PSA: My grocery app's 'smart' list guessed my pregnancy before I told anyone

I was just looking at my purchase history in the Fetch app and saw a weird pattern from two months ago. It started suggesting prenatal vitamins and saltines right after I bought a specific brand of test, which I got at a different store. The app connected those dots across separate trips, no search needed. It felt like a machine knew my private news before my own mom. Has anyone else had an algorithm figure out a life change just from what you buy?

4 comments

4 Comments

diana6172mo ago

Did you try turning off purchase tracking, like vera_johnson9 probably should?

taylorshah2mo ago

That "machine knew my private news before my own mom" line is too real. My streaming service suggested a "starting a small business" playlist after I bought a pack of pens and a binder. I was just organizing my junk drawer. Next it'll probably offer me a divorce lawyer because I bought ice cream and sad movies on a Tuesday.

jackson.faith1mo ago

Wait, is it really the machine knowing or just the algorithm guessing based on broad data? I mean, it picked up on pens and a binder, but that's mostly just shopping categories, not mind reading. The streaming service doesn't actually know you're starting a business, it just sees stationary supplies and assumes. It's still creepy how fast it jumps to conclusions for sure. But calling it "knowing private news" makes it sound way more psychic than it is. I think we gotta remember it's just pattern matching, not some all-seeing eye. Still, I'd probably hide my ice cream and romance movies from now on just in case.

vera_johnson92mo ago

Wait until it starts suggesting baby names based on your frozen pizza brand. My music app once made a "heartbreak healing" mix because I listened to one sad song three times while doing dishes.