A new Netflix documentary is setting out to expose technology’s corrosive effects on society during a pandemic that's left people more dependent than ever on tools that keep them connected with friends, family and colleagues they can no longer meet in person.
So the timing for Wednesday’s release of “The Social Dilemma” might strike some viewers as odd. But its makers aim to give you a better sense of why the pandemic isn’t the only reason it feels like we’re stuck in a dystopian nightmare.
The film, directed by Jeff Orlowski, aims to explain how Silicon Valley's embrace of smartphones, attention-grabbing algorithms, polarizing echo chambers and pursuit of profit have left users reeling in a way that could pose an existential threat to U.S. democracy.
“It is a self-destructive code that has been planted in our society right now," Orlowski said in an interview with The Associated Press.
The notion of modern social media as a malign force that has hypnotized us into mindlessly scrolling distracting feeds, fostered division and elevated previously marginal groups and ideologies in ways that undermine social cohesion isn't particularly new. For the past several years, it's been the subject of Silicon Valley mea culpas (at the individual, if not corporate, level), foreboding news articles and academic studies and books.
Some tech-company engineers and executives have gone so far as to keep their own children off phones and social media. And a number of engineers have also been quitting high-paying technology jobs rather than continuing to contribute to the problems they believe their employers have caused.
The latest example surfaced Tuesday when The Washington Post disclosed that a Facebook engineer had written a lengthy internal letter explaining why he was leaving the company. "I can no longer stomach contributing to an organization that is profiting off hate in the US and globally,” wrote Ashok Chandwaney, who worked at Facebook for five and half years.
“The Social Dilemma” is the culmination of a three-year project aimed at making the severity of an extremely complicated problem easier for non-tech types to grasp — and perhaps motivating people to take action to prevent worse consequences.
The film pulls together the disparate threads of its argument through revealing — and sometimes chilling — insights from former executives at Facebook, Google, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. These are set against the backdrop of a fictional family addicted to screens filled with manipulative content served up by a ruthless set of algorithms embodied by actor Vincent Kartheiser, best known playing ad exec Pete Campbell in the TV series “Mad Men."
Tristan Harris, a former Google executive who plays a leading role in the film, said he hopes “The Social Dilemma" can wake up society the way Ralph Nader's book “Unsafe At Any Speed" spurred the introduction of seat-belt laws and Al Gore's award-winning 2006 documentary “An Inconvenient Truth" sharpened focus on the climate changes caused by human-generated greenhouse gases.
“What I am really hoping is this film will be the first time we have a shared truth, a shared reality about the breakdown of our shared reality," Harris told The Associated Press in an interview.
Harris, now the president of the Center for Humane Technology, began sharing his disillusionment while he was still working at Google, and some of his posts about the subject caught Orlowski's attention. The two had known each other while attending Stanford University, paving the way for them to reunite on a film that they both felt was important to finish before this November's U.S. presidential election.
“I don't want to have false optimism that we would shift the election or swing the election, but I think it's an important part of the conversation," Orlowski said. “The more we can recognize how this software is invisibly reshaping our society and acknowledge and understand this is a reality we are living in right now, then we can work to improve that."
AP Newsroom
Wed Sep 09 2020
This image released by Netflix shows Tristan Harris in a scene from "The Social Dilemma." APpic
Budak lima tahun cedera jatuh dari tingkat tiga flat
Seorang kanak-kanak perempuan berusia lima tahun cedera selepas dipercayai terjatuh dari tingkat tiga rumahnya di Flat Taman College Height pada Sabtu.
AWANI Ringkas: Kasino di Forest City
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
Hamas sudah terima maklum balas Israel mengenai cadangan gencatan senjata
Gesaan dari seluruh dunia untuk satu gencatan senjata semakin meningkat dengan serangan ke atas Gaza kini memasuki bulan ketujuh.
World Economic Forum berbeza dari kelaziman
Lazimnya World Economic Forum (WEF) akan berlangsung setiap musim sejuk di Davos, Switzerland, lokasi lahirnya forum berprestij dunia ini sejak lebih lebih dekad lalu.
Dalam tempoh kira-kira tiga bulan, WEF keluar dari kelazimannya dengan menganjurkan mesyuarat khas dua hari, 28 hingga 29 April 2024 di Riyadh, Arab Saudi.
Ia memberi isyarat, kepentingan kestabilan rantau Asia Barat atau timur tengah ini, bukan perakara main-main.
#AWANI745
Dalam tempoh kira-kira tiga bulan, WEF keluar dari kelazimannya dengan menganjurkan mesyuarat khas dua hari, 28 hingga 29 April 2024 di Riyadh, Arab Saudi.
Ia memberi isyarat, kepentingan kestabilan rantau Asia Barat atau timur tengah ini, bukan perakara main-main.
#AWANI745
Pemain Astro Kem Badminton 2024 berpeluang berlatih di bawah jurulatih BAM
Wan Wah menjelaskan pemain-pemain yang dipilih akan menjalani latihan intensif itu di Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM).
#AWANI745
#AWANI745
PRK Kuala Kubu Baharu: Pengundi perlu pilih kestabilan - Fadillah
Fadillah berkata beliau percaya pengundi di kawasan tersebut, boleh membuat keputusan terbaik untuk menentukan calon paling layak untuk mewakili mereka.
Liga Parlimen Al-Quds: Malaysia gesa satu resolusi penyelesaian isu Palestin dapat dicapai
Malaysia antara lain mendesak Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB) meluluskan resolusi menghantar tentera pengaman ke Palestin.
Palestin perlukan 14 tahun untuk dibangunkan semula
Jumlah besar runtuhan akibat serangan dilakukan tentera Israel di Semenanjung Gaza mengambil tempoh sekurang-kurangnya 14 tahun untuk dibersihkan.
#AWANI745
#AWANI745
Delegasi seluruh dunia pulang selepas misi ditangguh
Delegasi seluruh dunia dan Malaysia dijangka bergerak pulang ke negara masing-masing dalam waktu terdekat.
Ia selepas Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) mengumumkan penangguhan terbaharu misi Break the Siege Freedom Flotilla to Gaza pada Sabtu.
Rakan setugas Syaff Shukri dan jurukamera Ab Uzza Ab Latiff ada perinciannya.
#AWANI745
Ia selepas Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) mengumumkan penangguhan terbaharu misi Break the Siege Freedom Flotilla to Gaza pada Sabtu.
Rakan setugas Syaff Shukri dan jurukamera Ab Uzza Ab Latiff ada perinciannya.
#AWANI745
PRK N06 KKB: Kerajaan Perpaduan akan dibebani dengan isu semasa - Muhyiddin
Pilihan Raya Kecil Kuala Kubu Baharu kali ini akan menyaksikan Kerajaan Perpaduan ‘dibebani’ dengan isu-isu semasa yang dilihat membebankan rakyat, tegas bekas Perdana Menteri yang juga Pengerusi Perikatan Nasional, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
#AWANI745
#AWANI745
Kelaparan akut jejaskan 281.6 juta orang tahun lepas - PBB
Tahap bahaya kelaparan akut menjejaskan 281.6 juta orang tahun lepas, tahun kelima berturut-turut bahawa ketakjaminan makanan semakin memburuk.
Hamilton optimis kedudukan lebih baik di GP China
Lewis Hamilton melihat potensi kedudukan yang lebih baik dalam saingan Grand Prix yang kembali ke China buat pertama kali dalam tempoh lima tahun, hujung minggu ini.
'Selfish!' - Fasha Sandha sedih raya di Perlis tak jadi gara-gara dijangkiti COVID-19
Fasha berkata dia mula melakukan pemeriksaan COVID-19 selepas berasa tidak sihat badan dan mengalami bersin tidak henti sejak Raya pertama.
Kes COVID-19 catat penurunan ketara pada ME 14/2024 - KKM
Jumlah kes COVID-19 menurun 97.1 peratus kepada 493 kes pada Minggu Epidemiologi ke-14 (ME 14/2024) iaitu bagi tempoh 31 Mac hingga 6 April lepas berbanding 17,256 kes pada ME 1/2024.
China jadikan pengalaman pencegahan COVID-19 untuk hadapi pandemik masa depan
China akan menjadikan pengalaman dalam pencegahan dan kawalan COVID-19 untuk membuat persediaan yang lebih proaktif untuk menghadapi pandemik masa depan seperti "Penyakit X".
Negara berdepan ketirisan subsidi diesel serius - Amir Hamzah
Negara kini sedang berdepan isu ketirisan subsidi diesel yang serius dan wujud kemungkinan terdapat pihak yang tidak layak masih menikmati subsidi itu, kata Menteri Kewangan II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah.
Kematian akibat kemalangan jalan raya lebih tinggi daripada COVID-19 - Anthony Loke
PDRM akan mengeluarkan data mengenai kemalangan jalan raya pada setiap hari, bukan setahun sekali seperti diamalkan sebelum ini.
Ismail Sabri ziarah lapan beradik yatim piatu akibat COVID-19
Ismail Sabri tiba kira-kira jam 2 petang di kediaman lapan beradik itu di Taman Adenium, Bukit Beruntung pada Selasa.
Teori konspirasi 'Penyakit X'
Ahli teori konspirasi AS sekali lagi membuat 'keuntungan' selepas PBB memberi amaran tentang wabak lebih berbahaya iaitu 'Penyakit X'.
Reformasi dasar, kukuhkan perlindungan, produktiviti pekerja tidak formal
Reformasi dasar perlu dilakukan dalam usaha meningkatkan perlindungan dan produktiviti pekerja tidak formal di Malaysia.