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SUMMARY:The Microtargeting Manipulation Machine - Almog Simchon (Ben-Gurio
 n University of the Negev)
DTSTART:20250219T150000Z
DTEND:20250219T160000Z
UID:TALK223597@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Yara Kyrychenko
DESCRIPTION:In this talk\, I examine the use of psychological microtargeti
 ng\, which uses inferred personality traits from online behavior to custom
 ize manipulative messages. I begin by highlighting the opaque nature of su
 ch targeting and my approach to reverse-engineer these algorithms to detec
 t and potentially alert users to targeted ads (Simchon et al.\, 2023). Nex
 t\, I show that microtargeted political ads\, even those generated by AI\,
  are markedly more effective than non-microtargeted ones. This underscores
  both the persuasive power of AI-driven microtargeting and the ethical iss
 ues it raises due to its potential for large-scale use (Simchon et al.\, 2
 024). Finally\, I explore the effectiveness of warning signals against the
 se targeted ads and find that despite the implementation of such intervent
 ions\, the persuasive power of targeted messages persists\, raising urgent
  needs for robust regulatory responses (Carrella\, Simchon\, et al.\, 2025
 ).
LOCATION:Online
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