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In a world that is increasingly relying on machines to do the work for people, it was only a matter of time before a company like Facebook replaced human workers with programs to achieve certain goals. In the case of its powerful Trending Topics list, the social network removed the people who oversaw the list, in favor of algorithms. As a result, the list started featuring certain items that were not only false but, were also quite damaging. In addition, despite all the evidence to the contrary, Mark Zuckerberg still insists that Facebook is not a media company.
While algorithms are getting to the point where they can do many of the things that humans are capable of, good judgment is something that they clearly still lack, as Facebook recently found out. Its Trending list included a false news report involving Fox News host Megyn Kelly’s supposed departure from the network due to traitorous behavior, and it remained on the list for a few hours before it was taken down, NBC News reports.
Another example of the unsurprising errors made by the machine is the headline about the roast of Robe Lowe. Whenever users hovered over his name, the article that they saw was about Lowe calling Anne Coulter a derogatory name.
The reason behind Facebook’s decision to focus on the algorithm is to scale the amount of news that it could spread out, which was apparently too slow when humans had to make sure that gaffes like the ones mentioned above didn’t get included on the list. It seems the social network isn’t giving up on its algorithm, however, as it is currently improving the programming instead of scrapping it altogether.
In the wake of such a blunder involving news media, Zuckerberg still refuses to accept that his company is a media-driven one, Business Insider reports. He insists that Facebook is a technology company, which provides users with the tools to personalize their experience.
Even so, it can’t be denied that the social media site now plays a huge role in shaping how news is circulated and consumed. Zuckerberg seems to be fighting a losing battle.
