IL41: They’re Not Just Reading You... They’re Rewriting You ft. Sandra Matz

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Sep 3, 2025

In this engaging conversation, Columbia professor Sandra Matz, an expert on the interplay between digital footprints and our mental lives, delves into how algorithms don't just predict but also shape behavior. She reveals how personalization can limit possibilities and discusses the ethical implications of data privacy. Matz highlights the surprising accuracy of algorithms in profiling our personalities and the risks of losing complexity in our identities. The discussion also emphasizes the need for transparency and user consent in our data interactions.

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ANECDOTE

Village Upbringing Analogy

Sandra Matz compares growing up in a 500-person village to living under algorithmic surveillance.
Neighbors who knew her influenced choices, showing how knowledge enables both support and meddling.

INSIGHT

Digital Traces Reveal Personality

Algorithms predict personality by linking many small digital traces to average traits across thousands of people.
Those predictions can match or exceed self-reports and predict real outcomes like job choice.

INSIGHT

Which Benchmark Matters?

Benchmarking 'who you are' can be self-report, others' reports, or algorithmic prediction.
Combining self-report and algorithmic signals yields better predictions of life outcomes.

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What if knowing you isn’t the end goal... but shaping you is? In this episode, Kevin Coldiron speaks with Columbia professor Sandra Matz about how algorithms trained on our clicks, searches, and faces don’t just predict our behavior - they influence it. They unpack how personalization narrows possibility, why convenience can come at the cost of resilience, and what happens when machines learn to mirror us better than we mirror each other. From the false promise of data consent to the quiet collapse of complexity, this is a conversation about power, psychology, and the systems quietly remaking the human experience.

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Episode TimeStamps:

02:13 - Introduction to Sandra Matz

08:22 - How data is a window into our psychology

12:13 - What is the "right" benchmark?

14:12 - How algorithms learn to understand who you are

19:11 - Do algorithms care about your feelings?

22:16 - The "basic bitch" effect

25:10 - Computers can learn your personality from a picture of your face

32:01 - How the power of algorithms can be used in a positive way

40:17 - A framework for avoiding the negatives of collecting personal data

44:06 - Solving the complex challenges of cookies (not the ones you eat)

51:14 - The rise of data unions and cooperatives

57:01 - How Matz protects her own data

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