“If you’re not paying for the product, then you are the product”
– Tristan HarrisIs the Future Outpacing the Law? Why We Need New Tech Rules Now
Imagine this, You wake up, and your smart mirror not only reflects your image but also suggests skincare products by looking through your skin condition that morning. On your way out, your AR glasses navigate you through the traffic by highlighting the quickest routes while giving information on the buildings and shops you pass by. Your meals are now made with genetically modified foods that are healthier and more sustainable, while all of your transactions go to blockchain networks — no banks, no middlemen.
Sounds like a perfect world, right? But hold on – Are we really considering what it would be like to live in such an advanced, tech-driven society? Are we ready for the problems and headaches that these innovations are going to bring? It’s not about staying ahead of technology; it’s making sure we’re setting up the right rules and guardrails so this future is safe, equitable, and good for all. 
The New Marketplace: Trading in Human Futures
There’s a popular saying in tech circles “If you’re not paying for the product, then you are the product.” That is very true in the case of social media and online services. Many of these platforms have made data collection a highly profitable business model.
Every click, every like, every second users spend on these platforms is tracked, recorded, and analysed to build a real detailed profile of who you are and what you will do next.
They do not sell the data in its raw form. Rather, turning the data into affective models that predict future human behaviour — what one is going to buy, watch, and even how one is going to vote. This has bred a totally new marketplace — one in which human futures are traded at scale. This marketplace is trillions of dollars large, making the tech industry among the most well-heeled entities in history.
On the other side, however, is where things start to go wrong. If you know that everything you are doing on the Internet is watched and analyzed, then you might feel a loss of privacy that may escalate into increased anxiety and feelings of powerlessness.
Effectively speaking, we aren’t the users of these platforms; rather, we are part of their product.
The Power of Persuasion: How Technology Shapes Behaviour
Many of these platforms are designed not to collect data, but to manipulate how we think and act.
Consider all the numerous ways that current platforms hook users with autoplaying videos, infinite scrolls, and strategically timed notifications.
Life is not made more convenient by these; they are chiefly designed as exploits of our natural psychological tendencies.
For example, a characteristic of what may show up next in an endless feed might be likened to a form of addictive intermittent reinforcement like at a slot machine. This makes you keep scrolling down in hope of receiving another huge cut of interesting content.
For that reason, these strategies have proven very effective. In understanding and exploiting human psychology, they’ve have found ways to keep us engaged, sometimes way more than we actually intended. Their real objective is not just to keep you using their platform but to drive growth and maximise profit by turning your attention into their own revenue.
The Need for New Regulations: Safe Guarding Users in a Digital World
In these technologies, now very much part of our lives, we clearly see that our present regulatory frameworks are falling behind. The power and sway which the some tech companies have over our lives today is unlike anything we have seen. There are urgent questions, thrown into sharp relief – How could such entities guarantee operations that were fair and transparent? And how would users be saved from the subtle, yet all-pervasive, manipulation embedded in them?
We need regulations addressing not just obvious problems of data privacy and security but also fighting back against these more insidious practices at play, dark patterns and manipulative design techniques that take advantage of our psychological vulnerabilities.
This will not stifle innovation but ensure that technology improves our lives in such a way that it does not come at the cost of our autonomy or well-being.
So, where do we go from here? Are we to simply standby as the world — if this is what it truly needs — takes the extreme view of monitoring, manipulation, and monetizing every last bit of our digital lives? Or shall we make a push for a future in which technology serves us — not the other way around?
Shaping the Future of Technology
Consider that we are, fundamentally, at a momentous time in history as you reflect on these questions. The technologies we are creating now — the biotechnologies, the augmented realities, the blockchains, the social media
“These are not just tools; they are setting the course of human progress.”
Hence, decisions we make around their regulation will be about spelling whether they mean progress or other unforeseen challenges.
What sort of a future is it that we really want to build? Are we prepared for the issues that accompany such powerful innovations? Are we willing to ask tough questions and draft appropriate policies that ensure these technologies serve the greater good?
These are not merely philosophical questions — they are pressing matters that must be addressed now. How will you be part of the solution?
Further Reading
https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/beyond-school-walls/202406/the-unseen-perils-of-social-media#:~:text=Comparison%20and%20Self%2DEsteem&text=This%20pressure%20may%20lead%20to,and%20dissatisfaction%20with%20their%20lives.https://www.windmill.digital/the-dark-side-of-ux-deceptive-patterns/#:~:text=This%20dark%20pattern%20manipulates%20users,users%20that%20lead%20them%20astray.https://www.project-syndicate.org/magazine/surveillance-capitalism-exploiting-behavioral-data-by-shoshana-zuboff-2020-01https://www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/voices/2020/Oct/04/the-era-of-surveillance-capitalism-2204569.htmlhttps://hayshighguidon.com/moviebook-reviews/2020/10/25/the-social-dilemma-offers-glimpse-into-surveillance-capitalism/https://www.netflix.com/title/81254224https://www.humanetech.com/youth/persuasive-technologyhttps://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/amitosh/the-role-of-technology-in-the-future-and-its-impact-on-society-52565/https://www.thesmartcube.com/resources/blog/datawatch-how-social-media-platforms-keep-us-scrolling/https://www.qualialife.com/how-social-media-and-ai-hijack-your-brain?srsltid=AfmBOopOitHBn5Ok2i3ERQN77eDRa7Cf1DejfPpag6sfg91x-CPd0VZyhttps://questromworld.bu.edu/platformstrategy/wp-content/uploads/sites/49/2023/06/PlatStrat2023_paper_48.pdfhttps://uxplanet.org/the-ethical-dimensions-of-human-computer-interaction-3b6df7f514bdhttps://uxplanet.org/are-your-devices-constantly-listening-to-your-every-word-eb1925281d15
Is the Future Outpacing the Law? Why We Need New Tech Rules Now was originally published in UX Planet on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
