Adventure is a State of Mind
I don’t like being told what to do. Do you? Most of us don’t. But as a global society, we’ve started letting the artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms dictate our interests. I think it’s time to rebel.
What’s In Your Feed?
Recently I told a friend about my interest in visiting the Faroe Islands. “Where’s that?,” she asked. “I’ve never heard of them.”
“Never heard of them? How have you missed them? They’re all over the internet!” I replied.
Guess what? We were both right.
Thanks to the magic of the internet and artificial intelligence, our phones and computers have created formulas, called algorithms, tailoring our news feeds and popup ads to exactly what they think will hold our attention the longest. These algorithms are made up of subjects we find interesting, based on previous internet searches and liked and forwarded social media posts, along with subjects that have held our attention, based on the amount of time we spent looking at those topics, websites, and advertisements.
Somewhat disturbingly, our personalized algorithms also contain topics that enrage and upset us and that reinforce our negative biases about the world and others, whether or not those biases are accurate, since emotionally-charged information tends to lead to increased engagement.
In other words, the algorithm feeds you information that is upsetting because that usually results in you looking longer at your screen.
The outcome of all of this is that we may feel like we’re looking at the same internet as everyone else, but the reality is what you’re seeing and what I’m seeing are often dramatically different.
We’re each seeing what the algorithm has chosen specifically for us. (There are actual multitudes of algorithms, with each website and app running their own. For the purposes of simplicity, however, I’m referring to it as a single entity.)
As long as you’ve been using the internet, you’ve been training the algorithm. For me, this means my algorithm and I have had a close relationship for about as long as I’ve been married. For some of you younger readers, you’ve been training your personal algorithm for most of your life… or at least as long as you’ve had your own password with which to log on.
Why Is the Internet Doing This to Us?
Do you know what one of the most valuable things in today’s modern economy is?
Attention.
Your attention. My attention. What we are paying attention to, and the time we spend doing so, is the new currency.
Almost every social media, news media, and entertainment website out there is selling your attention to advertisers. (I say “almost” because this website and some others, usually small ones, don’t sell advertising.) What advertisers want is your eyes on a screen (or your ears if you’re listening to a podcast or radio show), and the more they can demonstrate they’ve captured your attention, the more they can charge for that.
Search engines are also playing this game, and since they can change what shows up in your news feed and individual searches, they use those algorithms we discussed earlier to subtly alter what shows up on your screen so you’re seeing what the algorithm predicts will hold your attention for the longest possible amount of time.
The Invisible Problem
You may be wondering why this is a problem. We generally think of things being personally tailored to our needs and wants as a good thing, and maybe in the past, it was. For example, a suit obviously will fit and look better when it is tailored to the person wearing it.
There are several problems, but for the sake of simplicity, let’s focus on the overall problem that the algorithm process is invisible. To use the analogy of tailoring a suit, if that process worked the same as the internet algorithms, someone would be working in your closet secretly making changes to your wardrobe. In some cases, you might like the changes, especially if your pants that have been dragging in the dirt are finally hemmed to just the right length. And maybe your baggy shorts fit a little better and are now more flattering to your backside.
But then some other changes get thrown in. That long skirt you like gets shortened an indecent amount because that’s more likely to get attention as you’re walking down the street, whether you want it or not. And maybe because you’ve shown a preference for purple, every single shirt in your closet is replaced with a purple one.
The Polarization Problem
With the goal of capturing as much of our attention as possible, the algorithm is changing what each of us sees on the internet. This not only limits what we’re seeing, but in some cases, it can alter our world view.
If my internet feed is full of stories about baking sourdough bread and your feed is full of stories about how no one bakes anymore but now going to bakeries is popular, we’re going to each have a different view of what is happening in the world. The reality may be that both are true to some extent, or each is true in different parts of the country, but we won’t be aware of those other possibilities if the algorithm is feeding us only the one extreme and polarized version of what is happening.
This is, at least in part, a contributor to why politics have become so polarized and why it is often so difficult for families to calmly discuss their different opinions when it comes to society – we’re not even starting with the same shared information. You believe what you’ve read on your screen as much as I believe what’s on my screen.
We assume that we’re all seeing the same screens, but we’re not.
It’s hard to have a rational discussion when you’re not even starting with the same basic information.
The Algorithm and Travel
Rather than trying to address the political tensions created by differing algorithms, let’s tackle the smaller problem of how the algorithms impact us as travelers.
The world is a very, very big place. We obviously cannot see and do everything in one lifetime. So narrowing down our options and choices isn’t always a bad thing. When we start researching our next travel adventure, we usually don’t have the time to consider every single city and town in a country to decide where to stay. And even the most food-oriented traveler (I’m pointing to myself here) doesn’t want to look at the menu of every single restaurant in a city when considering dining options.
The internet, often with the help of AI, can do an incredible job of narrowing down the possibilities and giving us a smaller collection of options to consider. The problem is when the algorithm decides that because we did a search for “tapas bars in Barcelona,” we are only interested in tapas and no other types of Spanish food. Or when we search for “seaside stays in Greece,” and now we only get suggestions for seaside villas when we really want to stay in the mountains.
Travel Peer Pressure
Do you remember the perils of peer pressure in junior and senior high school? If bell-bottom jeans were the style of the year (or month), there was an unspoken pressure to wear the same, even if you didn’t like them or find them particularly flattering.
Similarly, our social media feeds can start to feel a little like peer pressure. If your Instagram feed is full of beautiful, sunset photos taken at Horseshoe Bend in Arizona, you may suddenly experience a fear of missing out (FOMO) if you don’t travel there immediately. This could happen even if Arizona was #22 on your bucket list.
Similarly, if you’re planning a trip to Iceland, and all of your Facebook friends who have been there have posted photos of themselves at the exact same thermal pool, you may feel some pressure to do the same, even if you really aren’t that interested in hot springs and would rather spend time visiting waterfalls.
“Oh, I do wish we had a guidebook,” Tossie said… “How can one tell what to look at without a guidebook?”
“Tossie” in To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
Take the Best, Leave the Rest
So what is a brave, wise traveler to do?
It’s not possible to completely avoid the influence of AI, even if we want to. After all, there are times when we want help sorting through the options to create a travel adventure that is unique and perfect for us. In other words, we want a tailored suit. We just don’t want it to look exactly like everyone else’s, and we don’t want all of the shirts in our closet to be purple!
AI is advancing rapidly, and using it to help plan a travel adventure is already much more useful than it was when I first wrote about it almost two years ago. Using AI effectively is about knowing the right questions to ask, and confusing the algorithms so you don’t always get the same information from your searches.
Let’s look at each of these strategies separately.
The Right Questions
If you’re looking for personalized information from an internet search, you have to ask personalized questions. To quote Stephen Covey, “Begin with the end in mind.” If you know what you are interested in, start there.
If you ask a generic question, you’ll probably receive a generic response. For example, if you ask, “Where is the best place to visit in Scotland?,” you are going to get an answer fitting the majority of travelers, which may or may not fit you and your interests. Or you are going to get an answer that somehow fits in with previous searches and is what the algorithm thinks you will like.
For example, if when planning for previous adventures you searched extensively about hiking and camping, a generic search for Scotland may provide you with lots of good suggestions for hiking and camping there. That’s great if it’s what you want. But it’s not so great if you’re mostly interested in visiting whisky distilleries.
When doing your searches, ask questions specifically tailored to your interests.
Notice What Sparks Your Interest
To craft a trip and life tailored to you, seek out additional information and pay attention to your emotional responses to unique information. For example, read the articles for suggestions you find on Pinterest (rather than just pinning them for their pretty cover photos). Multiple articles may make the same suggestions over and over, but if one of them gives a brief mention of someplace that makes you take notice and say, “Hmm, that sounds interesting,” dig deeper and do a search for that place.
Going down internet rabbit holes can use up a lot of your time, but if done intentionally with a focus on what you find interesting (not just what is trending on the internet), it can help you find the places and activities that are uniquely interesting to you.
Curate, Curate, Curate
You can curate your social media feeds to provide more information in alignment with your interests. This is especially important as your interests shift and change. For example, if you once took a cruise and liked the cruise company on Facebook, it is possible that every third post on your Facebook feed is now an advertisement for a cruise or packaged tour. If you hated the cruise and don’t ever want to take another, it’s okay to delete or block those advertisements. Conversely, if you loved the cruise, interact with those posts (by liking or forwarding them) and you’ll likely see more of them in the future.
As a general rule when it comes to AI, engage with content you want more of and cut/delete/block content you don’t want to see.
Use the Tools
Some, but not all, social media platforms have filters to customize the content you see. For example, Tik Tok has a “Manage Topics” filter that allows you to finetune your feed. They are also introducing “Smart Keyword Filtering” to help you train the AI algorithm to show you more of what you like and less of what you don’t.
You may not always have the option to customize what you see on a specific website or phone app, but when you do, definitely make the most of it!
Confuse the Algorithm
When I was working as a clinical psychologist, when clients presented with concerns or interests about which I was unfamiliar, I often did an internet search following the session. This meant my Google search history was extremely diverse and interesting. (“Interesting” in the same way my dad said it was an interesting choice when his friend painted his house purple with green trim.) It also meant the information the internet fed to me was diverse and interesting… and occasionally quite weird!
If the only thing you search for is cat videos, AI will figure this out and send you more cat videos. And then more and more and more cat videos. And maybe a few ads for cat food and cat adoption shelters. But pretty soon you’ll think the world is full of only cats and people who love cats.
If you’re less predictable, the algorithm will send you more of a variety. So, here are some ways to confuse the algorithm and increase the variability of the information you’re finding on the internet:
Diversify your engagement deliberately. Seek out varied information. Following the example provided earlier, if you’re researching for a trip to Scotland and most of your travel adventures have focused on hiking and camping, purposefully do some searches for activities that you don’t find as interesting – whisky distilleries, luxury hotels, Jacobite reenactments, nearby countries. It doesn’t matter so much what it is as it matters that you’re feeding some variety into the algorithm. Be unpredictable!
Clear your cookies. Clearing the history and cookies on your computer gives you somewhat of a fresh start. When you do a little electronic housecleaning, the algorithm has less information on which to base its assumptions of what you like and want.
Follow the niche creators. There are a lot of popular websites, content creators, and influencers out there. If there’s someone you really enjoy, by all means follow them. Don’t stop there, however. Also seek out niche and fringe sites that may only have a few hundred followers rather than thousands. For example, when we were planning our trip to Crete this past summer, I began following the website and newsletter of someone who lived on the island and only writes about Crete. I stopped following her after we returned, but during the six months that I did read her content, I learned about the public transportation on the island and two restaurants that we had not seen recommended by anyone else that were fantastic!
Don’t Forget to Go Offline!
My final suggestion – get away from your screens and engage with the real world. AI can’t follow you around in real life (yet). Browse the shelves at the library. Talk to people. If your friends have traveled someplace you want to visit, talk to them about their trip. Ask to see their photos. (Most people are thrilled to share.) And don’t forget to ask them specific questions – What did they love? What did they hate? What was the weirdest thing they did? What didn’t they do that they wished they had?
The goal isn’t to plan the same adventure as your friends. The goal is to gain information to help you plan your own unique adventure.
If you ask a friend about their trip to Greece and all they can talk about is the food, but that’s not how you organize your adventures, ask them about what they saw and did. They may mention that between restaurants they walked down a side street and found a tiny little art gallery run by a young man who displayed only his mother’s art and played his guitar the entire time they were in the shop. (That actually happened to us this summer.) If art is the theme that organizes your travel plans, that may be the tiny bit of information you need to explore more about that area.
Be Curious and Open
AI is here to stay, and it can be useful so long as we don’t passively accept whatever it serves up to us. Instead, stay curious and open to the world. Be willing to explore fringe and weird topics, and when something sparks your interest, go down that rabbit hole.
Be intentional about training the algorithm to serve you up a wider variety of information. Doing so can help you plan a travel adventure that is matched to your unique interests rather than just what is trending at the moment.
Have you been passively accepting AI’s suggestions for where you want to travel next? How can you intentionally seek out new and different information? How can you confuse the algorithm and seek out a wider variety of information? How can you gain travel-related information offline?
Author
