Recommender systems: creepy, weird, and opaque.

· Bits and Bobs 4/21/25
  • Recommender systems: creepy, weird, and opaque.
    • They have a hidden side-channel for analysis.
      • You can't inspect what it's doing, only the results.
    • This is the way advertising has been working for the last 10 years!
    • O3 can now run python code without showing you that it's doing it.
    • O3 has the same kind of creepy vibe as recommender systems.