Autobotography Intent – JakeB

This project is called “More than mine.” It seeks to expose data mining as a problem that dehumanizes consumers in the eyes of ad agencies and online stores.

Many companies, specifically Amazon, use data mining to suggest new items for you to buy. Other services then use this information to fill your social media feeds and online advertisements with items that are supposed to be more appealing to you. They’re constantly seeing ads that they are much less resistant to. This is a problem because it tricks people into buying things that they wouldn’t otherwise.

When I realized this was happening to me, I felt objectified in a way I didn’t understand. I felt like these online retailers saw me only as a dataset or something to be exploited for money. I also realized that all of these things I was seeing was an uncanny representaion of who I am. I was seeing photography gear, cameras, lenses, audio equipment; all things I would use for school or work. I was also seeing books and plays on topics I’m interested in. I would also occasionally see items related to my other hobbies like cycling and yoyoing. 

The actual project would consist of a minimalistic vector portrait, like the one seen above. It would then be filled in with all of the items that Amazon suggests for that person, similar to the overlay seen at the top of this post so that the person looks like they’re made up of these advertisements.

Budget:

Hourly labor: $15/hr for 2 hours per portrait

Adobe suite: $19.99/month

Total: $64.99 For three portraits.