What other explanation is there?
It turns out there is another explanation, and its stranger and more insidious than high-tech eavesdropping.
But thats a different kind of listening.
Your gadget is only always listening for a specific word (or the wake word).
Only after it hears that do the smarter parts of its digital brain light up.
This would take a lot of resources, and probably violate wiretapping and other privacy laws.
That wouldnt be hard to do, but there isnt much in it for advertisers.
One way to beat tracking is by using a VPN while you browse the internet on your smartphone.
So if an ad for an Audi appears, its not because Gary told you about his car.
Its because Gary is into Audi, and you hang with Gary.
They know shes been searching for cordless drills online, and that her birthday is a month away.
But that can be explained too.
But computers dont have assumptions or the limitations we have.
Even if online ads were random, people would still sometimes wonder if their phones were spying on them.
When AI gets really good, things will get exponentially more depressing.
Advertisers already know almost everything about you.
Advertising already feels invasive; imagine ads that target your personal insecurities and secret dreams.
Picture a commercial for a Dremel starring your dead mother or your childhood crush.
I have a feeling were going towishour phones were literally spying on us.
Remember ApplesApp Tracking Transparency feature?
(The answer, of course, should be, Hell no.)
Ever since, your iPhone data has been a little less transparent to the advertisers of the world.
(For those on Android,DuckDuckGo has a similar featureto keep your apps a little more secure.)
Privacy controls across all operating systems and browsers have become more robust as well.
(No Dremel for you.)
Until the AI get too smart for them, anyway.
