Amazon recommends bomb making materials on website.......

ABikerSailor

Diamond Member
Aug 26, 2008
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Okay, yeah, I get it, computer brains are capable of making algorithms that are capable of working on their own, and quite often can be useful, because they can recommend products that the consumer might buy in addition, but there has to be a limit, or at least some kind of human supervision to check on the programs to make sure crap like this isn't happening.

It seems that if you buy something on Amazon, there is an algorithm on their website that will recommend bomb making materials if you buy stuff as innocent as cooking supplies.

Amazon ‘Reviewing’ Its Website After It Suggested Bomb-Making Items

LONDON — Amazon said on Wednesday that it was reviewing its website after a British television report said the online retail giant’s algorithms were automatically suggesting bomb-making ingredients that were “Frequently bought together.”

The news is particularly timely in Britain, where the authorities are investigating a terrorist attack last week on London’s Underground subway system. The attack involved a crude explosive in a bucket inside a plastic bag, and detonated on a train during the morning rush.

The news report is the latest example of a technology company drawing criticism for an apparently faulty algorithm. Google and Facebook have come under fire for allowing advertisers to direct ads to users who searched for, or expressed interest in, racist sentiments and hate speech. Growing awareness of these automated systems has been accompanied by calls for tech firms to take more responsibility for the contents on their sites.

Amazon customers buying products that were innocent enough on their own, like cooking ingredients, received “Frequently bought together” prompts for other items that would help them produce explosives, according to the Channel 4 News.




Considering the way the world is right now, do we REALLY need companies writing algorithms that help people build home made explosives? Even if they don't buy the stuff from the company, they still get a really good idea how to build them because they get a list of the ingredients.
 
Baseball bats can shatter a skull! Dont let them suggest that either
 
Hey, when you're just buying groceries for the week, and Amazon suggests bomb making materials, I would say that there is a problem in the system.
 
how dare they suggest items they sell :rolleyes:

Its like europe freaking out about google putting THEIR products first when people use THEIR website.
All of you are fucking statists
 
how dare they suggest items they sell :rolleyes:

Its like europe freaking out about google putting THEIR products first when people use THEIR website.
All of you are fucking statists

It's not what the company sells that is the issue, the issue is that if you buy something from them that triggers the algorithm, it then suggests "bomb making supplies" and lists them FOR you. Think that is a good idea, especially now when there are lone wolf radicals running around all over Europe as well as here in the US?
 
how dare they suggest items they sell :rolleyes:

Its like europe freaking out about google putting THEIR products first when people use THEIR website.
All of you are fucking statists

It's not what the company sells that is the issue, the issue is that if you buy something from them that triggers the algorithm, it then suggests "bomb making supplies" and lists them FOR you. Think that is a good idea, especially now when there are lone wolf radicals running around all over Europe as well as here in the US?
How many people do you think know what that shit is?
Why shouldnt they suggest their products to people?
Have you ever heard of the anarchist cookbook?
 
Okay, yeah, I get it, computer brains are capable of making algorithms that are capable of working on their own, and quite often can be useful, because they can recommend products that the consumer might buy in addition, but there has to be a limit, or at least some kind of human supervision to check on the programs to make sure crap like this isn't happening.

It seems that if you buy something on Amazon, there is an algorithm on their website that will recommend bomb making materials if you buy stuff as innocent as cooking supplies.

Amazon ‘Reviewing’ Its Website After It Suggested Bomb-Making Items

LONDON — Amazon said on Wednesday that it was reviewing its website after a British television report said the online retail giant’s algorithms were automatically suggesting bomb-making ingredients that were “Frequently bought together.”

The news is particularly timely in Britain, where the authorities are investigating a terrorist attack last week on London’s Underground subway system. The attack involved a crude explosive in a bucket inside a plastic bag, and detonated on a train during the morning rush.

The news report is the latest example of a technology company drawing criticism for an apparently faulty algorithm. Google and Facebook have come under fire for allowing advertisers to direct ads to users who searched for, or expressed interest in, racist sentiments and hate speech. Growing awareness of these automated systems has been accompanied by calls for tech firms to take more responsibility for the contents on their sites.

Amazon customers buying products that were innocent enough on their own, like cooking ingredients, received “Frequently bought together” prompts for other items that would help them produce explosives, according to the Channel 4 News.




Considering the way the world is right now, do we REALLY need companies writing algorithms that help people build home made explosives? Even if they don't buy the stuff from the company, they still get a really good idea how to build them because they get a list of the ingredients.

Are they actually frequently bought together?

If so, that's not the fault of the algorithm.
 
how dare they suggest items they sell :rolleyes:

Its like europe freaking out about google putting THEIR products first when people use THEIR website.
All of you are fucking statists

It's not what the company sells that is the issue, the issue is that if you buy something from them that triggers the algorithm, it then suggests "bomb making supplies" and lists them FOR you. Think that is a good idea, especially now when there are lone wolf radicals running around all over Europe as well as here in the US?
How many people do you think know what that shit is?
Why shouldnt they suggest their products to people?
Have you ever heard of the anarchist cookbook?

Yes, I have heard of the anarchist's cookbook, and yes, there are many different ways of making bombs. However, I don't think that a business needs to list all the ingredients together in one place and label it "bomb making supplies". Feed stores and plant stores carry fertilizer and other items that can be used for making bombs, how would you feel if they put a display together and put it near the front door of everything they had required to make a bomb and labeled it "bomb supplies"? Pretty sure the law enforcement would put a stop to that rather quickly.
 
how dare they suggest items they sell :rolleyes:

Its like europe freaking out about google putting THEIR products first when people use THEIR website.
All of you are fucking statists

It's not what the company sells that is the issue, the issue is that if you buy something from them that triggers the algorithm, it then suggests "bomb making supplies" and lists them FOR you. Think that is a good idea, especially now when there are lone wolf radicals running around all over Europe as well as here in the US?
How many people do you think know what that shit is?
Why shouldnt they suggest their products to people?
Have you ever heard of the anarchist cookbook?

Yes, I have heard of the anarchist's cookbook, and yes, there are many different ways of making bombs. However, I don't think that a business needs to list all the ingredients together in one place and label it "bomb making supplies". Feed stores and plant stores carry fertilizer and other items that can be used for making bombs, how would you feel if they put a display together and put it near the front door of everything they had required to make a bomb and labeled it "bomb supplies"? Pretty sure the law enforcement would put a stop to that rather quickly.
They labeled it "bomb making supplies?" I must have missed that part.
 
how dare they suggest items they sell :rolleyes:

Its like europe freaking out about google putting THEIR products first when people use THEIR website.
All of you are fucking statists

It's not what the company sells that is the issue, the issue is that if you buy something from them that triggers the algorithm, it then suggests "bomb making supplies" and lists them FOR you. Think that is a good idea, especially now when there are lone wolf radicals running around all over Europe as well as here in the US?
How many people do you think know what that shit is?
Why shouldnt they suggest their products to people?
Have you ever heard of the anarchist cookbook?

Yes, I have heard of the anarchist's cookbook, and yes, there are many different ways of making bombs. However, I don't think that a business needs to list all the ingredients together in one place and label it "bomb making supplies". Feed stores and plant stores carry fertilizer and other items that can be used for making bombs, how would you feel if they put a display together and put it near the front door of everything they had required to make a bomb and labeled it "bomb supplies"? Pretty sure the law enforcement would put a stop to that rather quickly.
They labeled it "bomb making supplies?" I must have missed that part.

It was at the bottom of the bolded part of the OP that I'd copied from the news site. You didn't read the article that I'd provided for you, did you? Check the last paragraph of the article.
 
how dare they suggest items they sell :rolleyes:

Its like europe freaking out about google putting THEIR products first when people use THEIR website.
All of you are fucking statists

It's not what the company sells that is the issue, the issue is that if you buy something from them that triggers the algorithm, it then suggests "bomb making supplies" and lists them FOR you. Think that is a good idea, especially now when there are lone wolf radicals running around all over Europe as well as here in the US?
How many people do you think know what that shit is?
Why shouldnt they suggest their products to people?
Have you ever heard of the anarchist cookbook?

Yes, I have heard of the anarchist's cookbook, and yes, there are many different ways of making bombs. However, I don't think that a business needs to list all the ingredients together in one place and label it "bomb making supplies". Feed stores and plant stores carry fertilizer and other items that can be used for making bombs, how would you feel if they put a display together and put it near the front door of everything they had required to make a bomb and labeled it "bomb supplies"? Pretty sure the law enforcement would put a stop to that rather quickly.
They labeled it "bomb making supplies?" I must have missed that part.

It was at the bottom of the bolded part of the OP that I'd copied from the news site. You didn't read the article that I'd provided for you, did you? Check the last paragraph of the article.
ok
Last week’s attack at Parsons Green train station was the fifth terrorist attack in Britain in a matter of months. Several people have been arrested in the investigation of the explosion, in which dozens of people were wounded.
 

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