Despite several jokes about Al Gore inventing the internet, it’s clear that the former Vice President has revealed that he knows little about how the internet works – or the First Amendment, for that matter.
Gore called for the banning of social media algorithms at the Bloomberg Green Summit at COP28.
Underscoring his argument with a comparison to signature firearms, Gore stated that algorithms that condition the course of social media, similar to AR-15’s, represent a threat and “ought to be banned.”
Gore complained that the rise of social media had “disrupted the balances that used to exist that made representative democracy work much better.”
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“…If you have social media that is dominated by algorithms that pull people down these rabbit holes that are a bit like pitcher plants, these algorithms, they are the digital equivalent of AR-15s. They ought to be banned. They really ought to be banned.
“It’s an abuse of the public forum,” Gore continued. “But when people are pulled down these rabbit holes, you know what’s at the bottom of the rabbit hole? That’s where the echo chamber is. And if you spend too much time in the echo chamber, what’s weaponized is another form of ai, not artificial intelligence. Artificial insanity. I’m serious. I’m serious.”
Social media algorithms are like digital recipe books that platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter use to decide what content to show you. When you scroll through your feed, these algorithms pick posts, pictures, or videos they think you’ll like, based on your past activity. It’s like a personal chef who remembers all your favorite meals and keeps serving them.
How do these algorithms work? Imagine you’re at a giant party where everyone is shouting to be heard. The algorithm is your friend who listens to all the conversations and then tells you the ones you’d find most interesting. It pays attention to which posts you like, share, or spend time reading, and uses this info to guess what else you might enjoy.
But politicians like Gore are pushing to ban these algorithms. This is a tricky area because it involves the First Amendment, which protects free speech in the US. Telling a social media platform not to use algorithms is a bit like telling an editor they can’t decide what goes on the front page. It’s seen as a form of censorship by many.
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