FINAL BLOG POST / In the Age of AI

 Our Relationship with Technology 

A video on AI and it’s place in today’s world. 

1964 ride to show what the future of technology may look like. 

Thought provoking animation video of the dark side of technology. 

The real practices of today’s animal abuse highlighted in this animation. 

Where Did it All Go Wrong?

I believe it can be pinpointed in history, when we crossed the line in our relationship with technology.

    45 days after the attack on 9/11 Congress crossed this line, by passing the Patriot Act in response to terrorism in the US. The Bush administration submitted to Congress draft legislation designed to expand the powers of the government to surveil, investigate, and detain suspected terrorists. This began the overreach of the government, in abusing technologies’ power against the people (proposed as for the people though). I believe this was the catalyst to the now 2+ decades of technology invasion.

Now we cannot go anywhere, do anything online or in person, and say or type anything, without the government knowing about it. This should make everyone uncomfortable and infuriated. Who would like a peeping Tom, watching through your window as you change clothes? Nobody! So what about that camera on you desktop or laptop, sitting there propped up with a view of your whole room? The government can access that information, and so can that same peeping Tom! 

Read this article for more about the Patriot Act and the governments power to spy.
 

Patriot Act = privacy

My previous blog post on privacy here. 

Mental Health Effects of Social Media 

    This is what I believe to be the #1 Con of technology. The 1964 video above is a depiction of what we THOUGHT technology would do for the people. While there is many great things it does do for us, it is generally destructive at this point. This video is cool to watch, but quite inaccurate and oblivious to the potential negatives that would inevitably arise. Every technology in video and on the ride, was how technology is good and what it will do for us. This is neat but humans and society as a whole is flawed, and with that comes problems in the new world of technology. 

    Social media and nearly every app on your phone is designed to trigger dopamine in your brain. This makes it, quite literally, a drug. Kids, young adults, and parents everywhere are hooked, and how couldn’t you be? You cannot live in todays’ world without using these generally harmful technologies. The Mad World video remix above is a highlight on the sad truth of the direction the world is going / already is. People everywhere, including myself, are slave to our phones, feeds, notifications, and false reality interactions with other people. This is honestly the biggest way to illustrate my relationship with technology. I feel it is more bad than it is good. This has been proven in my life, when I go on a retreat or break from my phone I am so much happier and at peace. 

     Social media is a picture painted by the user, on what they want people to think of them. This makes an unrealistic picture, but kids don't know that. We watch these videos and pictures of people having such amazing fun lives while we sit on our couch at home in jealousy. Comparison is the thief of joy and that is exactly what we do when we view Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and Facebook. Suicide rates, depression, anxiety, and social awkwardness are increasing daily and it is not good. 

When Do Humans Fail?

AI thoughts, pros, and cons.

    When does artificial intelligence surpass human intelligence? Oh wait, it already did. Scary, no?

We saw in the documentary above, “In the Age of AI,” that computers are thinking on their own and surprising us every day with “deeper intelligence.” After teaching a computer a simple algorithm and  history of games, a computer can beat the worlds greatest chess player and make moves that we had never even thought of. 

 For the team that created this robot, this is super exciting. For average humans who don’t necessarily see the need for such smart computers, this can be an alarming warning. Computers are now smarter than us, and replacing us each day. Mundane tasks and jobs of American citizens are being done cheaper, faster, and more efficiently then ever before. This poses the question, “What can humans do that artificial intelligence can’t…. (Yet)?” 

    The US may be ahead in science, but we saw that China is much quicker to adapt and implement AI into their everyday society. AI can give rewards for good public behavior (like picking up trash), and public humiliation (ie photo display and embarrassment) for J-walkers, it’s truly everywhere in China.

    Self driving is just one of the ways AI will replace jobs (ie truck drivers), and it is said that 50% of jobs will be threatened in the next 15 years due to this new technology. This is wonderful for companies but will deplete the middle class. Rich people will get richer, and the middle class will become poor. The other con, is that robots do not pay taxes or benefit to society in ways similar.  There are so many AI companies that plan to replace some current technology. Humans fail, and computers don’t, so it is no wonder China has developed a name for all of these billion dollar companies. We saw examples of a multitude of tech start ups with 1 unicorn (or <1 $billion) and 2 unicorns (< $5 billion). 

    There are truly so many things to consider watching “In the Age of AI.” It will help us question our inequality to AI and pose a deeper question of humans’ morality in the coming decades and advancements in the world of AI.