The Persuasion Hidden in Plain Sight
You ask an AI for advice. You get an answer. What you don't get is a label telling you someone paid for it. A Princeton study found that AI-driven recommendations nearly tripled persuasion over traditional search — and fewer than one in ten users detected the manipulation. The advertising isn't next to the content anymore. It's inside the answer, wearing the mask of impartiality. Meanwhile, Big Tech spent $20 million lobbying Congress in a single quarter while the rules are still being written. The conversation economy is being built right now, in code and in legislative chambers. And when we talk about fixing it — who exactly are we asking to change?
#AI #DigitalAdvertising #ConversationalAI #DarkPatterns #BigTech #AITransparency