Could Google Decide the Next Election With Its Search Algorithm?

We trust Google not to be malevolent , but new grounds publish by striking psychologist Robert Epstein suggest that if it want to , Google could countermine democracy – simply by tweaking its hunt algorithmic program .

In an article onPoliticoEpstein describes the findings , published today in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . Along with his fellow worker Ronald Robertson , Epstein created a fake search locomotive bid Kadoodle ( Kadoodle ! ) and used it to prove how different search results might affect a person ’s conclusion to vote for one candidate or another :

In our introductory experimentation , participant were randomly assigned to one of three group in which search rankings favored either Candidate A , Candidate B or neither candidate . Participants were given brief description of each prospect and then take how much they liked and trusted each nominee and whom they would vote for . Then they were allow for up to 15 minutes to conduct on-line research on the candidate using a Google - like search engine we create called Kadoodle .

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According to Epstein , the candidate who was favor by the hunt rankings rated well on likeability , trust , and ultimately on vote preference . Epstein and Robertson call this the Search Engine Manipulation Effect ( SEME ) .

The new body of work is a followup to a controversialstudyconducted by Epstein and Robertson last yr touch SEME . In that sheath , instead of using hypothetic candidates , the researchers screen for SEME using real candidates and real voter . hunt rankings were found to sway undecided voters by 15 percent or more .

Now , Epstein practice impregnable linguistic communication in describing these determination . ”Given how potent this effect is , it ’s potential that Google address the winner of the Indian election , ” he writes . On the surface , you might say this is unfeigned . Google hunt results have to show up one way or another , and just like all medium we have , the room they show up is choke to tempt the way the great unwashed think . Epstein pass away on to recount a serial of way in which Google might spay its algorithm to deliberately sway an election .

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This is not the same as say Google is actively and/or nefariously affect the way people vote , asthe Guardian noted at the sentence of the Amerindic election written report . The troupe quite justly responds that it ’s simply trying to allow for masses with the answers they ’re looking for .

But is it really that far - fetched of an melodic theme ? Google has its political stead on a telephone number of return , not to mention a huge economical interestingness in the result of election . If it really remained completely neutral and did n’t use its product to attempt to influence politics , it ’d be the first sensitive caller to remain so stoically unbiased .

[ PoliticoandPNAS ]

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