People vs Algorithms

Topics discussed include the trade-off between data and conviction, challenges faced by media companies, layoffs and leadership challenges, making trade-offs in decision-making, and the frustrations of hotel room designs.

We're still in January so we thought we might as well slip in a late predictions episode. Everyone came prepared.Show notes:Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletterBrian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletterUniversal EntitiesFollow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

Brian's fresh off CES, where he saw no robots at all but definitely got a coffee behind a guy just wrapping up a big night. We’re going to talk about CES, both from a tech angle, as well as from a media and advertising angle, since it has become a go-to event for media executives to go and spend nearly all of their time in suites doing meetings. We’re also going to dip into AI, which is set to be everywhere this year and is already eliciting excess excitement. Show notes:Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletterBrian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletterUniversal EntitiesFollow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

This week, we consider whether we’re on the cusp of the end of the link era. The web was built on links. It connected the disparate nodes of the web and, crucially, brought some measure of serendipity to the internet. But the link is fading from its central role. Just this week, The Information broke news that Microsoft plans to bring ChatGPT to Bing, offering the tantalyzing possibility of Google feeling real competition for the first time in a long time – and bringing up the question of whether how people find information will change forever. The rise of walled gardens and apps made links less important. The advent of AI could very well be the final nail in the coffin for the link, and along with it another blow to the open web, which has already been under threat.Show notes:Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletterBrian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletterUniversal EntitiesFollow Alex, Brian and Troy on TwitterThe Information: Microsoft and OpenAI working on ChatGPT-Powered Bing This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

The end of calendar years tend to be times for resets. We like to use them as an excuse for a fresh start. This is why we have Sober January and even Veganuary, which I find far more popular in the UK for some reason, and gyms are crowded and I see people very red in the face out for their firs run in many, many months. 2023 is a year of reset expectations and that’s because, as we’ve discussed on this show, we are closing out an era and entering a new one whose contours are only coming into focus. The teetering economy will cause further stresses as all aspects of the economy and society begin to fully emerge not just from the pandemic era but a long run of economic growth. Let’s face it: Expectations will be adjusted. We have seen this start in the technology industry, both with valuation expectations and worker expectations, and it will spread undoubtedly throughout the downstream economy, notably in media. We discuss the ramifications of these reset expectations for advertising, publishing and technology this week.Show notes:Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletterBrian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletterUniversal EntitiesFollow Alex, Brian and Troy on TwitterTh This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

We’re closing out the year with a series of conversations that look at the trends that will define these patterns in media, technology and culture in the year ahead. Last week we started with artificial intelligence. This week, we’re looking ahead to platforms, in particular social platforms, as they are in a time of transition. We look ahead and discuss what trend to expect as we sort through the role platforms will play as they’ve grown too big and too powerful perhaps for their and our own good.Show notes:Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletterBrian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletterUniversal EntitiesFollow Alex, Brian and Troy on TwitterMeta’s Galactica AI & The End Of Science This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

Thanks to AI, 2023 will likely be the year when we fall in love again with the magic that can be technology and also confront the thorny questions around misinformation, the nature of ownership and copyright and, oh by the way, will those of us who have mostly typed words for a living need to be retrained to do something else? There is also the grand existential question: Is it going to replace us?Links:The People vs Algorithm NewsletterThe Rebooting NewsletterThe Rebooting PodcastsUniversal Entities This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

This week, Troy, Alex and Brian discuss the fate of the open web through the lens of building sustainable publishing business models. One key shortcoming is around micropayments. Logic says this should exist. Even the most successful publishers convert only a small fraction of their total audience to paying subscribers. And that’s because of misaligned incentives. What makes sense for the audience does not make sense for publishers. The other lens is this week’s big deal between Yahoo and Taboola, the leading content recommendation ad network. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

In this week's episode, Troy, Brian and Alex examine why we seem to be more susceptible to cults than ever before. We all have our own versions of reality, after all. For some, Elon Musk's slash-and-burn approach to "fixing" Twitter is insanity, but to others his extremely hard core approach part of a broader correction that is bring the expectations of workers back to reality. Plus: trolling as communication and why offices and podcasts are good products. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

Between the collapse of FTX and the endless chaos and drama at Elon Musk's Twitter, this wasn’t a great time to be an all-knowing oracle. FTX is now bankrupt Meanwhile, over at Twitter, Elon Musk and his merry band of podcasters/hangers on continue to throw spaghetti against the wall, seeming without rhyme or reason. We break down why very smart and successful people like Sam Bankman-Fried and Elon Musk are stumbling so badly. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com