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The machine knows what we fear

Do you ever have that thing where you hear or say a word while you’re typing and you accidentally type that exact word?

That happened to me on Facebook the other day. Can’t remember what I was trying to search for but I heard the word “photos” and typed that in instead. The suggestions for common searches including that word were…revealing.

Screenshot of suggested Facebook searches after the word 'Photo'. They include: photos liked by my boyfriend, photos liked by my husband

If there ever really is a robot uprising they’ll never have to fire a shot; they can just crush us emotionally. Think of all the worries, all of the anxieties, that we’ve all poured into those little search boxes over the years… Will this flower poison my cat? How much money do I need for retirement? What are people saying about me? Are people saying anything about me?

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