This podcast was produced for an assignment to reflect on what life is like for Gen Z. Intro and outro music is original.

-- Cold Open --

Does your algorithm know what you like more than you do?

Really think about it. Are you choosing what you watch, what you buy, and how you act?

In the digital world that much of gen Z occupies, the answer may be no. Let's talk about algorithms and the illusion of choice.

-- Intro --

Hi, I am Joshua Silver

I am Max Laber

And I am Justin Schwartz

We are all Gen Z, or at least the tail end of it. We grew up with the internet, and this is the show where we talk about the black boxes in server rooms that control our lives.

-- Origins of The Algorithm --

We have evidence of mathematical division algorithms from as early as twenty five hundred BC. The word algorithm comes from a Latinized name of a 9th-century mathematician, Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, sometimes called the father of algebra.

Skipping forward a few centuries, the first computer algorithm was created by Ada Lovelace for the first computer in 1822.

The modern user-based recommendation algorithm came along in 1992, with a system called Tapestry. This precursor worked on a manual, rule-based system. For example, if I could ask the system for any documents with the word "six seven," that Justin liked. Notice how you need to manually set your search terms, and you are still in control.

Other early algorithms worked by recommending similar content, for example, based on genre, or author.

Next came algoritims called using a system called "k-nearest neighbours." This system found the most similar users to you, then looked at what they liked and what you haven’t seen yet.

These were the first step to the automatic algorithms of today. Now, most recommendation algorithms are expansions of k-nearest neighbours, a type called "response-driven," which recommend results based on the behavior of other users.

-- Modern Incarnation of The Algorithm --

But what is so bad about response driven algorithms? Really, not a whole lot. You see more of the things that you actually want to see within your searching time. But a new issue has arisen in recent years;

Companies think they know what you want to see more than you do, and the numbers are there to back them up.

Short form content is a prime example of this. The user scrolls up, and is delivered purely algorithm-selected content. The user chooses less, the computer thinks more.

It leaks into other services as well; worse searching, less options on a homepage, more "watch next", more "you might like". The user chooses less, the computer thinks more. The pattern is there.

-- The Illusion of Choice --

I find that it is easy to disillusion myself into feeling a sense of personal touch or attachment to "my algorithm". It clearly knows what issues I care about, but doesn't seem to know what my stance is on them, so it just gives me the whole political spectrum. If anything, I would say I get more diverse perspectives from my news feed than from the limited group of people that I choose to spend my time with.

But then again, my algorithm doesn't "know" anything. It is a deeply impersonal collection of passive use data, not a friend of mine pointing out articles in a newspaper.

Unlike with a friend, you are never seeing all the options with an algorithm. Results are pushed up by sponsorships, by virality, and by what will keep you on an app for the longest time possible.

Maybe losing the efficiency of only seeing what’s perfect for you isn't such a bad thing. Maybe it takes a bit of imperfect exploration to find new definitions of what is uniquely for you.

A staple of how Gen Z exists and organizes itself is through keywords. Hashtag academic weapon, hopecore, @johnoliversecondaryschool. Keywords are critical for an algorithm to recommend things to people, because it has no grasp of concepts. It needs everyone to refer to something the same way to give it to them.

I want you to think about this. How much in your life can be organized into algorithm-friendly keywords?

Let’s start a little smaller. Think of your favorite restaurant. How would you describe it? For me, it's a not-too crowded, cozy Thai place with an affordable menu in Kitsilano. Okay, now describe the same place, but without keywords, just personal experience. My favorite restaurant is a place that I walk past in the rain every once in a while and smile at the scent of spices and oil as I pass. My favorite restaurant is a faint memory I have of going to the diner with my grandpa and eating bacon with blueberry jam.

There is a world of experience and emotion that is completely unavailable when making choices through an algorithm. Arguably the best parts of life cannot be put into keywords.

A reoccurring theme of Gen Z that has no keyword is an untraceable feeling of being trapped.

Maybe some of this stems from making choices through an algorithm.

Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to ditch the algorithm for a while and travel the world on your own compass.

-- Outro --

Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in. We hope that you enjoyed our conversation, and that maybe you can walk away with a new attitude on a small part of your life. Take care, and live a little outside your keywords.