READY, FIRE, AIM: Ultra-Processed Information

Today, we’re excited to introduce Alexa+, our next-generation assistant powered by generative AI. Alexa+ is more conversational, smarter, personalized — and she helps you get things done…

— from the Amazon website, February 2025. Five minute read.

Ultra-processed food is killing us. Slowly.

Most people know this, so you might wonder why I’m even mentioning it. Good question.

I’m writing on behalf of the people who don’t know it, and who are suffering needlessly.

First, I need to clarify that I’m not necessarily talking about ‘processed food’.

I’m specifically talking about ‘ultra-processed’ food. Not the same thing. Spaghetti noodles, for example, are ‘processed’.  A factory takes naturally-grown wheat berries… removes the germ and bran during milling… adds egg, water and salt…squeezes the mixture through a special gizmo… allows the noodles dry… and then marks up the price 100%.

Spaghetti noodles are ‘processed’.  But they aren’t ‘ultra-processed’.  Thank heavens.  Spaghetti noodles are in fact a precious gift to the world from the people of Italy. The Ferrari is also a gift, but in a different sense.

So what do we mean by ‘ultra-processed’? Ultra-processed foods are industrial inventions, made by combining chemical compounds extracted from various sources to create “edible food-like substances”. Typically, these substances look like food, and taste like food, but are meant to be…

1. Addictive

2. Highly profitable

3. Able to sit on a grocery store shelf for months without spoiling

4. Consumed within a span of fine minutes for less

5. Extensively branded and marketed

How can we possibly resist?

Here in America, ultra-processed foods typically supply more than half the calories consumed by an average person, without supplying much else in the way of nutrition.  You might say, ultra-processed foods put the “empty” in “empty calories”.

We especially want to note the number one requirement… that the ultra-processed food-like substance should be addictive.

Ultra-processed foods have been linked to more than 30 different health problems, including — for starters — heart disease, cancer, and anxiety. You are invited to imagine the other 27 health problems.  Or, you could ask Siri, or Alexa.

And speaking of Siri or Alexa, I didn’t really want to write about ultra-processed foods this morning. My intention, as indicated by the headline, is to write about ultra-processed information.

Ultra-processed information looks a lot like real information.  It feels like real information. You might even have been invited to consume this so-called information by a Facebook friend.

But it’s meant to be…

1. Addictive

2. Highly profitable

3. Able to reside on your phone or computer for months without spoiling

4. Consumed within a span of fine minutes for less

5. Extensively branded and marketed

How can we possibly resist?

A perceptive reader of this article might conclude, from the above brief definition, that my ‘READY, FIRE, AIM’ columns here in the Daily Post are ultra-processed information.

I can’t easily deny it. Except for the part about “Highly profitable.” I can easily deny that part, with one hand tied behind my back! (Yes, I can type one-handed.)

But let’s add another attribute to the definition.  Ultra-processed information now comes from machines. It seems like real information. It tastes like real information. But it’s not human information.

At the moment — as of June 2025 — we can usually tell the difference between ‘processed information’ and ‘ultra-processed information’. The former is delivered by a human being.  A human writer, or video personality, or your next-door neighbor.

The latter is created by — and sent to you by — an algorithm, based upon what that algorithm knows about you.

It will likely get harder and harder to tell the difference. The goal of Silicon Valley and its allies in Washington DC is to provide us with a steady, profitable diet of ultra-processed information. Alexa and Siri might sound like cute gals who really want nothing more than to help you get things done.  How can we possibly resist?  Lord, give me strength!

I’ve read, lately, that ultra-processed food is the cause of at least 30 diseases.

How many diseases might be caused by ultra-processed information? I don’t really want to know.

But… also… I really want to know.