Artificial Intelligence: How Companies Will Use It To Sell To You

How did Donald Trump defy the swelled-head mediacracy to become President? From the fringe of the tech world a theory has emerged: It was artificial intelligence. No, not just regular AI, but rather a "weaponized" artificial intelligence, says Jonathan Albright, a data scientist and professor at Elon University in North Carolina. The Trump campaign used an AI-powered system made by Cambridge Analytica, a U.K. outfit that reportedly gets funding from Robert Mercer, a billionaire Trump supporter, and that was whispered to have Trump strategist Steve Bannon as a board member. In any case, the company hoovers up mountains of consumer and lifestyle data--including what you watch on TV--in order to build a "psychographic" profile of you, the individual voter.