Stuff I like

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/04/why-la-is-ground-zero-for-the-next-tech-apocalypse

More frightening is a future in which our smart TVs can watch us back. Years ago, I saw a security demo for a program that could be used by spy agencies to track people’s eyes as they read words on a screen. The primary purpose was to ensure that only the intended recipient could read a decrypted message, but the software could also monitor pupil movement and dilation, facial movements, and heartbeat speed to determine if viewers were engaged, nervous, excited, and so on. Could that same technology be applied to an audience watching a TV show? Already, Netflix tracks which show icons you linger on, and adjusts how they are presented to maximize the likelihood that you will click. Now imagine a world in which Netflix and its ilk can literally see when you get bored, if a joke works or falls flat, if a scene isn’t exciting enough, and so on.

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During a recent meeting at one of the big studios, I heard about a technology that is analyzing the way award-winning movies and TV shows are edited, and exploring if a computer can edit content with the same precision. You come home from work and say, “Hey, Alexa, make me a personalized comedy with a female lead set in New York that is 16 minutes long so I can watch it before dinner.” Then, like magic, that’s what you’re watching.