Episode 11: Filters are Us

Fireside Chats with Empathic Futures Lab

This episode is our last installment in our mini-series on Kevin Kelly's book: "The Inevitable." We discuss his chapter on filters. The basic premise of the chapter is that as society creates an increasing amount of content and data, it becomes impossible for us as humans to view/experience/process those creations. Our attention is hard limited at 24 hours per day after all (supposing we don't get any sleep). This is where filters come in: they help us decide what content to interact with.

Our discussion starts off around this question of what are successful filters and what do they mean to us. We talk heavily about advertising in today's society and move into discussing how friends and people filter content for us. Where does this lead us as a person and as a society? How do we manage these filter bubbles?

We then discuss what this means for space. Can we have these environmental experience market places for designers, both amateur or professional, to showcase and sell their work?

Then we discuss, at the end, how all of this filtering and AI algorithms has the potential to make us more human rather than less human as the world increasingly centers around "experience" and "personalization".

Thanks for listening and, as always, feel free to comment. We'd love to hear your thoughts.