Blog Post #9: Age of AI

This will make me sound older than I am but I remember a time in which technology still had not made it's way into everyday teaching like it is today. When I was in secondary school we had to go to the computer lab to use computers. And because there weren't many computers in the computer lab my teacher would have to rent times for the entire class to go use the computers. Then we would evolve to my individual classrooms having their own computers by the time I got to 5th grade. Then later on in middle and high school we were getting our own laptops that we would use everyday to do every assignment and we were allowed to take the laptops home as well. 

Now here I am in college and the world has been introduced to artificial intelligence which can do the work for you. All you have to do is type in what you want it to do and within 30 seconds you can have whatever you want. It is crazy to me that technology has evolved to this point and that we are now advancing to where artificial intelligence can do people's jobs for them. And companies have realized this and have laid people off because they can save money just by having AI do the job. I do not believe that this is a good thing by any stretch of the imagination and AI, while it does have its benefits, could lead to a downfall of society in my eyes. 

I feel that AI makes us humans lazier. I'm sure that most college students can relate when they say they know someone or themselves have used AI to do their school work for them. AI makes everything so easy and so convenient that it can take away from a human being's work ethic which to me, is one of the biggest tools you need to be successful in life. The longer that we allow AI to be taken advantage of like this the less confident I feel in future generations to be able to do tasks and think for themselves.

Final Blog Post!

 I think that this video does a really good job explaining what I think is wrong with society today. As a society we have become too dependent on technology, specifically social media to bring joy and happiness into our lives that we fail to look up and really observe the world around us. I think one of the worst inventions that has come into existence for humans is the advent of social media. 

While I do think that at its core social media is a good thing when used properly because it allows you to receive and share photos and information with friends, family, and old acquaintances from your past. Social media allows you to connect with more people that you may not have otherwise met. As a sports fan being able to see game highlights while the game is still going on is a great advancement in technology compared to when my parents were kids or even when I was a young child.

Sadly I have to think back to the video and agree with one of the overarching themes which is that social media is fake. People will go on social media and portray a lifestyle and image that they may or may not have. In the video there are multiple examples of this including the girl who when in the picture frame of her phone has a smile that lights up a room, but when off the camera she's miserable. 

Later on in the video it hit on another toxic trait of social media which are the keyboard warriors. In the video it shows this girl who was dancing and everyone around her was recording, she assumed that they were laughing with her and enjoying her performance but instead they all went and made fun of her on social media to the point she killed herself. And instead of recognizing what they had done to this girl everyone just moved on like nothing happened. Very indicative of real life where social media bullying is a growing cause of death among teenagers.

Blog Post #7: Privacy Online

When it comes to modern technology people fail to realize that by having a smartphone or any smart device they are being tracked and giving up a lot more information about themselves than they realize. It could be something as simple as your phone listening to you talk. Everyone I feel has been in the spot where you were talking about something and then you look down at your phone and you see an advertisement for the product pop up right... trust me this is no coincidence.  All of these technology companies thrive on breaching into our personal lives to see if they can make even more money off people by recommending and showing ads for things they hear. 

A different way that these companies get all of our information is through web tracking. Companies online will track all of your searches and collect all of your personal information. One way these websites try to get you to agree to this is by having you agree to all cookies when you first enter a website. Some of the companies have creative ways that they do this including not allowing you to access whatever you want to look at until you accept all cookies. 

My last example is an app that really has taken over the younger generations and has become a hot topic of conversation over the last year because of their ties to tracking people and the Chinese government... TikTok. TikTok has been ousted as being one companies that uses a tracker called pixels that track all of your activity that you have on your phone... yes even when you are not on the app. This is even including your username and password that you put on your account that is supposed to protect it from hacking and other impersonation attempts.

In the end the more I start to learn about technology and how it works the less of it I want to deal with. I understand from the companies perspective why they would track everyone because all they want to do is maximize profits and they want to dangle products in your face that they know you are thinking about. I understand there is no real ethics in business but on a human level how could you even let your family possess and use this kind of technology especially if you know how it all works and the harm it could cause?

Blog Post #6: The United States' Love of Chaos

What is the best kind of news in the media that causes the most clicks, comments, and views in the United States? One simple word can sum it up very well... chaos. The news that we see in America on a nightly basis is almost always based around death, war, or politics. Today people in America are so divided they watch their different news stations like CNN and Fox News just to receive the same information but from two completely different view points. 

I feel that when it comes to anti war websites you do not hear or see a lot about them because they do not generate the headlines that grab people's attention compared to a bombing. Like while reading through antiwar.com website I found an interesting article talking about how Russia offered the U.S to enter negotiations to end the war in Ukraine and the U.S denied it. That is completely different then what you would see in mainstream media where it is made to look like the U.S is doing everything they can to help the Ukrainian people and simply that is not true.

Another article I read was about all of the journalist that have been killed in Gaza during the war between Israeli and Hamas. 85 journalist have been killed since that war started and the article says it averages out to about five a week. It is extremely sad to read something like that because innocent people are being killed while trying to do their job and a civic duty in providing citizens vital information that could save their lives. 

In the U.S we love to act like a nation that is trying to prevent wars but in actuality we are helping aid multiple wars around the world right now. All the different anti war websites out there are trying to show that and the government could be censoring their content to prevent it from being seen from a wider audience because they do not want people to know the details about the wars they are financially backing. Could the wars in Ukraine and Israel be over if the U.S was not involved? I can't answer that but that is something the United States' government doesn't want you to even consider.

Blog Post #5: Carrier Pigeons and Dumb Humans

 

In class we learned about different forms of technology and how it has evolved over time to get to where we are today. One of the most interesting ones that I learned came from Julia Foster and she talked about Carrier Pigeons. I thought it was very interesting that a pigeon no matter where you take it knows where "home" is and knows how to fly back there at any time. On the surface level it made me wonder how humans were able to figure this out about pigeons, but once it was proven that pigeons always know where home is it would be easy to see why humans started using them to pass messages along. 

I was very intrigued by the way that carrier pigeons were used in war especially in World War 1. For Germany to use the carrier pigeons as a way to gain intelligence on the enemy by strapping a camera across the bird's chest is genius. They were able to use things that you would find in nature to help game-plan against the enemy but did not have to use planes which obviously are way easier to spot and recognize and doesn't run the risk of costing a human their life.

So after giving human's credit for coming up with at the time a creative and faster way to transmit messages to people Dr. Smith ruins it for me by telling me about a pigeon being held captive for EIGHT MONTHS by Indian authorities on suspicion of being a Chinese spy. In the year 2024 by the way... at this point thanks to bigger and better technology I do not think countries are going to use pigeons anymore to transmit information. Much less train one to become a spy and be able to communicate back what they see. 

Overall my big takeaway from learning about carrier pigeons was how humans can be smart and creative but also very dumb at the same time. Also with how many animal rights organizations that there are in the world now I am surprised I did not hear or read a bigger outcry to get this pigeon freed. You would think that a pigeon being held against its will by a country would be at the top of their list of animal injustices to talk about.

Blog Post #4: Netflix's History

 Before Netflix became the premier streaming service it has become today, it was a small company that started with 30 employees and only 925 titles available at launch. Netflix was founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph and they came up with the idea while carpooling home from work together. Originally Netflix was a DVD rental site and when a customer ordered a DVD they would send it in the mail to the customers door instead of them having to drive to go pick it up from a store.

In 1999 Netflix would begin to offer a subscription service to its customers for $15.95, which allowed customers to pick the DVD's they wanted and there was no late fee or due dates for the return of the DVD's. At the turn of the century in 2000 Netflix would introduce a movie recommendation system on their website which allowed Netflix to recommend movies to its customers through their past selections. Another form of technology which made Netflix stand out from the competition due to the connivance of it. Fast forward three years and in 2003 Netflix would cross over one million subscribers.

2007 Netflix would introduce streaming which allowed customers to watch movies and TV shows instantly online instead of having to wait for Netflix to mail it to them. At launch however Netflix had very limited choices for streaming compared to their DVD library. In 2008 Netflix began to partner with electronic companies like Playstation and Xbox so that customers could stream Netflix through gaming devices then allowing customers to be able to watch streamed movie and TV shows on television instead of the computer. Following that in 2010 Netflix would launch streaming on mobile devices so customers could now take their shows on the go with them. 

Starting in 2011 Netflix would start to expand out of the U.S. first by going to Latin American countries and the Caribbean. In 2012 Netflix would make its way to Europe for the first time by becoming available in the UK and Ireland. In 2016 Netflix would expand into 130 countries with the exceptions of China, North Korea, Russia, and Syria. Netflix would also now be available in 21 languages. This would directly lead to Netflix's subscriber count to jump from 60 million to almost 100 million in 2016 alone. 

Netflix has been at the forefront of innovation when it comes to streaming sites around the world. After Netflix you have started to see many other streaming sites gain popularity such as Max, Peacock, or ESPN+. Because of Netflix and other companies now getting into live streaming, it has directly led to the downfall of cable as more streaming companies are picking up events people want to see like sports. Netflix and World Wrestling Entertainment just recently announced a 10 year $5 billion deal to have WWE Monday Night Raw exclusively stream on Netflix starting in January 2025. This will be the first time in the over 30 year history of the show that it will not be on cable. Also Netflix by releasing their own successful original programming it opened the door to other streaming services to copy them and do the same thing.

Blog Post #3: Eight Values of Free Expression

 When reading about the Eight Values of Free Expression the one that sticks with me the most to me and is most important is Promote Tolerance. In society today it seems that people have the approach of my way or it is wrong that should not be the way humans interact with one another. People are never going to see eye to eye on everything because everyone has a different view point and we're all raised in different ways. It doesn't mean that one person is right and the other person is 100% wrong. If people could learn to listen to others and try to understand their view point on an issue the world without wanting to attack them (physically or verbally) would be a much safer and inclusive place for everyone. 

Another value of expression that I see in action all the time today and is important due to the rise in social media is Marketplace of Ideas. This idea has to do with allowing people to freely publish or print without requiring a license. Without this value I would not be able to do what I am doing right now which is telling you how I feel and interrupt our government and its policies. This value allows us to go on social media to post and say whatever we want about anything we want. Whether it's people criticizing our government or sports teams people will always have something to say on social media.

Another important one that is effecting us here in America right now is Participation in Self Government which says that citizens will not make wise and informed choices in elections if the candidates and proponents of certain policies are restricted in their ability to communicate positions. Right now in America we are gearing up for the 2024 Presidential Election and all the candidates are running in their primaries to see who will get their parties bid to become president. The Republican Party has been hosting debates in different cities which is exactly what should happen so that when it becomes time to vote the U.S citizens can make an informed decision on who they think is the best candidate.

The last value I want to talk about is the Individual Self-Fulfillment value. In America we are blessed to have freedom of speech and be able to showcase our individuality. In many countries that is not allowed and to me that would make a place much more boring if everyone was forced to believe and act in the same way. In America there are so many different ways to express your individuality through clothes, hair, or tattoos. It is important in America that people follow this rule because the first step to making the world a better place is to be comfortable and happy with who you are as a person. Thankfully you do not have to conform or be like anyone else in America because you have a human right to be you and not have someone tell you who or what you should be.