This video explores an introductory nature to understanding targeted ads, dark ads and cookies. It seeks to connect to the wide range of media consumers who are at the receiving end of a barrage of targeted ads throughout the day – made furthermore accessible by mobile phone usage and more specifically the prevalent popularity of social media usage.
I chose this topic because it was an existing matter of deep curiosity for me and my peers. Even prior to discussing this issue within this semester’s tutorials – it was always a thought at the back of my mind – wondering if targeted ads are so specific because our phones are listening to us. It turns out that that is not necessarily the case.
I first approached this task by engaging in discussion with my peers and my community about their thoughts on targeted ads and if it was concerning to them. This was then propelled by my learning of what it means to accept cookies and this made me curious about the notorious way in which the social media algorithm works. There is a large body of work being funded into research in this field, so I found no shortage of information on the subject, though it was admittedly quite difficult to put it together in such a condensed video format.
My hope for this video is that it is able to connect with a large audience of people who have experienced the eerie nature of constant targeted advertisements, and hopefully bring more clarity as to what they are and how they work. In terms of connection to the goals of my studio, I believe that this work successfully deals with understanding how automated decision making is a factor that runs our lives in subtle yet multifaceted and interesting ways. The focus on the ADMS Site which students were referred to was extremely useful for building personal knowledge foundations on all our respective topics in the AI and ADM field.
In terms of what worked well in this process – community engagement and the research process are the most successful aspects of putting this work together, Exposure to different perspectives and research points allowed me to take an objective lens into the targeted ads space, rather than hone in on fear-mongering which was my initial approach method. If I were to keep working on this piece and extend it, I would want to work on the vox pop element, and go out and interview different people about their experiences with targeted advertising. There could be a lot of potential for a great combination of humor and education in this space if a video series were to grow from it.
In the process of making this video, my knowledge of AI and ADM ethics grew exponentially. Compared to how things started at the beginning of the semester, where robots and chatGPT were the only thing that came to mind when AI/ADM was brought up – the complexity and broadness of how the technology space has opened up in recent decades is much more apparent to me, and has shaped the way I view the modern world – with more precision and appreciation. From analyzing samples of fictional screen media, to engaging with academic readings from topics like digital voice assistants to the netflix recommender algorithm, there is so much untapped knowledge here that I am grateful to be given insight to over this learning experience.