Final Post: The Age of A.I.

 The Growth of A.I.

Since the late 1990s, we have seen vast growth in the amount of computing power we are able to assign to different tasks as we have created new hardware to improve our computer's physical abilities and software in order to improve their computing abilities. This has ultimately allowed us to begin to create artificial intelligence that has been able to do increasingly do complex tasks but as this shift occurs, do we now need to wonder if we should be afraid of this progress, or is this progress for the best?

What Can A.I. Do?

Artificial Intelligence at its simplest is the ability of machines to learn how to complete tasks based off of various codes and software. This means that as long as an A.I. is provided the software instructions it should be able to complete the task. During the late 2000s, we began to see A.I. used to help process and find data, and as of today, the main task A.I. is given is to aid in these processes within business and environmental settings. In the following decades, A.I. began to be used more and more at home with virtual assistances like Alex and Siri being found in every household and being used to aid with many aspects of life. Overall A.I. makes the completion of tasks easier and by extension more effective which in theory should improve everyone's lives.

The Problem With A.I.

This improvement of everyone lives with A.I. however has not and likely will not occur and that has been primarily been because of humans and what they want A.I. to do. Looking at The Age of A.I. documentary, the main two groups that control the A.I. market are the United States and its corporations and China and its corporations and the two sides are more focused on staying ahead of one another and focusing on select aspects of A.I. rather than trying to use it to try and improve the lives of the individual. The Chinese have focused primarily on surveillance to support their social credit system and decrease decadence within their country while the United States has focused on using it for advertising and data collection as both sides also try and use A.I. for cyberattacks against one another. However, the biggest problem with A.I. is the fact that it increases productivity and by extension allows companies to need fewer people in order to complete a job and hire fewer people overall.

A.I. For The Future

Artificial Intelligence has seen many more developments, especially in more civilian areas like entertainment and housekeeping but there are still many obstacles to overcome and the future of A.I. is not super clear. I feel that there are three possible options for the future with A.I. and our future will be decided by certain actions. The first is a turn from the current A.I. path in order to try and improve the lives of citizens though this is the least likely. The second was started with the Age of A.I. and it is a split of A.I. into two separate sides with China and the U.S. with the world being forced to choose one in an echo of the Cold War. The third is the one we should push for now and that is finding a way to incorporate A.I. into our societies more while also finding ways to aid those affected by their introduction.

Technology will continue to move on so the development of A.I. is likely to continue for the foreseeable future but for now we must be ready to adapt to the changes it may cause.

Post #10: Echo Chamber

 

Echo Chambers

In our modern well-connected society, it has never been easier for us to be able to look for ideas we wish to believe or find people that share out ideas and while this can be great it does put us at risk of falling into a pit where we only the ideas we wish to.

This idea of only surrounding ourselves with the ideas and people with which we agree with it becomes known as an echo chamber. These echo chambers on the surface don't appear to be too large of a problem as it is often viewed as simply finding friends or a community but as the chamber begins to echo more and more people become unwilling to agree to or even listen to other ideas that aren't in their chamber. The primary issue with this is that you will only ever listen to one side or a small part of an argument that is entirely within your echo chamber. While this holds to the rights a person has under the first amendment, it decreases the ability of the opposing ideas to express their own first amendment rights. This can become a major issue with media outlets, journals, or governments as they only publish one of the possible ideas and can control the lives of thousands to millions based off of only one side of a potential topic or issue.

The best course of action to stop ourselves from falling into an echo chamber is to simply be willing to listen to the other side of a potential argument and agree to disagree. 

Post #9: Diffusion Theory of Virtual Reality

 Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality is a technology that has slowly begun seeping into our lives through the use of science fiction and has begun to become an obtainable reality for us in the near future. By looking at the diffusion theory we can begin to predict how this advancing technology could begin to change in the future.

The pioneers of virtual reality are a combination of science fiction authors of the 1930s who created the basic idea and the inventors like Morton Heilig's who created early versions of virtual reality in order to enhance entertainment experiences. This pioneer and experimental phase lasted around 30 years as different technologies collided in order to help decrease the size and cost of virtual reality to a point where corporations felt like they could use it.

When virtual reality hit the early adopters phase in the 1990s many companies and scientific government organizations had begun using it for a variety of purposes. Many vehicle manufacturing companies like General Electric and Boeing began using virtual reality to simulate certain conditions their products may face in order to check out certain aspects of them. This was quickly followed by NASA using VR to help simulate various space-related topics such as rocket testing and rover footage which helped further our understanding of the unknown. The final early adopters were entertainment companies trying to make VR more accessible for the average person so many arcade machines began being created to bring the VR experience.

VR at its current stage is located in the Early Majority stage as it has become cheap enough for it to begin to see consistent use in education and simulation with it even being cheap enough for the average person to be able to buy VR headsets for entertainment. Many companies have begun eyeing the technology looking for ways they could be using it in everyday life in the work environment or at how and once this point is hit it will hit its critical mass and begin shifting toward Late Majority.

VR will likely begin continuing until the point where only those who can't afford it, have poor internet or don't want it will remain in the Laggards. The cycle of VR does have the potential to go through the diffusion cycle once again if it reaches the stage where it turns into Simulated Reality and our lives are changed in a major way.

Post #8: News Deserts

 What Are News Deserts?

News Deserts are something that has been slowly spreading through the United States with them taking hold in countless towns and cities without any of us noticing them. They have countless people to go without reliable information about their country, their state, their county, and at times their town.

So what are they? New Deserts are geographical areas or communities that suffer from having very few or no news outlets that are providing them with outside information. This means that potentially thousands of people located in the areas normally only have one way they are capable of getting information about topics outside their local area with hundreds having no information any sort of information at all.

What Causes New Deserts?

New Deserts are most commonly located in rural regions. These rural locations on their own can be one of the foundations for New Deserts as they are often heavily reliant on physical media such as newspapers or newsletters. This is because the rural location often has issues in getting reliable access to the internet as many internet providers don't see these areas as profitable enough to lay down cables. This immediately makes these areas News Deserts as they are now only subject to their local physical media but also makes them at higher risk of losing all of their sources of media.

The reason these are are at risk of losing all forms of media is because another main factor in creating News Deserts is economic distress in a region. This is because when a region comes under economic destress they attempt to find ways to cut back on costs and save money. One of the most common budgets that occur during these times is the slashing of available newspaper budgets due to the rise of online media.

Finally, the last cause is a general growing disinterest in traditional physical media due to the growth of online media platforms. This has caused many regions that are normally not at risk of becoming a news desert to become one as they no longer see the need for physical media and as such cut the funding of their own newspapers in order to save more money. This has allowed New Deserts to spread into areas that they would normally be unable to reach such as within major cities and wealthy communities.

Effects of News Deserts?

The primary and most pressing effect of News Deserts is that they have caused countless individuals to only be capable of forming their thoughts and ideas through one source of information. This goes hand in hand with thousands of Americans not even being able to receive information until days or even weeks have passed causing them to not understand potentially life-changing news from the state or the nation.

One of the most impactful changes for those not currently within the regions afflicted by News Deserts is that they are at risk of becoming one under the current circumstances unless an active effort to bring back physical media is undertaken.

Post #7: Online Privacy

 Our Privacy

As social media have continued to grow over the past two decades, we have seen a spike in the online presence that each individual has. While this has created an ideal environment for people to communicated with one another, it has also created the perfect environment for our personal privacies to become violated on a regular bases which could affect us in hundreds if not thousands of different way.

This stripping of privacy is something we now must deal with as part of our daily life and many have mixed feelings about. At first this stripping of privacy doesn't seem very bad as it allows corporations to understand our interests based off our posts, pictures, and locations which can make there advertisement towards us be more personal. This one its own isn't to bad but people are also concerned about what else these companies or governments are doing with this information about you. They could sell it, use it to track our daily lives, or even use it to control our opinions and thoughts which is a major issue when it comes to our first amendment liberties.

This violation of our privacy to attempt to control our actions should be something that government attempts to protect us from because of its potential to violate our liberty. What I feel should be done by the government to help further our personal privacies is one of two things. The first, more extreme, option is to punish companies for selling our information in third party deals in order to stop the spread of information. The second option is to enforce a similar policy to that of cookies where its informs the users that their information is able to given to other companies in a understandable and easy to read format which would hopefully let the users be mindful of it at the very minimum.

The best way to avoid this however is to be careful regarding your personal footprint online. Attempt to avoid giving your real information on websites and being careful on what you post online are the two best ways to take personal responsibility of your privacy in order to defend your life. 

Post #6: The Camera Lens

 

The Camera Lens

While going through our EOTO presentation we allowed ourselves to be exposed to many technologies that were vital in the evolution of how we communicate with each other today. While we covered many different ways in which we as humans have begun to communicate with each other the side that has been the most interesting to me is regarding the camera or more directly the camera lens.

The first major thing about the camera that surprised me was how old the bases of the technology actually were. The Egyptians use of concaved quartz in order to create the illusion was not the origin I was expecting. The new step of various states across the Mediterranean adopting the lens for various purposes like magnification or fire starters seemed like a natural progression that made a large amount of sense for the technology during the middle ages but it was when people discovered that if they could use a form of metal power were the technology really took off.

 Once the French discovered that the power reacted when expose to light we were able to get the first photograph in which they cover a piece of concrete in the power. The process was extremely different but after 8 hours the power had left behind a temporary image based off of the light it was exposed to. This quickly the technology evolved resulting in the first permanent photo shortly after as people figured out how to contain the reaction and transfer the result onto a paper with the help of a lens that controlled and angled the light. This technology would continue to evolve, allowing for photos, films, and shows to be created until we reach a point where the lens has become so common place we all have one in our pocket.

Post #5: Anti-War Websites

Anti-War Websites

 2022 has proven to be a very interesting year so far but one of the most intriguing things to occur is the political conflict over Ukraine or more precisely the media coverage of it. While both NATO and Russia have stated their cases and have sour relations in an echo of the Cold War, the mainstream media has been a mirror of one another regarding aspects of the diplomatic conflict which is not something we see often. They have all been in support of a potential conflict and view it as the only way for the west to stay strong, but where are the other voices?

Looking into Anti-War sites like Antiwar.com and The American Conservative we can see where these voices have placed themselves which should make us ask why they have to do this. I feel that the answer to this question is fairly obvious and it is that these voices point out the ugly fact the U.S. government has become so entrenched in war without us even knowing. The government fears how these sorts of articles could make themselves appear and as such attempt to minimize the number of people who see them by forcing them into these obscure sites where very few will see them. It paints them in a very bad light to the people who see these articles stating the actions they are doing so they likely encourage major news outlets such as CNN or Fox to refrain from showing such articles in an attempt to control the damage and save face.

If the government is willing to go through with this method of what is essentially censorship, it should make us begin to wonder what else they would be willing to do to stop certain voices from being heard in order to make us see what they want and by result make us think the way they want.