Blog Post #10

 Living in the Age of AI 

    AI has become integrated into all aspects of our daily lives. While this technology has proved to be beneficial due to its ability to analyze information and generate never seen before solutions, there are pitfalls that come with this technology. This technology has transformed many industries, providing benefits in healthcare and other research fields. However, in the production industry, AI has replaced the need for human labor. The CEO of Fanuc Robotics believes that where there is a job taken, two more are created. However, community members disagree. The first thing I found interesting was hearing from the social worker about the intergenerational effects of losing jobs due to AI. The negative impacts were extensive, including repeating a grade, dropping out of school, and overall lower educational experience. Also, it was incredibly interesting to me to hear how AI increases the economic inequality in the United States. Mr. Kaplan said that the idea of the struggle between capital and labor brought to us by Karl Marz is correct. This is so fascinating to me because a philosopher from the 1800s accurately predicted an economic situation that was caused by brand new technology. The fact that the general consensus from the people in the beginning of this video was that AI is going to cause inequality and economic trouble for so many people that it will be hard to come back from was terrifying to me. As someone entering the workforce soon, it is concerning to see how many jobs are being replaced by AI. 

    AI has also played a huge role in data collection. This video discussed how the "world can become adapted to you" because AI analyzes the data it collects from you to tailor content or advertisements to fit your desires. However, this does pose a privacy concern. The people in charge of these companies could unfortunately use your data in negative ways, or even sell it to foreign nations. The whole idea of "surveillance capitalism" is also very concerning. As explained, human experience is being transformed into predictions of behavior that is sold to companies. This is something that more people should be aware of. The shift in our economy and the overall business world is astronomical because of AI.

     The man sharing his experience with a Google engineer about how you should be horrified about the amount of information they have about you is definitely a cause for concern. While I may not feel there is something to hide, my privacy is still important. Our data is almost like a form of currency, no one is truly focussed on protecting our data. The integrity of organizations has been compromised because of their need for money. Businesses realized how important data is in predicting human behavior. They knew that they could gain large advantages over other organizations by selling other companies this data. For example, when Google started selling data, their revenue line increased by 3,590%. This goes to show how valuable this data is. Companies like Google and Facebook gained data from so many different sources that it was quite concerning to me. While I can understand gaining some information for targeting advertisements, as it can be beneficial to me as a consumer, trying to gather their credit card data or even a woman's menstrual cycle data is in my opinion taking it a step too far. 

    After learning more about the Facebook scandal in 2018, I fear for the integrity of our nation. The fact that a British company was able to purchase all of this data, and attempt to influence the 2016 election is a direct threat to our democracy. Our nation was founded on being able to use our voice and voting power to make decisions, not that another country can exercise control and affect who are leaders are. Voting should not be impacted by our online data and who has access to it. While I will continue to believe that AI technology provides benefits in so many ways, the farming of our data is something that needs to be taken more seriously. The people in our nation must be aware of what is truly going on with their data.