The song entitled “The Rhythm is Gonna Get ‘Cha” was released in 1987, written by Enrique Garcia and Gloria Estefan. Its words and compelling, driving beat speak of the irresistible power of music to infiltrate the human mind. It drives us to relinquish inhibitions and embrace the dance. Music is an art, a science and might even be considered a technology that penetrates our emotions, delivering an array of pleasures. It has power to deliver enjoyment and satisfaction which erupt into physical movement: a dance!

Fast forward to 2025

With a strong infusion of technology, and a deployment of a cleverly concocted play on words, we find another rhythm that gets us. It’s called an algorithm. We have all felt its eerie impact. This highly invasive, seemingly ever present “being” has the ability to know human emotions, driving us to relinquish inhibitions and embrace a dance. It’s not a dance of physical movement. but rather the movement of thoughts, opinions and desires. This often leads to purchases or investments—movement of assets. Algorithms are programmed to track our keyboard actions—clicks, pauses, page changes, items receiving a second look. These conscious, physical movements are indicators of an unconscious triggering of dopamine in the reward system that motivates us to take action. The algorithm picks up on these movements and leads us into a dangerous dance.

Algorithms

Algorithms are a major tool too insidious industries. The first is the $766 billion advertising industry, where brilliant people are paid handsomely to stir up desires. Clever wording and images create dissatisfaction and encourage purchases of dazzling, new things. Persuasive, successful looking people describe lucrative job or investment offers that promise freedom from the doldrums work. 

The second industry is comprised of scams and outright fraud, which cost consumers an estimated $12.5 billion last year–a significant increase from previous years. Both legitimate advertisers and fraudulent scammers are skilled at making effective use of algorithms to draw us into a dance. Just as the mythical character, Odysseus, was hard pressed to resist the pull of the sirens’ song, we can be almost powerless to resist the algorithm.

My family recently fell victim. The algorithm got to one of us! 

The process began innocently with an intriguing online offer of an easy way to earn money at home, in your spare time, using just your computer and a few hours of your time each week.Sounds reasonable.Why not investigate further?Then, by analyzing keyboard engagements and responses to carefully crafted questions, the algorithm discerned the exact right time to shift just a bit.Now a small, moderate payment was required from the applicant and a rather large, potential payout was dangled before interested eyes.

This tactic delivered just the right dopamine enticements to keep the applicant engaged. The dance continued. A small payout was delivered but it involved a rather complex verification process which caused a significant delay. Then a huge payout was promised, but it was linked to an increased payment made by the applicant. More anticipation of reward; another dopamine hit. The beat intensified; the dance continued. Requests for payment became large and unreasonable, but the promise of enormous future payouts seemed real. Until, finally, the whole system crashed and disappeared into cyberspace, leaving the applicant no recourse to recover funds paid in, or collect the promised payouts.  

Confiding with a few trusted friends about my family experience, I was shocked to learn that many had fallen prey to similar schemes. Victims ranged from the immature, very young to vulnerable senior citizens—people with time on their hands and curiosity about new products and technologies. In addition, I discovered that some personalities are prone to take unreasonable risks with finances. 

Too Much to Resist

Consider the legendary Mark Twain. He was a brilliant and talented man who could not resist repeated investments in projects that failed again and again. Recovering from one disaster he would dive headlong into another. The rhythm of his day seemed to have unlimited power to draw him into the dance. The anticipation of possible, massive wealth was just too much for him to resist.

Let’s return to the story of Odysseus to learn how to steer the ship safely in the presence of these kinds of dangers. Notice that he first listened to reports from other seafaring men and heeded the warning. He knew that the sirens were real and posed a death threat. Their enchanting voices had the power to lure sailors to their demise by enticing them to self-destruct, crashing their ships on nearby rocks. Knowledge of the danger drove him to create a plan, to engage and defeat the danger.  

The plan began with educating his crew and enlisting their help. He instructed them to plug their own ears with beeswax as protection from the sound that would destroy them. Then he convinced them to tie him securely to the mast of the ship.  Finally, he made them swear that no amount of begging would persuade them to untie him until the ship was a safe distance from the sound of the sirens’ songs.  Using this solid system of accountability, he allowed himself to go into the dangerous waters and hear the irresistible sounds, knowing that listening without succumbing to the sound would cause the death of the sirens.

Strategies to Overcome

Avoiding AI and the algorithm derivatives of the system is impossible. But following the two step strategy patterned after the Odysseus model will allow us to protect ourselves and our families from crashing against the rocks.

First, acknowledge the real danger, teach everyone to beware and plug their ears. Second, create a habit of accountability to tie everyone to something secure. Make certain someone knows whenever anyone engages in online purchases or investments. In this way we can become the choreographers of the algorithm dance, rather than the victims.  

So, crank up the music and let the rhythm get you! Join in that dance. But let’s make sure the algorithm is always kept in check.

Read more of Gail’s article on Plaid or connect with her on her website.