Blog Post 10 | In the Age of AI

The growth in technology and AI is intended to make life easier and more efficient however through the video In the Age of AI we learn that this can also come with unintended consequences. 

The video speaks about a few different forms of AI however one specific thing that was emphasized in the beginning of the second hour was how private companies are using AI to track data on you and all of your searches/interests. 

In the beginning, some people looked at this as a helpful and cool way to find searches that interest you, however as time moved forward and the AI became smarter, more and more specific searches would be given which would begin to creep out everyone.

I myself have felt like this firsthand when speaking about something I wanted to a friend and then seeing it pop up on my search engine or social media within the next minute. This is a scary thing to think about but can come with pros and cons depending on how you view it.

The pros can be that it makes searching for items easier along with allowing data that relates to you as a person. Whether this is shopping or just searching for research for a class you're taking the overall effect is supposed to make things easier.

The cons however clearly outweigh these pros. The biggest and most important thing to take away from AI is your privacy. With companies having so much information on you they now almost hold a power over your head that you can't undo. They know everything about what you like, what you're doing in your life, what your goals are, and even who you may care about. This takes away all privacy that you would have had and almost feels like it's violating our rights as humans. 

Along with this, if our nation as a whole gets hacked or breached. A specific person or country now has all the access they could ever want to the people of America. This puts the nation at a tremendous threat and could cause the downfall of an empire. Although this is unlikely, it's important to remember when discussing a topic of this sort.

The final point I want to make is the idea of a digital footprint. With everything being saved and accessible by powerful people. Your online activity can now come back to haunt you in the future. Whether it's for a job or just for a legal reason a simple search or picture can now hold you back from getting to where you want to go.

To summarize, the idea of AI making things easier and more efficient is a good one, however, the unintended consequences that could come along with this far outweigh the pros. Therefore it's important to remember that with the advancements we make in technology, we need to ensure that our rights as people are protected or private activities can come back to haunt us in the end.

Blog Post 11 | Final Blog Post

Technology and its Impacts

It's clear that technology has revolutionized the world as we know it, however, with its revolutionary impact comes both positives and negatives. 

For instance, the biggest positive that comes from technology is that it has made things both easier and quicker than ever. Inventions like the iPhone, the internet, and AI are all prime examples of this. 

Back in the day, everything was so much harder to do because these things did not exist. If you needed research done, you couldn't just look it up online, but would rather have to go find the research yourself. Along with this, if you needed to call a friend or family member, the only option would have been to find a payphone or telephone poll where there would be a time limit and lines waiting behind you ready to use that phone right after you. It was a different world back then and because of technology humans have been able to truly make jumps in development.

The problem that comes with this is something called unintended consequences. Unintended consequences are effects that are unanticipated from something that is typically intended to be good. 

Creations like social media are a prime example of this. Social media's original intent was to allow family and friends to stay connected through sharing images and other news going on in their lives to each other. This was successful but it also became a dependency for people. The average person in the United States averages over 7 hours and 3 minutes in a single day. If you think about it, the sun is only up for 12 hours a day and people decide to spend more then half of that looking at a screen. 

This is truly a sad thing and we see that in the video "Mad World Remix of Moby Video". In that video we see a young kid trying to grow up in a happy world, however the sad music and grey color emphasizes the depressing world that we live in where technology has taken over people's lives.

This is a perfect example of a techno dystopian which is a person that believes that as technology grows the world has more and more negatives arising compared to positives. The opposite of this would be a techno utopian which is a person that believes that technology is affecting the world in a more positive manner than negative.

About Me

Image of my personal screen time

Now that I have discussed the backgrounds of technology, I will begin to reflect on myself and how I believe technology impacts me. 

When I look at my screen time my daily average is 4 hours and 19 minutes which is significantly below the daily average for the country. 

When I look at the specific apps that I spend the most time on it consists of messages, phone calls and Gmail, which makes sense considering I am working in the broadcasting world a lot and have to answer those messages or emails on a day to day basis. Along with this, I have a long distance girlfriend that I am typically on the phone with so that raises my phone call average as well.

So the question arises, do I believe my relationship with technology is healthy? The simple answer is yes. I believe that the time I spend on my technology is for the exact positives that it was created for which is to make communication easier. If I was spending hours upon hours a day on social media then I would change my answer however as I said before, my top 3 apps used are all work and communication related. 

To sum, my overall relationship with technology is something I would consider to be healthy however similar to things like drugs, can be a slipper slope of addiction if not controlled. After doing my research on this topic and reflecting on myself, I will be very smart about how much I use my phone in the future.

Blog Post 8

When I think about an invention through the lens of the Diffusion Theory. I think back to the topic I discussed in my first EOTC project. In my first project, I researched the invention of Google. Google is to this day,
one of the most influential pieces of technology ever created. 

Google made anything and everything easier and quicker than ever before. The idea that one can just look up a topic and find millions of results on it was revolutionary to the future of the world. 

With revolutionary technology comes the necessary adaption to the human population and because of that we see a major impact across different generations. For instance, Generation Z children like myself have grown up surrounded by this technology and have learned to not only use it but borderline depend on it. If you asked a majority of kids my age to go into a library and research a topic, almost none of us would be able to do so effectively, but this is the complete opposite for older generations.

Take baby boomers as a prime example of this. Most of our parents fall into the Baby Boomer or Generation X timeline where they had to go through the complete change that technology like Google had caused. They watched the world change from no computers, to only the rich having them, to finally everyone having access to one.

Even with them being able to see the impact Google had on the world they still struggle to use technology half as well as those who now grew up with it just going to show the adaptation that the world has had to make with the rise in new technology.

All of this still doesn't go against the fact that Google has made a tremendous positive impact on the world.

Without Google, almost everything and anything we do online wouldn't be possible. All of those searches to different websites for businesses or for shopping would never have happened.

Some argue that there would have been other search engines that would have been developed even if Google hadn't been created however that argument is ridiculous because Sergey Brin and Larry Page were the creators of Google and it was the first ever search engine to be created. After Google, other developers began to create their own versions of it based on the domain that they created. That's why Google has always been the biggest and most developed of them all.

In sum, the development of Google was revolutionary to the world we live in today and through the lens of the Diffusion Theory is one of the most impactful pieces of technology known to man.

EOTC#2 | Blog Post 9 | Reflection

Owen spoke about the three different ways of spreading fake information in depth. Most people just think of fake news as fake news however there are more specific ways to explain the spread of fake information. To begin, let's first define the three different types of fake news. 

Malinformation is the first term to define as in my opinion, it is the most common type of fake news. Malinformation is the spreading of correct information however given out of context to lead viewers down a different path. We use this in mass media sources nowadays where they give a minor fact but then change the wording slightly to lead viewers to make their own conclusions that usually end up being incorrect or misleading. 

The second term Owen defined was Misinformation. Misinformation is news that people don't know is real or not. This is typically received by word of mouth and continuously spread to others, like a rumor in high school.

The last term Owen defined was Disinformation. Disinformation is news that the writer had known is not true but chose to spread it in order to create chaos or draw attention. This is by far the most absurd way to spread information however it still remains popular among media sources.

All three terms have their own problems however none of them can really get themselves in trouble due to our First Amendment right of Freedom of Speech. This right protects media sources to make their own claims whether it's true or not because it isn't really against the law beyond just being morally wrong.

Knowing that this would upset us, Owen went on to give us ways in which we could prevent ourselves from falling to the spread of fake news. The main solution Owen spoke about was stepping up and doing our own research. Yes, a media source may go on to discuss false information but that doesn't mean we have to believe it. It is on us, the listeners, to go out and do our own research to stop the global pandemic of false news being spread and ensure that we truly understand the topics we discuss.

In sum, the spread of fake information is a problem in everyday society. By doing your own research, you can prevent yourself from falling to the spread of Malinformation, misinformation, or Disinformation.

Blog Post 5| Privacy Videos

For years it has always been something that has been in my head. How private is private nowadays? With everything being online and access being easier than ever I find it hard to believe that all of my data would really just be deleted or saved for just me to see and these videos completely backed the fact that it is most definitely, not private.

Not only does this make me feel uncomfortable but it also makes me question how it will affect me. 

When it comes to job searches in the future or overall background checks I find it incredibly sad that it will most likely be something that people get affected by. 

Unlike our parents in the past, almost everything we have done is kept somewhere online and can come back to haunt us or be used against us in some way in the future. What this means is that even when we are older and have kids a video of someone doing something crazy could easily surface again and those "stories" your parents told you as a kid are now videos for your kids to see.

The government should be getting on this in the way that they should be protecting the privacy of the people they are meant to care for. Everything involved with people's personal digital footprint should be private to just them however the only exception should be if criminal activity was involved.

Along with just the government needed to protect our privacy, we as people can also do things to help it as well. Something people do nowadays is use VPNs which hide their online IP address from the country allowing them to search sites privately without anyone trying to hack or watch over what they are doing. VPNs are legal and something that has really grown in popularity within the past couple of years. 

In sum, with the growth in technology, privacy is becoming something that needs to be protected and focused on more to ensure that people's privacy is protected. 

Blog Post 4

Image of Sergey Brin

My project was on the history and impacts of one of the out influential of Google. Google was created by two men by the names of Larry Page and Sergey Brin. 

The goal of Google was to make researching and finding information easier than ever. Before Google, the main way to research was through books or libraries where it would be time-consuming to try and find the necessary information you needed.

Therefore, Page and Brin began to create perhaps the most influential pieces of technology in human history. They started the process in 1995 but first released it in September of 1998. It's crazy to think it only took them 3 years to do this however it just goes to show how smart these two men were.

Not only did Google make researching easier, it also opened the marketing world with the development of websites and domains. Almost every business in the world nowadays has some assortment of an identity online and this makes finding their business easier than ever.

Image of Larry Page

Along with this, it made revolutionary changes to the world of communication. Social media would arise and allow new versions of instant communication to connect and keep in touch with friends or family. These changes are something that today's world thrives on. It didn't stop at just social media.

The rise of independent journalism was another huge impact stemming from the creation of Google. Prior to Google people primarily relied on major news channels for their information and news. This allowed complete control to be put into the hands of the media on what people know and believe. Independent journalism changed all of that as now average people who just wanted to put their thoughts into the world were able to spread their beliefs or news in different ways. Not only did it give the people more of a voice but it also inspired new media teams to arise.

History of the different Google logos

Although Google inspired many great things to come about it also opened the world to certain negative problems that would not be here without it.

One specific problem we can discuss relates to what I just talked about and that is the spread of fake news in journalism. Because it is now so easy to spread information, it is also very easy to spread fake information allowing those who don't know how to confirm this information to go down slippery slopes and believe or spread things that aren't true.

Another major problem that stems from Google is privacy. If you even downloaded Google Chrome you probably know about the notification you get that asks you whether you will let Google track your data for more personalized ads. Some people are fine with this and actually like it as they are heavy shoppers and want to see recommended things, however oftentimes people get weirded out by this question as it feels like you are almost getting stalked by the higher-ups. Not to mention no one really knows where this information is going.

The final problem I wanted to discuss relates to the rise in AI. Studies have shown that doing research through the web does not install it into the brain compared to reading a book or textbook on a specific topic. What this means is that not only does the web not keep necessary information in students' heads like it could, but it also influences laziness and the interest in AI continues to grow. With AI, students are beginning to not even attempt to do their work which isn't a big deal for smaller majors or minors however students who are studying to achieve a well-credited degree such as lawyers, doctors, or accountants are also using AI which is scary to think about. Imagine you go to the doctor and the only thing he can do is ChatGPT your symptoms or assign you the wrong prescription because he didn't pay attention in college. This could be devastating to the world.

As you can see Google has been one of the most revolutionary pieces of technology and has changed the world not only for the better but has also allowed some negative impacts as well.

EOTC Terms and Concepts | Blog Post 7 | Third Person Effect

Image of W. Phillips
Davidson
studying at Princeton
University in 1939.

Over forty years ago in 1983, a theory begun by W. Phillips Davidson came to life called the "Third Person Effect". The theory spoke about the idea that one person believes mass media is impacting someone's political views but isn't impacting their own opinion on it. In other words, it's like saying that your friend's republican point of view is originating from biased information from Fox News. Meanwhile, they watch only CNN and believe that it's not affecting their own views at all. 

Before we get more into the current-day problems that relate to the Third-Person Effect we first need to understand the history behind how W. Phillips Davidson came up with this theory. After World War II Davidson was a historian who graduated at Princeton University and was working on research in 1949. While researching, he came across documents from World War II which had ended just four years before the beginning of his investigation.

The document spoke about a historic event where a service unit consisting of black troops was stationed on the island of Iwo Jima being led by white officers in the Pacific.  Japan had received word of the location of this unit and sent planes to the location where they stressed to the troops it was a white man's war and colored people had no involvement in it. The Japanese told them to un-involve themselves or withdraw and the next day the unit had been withdrawn. This struck curiosity towards Davidson and he began to interview those who may be involved. Through a series of interviews with German Press Davidson found that the journalists believed mass media did not have an effect on people like themselves however would most likely sway those of little intelligence. This made Davidson question why they believed they were so special and led him to come up with the idea of the "Third Person Effect".

So how does this affect people nowadays?

If you look at today's current state of the country and how it was building up to the election, it is clear to see how strong people's political opinions have become. In the early 2000s, it felt as if the country
respected each other's opinions and beliefs, however, in the last 2010 politics has become the most controversial and emotional topic to be discussed. Part of this problem can be credited to the Mass Media in the country and the way they word things to swing people to one side or the other. however, the other half of the problem is on us.

It is on us as the people of the country to make sure we are not downgrading another political view for the news sources they have been choosing to watch but rather educate each other in a manner of using facts and statistics over just opinion-based headlines found on media.

Propaganda and media bias will always be mass-produced by the big media sources in the country but it is important to keep a humble and open mind to everyone's opinions and sources to ensure you avoid falling to the third-person effect and continue to grow the intelligence within the country.