Amazon's Alexa has been claiming the 2020 election was stolen

[ancianita]

21. Yeah. They're real reporters with real paychecks from Bezos.

Last edited Sat Oct 7, 2023, 01:01 PM - Edit history (2)

A LOT of ideas have been called absurd. Anyone here can list any number of what we once agreed on as "absurd ideas" that now are reality.

Until we find out more, you can't say that about Alexa AI or its algorithm uses.

But I can see you're closed to any investigations. Just assume integrity. Okay. Got it.

But I gotta notice that the author, Cat Zakrzewski, is a real tech journalist with real paychecks from Bezos. Yet she reports this Alexa "news" with a reporter's straight face.



Listen to this real reporter, Cat Zakrzewski, in this one C-SPAN discussion about tech and Washington.
NOwhere does she mention that Amazon is in front of Congress facing a break up of its monopoly, as she does other tech companies. But she's nevertheless presumed to have expert tech policy opinion on the subject, even as a journalist.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?460725-6/cat-zakrzewski-efforts-regulate-major-technology-firm


Elizabeth Warren:

THREE COMPANIES HAVE A VAST POWER OF OUR ECONOMY AND DEMOCRACY. WE ALL USE THEM BUT AN HOUR RISE TO POWER, THEY BULLDOZED COMPETITION, USE OUR PRIVATE INFORMATION FOR PROFIT, AND TILTED THE -- TAKE AMAZON. IT MAKES IT REALLY HARD TO COMPETE.
FACEBOOK, IT BUYS ITS COMPETITORS WHILE THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION SITS ON ITS HANDS INSTEAD OF ENFORCING LAWS TO KEEP THE PLAYING FIELD FAIR AND EVEN.
AND GOOGLE, WHICH SELECTIVELY PROMOTES ITS OWN PRODUCTS OVER COMPETITORS. THEY HAVE MASTERED A VERY POWERFUL BUSINESS MODEL. MONOPOLIZED THEIR PLATFORM FOR IT AND FORCED OTHER COMPANIES, MEDIA PLATFORMS, AND PUBLISHERS OUT OF THE BUSINESS. THE THREE COMPANIES RUN THE INTERNET. MORE THAN 70% OF ALL INTERNET TRAFFIC GO THROUGH FACEBOOK OR GOOGLE, AND MORE THAN HALF OF E-COMMERCE GO THROUGH AMAZON. CLEARLY, THEY KNOW THEY HAVE A LOT TO LOSE IF WASHINGTON STARTS PUTTING THE INTEREST OF CONSUMERS FIRST. IT IS TIME TO BREAK UP THESE BIG COMPANIES SO THEY DO NOT HAVE SO MUCH POWER OVER EVERYONE ELSE.

Later, to a caller who asks about third parties getting user data, Cat Zakrzewski says:

I THINK THE ATTITUDES ARE CHANGING BECAUSE THERE IS A FEELING THAT THESE COMPANIES MAY HAVE MISLED CONSUMERS IN SOME WAYS ABOUT WHAT THEY WERE GIVING UP WHEN THEY SIGNED UP FOR THE SERVICES. I THINK THERE IS A FEELING THAT THESE COMPANIES NEED TO BE A BIT MORE TRANSPARENT.

PEOPLE REALIZE THAT WHEN THEY ARE USING FACEBOOK, GOOGLE, THEY ARE HANDING OVER DATA THAT CAN THEN BE USED TO TARGET ADS TO THEM. THIS IS NOT REALLY A FREE SERVICE. WHAT A LOT OF CONSUMER ADVOCATES SAY IS YOU ARE THE PRODUCT WHEN YOU ARE USING THE SERVICES.

I THINK THERE IS A PUSH REGULATION BECAUSE OF THAT CONCERN THAT THERE NEEDS TO BE A GREATER CONVERSATION, A GREATER DIALOGUE IN THE PUBLIC ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE ACTUALLY GIVING UP WHEN YOU USE THIS. I THINK WE HAVE SEEN THAT THE SERVICES HAVE BEEN ABUSED IN WAYS THAT PEOPLE HAVE NEVER EXPECTED WHEN THEY FIRST SIGNED UP. IF YOU THINK ABOUT HOW FACEBOOK STARTED AS THIS NETWORK TO CONNECT YOU WITH YOUR COLLEGE FRIENDS ON CAMPUS AND PEOPLE REALLY DID NOT IMAGINE 15 YEARS AGO WHEN THIS WAS PICKING UP THAT THE DATA THAT YOU GAVE TO FACEBOOK COULD THEN POTENTIALLY BE EXPLOITED BY FOREIGN ACTORS TRYING TO INFLUENCE AN ELECTION OR OBTAINED BY DEVELOPERS THAT YOU WERE NOT AWARE OF, SO I THINK THERE IS A GROWING PUSH REGULATION SO THAT TO THAT POINT, THERE IS A LOT OF RESPONSIBILITY ON THE CONSUMER TO MAKE CHOICES, BUT REGULATORS JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT CONSUMERS ARE GETTING FAIR AND ACCURATE INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT THEY ARE GIVING UP WHEN THEY ENGAGE WITH THESE BUSINESSES.

You'll see that Cat Zakrzewski never mentions Amazon when she discusses DC regulations of tech monopolies' uses of data to sell to third parties.

Just something I'm keeping in mind when media tech journalists might have a conflict of interest if asked to mediate conversations before the user public.