UX Podcast

S03E02 (#330). Oobah Butler, journalist and filmmaker known for his prankster antics, joined us to discuss his work, including “The Great Amazon Heist” and “The Shed at Dulwich”. Oobah highlights the relative ease of manipulating algorithms, such as TripAdvisor and Amazon, to boost fake products’ rankings.

We also discussed the broader implications of algorithmic manipulation, the role of influencers (or “tastemakers”) and the impact of algorithms on us and on businesses.

James and Per also talked about the ethical and accountability challenges of algorithms from a the perspective of designers.

“I Feel like we’re on the cusp of something big. Not sure if it’s something good though” – Oobah Butler

(Listening time: 42 minutes, transcript)

References:

• Full transcript for this episode



• Oobah Butler
  
  
  
  • Website
  
  
  
  • TikTok
  
  
  
  • Instagram
  
  
  
  • LinkedIn
  
  
  
  



• Order an Oobah



• Sacha Baron Cohen (Wikipedia)



• The Great Amazon Heist (IMDB)
  
  
  
  • Watch on Channel 4 (UK)
  
  
  
  



• The Shed at Dulwich (Wikipedia)



• The Mount Fuji tourist screen



• Swiped, the school that banned smartphones (UK documentary)



• Vice magazine



• The Hollywood screen writers dispute (Wikipedia)



• Scarlet Johansson and ChatGPT



• Channel 4 – UK TV service (Wikipedia)



• I Sent a Lookalike to Skydive With My Wife and She Didn’t Realise
  
  
  
  • Video version
  
  
  
  



• From Business To Buttons



• Recommended listening:
  
  
  
  • Episode 166: Oblivious design
  
  
  
  



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The post The Great Amazon Heist with Oobah Butler appeared first on UX Podcast.