You Are The Product

6 commitments every content creator should make to save human civilization

The new Netflix documentary “The Social Dilemma” is the scariest movie that I’ve ever seen. It’s not horror movie scary. It’s end of the world scary.

In it, key makers in Silicon Valley pause to reflect on their baby Frankenstein, concluding that the singularity (what’s that?) was the wrong landmark of which to be wary when considering the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI). Rather, Tristan Harris, founder of the Center for Humane Technology argues that the dominion of AI is already here, and that thanks to our cell phone addiction, we’ve functionally handed ourselves over to our super commuters.

I watched “The Social Dilemma” the first time alone, but I watched it the second time with my 10 and 13-year-old, the former a boy, whose media of choice is Youtube, and the later, a girl, who loves Tiktok. They are good and brilliant little people; if we don’t destroy the world by the time they take over, we’ll all be okay.

As we watched, we discussed “sticky content” and “the algorithm,” and I kept my dirty secret.

Medium.

I am a writer on a social media platform. It’s a part of how I make my living. I am a…