SEME for short.
Robert Epstein’s kinda made it it’s own thing.
And then the whole political Facebook bias scandal happened.
Regardless of what side you take on this situation, it is an issue no matter which way you slice it. It was something that was inevitable for all new technologies pave the way for never before seen problems.
While all this is going on, Google continues to get away with the best type of manipulation – the unnoticed kind.
As search engines become smarter, they begin to figure out exactly how to solve a searcher’s problem. All the power resides within the bot’s algorithm. They make the decisions and provide the output that leads a searcher to an outcome. Whether that outcome is the right one is what’s being debated. Plenty of subjectivity and assumptions can be layered throughout.
The more a business like Google can get away with this, the more they transfer demand to those that want to answer those questions. Google continues to do this by selling ads. They’re still getting away with it.
But for how long?
I’ve embedded a talk given by Robert Epstein about all of this stuff. It’s a sensitive yet important topic that needs to be amplified. I have no doubt that it will continue to get the spotlight in the coming months.