Be a Secret Agent

By Kevin Beardmore, Ed.D., President, Southeast New Mexico College

Before I arrived at Southeast New Mexico College, I was a vice president of student affairs for 15 years. In the many orientations where I presented to audiences of students and families during that time, my remarks were centered around the choices that new students would soon be making. I explained that one of the primary aims of a college education was understanding and owning those decisions, because we are, more than anything else, the sum of the choices we make.

Technology companies driving the information age understand this all too well. For more than two decades now, they have been engaged in a race to predict what you will choose so they can sell that information to companies that want to market products to you. Unfortunately, this has evolved into more controlling methods, as they will do almost whatever it takes to keep you engaged on their platform. Algorithms are repeatedly refined to retain your attention, regardless of whether it is good or bad for you.

Artificial intelligence is the next step in this attention economy. Your AI queries and conversations will allow companies to create an even more intimate profile of you. AI responses may seem caring and helpful, designed just for your needs, but they may be gently ushering you toward a particular product or solution at the same time.

Maybe this will be no surprise, as this already occurs to an extent. As you scroll, you see products related to your searches and what you have clicked in the past. In the case of AI, however, the difference between an answer and an advertisement will become blurred or not evident at all. Will we be able to tell when we are choosing and when we are being, for all intents and purposes, controlled?

In his poem Invictus, English poet William Ernest Henley concludes with, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” This is a powerful declaration of autonomy in the face of whatever circumstance may come, and while it was penned more than 150 years ago, it resonates today. We must understand the opposite exists—heteronomy—which describes when we are governed or influenced by external forces. This awareness is essential to beginning to assert our freedom of choice.

One may think that this freedom is simply a matter of willpower, but it isn’t that easy. Technologies that are designed to seem to give you what you want are addictive. In the moment, very few people can overcome their own desires in what seems like a low-stakes decision.

One solution, according to American Psychologist Angela Duckworth, is exercising situational agency. This means choosing to not place yourself in a situation where poor choices may be made. Not buying unhealthy snacks to keep at home, not vacationing at a gambling mecca, and using the do-not-disturb settings on your phone are some examples.

Planning can help you make the right decision in the future. This includes what programs you choose to use and what you choose to reveal about yourself. Remember that AI agents working for you are working for those marketing to you, too.

Fortunately, exercising your right to agency doesn’t mean you have to regularly confront the moral dilemmas that spies do, which arise from building and maintaining trust with those you will ultimately betray. You owe nothing to algorithms or to those who peddle them. You are free to be a secret agent.

Kevin Beardmore, Ed.D., is President of Southeast New Mexico College. He may be reached at kbeardmore@senmc.edu or 575-234-9211