popularity is a poor motivator for algorithms, especially artificially intelligent kinds based on deep learning and especially deep reinforcement learning. popularity represents, by definition, popular topics. popularity is extremely easy to manipulate. not only that, but generalized popularity represents or invokes the bias of the lowest common denominator. this leads to excessive and sometimes criminal resources being poured into topics that are already base and basic. this leads right into information overload. what happens when i need to research a topic that is underrepresented? well, it means i can’t find it because the resources for it don’t exist because the potential resources were gobbled up by base and basic topics. we need an anti-populist search engine to find those topics that are underrepresented and we need content creators to pour resources into them. otherwise the bleak future presented in pixar’s wall-e will quickly become an optimistic look at the future.