Are Technologies & AI Taking Over? (Final Post)

     As you can tell by the title, the topic I am focusing on is AI. AI stands for Artificial Intelligence and is a very interesting creation. This innovation that started to take off in the year of 2016, is a very big presence currently today. The start of this incredible invention really came to light when a team of engineers from Google created an AI called AlphaGo. AlphaGo was created to play against a very famous Chinese board game player, and the AI won 4 games where the human player only won a single game against the AI. What is so incredible about an AI is the ability it holds to learn new information and master things very fast. A huge factor in the growth of AI has been the rivalry between the U.S. and China in the competition of technology. They have been so caught up in competing that they have

begun to create some very concerning projects and innovations into real-world society. In China they have begun using face recognition AI as payment instead of having to carry a card at all. Think about the fact they the AI can recognize you anywhere at any time in milliseconds and bring up a ton of information you wouldn't even realize was out there. This is a scary reality they are trying to incorporate into our society and normalize being tracked even more than we already are. In the video titled, In The Age of AI, it shows all of these real-life issues that we will face from this innovation and how rapidly some of these effects can take place in the near future. The video shows how in China AI can recognize peoples' credit score in seconds and allow for loans to be taken out within 8 seconds exact. It also shows that they are trying to implement the credit scores to be used as a reward and punishment system. This means those doing good in life will be allowed rewards such as discounts and such and the people who aren't doing good will get punishments like travel bans. That's right, China is wanting to try to ban traveling based off of information the AI gives them from face recognition.

It is a truly horrific possible future that isn't as far as you would think. In further research shown in the video mentioned earlier, they explained that AI can predict breast cancer years ahead for people and actually improve things for the victims of this horrible sickness. There are a few great things about AI such as efficiency and data that can help us to improve things in our society, but the side I continue to lean on is the fact that we will lose a lot of jobs in the world due to AI taking over the industries. AI provides little to no jobs for people and often just takes majority of the work because of the lower payroll for the CEOs. They continue to find ways to keep the richer rich and the lower classes even poorer. This is a topic I have covered multiple times on this blog, and I stand by my word when I say we cannot allow for things to continue to fly past us and not take a stand for our equal right for better lives and more equal treatment. We may not be able to completely stop this technology, but we can stand up for our privacy and make sure to explain our rights to decline our face being scanned every time we go outside of our house.

    Alongside of the topic of AI, is the relationship we have with our technologies. In every household there is typically at least one technology that is used. We all have a smartphone in most cases and those are the most repetitively used technologies today. We find ourselves completely submerged into a cellphone because of the "convenience" behind the device. I can even admit there have been times where I was very zoned in on my phone because of social media or talking to people. It seems harmless at first, but as time has gone on, I have seen a lot of antisocial situations take place because of these devices taking over our daily lives. We cannot end these devices' existence, but you can reduce the use of them and educate others on more social aspects of life. We cannot lose our communication skills in this world and need to be more aware of our surroundings. I for one and worried for what is to come because of the AI innovations and the use of it by these governments against us. These technologies such as phones, new smart appliances, Siri, or the amazon echo are always listening in and taking information where they can for the companies that created them. We are under surveillance constantly and need more awareness towards this issue.

     I hope more people would stand up for our individual rights to privacy and make a statement that we want a functioning society with less corruption and more positive growth. America should be the land of equality, but I personally see a widespread issue of social class division. We often see over the history of this country and many others, the rich only get richer and the poor stay at the bottom no matter what. Every man and woman deserve the fair chance at a successful life and career if they are willing to work for it and learn all they can. I am tired of the people who complain about how much they get paid and end up doing a sorry job. It is the work and effort you put into the dream that makes it happen. America has lost a majority of this mindset and would rather complain about pointless topics set out there to divide us. As a citizen wanting equal opportunities for all, I am speaking through here to say that we need to do something as I have explained in many of my other posts. Stand for what is right and let's get our privacy back.

Consolidation: A Silent Topic Many Do Not Know About

 

 Consolidation is a term I have learned about before, however, in class we had presentations and a fellow classmate brought the term back to light for me. We often don't think about the media we watch much other than what we find boring and what we enjoy watching. What many do not know in this society we live in is that many of the news and show channels we watch are actually owned by the same big corporation and are all connected and used for nothing good against us. Of course, it is easy to push the thought out and act like it isn't a big deal that these corporations own many different networks and channels, but what if I told you that they were harming the younger generations of children with
subliminal messages or imagery in their shows they air? It sounds a lot worse in that perspective and is a very hard truth many won't want to accept. We are in a day and age where the media wants to try and push us all to believe what they tell us depending on the networks we watch or channels due to their biases and messages they push. I feel entertainment should be strictly for our own enjoyment and should not hold moral biases to make people feel a certain way or change their own stance in their beliefs. I do not feel like we are stuck in this position permanently and feel that as a nation of caring citizens we could go against the consolidation and push for smaller companies with less power over changing people. We can stand against the corruption in our politics, government, news and tv shows. The change starts with every single one of us taking a stand for the true rights we were given from the start of this country. We need to stand together against these division-causing messages and go against the true issue. The people who run this country are pushing us out of our rightful place as part of our government and we can and will put a stop to this corruption.

Computers and Why They Stuck Around

     The invention of computers was a huge steppingstone for many of the technologies we have today. We often hop on a computer and play video games or surf the internet or medias looking at whatever we want without any thought about how someone had to create that technology in order for us to be able to access the web and do as we please on these machines. Without this innovation I do believe this society would stand in a completely different view. We thrive in this society with the help of the computer, which allows for more jobs and skills needed for more high-tier jobs. We use this technology every day when we pick up our laptops for school, our phones in free time, or even the school computers in the library to research for upcoming projects. We would be in a different world without innovations like the computer and would most likely have more trouble getting a lot of information out to the world or country like we can or even have less available jobs and less skills to put into resumes. I personally use computers a lot and find the invention to be a huge turning point for 

mankind and often makes things better. Of course, with every amazing invention there are negative effects that happen to many individuals. The addiction to these technologies is a growing issue mainly evolving in the youth of today between social medias and gaming on these computers. The issue with computers is it actually can affect a person's social skills and cause them to lose interest in personally connecting with people. We need people to continue to socially connect and get better at communication skills so that they can keep jobs and build friendships as they should. The reason this innovation has taken over so fast is because of the constant growth and invention added to the technology allowing for many more amazing opportunities and intriguing features. I personally believe if people can use the technology in moderation and not get sucked into it while losing their personal communication skills, that the world could thrive with these amazing technologies that thrive from the innovative computer, and I continue to see growth in the area allowing for more incredible experiences to be formed from this unique world-changing invention. 

The Illusory Truth Effect

     When you think of the illusory truth effect, think about the things you see on any media over and over that at first did not seem to be a very believable story or situation until they showed it enough to make people see the truth they wanted to push. There are many sources in the modern society that use this technique and spread lies continuously over time until the narrative they push out is believed. The news is a huge source of this type of behavior and often uses their important stance as a news media to persuade people to believe what they hear because of where they are hearing it. It is an unfortunate use of communication that often is more harmful than helpful. Using the illusory truth effect can be used on children in a way of protecting them from certain things until they are old enough to discuss it, but the political uses for it are far worse and pushing false hope into the citizens of this country. This tactic should not be used in politics or medias to help push people to a side that they may not actually agree with if they knew what the people they vote for are actually pushing to happen. I personally had no idea of this theory of communication but instantly recognized the situations it applies to when I looked deeper into the theory itself. In an article on this theory on mentalhealthathome.org, they explain how in politics they often try to provoke the truth out of the theory by "fact checking" their comments, however, the truth often is just buried further when the questions actually reinforce their false comments to allow for more control on people and making them believe their lies. 

    With this theory being so widely used in the modern society it is very easy for misinformation to take place. Misinformation is a big issue we face now with social medias and so many amateur journalists who speak their own biased views. We need to filter out the misinformation and do what they can to slow the false accusations and news from reaching the public and being so easy to mislead the public. It is easy as a human being to believe a lot of what we see, especially with how often you see the same information over and over. The misinformation is spread so rapidly now with the internet being so widely used and it is often better now to use sources from outside of the country often. The sources looking in from the outside actually focus on the issues and situations our country is in at the current moment and does not use biased opinions to explain the news we want to view. As a caring citizen that wants the truth you can access many great sources on worldly news that will include information you want on our nation and will hopefully allow for better views to see what side or choices are correct for this country. It is also valuable to see the bad things our country does behind our backs and understand some things we need to put to and end and things we need to hold our government accountable for.

Privacy: A Rare Delicacy in the New "Tech Savvy" Era

     Many people, in this new society that has been formed and continues to be with technology and social medias, have lost sight of their own private lives being a shared knowledge to the public eye. The majority of this world have now been intrigued with the new social apps and websites where they can keep in touch with their loved ones far away or just see what their friends are up to at the time, but they have no idea of the dangers that come with these medias. The truth of the matter is that every bit of the information that is being posted or put out there on these platforms in any form is being sold and distributed right out from under the users. They have no knowledge of their privacy being completely taken away and they continue to surf the web or post their lives on social media. The dangers behind these issues are very broad and can lead to many different scary occurrences. In an article I found on https://www.quertime.com/, they explain many different ways in which the famous, Facebook, take
s your personal data and uses it for their gain in ways that are only harmful to us as the users.

They go on to discuss that our data will always no matter what be owned by Facebook and even after deleting our accounts, pictures, and posts, they still have every right to keep it all and use it as they need. Some may not even think twice about that example; however, Facebook was also recently in a lawsuit because they used people's names and images to endorse products that they simply liked on the social media platform. That is not a scenario that should ever occur from any company. Not only is that false advertisement but it is also using a private Indvidual's name and face to endorse something without their permission. I fear for a lot of people I know who post religiously on these platforms about their everyday lives and information that should not be shared with random people. I have seen many people post about being out of town and letting ridiculous information out to allow for bad situations to happen to them. I believe there should be a legal action taken out against any company taking information and keeping it to sell or distribute in any form. The government has no right to silence us and I feel that private companies should not have the right to do so as well. Our privacy matters to us in individual ways and we all deserve to feel we are given our own amount to however we feel needed. I do not feel a company has the right to speak for me and tell my business or track my internet searches or interests. These big CEOs and employees I am sure would be extremely upset and feel invaded when us as the public knew every ounce of internet searches or product purchases they made every day. This social media invention was a disease as I have said since the beginning when I was younger. The disease will continue to grow and spiral out of control unless we get a grip on it and put an end to it as we should as free American citizens who are born with their rights to privacy and speech, which both have been violated more than enough by the companies already. We need to begin speaking out more against this disgusting people who own these medias and put an end to their agendas they lead us towards. We can be more cautious and need to be with what we put on the internet or even our own personal information on profiles on medias. Be more mindful of what you are posting and doing on social medias and the web. 

Film: The Pathway to a Huge Industry

     In class we all taught each other about history's greatest pathway technologies that got us to where we are today with miniature computers in our hands. A fellow classmate by the name of Alex did a great presentation that was very interesting about the great invention of film and how we got to our present day film industry making ten billion dollars a year! The first "film" to ever be produced was made by a man by the name, eadweard muybridge, who decided to line a bunch of cameras horizontal to a horse running by and rapidly captured an image with each camera to simulate movement being captured. The product that came out when he put the images side by side and created the movement aspect of film. 

    After that discovery, the Lumiére brothers created a Cinématographere which could capture footage and develop the film allowing them to create their first film, Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory. Later on films began to become popular among people and the first feature film called The Story of the Kelly Gang was created which brought the movie theater to life and evolved to such a big business today. Of course after the first feature film it sparked a new technique in many different filmmakers. They began to add special effects, creating a storyline, and even editing the film. This is the innovative thinking that creates such a long-life industry that continues to grow with technology and bring people in with unique experiences with each film. Without this technological innovation, we have cellphones with amazing video abilities and many amazing films and talented people who can create amazing special effects that
allow for an insane experience on the big screen. I am very grateful for this technology and found this presentation very interesting because I am a film fanatic and always love a good movie that grabs my attention.

Antiwar: A Silenced Voice

     The government is a force trying to slowly push its' way into our lives and form us into what they want us to be. I know most people may read that and think I am the crazy conspiracy theorist, however, I just see the truth for what it is. I do not go based on what he said or she said, but I research things I hear or somehow get a glimpse of on social media if I am lucky. In a college course I am in I was recommended a couple of sites to check out and I am shocked to see the activities our government is using our military for. For one example, in an article on Antiwar.com there was a piece on a bomb our military dropped in a town in Syria. The bomb killed many innocent lives and our government had the nerve to say just a simple "oops sorry" as if they didn't cause many children and women to die for nothing. We cannot allow the government to continue to harm innocent people and steal their crops along with oil. We as a nation are built on treating everyone equal and I do not believe we have any business in Syria. I believe these voices are being silenced because the government makes the most money from our military as they rack up their bill that they'll never pay off. We are in debt beyond our heads and cannot ever recover the money dumped into our military, where I want to truly say I respect and thank those who serve, but they are being used as a force of economic value. 

They silence us citizens standing for the morally correct ways because they need to keep making money and building a military fit to handle any situation they want. I hope it never happens but I fear they could try and use the military on the citizens and force a certain lifestyle or set of morals. We need to put a stop with our voices we have a right to project and speak up to the government about why they are still in Syria and doing what they are with ISIS defeated. On the website, Realism & Restraint Archives - The American Conservative, it talks about how our military is still sitting in Syria doing the same things I mentioned earlier. We have no right to go in there and steal their food or oil and just not be punished. I have a bad feeling there will be a terrible backlash for our governments poor decisions recently. Antiwar voices should not be silenced for their gain and we cannot allow our rights to get stripped. Slowly they will peel the layers until we have no protection and we must follow what they say, do you want that? I sure don't as a caring citizen that wants everyone to have a right to speak as they want and stand up for their beliefs. It is only fair we put them in their place considering we are part of this democracy and have a say in our government's doing. The nation needs to stop this censorship and gain control back of our rightful places as this nation's foundation.