The Embassy Concilium Civitas invites you
Michał Kosiński - the power algorithm
Professor Michał Kosiński, a member of Concilium Civitas, is a young Polish scientist who, thanks to his algorithm, is now being talked about by the whole world.
Is it possible to create a personality model for every social media user, taking into account only their online activity? Yes, and our compatriot Michał Kosiński did it, lecturer at Stanford University, social psychologist of the Internet. He is a man that the greatest of this world are fighting for at the moment, because his knowledge can be used as a tool to obtain not only big money, but also huge power.
Professor Kosinski has developed a social research method that can help, for example, sellers by showing them future customers on the internet, or candidates in the presidential election, who will show their potential voters and suggest how to convince them.
The power algorithm, or how to easily win the election?
What is Kosinski’s algorithm? What can he define? It is a method of social research that allows you to get to know both social, religious, political views and interests, sexual preferences, level of intelligence, religion, addiction, age, sex, skin color, taste or ethnicity of each person, i.e. also every voter or customer.
Kosiński based his research on a personality model known in psychology, covering five factors, such as extraversion, neuroticism, openness to experience, agreeableness and diligence. The Polish scientist followed the behavior of network users, observing the records of their presence on websites and on Facebook profiles. He compared the obtained data with their personalities. As a result of research involving hundreds of thousands of people, he discovered psychological parallels between the personalities of network users and their behavior on social media and on the Internet in general.
According to the Polish scientist, thanks to the features depicted on the Facebook profile, the personality of a specific person can be better defined by artificial intelligence than by his loved ones. People leave marks on the Internet that identify them. By knowing them, you can acquire knowledge that allows, for example, to win in elections. It’s the proverbial Golden Grail that can give great opportunities to politicians and decision-makers.
A modern manipulation tool
The ability to determine the personality of voters came in handy during the 2016 US election. The Cambridge Analytica company, thanks to collected internet details about voters, has created their complete, individual profiles. Each of them was matched with an appropriate, convincing message. To a large extent, thanks to such a tool, Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton.
Propagating any content and convincing recipients with the help of an algorithm based on Kosinski’s research has become simpler, but is very controversial. Professor himself Kosiński warns against abusing this knowledge because it can become a tool of dangerous manipulation.
