Dark patterns, dark algorithms, dark user experiences, what is that? You might ask. I will define them as the following for this piece:

Dark pattern - anything designed for malintention

Dark algorithm - an algorithm that is designed as a dark pattern

Dark UX - a user flow on the internet that is designed as a dark pattern

All of these patterns are designed intentionally, or if not, are the act of serious neglect. It was also super hard to aggregate these as recurring issues because there is no central place to discuss these issues and their prevelance, since sickness is taboo.

Ok cool, so how do these manifest in health insurance, you might ask?

Another reminder that businesses and their owners are inclined, or even at times duty-bound, to maximise the earnings for the stakeholders. Every day, the boundaries on what should be perceived as morally corrupt just get pushed farther.

It’s a troubling trend then that we are training the machines to do the same for us — imparting intelligence to maximise benefits for organisations who build these AI systems. A fascinating thread this that captures the fallouts of such training purely geared towards such optimisations.