Societal Impact of Modern Technologies in K-Dramas
Introduction
As we are constrained to our homes in Covid-19 times, one of the hobbies that I developed is one that is probably shared by many: (binge)watching Netflix. However, I discovered a special genre, often referred to as K-dramas. My journey in the world of Korean cinema and TV shows began with the Oscar-winning “Parasite” (2019). I was totally mind-blown by this movie and wanted to discover more. Luckily Netflix has a big collection of K-dramas to stream. So the streaming began…
The K-dramas often consist of a formulaic storytelling. A notably and predictable story structure is even called the Second Lead Syndrome. Fortunately, this genre is evolving and is now able to capture a more mature, bigger and more diverse audience. The different TV shows address new and relevant themes and offer social commentary, such as problems in society like poverty, inequality, and mental ilness. But also topics about inclusiveness: misogyny, homophobia and racism.
A theme that I (as an information technologist) in particular find relevant is the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other modern technologies on our lives and societies. Note that this theme is also explored in one of my all time favorite TV shows: Black Mirror (2011-). But I wanted to see and reflect on how Korean dramas are explaining this topic from a different cultural angle. There are 3 recent TV shows that address this topic and which can be streamed from Netflix: “Private Lives” (2020), “Start-Up” (2020) and “Love Alarm” (2019–2021). In this post, I will only explore the technological theme of “Love Alarm”, although it also addresses the other themes mentioned above. It is the first Korean drama produced directly by Netflix in 2019.
Can We Capture Love in Data?
Imagine a world, not far in the future, where there is a mobile app using AI that sends you an alarm whenever someone who has romantic feelings for you is within 10 meters distance from you. This mobile application exists in the TV series “Love Alarm”, which is at the same time the name of the app. It is a Tinder on steroids!
As an engineer, I immediately think of how such an app has been created. Obviously it is only active with Bluetooth. The data on the web and on the phone is probably collected and stored somewhere centrally, since it is explained that the love detector persists even when changing phones and reinstalling the app. I assume we can classify each user according to a label in the cloud, do some boosting by popularity, and then use Bluetooth to cluster, and call each match “love”.
With social media profiles, you can do some basic matching, but to accurately detect when someone is in love with you? Having phones that can eventually accurately measure your heartbeat, combined with other data collected, may indicate that you like someone, but that cannot be called love yet and it is not deterministic. I do not think love can be captured in data.
Trusting an App
Anyway, in “Love Alarm” we see (most) people living their lives by blindly trusting it. This app in fact decides who loves you, and who you love. We hear the constant ringing of this alarm, and it even shows the count of people who love you. And the more people that love you, the higher you are ranked and can become part of a prestigious club. Not surprisingly, there are people who work very hard to become loved.
There is a scene where activating this alarm is part of a marriage ceremony, and once it rings on both phones, the marriage is officiated. We see that couples fall in love and break up, all because of blindly trusting the app. At some point the app gets a new major release with a feature that predicts who will love you. What would happen if we decide to ignore the love detection and predictions of this app by switching it off, without anyone knowing? Or going into a relationship, that may be one-sided love, and hoping one day to activate the alarm for your other half? Or breaking up, while still madly in love, just because the alarm stopped ringing? Does this love detection become a self-fulfilling prophecy?
We see these questions being dramatically explored in 14 episodes. It has some dark overtones when we see in episode 6 of season 1 a gruesome mass suicide occurring by a band of people whose “Love Alarms” never rang. In season 2, episode 3, we see the “Love Alarm” being used by a murderer who survived that suicide. It is definitely true that an app can be used in a way not intended by its developers, and sometimes in a very destructive way.
What I found highly amusing is that the log files were all stored at the company on tape and could be extracted for a specific user by the developer to see whether “love” was really detected for that user. Privacy and user rights are codified in law in many countries and supranational organizations. A very important topic briefly touched on by this show.
The key message of “Love Alarm” is that people have their own will and should follow their hearts. Technology may help, but you should not be guided by it and blindly trust it. A very excellent message that I fully agree with.
Streaming to Get Fame
Another smaller topic explored in “Love Alarm” is the world of content creators and online video streaming of their content. We see a girl who could not get into university and decided to start an online fashion channel with paying subscribers with whom you chat with and get donations. The quest to get fame and make money with video streaming is shared by many in real life.
We see videos being broadcast on Youtube, Twitch, TikTok, Instagram, etc. I frequently check YouTube as well, and realized that it requires a tremendous amount of effort to create content and get paid. On YouTube the top 3% get 75% of the views. In other words, there is a very long tail of videos that won’t be seen by many people. In Asia, where educational competition is fierce, we see young people escaping to digital video streaming to make ends meet. Going digital offers a lot of possibilities, but the pie is not shared in a fair way.
I see this as a responsibility of recommender systems and search engines as well. Popularity is a bias. And those already popular, will become even more popular, as there is a reinforcing mechanism in play. Diversifying recommendations and search results helps against that. Supporting serendipity and offering a greater and more diverse bucket of content creators would not only help the content creators, but also users like us to enjoy more content and broaden our views.
Conclusion
Having binge-watched “Love Alarm”, I found it addressing the societal impact of using modern technologies. It is great to see this topic being addressed in Korean dramas. And I am hoping for more storytelling about this theme in other shows.
The most important lesson for everyone is that we should never let our (love) lives be blindly guided or decided by AI. It can help, but people always have a free will. Life is not deterministic like a “Love Alarm”. A not so original message, but told in a very original way.
Love Alarm consists of 14 episodes spread over 2 seasons and can be streamed on Netflix here.
