us.
The power to make a choice. Think about it - do you really want to give it up?
Cheers!
that is the Styx that make me slick and sometimes sick that I need to kick ,cause I did pick it only from what Itunes Take ,offering the styx mix flick
great cartoon Rob
Marshall, thanks! I don't go the in-the-sack route very often, but it's always fun to draw.
Morgan, I trust that was your last message before you went into hiding. Because now they're after you, my friend, and when they catch up, they won't be stopped with a "domo arigato, Mister Roboto".
Mark, all I can do is repeat the sentence "When it comes right down to it, free will is a genuine time suck, and seriously cuts into my blogging schedule." Not because it illustrates that I was joking, but because the automatic comment-writing software I'm using says I should repeat that sentence.
If I liked Electric Light Orchestra then I'd have to conclude that my frontal lobe isn't doing its job right in the first place.
How about "People who had fun with me also had fun with the following partners"
Whoa, at risk to life and limb-- did someone just trash ELO? It's not for everyone, maybe just for people that like to have a great time. Crank it!
I used Pandora the other day, and found 2 or 3 great bands that would have otherwise taken me hours of review reading and tracking down tracks to do. I loved it. I use Slacker because I have the player, but Pandora was uncanny.