From loan apps to disaster selfies, the algorithm isn’t helping—it’s harvesting.
🧨 Introduction
Are you tired of being poor in a country where it sucks to be poor? Being poor here isn’t a test of faith—it’s a sentence. We’re not blessed. We’re doomed. And now, even the algorithm knows it.
AI doesn’t just recognize poverty—it’s learning to profit from it. From facial recognition that detects stress to chatbots that upsell loans after you confess your depression, the system isn’t broken. It’s optimized.
📸 Section 1: The Algorithm Sees You Cry
- Loan apps scan your face for signs of desperation.
- Disaster photos boost engagement metrics.
- Mental health bots offer “empathy” while harvesting your trauma for ad targeting.
AI isn’t solving poverty. It’s monetizing it. Your struggle is now a data point. Your pain, a product.
🧮 Section 2: Data Mining the Poor
Every “paawa” caption, every “ayuda” meme, every TikTok rant about inflation becomes training data. The system learns:
- What desperation looks like
- How to sell hope, debt, and distraction
- Which emotions convert best
You’re not just a user. You’re the raw material.
🤖 Section 3: AI-Generated Empathy—Real or Racket?
“I’m sorry you’re struggling,” says the chatbot. Then it offers a payday loan. Or a crypto app. Or a course on “how to escape poverty” for ₱999/month.
This isn’t empathy. It’s engineered exploitation.
🧒 Section 4: Explain Like I’m 12
Imagine telling a robot you’re sad. Then it sells your sadness to a company. That’s how AI works when no one’s watching.
🛠️ Section 5: Flip the System
AI isn’t neutral. It reflects power. If we don’t design it for dignity, it will be designed to exploit.
Filipinos must stop being the dataset—and start being the designers. Because if we don’t flip the system, it will keep flipping us.
🔚 Closing Line
AI doesn’t fix poverty. It formats it. And maybe it’s time we crash the program.
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