There’s Nothing Really New About “Active Listening”

Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair

How many times have you casually mentioned buying, say, new curtains to your spouse, then found yourself bombarded with ads for window treatments the next time you opened a new browser tab on your computer?

How many times has that kind of thing left you assuming that your phone, smart speaker, etc. are listening in on your conversations and adding relevant material to advertising databases?

Advertising platforms always deny it, and maybe ...