WSJ: If TiVo Thinks You Are Gay, Here’s How to Set It Straight: when a learning “personalisation” algorithm gets it massively wrong.
PS: I think it was Mimi Smartypants who noted that she occasionally misses the odd TV program, just so TiVo doesn’t get the wrong idea.
PPS: Joe McNally, who fwded this, notes that IMDB’s learner has gone a bit haywire recently, too: “If you liked ‘Iris’,” it told me the other week, “you’ll also enjoy ‘Planet of the Apes’.” Click further, and apparently you’ll also also enjoy ‘Pearl Harbour’, ‘Donnie Darko’ and ‘Bend It Like Beckham’. Sounds like a game of What Links?
PPPS: all irrelevant in Europe — TiVo’s west-pond-only.