Privacy, AI assistants and Incentives Alignment

Do you believe ANY of the big companies—Meta, Facebook, Google, Apple—are looking out for you? When you’re at your lowest, or you’re trusting them with your private thoughts, is there any part of you that expects these giants to pause and say, “Let’s put this person first”? Or do you feel, or even know, deep down, that profit will always win out?

It’s hard to imagine anyone who still believes they’re on your side when it counts. We already have so much experience with the biggest companies in the world using all of our behavioral information to sell our souls. They are not going to be working in our best interests. They have proven this time and again and we should, and do, believe them.

This problem is going to become even worse with AI assistants, especially those focused on mental health. We need to be very careful about how we allow our deepest desires and darkest thoughts to be mined for information about us and used against us. We need to take active steps TODAY to make sure that that does not happen again with this set of products.

I don't know what the solution to this problem looks like. Maybe it is a non-profit that is absolutely 100% aligned with the user's interests because it is funded by the users. After all, a for-profit corporation, even if it is for public benefit, will have investors. At some point they are going to ask for returns for their investments and the organization will - absolutely without an iota of probability - have to make decisions that are not for the user's benefit but for the investors. And that's, I currently think, a no-go right at the outset.