The popular documentary ‘The Social Dilemma’ on Netflix about the dangerous impacts of social media on our society inspired me to dive deeper in the ethical concerns of ‘persuasive technology’, a term devised by Fogg (2002).
The development of persuasive technology resulted from the rise of mobile phones and other connected devices. As it is too expensive to use human capital to track consumer’s needs and persuasion to certain products or ads, this is an AI task nowadays (Morris, 2020). These can be so powerful in persuading people, that they finally have the ability to influence people’s attitude and behaviour by programming new habits in their daily routine (Fogg, 2002). This process of being persuaded on social media is nothing new for us, as we all have experienced changing behaviour due to our mobile phone. For example, health applications often encourage people to walk an extra mile or eat healthier food. This example helps people to improve their lives and do good.
However, as discussed in the earlier mentioned documentary, the development also comes with ethical concerns because of damaging effects on human beings. As these AI-driven machines are highly automated, very good listeners and excellent learners (Brynjolfsson & Mcafee, 2017), they can be highly persuasive in triggering consuming behaviour. The ethical concerns are mainly caused by the fact that computers, for example, do not care whether you are a child, or you financially cannot afford purchases a computer is convincing you of (Morris, 2020).
An example that caused a major backlash against Facebook, is a leaked confidential document from Facebook that revealed the company gave advertisers the opportunity to target 6.4 million young users, during emotionally weak moments (Tiku, 2017). This document highlights Facebook’s persuasive power by advertising young people who needed a confidence boost.
Such advertising behaviour and its dangerous effects on people should be an eye-opener for hub firms like Facebook. They should be aware of their long-term societal impact of their business strategy and prioritize ethical responsibilities. By doing so, they can use IT as an opportunity to truly lead our economy (Iansiti & Lakhani, 2018).
Brynjolfsson, E., and Mcafee, A. 2017. The business of artificial intelligence: what it can and cannot do for your organization. Harvard Business Review
Fogg, B.J. (2011). Persuasive technology: using computers to change what we think and do. Amsterdam: Morgan Kaufmann.
Iansiti, M., & Lakhani, K. R. 2018. Managing our hub economy. Harvard Business Review, 96(1), 17-17.
Morris, D.Z. (2020). How marketers are increasingly using A.I. to persuade you to buy. [online] Available at: https://fortune.com/2020/01/31/ai-marketing-persuade/.
