What if knowing you isn’t the end goal... but shaping you is? In this episode, Kevin Coldiron speaks with Columbia professor Sandra Matz about how algorithms trained on our clicks, searches, and faces don’t just predict our behavior - they influence it. They unpack how personalization narrows possibility, why convenience can come at the cost of resilience, and what happens when machines learn to mirror us better than we mirror each other. From the false promise of data consent to the quiet collapse of complexity, this is a conversation about power, psychology, and the systems quietly remaking the human experience.

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Episode TimeStamps:

02:13 - Introduction to Sandra Matz

08:22 - How data is a window into our psychology

12:13 - What is the "right" benchmark?

14:12 - How algorithms learn to understand who you are

19:11 - Do algorithms care about your feelings?

22:16 - The "basic bitch" effect

25:10 - Computers can learn your personality from a picture of your face

32:01 - How the power of algorithms can be used in a positive way

40:17 - A framework for avoiding the negatives of collecting personal data

44:06 - Solving the complex challenges of cookies (not the ones you eat)

51:14 - The rise of data unions and cooperatives

57:01 - How Matz protects her own data

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