Big Technology
Outputs vs. the Machine
We must change the conversation about the tech giants’ problems if we want solutions
When a Facebook video of doctors sharing bad coronavirus information reached 20 million people last week, you could almost predict the reaction. The company’s critics seemed shocked, pointing out it had made little progress since a similar video — Plandemic — went viral in May. They put forth the standard demand for better content moderation. But by then it was too late.
The cycle where a tech company messes up, critics point it out, and then it happens again, has repeated itself for years. To end this frustrating dance, we need a new way of discussing these companies’ problems. We should focus on the systems causing them, not simply the fact that they happened. It’s more difficult. But without a conversation about the fundamental structures underneath the surface, we’ll see the same bad things repeating.
When considering the tech giants’ problems, it’s useful to split them into two components (I’m cribbing a bit from a post I wrote last year): Outputs and The Machine.
Outputs are the bad things the tech platforms spit out: things like viral misinformation, violent images, and outrage.
