{"resolved":true,"match_type":"uuid","source_type":"original_book","book_id":"1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053","title":"If...Then Algorithmic Power and Politics","author":null,"edition":null,"publisher":null,"year":null,"isbn":"2017054909","requested_by":"printed_page","book":{"source_type":"original_book","book_id":"1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053","id":"1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053","uuid":"1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053","title":"If...Then Algorithmic Power and Politics","normalized_title":"ifthenalgorithmicpowerandpolitics","author":null,"edition":null,"publisher":null,"year":null,"isbn":"2017054909","isbns":["2017054909","9780190493042","9780190493059"],"parsed":true,"ai_readable":true,"document_type":"book","page_count":211,"navigation_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/book/1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053","title_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/title/If...Then%20Algorithmic%20Power%20and%20Politics","fixed_page_url_template":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/book/1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053/page/{printed_page}","path_api_url_template":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/book/1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053/page/{printed_page}","read_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/read/1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053","page_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/books/1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053/page","search_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/books/1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053/search"},"page":{"printed_page":102,"pdf_page":112,"physical_index":112,"physical_index_base":0,"printed_page_status":"recognized","page_sha256":"e30b3646082792d358c764f862c916b676010d6e9a8eba4df2464a43717caf32"},"chapter":"IF...THEN","content":"I noticed after I published my blog post on Facebook earlier in the week that, suddenly, the ads that Facebook “chose” for me were often about Taylor Swift concert tickets and products she endorses (like American Express), instead of the usual middle-aged woman assumptions like ads for wrinkle cream and fat loss.23\n\nWhile Shannon thinks that the Taylor Swift incident is amusing, she often finds targeted ads to be “slightly ofensive as they make assumptions about me, which I don’t like to think are true.” Such is the work of “profiling machines” (Elmer, 2004) that seek to produce a sense of identity through detailed consumer profiles, which are geared toward anticipating future needs. Based on statistical inferences and inductive reasoning, profiling algorithms do “not necessarily have any rational grounds and can lead to irrational stereotyping and discrimination” (de Vries, 2010: 80). Still, the question of whether “correct” identifications are being constructed may be beside the point. As de Vries (2010) argues, misidentification is not simply a mismatch or something that should be considered inappropriate. Misidentifications may also give some leeway for thinking about how identity construction is experienced.\n\nExperiencing algorithmic landscapes is as much about what the algorithm does in terms of drawing and making certain connections as it is about people’s personal engagements. To draw on Ingold (1993), a particular landscape owes its character to the experiences it afords to the ones that spend time there—to their observations and expectations. For Robin, the ways in which Amazon seems constantly to be confused by her gender is not just amusing and confusing but seems to make her transgender subject position simultaneously more real and unreal. As she explains:\n\nI am transgender and just starting transition. This seems to confuse Amazon like crazy. It tries to make suggestions and gets things wrong quite often. Sometimes, it’s obvious but amusing: “I see you just bought some makeup but wouldn’t you like some power tools?” (I have never ordered power tools).\n\nRobin has been thinking about “how much a company is willing to go out on a limb on things like this,” whether a company like Amazon would actually be willing to try and categorize people according to all possible demographic buckets, not just the ones that do not seem to endanger their profits:\n\nIf I were to examine my purchase history and come up with a narrative, I’d almost certainly read it as one transgender individual, rather than a heterosexual couple who happens to wear the same size clothing and shoes. But the negative reaction that comes from a false positive might outweigh any potential sales.24\n\n102\n\nIF . . . THEN","previous_page":101,"next_page":103}