No ratings yet.

Every day, we are spending hours on our phones scrolling through social media applications like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. It is hardly surprising that we are exposed to ads while we are scrolling; and nowadays, it is also common knowledge that these ads match our interests. Algorithms figure out our ‘scrolling’-behavior and investigate our personal profiles in order to predict what kind of products we are currently (unconsciously) craving.

On 1 May 2017, the Australian (2017) reported that Facebook uses emotional targeting on young and insecure children. Emotional targeting uses predictions on user’s emotions to show product recommendations.  Emotional targeting is basically not very different from the way algorithms could already predict our buying behavior, yet Facebook received a lot of criticism after this news report. Critics say the problem with this doesn’t lie with users experiencing positive feelings and being shown matching ads that could reinforce their mood; but rather with people experiencing negative feelings. In fact, algorithms know how to target this audience when they are in their most vulnerable state. In this way, it more closely resembles emotional manipulation instead of emotional targeting (Kulp, 2017).

Subsequently, Facebook came forward with an official response. They stated that among the millions of potential ad opportunities, emotional marketing was not one of them (Kulp, 2017). While this cannot be properly verified, Facebook did admit that they do routinely study user reactions and emotions using their “Compassion Research Team”. One of those experiment was done back in 2012, where Facebook’s algorithm showed its user’s different types of content, triggering positive and negative feelings. Subsequently, they recorded how the different types of content affected people’s emotions by analyzing negative and positive words in their posts (Meyer, 2014).

These are among Facebooks many studies, however, often these studies remain under the radar. Criticism towards such techniques and algorithms has also abounded in recent years, because, after all, where do we draw the line? Therefore, Facebook exemplifies the problems that exist about the use of data in the social media industry. People may be aware of the fact that our behavior on apps is used to create product recommendations, but the issue becomes problematic when researchers label the use of data as ethical simply because this data is available to them. For this reason, to this day, data ethics remains a grey area, but still is an important area of discussion.

References

Kulp, P. (2 May, 2017). Ads will target your emotions and there’s nothing you can do about it. [Online]. Retrieved from https://mashable.com/article/facebook-ad-targeting-by-mood#:~:text=Facebook%20issued%20a%20rare%20mea,state%2C%22%20the%20spokesperson%20said.

Meyer, R. (June 28, 2014). Everything We Know About Facebook’s Secret Mood-Manipulation Experiment. [Online]. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/06/everything-we-know-about-facebooks-secret-mood-manipulation-experiment/373648/

The Australian. (1 May 2017). Facebook targets ‘insecure’ young people to sell ads. [Online]. Retrieved from: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TAWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fbusiness%2Fmedia%2Fdigital%2Ffacebook-targets-insecure-young-people-to-sell-ads%2Fnews-story%2Fa89949ad016eee7d7a61c3c30c909fa6&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=dynamic-groupa-test-noscore&V21spcbehaviour=append

5/5 (1)

In recent decades, the method of 3D printing has revolutionized prototyping and found applications in many different industries (Tack et al., 2016). With 3D printing, a three-dimensional object can be created using a computer-generated design that is built layer by layer (TWI, 2022). One such industry that is starting to benefit more and more from this method is the medical sector, where it is widely used for medical purposes. Here, the 3D printing method enables applications in various disciplines such as anatomical models, surgical guides, and implants (Tack et al., 2016) and is expected to overcome the limitations of traditional methods (Yan et al., 2018). 

In the world of 3D printing, the capability to manufacture new parts, maintain a digital stock of replacement parts and even repair components have proven to be very useful in industries such as the automotive- and aerospace industry. For the medical world, on the other hand, 3D printing offers incredible opportunities to improve people’s quality of life and even save lives (Saunders, 2022). In particular, 3D printing technology is useful when it comes to replacing human organ transplants, speeding up surgical procedures, manufacturing cheaper versions of required surgical instruments and improving the lives of people dependent on prosthetic limbs (Nawrat, 2018). Likewise, 3D printing technology offers opportunities to build bionic tissue or organs and may even solve the donor shortage problem (Yan et al., 2018).

Consequently, the technology enables more customization and automation, but also leads to cost and time savings for hospitals and patients. Previously, patients would have to wait in the hospital, for example, whenever a personalized product was manufactured for them. The 3D printing technology, however, makes it possible to quickly print the necessary components to fit the patient’s needs, saving the patient money by shortening their stay (Saunders, 2022). Additionally, the medical sector has been under intense pressure for some time when it comes to optimal performance and lower costs, therefore it is expected that as this technology develops, the medical world will experience unprecedented benefits from 3D printing (Aimar. Palermo & Innocenti, 2019).

References

Aimar, A., Palermo, A., & Innocenti, B. (2019). The role of 3D printing in medical applications: a state of the art. Journal of healthcare engineering, 2019.

Nawrat, A. (2018, August 7^th). 3D printing in the medical field: four major applications revolutionising the industry. Medical device network. Retrieved from: https://www.medicaldevice-network.com/analysis/3d-printing-in-the-medical-field-applications/

Saunders, S. (2022, January 31^st). 2022 Predictions: Medical 3D Printing Is Disrupting Healthcare. 3D Print. Retrieved from: https://3dprint.com/287679/2022-predictions-medical-3d-printing-is-disrupting-healthcare/

Tack, P., Victor, J., Gemmel, P., & Annemans, L. (2016). 3D-printing techniques in a medical setting: a systematic literature review. Biomedical engineering online, 15(1), 1-21.

TWI. (2022). WHAT IS 3D PRINTING? – TECHNOLOGY DEFINITION AND TYPES. Retrieved from: https://www.twi-global.com/technical-knowledge/faqs/what-is-3d-printing#:~:text=3D%20printing%2C%20also%20known%20as,to%20create%20a%203D%20part.

Yan, Q., Dong, H., Su, J., Han, J., Song, B., Wei, Q., & Shi, Y. (2018). A review of 3D printing technology for medical applications. Engineering, 4(5), 729-742.