Google, You Auto-Complete Me

Tech giants are using predictive capabilities to influence what you say, think, and do. Worried yet?

- Mark Wilson

I don’t like to say “hi.” I’m a “hey” person. But more and more, I find myself greeting friends and colleagues with a “hi” on email. Why? Because Google suggests that I do. In May, Gmail introduced a new “Smart Compose” feature that uses autocomplete technology to predict my next words in gray. I accept them simply by hitting TAB.

Words matter to me. I am a professional writer, after all. But then Gmail made it tantalizingly easy to say “hi” instead of “hey,” and Google’s prediction, albeit wrong at first, became self-fulfilling. It wasn’t until two weeks after I began using Smart Compose that I realized I had handed over a small part of my identity to an algorithm.

This sort of predictive technology is everywhere: Amazon suggests products aligned with your shopping history. Apple provides a special menu for the iOS apps you’re most likely to open next. Spotify tailors playlists to your musical tastes. And Facebook literally chooses the stories from friends you should see first, last, or never—then notifies you 365 days a year that it’s time to say “happy birthday” to someone out there.