Eavesdropping advertisers
In a disheartening future, Filipinos find themselves under constant surveillance by eavesdropping advertisers.
Advanced algorithms relentlessly monitor their every move, dissecting behaviors and preferences with alarming accuracy. Surveillance extends beyond the confines of personal devices, encompassing entire environments. Every conversation becomes fodder for targeted advertisements and recommendations, invading privacy and eroding autonomy.
In this dystopian reality, Filipinos grapple with a profound loss of privacy, their lives subject to constant scrutiny and manipulation by unseen forces.
Along the bustling EDSA highway, towering billboards loom overhead, each displaying personalized advertisements tailored to individual preferences. Amidst the cacophony of tailored ads, the once-iconic highway transforms into a bleak landscape of soulless commercialism, where individuality is overshadowed by the relentless march of corporate interests. Stripped of autonomy, citizens are ensnared in a web of surveillance capitalism, with every preference being meticulously cataloged and exploited for profit.
In a dystopian future, every Filipino's life is condensed into a comprehensive customer profile, meticulously crafted from their digital footprint. From browsing history to social interactions, no aspect of existence escapes the relentless data harvesting of corporations. Personal privacy is a relic of the past as individuals become mere commodities in the voracious pursuit of profit. In this world, identity is reduced to a series of data points, autonomy sacrificed at the altar of corporate greed, blurring the line between citizen and consumer.
Selected Quotes
In terms of economy, siyempre alam naman natin kung paano ginagamit ng mga companies yung data natin to shape how to talk to us, how to profit more from us, how to exploit our profiles so mas lalala. Siguro, nakakapraning and magiging collective anxiety siya na wala nang safe na lugar. Siguro magkakaroon ng underground movement for safe spaces, I don't know!
So if they evolve AI enough to just keep selling us stuff that we don't need, but we feel that we need...we're gonna build a dependency with that instant gratification of buying something, which is something already happening right now. But imagine if the tech evolves and does it on a larger scale again; I keep saying that. But yeah, I think that's one thing...like we all become very materialistic because of the new developments, because of how things are sold to us, because of how they're marketed to us, and even the product itself. Like I'm pretty sure, in relation to all those other [previously mentioned] categories...there's gonna be products built for those, and I'm gonna keep shopping for each of those. [For example:] Oh, there's a Ready Player One entertainment system? I'm gonna buy that. Oh, there's a flying car? I'm gonna buy that. Oh, there is a new way for me to meet someone...to socialize while I'm at home? Okay, I'm gonna buy that. Like you just gonna keep buying and buying because of all these new developments, I guess.
[I'd] think of those ads on Shopee, where their items are based on what keywords [you put on] Google. One time, I was looking for Pilates socks, and then when I opened my Facebook feed, I was shocked to see so many [advertisements for] socks of different types and colors. You'll get addicted because that's what you put online, and then you will have to click. What'll happen is a never-ending shopping addiction because the ads [around us] are based on our keywords or cookies...basically what activities we are doing. So yeah, again, too much data, and the influence on your shopping habits.
...I think consumerism is an all-time high, which is good but also very bad for people...like there's whole psychology related to like marketing and stuff, right: you only start to really think about buying something, even if you don't really need it, if you see it more than 7 times. They they have a thing on marketing. But I also saw it in a magic show movie...Now You See Me. So yeah, it's that thing. But I was like "It's true, though", because I started getting conscious of it, like how many times do I see this product? Wherein I know I don't need it, but I'm actually starting to get convinced...it's the same thing.
[C]an you imagine [if] people always know what you are doing and where you are? Like there's just too much information of you out there, and it's scary because people can just make up in their minds what kind of person you are. The possibility of miscommunication would become much greater because of we are sharing too much information out there.
...I think in late 2010s, the issue of data was larger than AI itself. So I'm seeing much more emphasis on data issues, with data leaks from...the elections, etcetera. But that being used to actually target people?...I think the moment we started getting more and more smartphones in the Philippines, and the algorithms being used and constantly being surveilled around us...like literally, I could be talking about furniture, and suddenly IKEA...already starts sending me ads on Facebook, and I didn't even look at anything yet. It's listening; it's actually listening. I kid you not...that happened to me in Hong Kong. I remember there's such a thing as...food meal plans. And I remember...constantly getting an advertisement for meal plans and nutrition kitchens in Hong Kong. And I think my phone heard me say how I was so tired of seeing the nutrition kitchen ads, specifically the one with this girl. Then it started feeding me different ads already from nutrition kitchen, but just not that girl...When we started like using...data that way, smartly, because I kid you not...the amount of data that [SM Supermalls] has before was immense; it's just that they didn't know how to use it in 2014. [But] they're now use actually using it. So you get recommended shit about SM Home, etcetera. Like SM Home knew I was moving into an apartment even before I signed a lease...and that's been happening since 2016-2017, when it was starting to recommend things to you in different ways, especially as we started using more chat messaging...and it was recording things. And the algorithm was getting smarter and smarter and smarter that way...to the point that literally my friend...would talk to me once, and then the next day she gets recommendations about bicycles...because she talked to me once. Yeah, that is a turning point, because like that never happened in the Philippines before. The Philippines used to do [corporate social responsibility (CSR)] very old school [like]...they know somebody bought...pregnancy tests today, [then] nine months later, they're gonna be sending you ads for diapers. That's still very old school...that's just your points from what you put in your credit card. But now, it's actually actively listening.
