In Chapter 4 of Weapons of Math Destruction, we learn about WMD backed predatory advertisements that target the audience based on their insecurities. Massive amounts of behavioral data are collected for every individual to model their consumer profile. Eventually, these data are fed into Machine Learning models to find an optimal consumer-product fit. If used ethically, these models would be a resource saver for the companies and buyers alike. However, when used unethically, these very models can be deployed to exploit and extort the ignorant.
The author draws an example of some predatory educational institutions. The core philosophy that these institutions exploit is the hard-wired belief of the under-privileged regarding the promises of education. For instance, the University of Phoenix showed thousands of low class and stuck upu individuals the dream of progress and extorted them in exchange for substandard education that would keep them unemployed even after graduation. These institutions have dedicated marketing team and budget to optimize their recruitment and revenue based on an objective. Their objective is to find potential students who can secure government-backed loans so that these students can legally pay the institutions. Some institutions even go on and exploit the 90–10 loan rule of Higher Education Act of 1965 where students can receive up to 90% of their funding from the government.
Such predatory marketing rely on vanilla Bayesian inference and A/B testing for generating leads in the form of clicks or displayed interest. 20% to 30% of such companies’ promotional budget are allocated to lead generation. These companies employ classic sales tactics and persistently communicate with the individuals to the point of stalking. This leads to more exploitation of the under-privileged and the ignorant. However, I think that regulatory measures like the “Fair Credit Reporting Act” and “Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)” that establish limits on health and credit data, can be helpful to safeguard the vulnerable individuals from the wrath of these WMD based predatory advertisement models.
