This tension between performative certainty and actual truth-seeking is something I think about alot. The research on forecasting and overconfidence is pretty damning and its wild how platforms have basically optimized for exactly the wrong traits. I've noticed this in my own consumption habits too, gravitating toward confident takes even when I know better. Curious to see if BBC can thread that needle or if the algorithm just wins in the end.
Yep I think it’s a highly difficult challenge for the BBC. The BBC as an organisation is technically optimising for the opposite of what social media algorithms are optimising for, so the question is how do they feed the beast of the algorithm whilst being impartial and nuanced. I also think the damning conclusion of why the algorithms are optimised for this in the first place is a consequence of our psychology and our deep desires for certainty amidst the madness, regardless of what is true or not.
This tension between performative certainty and actual truth-seeking is something I think about alot. The research on forecasting and overconfidence is pretty damning and its wild how platforms have basically optimized for exactly the wrong traits. I've noticed this in my own consumption habits too, gravitating toward confident takes even when I know better. Curious to see if BBC can thread that needle or if the algorithm just wins in the end.
Yep I think it’s a highly difficult challenge for the BBC. The BBC as an organisation is technically optimising for the opposite of what social media algorithms are optimising for, so the question is how do they feed the beast of the algorithm whilst being impartial and nuanced. I also think the damning conclusion of why the algorithms are optimised for this in the first place is a consequence of our psychology and our deep desires for certainty amidst the madness, regardless of what is true or not.