paying attention but at what cost
the addictive technology market will use generative AI to increase margins. in this revolutionary time, can we build a profitable & ethical tech company?
when I write I do it at 25 minute intervals with my phone kept aside and my laptop in ‘do not disturb’. like a workout I do 4 reps of 25 minutes. I’ve found that the first rep is always the hardest because my brain is adjusting to deep focus. after the first two reps I’m in a state of flow.
my attention dwindles
besides writing, there are other sanctuaries in my life such as running, reading, showers, cooking, time with family, and singing or dancing during a Hindu holiday. these are all activities where I am not checking my phone or any other notifications. I didn’t grow up with a smart phone or social media so I only noticed its effects on my attention span, and therefore my entire being, much later. in 2018 I developed a reflex to always have my phone near me or in hand. oh, how satisfying it was to receive a text or a notification! how my hands would twitch to reach for the phone and the relief I felt when I allowed myself to look at the screen.
as a child I could play in an imaginary world for upwards of four hours. in high school I could sit and solve math problems for at least two hours. in college I was in long music rehearsals where I went entire afternoons without interacting with a screen. and I felt healthy as a byproduct. my mind was clear and focused, and I left music rehearsals or math class feeling refreshed. once I entered the professional world I started to find the days draining. but why? I liked being a product designer, and I worked on interesting problems, so why did I feel wrung out at the end of the day?
millions of tiny decisions led us here
my friend Kunal once wrote me a poem about capitalism that I kept on my bedroom wall. I don’t have it with me anymore, but I recall it said something like ‘capitalism has left me feeling dry. parched. like too little butter spread over too much bread.’ and it went on and on for hundreds of lines. it was brilliant then and now. but I think Kunal was imprecise to accuse ‘capitalism’ and should have instead blamed the attention economy; an economy upon which Tech Giants have, to varying outcomes, built their empires.
thus an industry of addictive consumer products was born. yes we know it was born of business models dependent on ads, but let’s go a layer deeper. it was born of innumerable meetings happening all around Silicon Valley, where someone asked, ‘how do we get the user to do [insert behavior here]?’ many times the answer came from a UX designer or researcher who studied human behavior, psychology, and design. they could tell you exactly how to ‘get users to use your new feature’. and users do churn, but if they stay are they staying because the product adds genuine value to their life or because they have been coerced?
addicted to scrolling
to paraphrase political philosopher Noam Chomsky, the capitalist premise is completely flawed, namely in that consumers are rational and make decisions of self-interest. if this was the case people would always choose what is best for them, no? if this was the case, advertisements would tell you what is beneficial and what is harmful about a product, no?
people make poor decisions and act against their self-interest all the time, myself included. just as Mountain Dew (e.g. the soft drinks market), Big Macs (e.g. the fast food market), and Juul (i.e. the nicotine market) are designed to be addictive, so is social media. the corporations who have scaled the production and distribution of these products understand that providing consumers with instant gratification pays dividends.
if your attention is currency, how do you spend it?
in the current political context, the question of attention is unavoidable. there is so much complex information coming at us, what are we to pay attention to? are we paying attention to what we actually care about? does our attention distribution reflect our interests and values?
I think this is why I find concepts like ‘deplatforming’, ‘the paradox of tolerance’, and ‘undue weight’ so interesting. their premise is that what we pay attention to directly shapes reality. by entertaining a conversation whose premise is intolerant, we are giving attention to the wrong idea. you may say, but is it a zero sum game? isn’t there enough time and space for all topics and can’t people give their attention to whatever they like?
that would be true if we lived in a vaccuum. but we live in a murky world where ‘what we like’ is difficult to tease out. corporations and political figures with outsized amounts of power and influence are vying for our attention. that is why wherever there is human traffic, be it a city street or a social media feed, there are advertisements. conversely, have you ever gone hiking in a forest and realized there was no ad around you? that every inch of space had not been commodified? and how do you feel after time in nature? for me, few activities are more refreshing than a long dip in the ocean or a lake.
my personal struggle
I struggle with attention. First and foremost I want to pay attention to my family. this includes my partner, parents, in-laws, sister, brother-in-laws, nieces, cousins, aunts & uncles, grandparents, and close friends. the attention I give them is folded into the attention I give own health. then there is career and community.
so, when do I also pay attention to the serious things? the systems of oppression that are baked into American society? my duties as a watchful citizen? I want to do my miniscule part in dismantling systems of oppression, but these systems are intersectional, so how much can a girl pay attention to all at once?
Palestine? Congo? Yemen? Kashmir? Taiwan? Uyghurs? Ukraine? Caste rights in India? Indigenous rights around the world? Labor rights? Women’s rights? Trans rights? Environmental racism? Global warming? in today’s age does being in solidarity mean I need to pay attention to everything? and even if ‘yes’ is the alarming answer, how do I do this without social media?
I wish to make a dent on one specific problem, and maybe even see it solved in my lifetime (abolitionist Ruth Wilson Gilmore comes to mind). more than DEI in tech or any other causes, the most important issue for me is human rights violations perpetrated by technology for the sake of profit. of course, the issues are all interconnected, but I want to measurably solve a piece of the human rights* puzzle.
*could be privacy & surveillance, algorithmic bias, the digital divide, online abuse (e.g. CSAM, NCII), or freedom of expression. to be determined.
what are the right ethical values for a tech company?
ethical businesses that come to mind are Patagonia, Kickstarter, The Honest Company, Toms, and Warby Parker. only one of these five is a tech company.
but we need a positive vision for the future. we need technology without the harms. are projects like are.na the answer? but how do they scale to substitute the toxic big players in the market? (which are.na does not seem interested in doing)
I cannot afford to be hopeless or cynical. I live and work in San Francisco. I know the addictive technology market will use generative AI to increase profit margins by fracking my attention and the attention of my future children. as a designer I find it deplorable that user experience design and human-centered design thinking has been used as a tool for addiction. it’s why I feel so strongly about the situation we find ourselves in. I feel culpable by association, but I also know we can do so much better.
what are the right ethical values for a tech company? noncoercive and allowing humans to flourish comes to mind.