Talks to Watch

Google’s The Selfish Ledger (leaked internal video)

577K views · May 17, 2018 · 8:42 · 0 HN recommenders · 4 mentions · discussed 2018–2023

Leaked internal Google X video, 'The Selfish Ledger', a speculative thought experiment about treating user data as a ledger that could guide and shape human behavior, including products sold to fill data gaps.

Why Hacker News points people here: HN cites it as a glimpse of how Google and other data companies think about behavioral sequencing and data collection.

“pushing specific products on relevant customers in order to fill gaps in data collection.”HN comment, 2020

What Hacker News said 4

Cites itamoshiOct 2018

“Brings to mind Google's secret project The Selfish Ledger, especially how it can be used for "Behavioural Sequencing"...”

Google concept video on shaping user behaviour via data.

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I think this will happen. Brings to mind Google's secret project The Selfish Ledger, especially how it can be used for "Behavioural Sequencing"... [0] As tech gets better it'll become easier to analyse the masses and make good predictions - how much can the masses put up with? How much further can we push them before the boiling point is reached? [0] this video

in “Uniqlo cut 90% of staff at one warehouse by replacing them with robots” · view on HN
Cites itcrocodiletearsAug 2020

“pushing specific products on relevant customers in order to fill gaps in data collection.”

Concept video on pushing products to fill data gaps.

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In the abstract, this reminds me of the selfish ledger concept video, where they discussed pushing specific products on relevant customers in order to fill gaps in data collection. this video

in “Google speakers are listening to more than just voice commands” · view on HN
Cites itdotnet00May 2022

Google thought experiment video about data and behaviour.

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This reminds me of Google's 'The Selfish Ledger' thought experiment video from a few years ago: this video

in “I made an AI write a story about AI then I made another AI illustrate it” · view on HN
Cites itdotnet00May 2023

Leaked internal Google thought experiment video.

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Brings to mind that old leaked Google internal 'thought experiment' video "The Selfish Ledger": this video

in “TikTok Owner Had 'Backdoor' for CCP Access to US Data, Lawsuit Alleges” · view on HN