Final Blog Post

 

Do you think your relationship with technology is healthy? Why or why not? Do you think that you are giving technology the appropriate amount of time in your life, or do you think that technology is taking up too much time in your life? Do you think technology is informing you and making you smarter, or do you think that technology might be misleading you and giving you unreliable information? Do you ever worry about these things, or do you think it's just an accepted part of the society we live in?

In a sense, I'm almost obligated to have a good relationship with technology. Since my major revolves around it, I basically have to accept that screens and electricity are going to be my life most of the time. Does that mean I like technology though? It's complicated. Yes, it has brought us so far from where we were. Yes, it has advanced the human civilization beyond comprehension. But I feel as though the more we achieve, the more it consumes our everyday life. I fear that we are lost without it, due to how much we have come to rely on it. In terms of acceptance, it's crazy to think that we welcomed it with open arms. Now, with AI Art and Online Currency, people are finally starting to question the logistics of what technology means.

I don't believe that technology itself is lying to me, however. What I've learned is irreplaceable, and has helped me secure the position that I am in today. I think with that with time, these worries will definitely fade, and society will keep going about their lives without a care in the world, but these fears are piling on. What we need is safer spaces online to talk, and easier ways to exchange info that don't come at the cost of leaking secrets to the dark web. If we had that, then I'm sure that people would feel 100 times safer using any form of technology. If only social media sites and advertisers didn't steal our info to personalize our web feed and incoming emails.

— What about your friends and family? Do you think that technology is a positive part of their lives? How does technology play a role in your relationships? Good and bad.

Technology plays devil's advocate when it comes to friends and family. On the good side, it helps us stay connected when we are far away from one another or need to get work done. However, with all of the misleading information and access to everyone's contacts, drama and conflict are only a step away from happening. People are prone to lies, and those are very easy to spread thanks to the fast world of tech that we created. Having this power is both a blessing and a curse, and it's almost that we have been blinded by the good so much that the bad seems unimportant.

— What is your online footprint? If you were applying for a job today, the first thing your prospective employer would do is go online and find out as much as she or he could. What would they find? How much of an online presence do you have? Google yourself — that's the first thing they will do! What comes up? What kind of image does it paint? Is there anything you should edit out of your online presence?

For me, my online footprint is basically just my LinkedIn. Aside from some stuff I made around 5 years ago, I don't have that much of an online presence. Honestly, there's not much of a picture to paint for my employers, but maybe it's better that way. Having someone with a blank slate may just be what they need. However, it could be seen as the other way around. It's not so much that I need to erase anything from online, but rather that it may be better if there was more about me out there. Everyone I have seen online doesn't have a care in the world about what they post, but I am a lot more reserved when it comes to sharing. I fear what is acceptable to give information wise, and what I should keep a secret. 

Blog #11

https://i-d.vice.com/en/article/m7gv93/in-defence-of-gatekeeping

One of the terms that I really zeroed in on was Gatekeeping, which means "withholding products or information from others." This term has been thrown around a lot for the past few years, and from anyone's perspective it can bee seen as an unfair principle. This type of behavior has been labeled many things, few of them being positive terms.

It was most relevant around 2020 and 2021, when everyone was at each others throats over politics and celebrity news. While it is not as relevant today, it still poses a major threat to all businesses and social groups. These toxic behaviors have been know to shut down corporations in weeks, and there seems to be no solution to this problem.

However, according to this article, gatekeeping may not be as bad as they say. Keeping information from others may actually help them, and the article uses a pretty good example of this.

"If we just slightly shifted our view of what gatekeepers actually do — protect rather than guard — then suddenly gatekeeping becomes less like an iron fist and more like a safety blanket, a shield between the object and the potential harm of external forces."

All we need to do is use something that people have been using for bad purposes and flip it on its head. We don't get this chance very often, as these behaviors are known to not be easily changed. But, now that we have this opportunity, we must take it.

Blog #10

https://www.securityindustry.org/2017/04/01/ai-benefits/ 

In 2016, the world champion of the popular board game "Go", Lee Sedol, was challenged to a duel by an AI created by Google. It was known as ""AlphaGo", and their battle was seen as a sports spectacle with national pride on the line. In the five tumultuous games that followed, Lee only won a single game, While "AlphaGo" took 4 wins home. 

This event sparked the "Age of AI", one where computers now have the same or perhaps more capacity to think as we do.  

• What about privacy, pros and cons?

Privacy is a sacred thing. Our personal life, family matters and medical situations should not be open for everyone to gawk at. However, in this new age, corporations care little for our boundaries. According to them, our technology must be personalized to our lives, by every single detail. 

While this does mean that is easier to access certain products and information, the word "uncomfortable" doesn't even begin to describe how people should feel about being stalked by strangers on the other sides of our screens.

• What about national security?

National security seems to be at the head of it all. We are being monitored for "safety" and "protection". In their eyes, AI is the future for all security, as it will be more advanced than us as time moves on.

• What about online security and identity theft?

This is one of the biggest problems to come out of the "Age of AI". Face-tracking technology has evolved at an alarming rate, so much so that all it takes to identify people is a one second scan. We have no idea how long until our privacy will be taken, but the anticipation is killing us

It all ties back to Go, where more than 4000 moves can be made in the game. While we know for sure that AI will continue to evolve, how it will evolve is a move that we must wait for.

Blog #7

 Why did so many people become early adopters? Why are some people late adopters? Or not adopters at all? 

There is a point in time where adoption requests reach what we call critical mass, basically meaning high in demand or too much to bear. Because of this, most people become early adopters, to skip the wait and get what they want. Others say that becoming late adopters is a better option, trying to catch whatever remains.

What about the downsides — do you see any negative consequences in the technology? For example, why am I not on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other social media? 

If you are not on social media, it is considered a major hindrance. Having any form of media within your group of adopters keeps you up to date on any recent or sudden events. However, this can also easily be used to spread misinformation and lure other adopters into a trap.

Being an adopter means you must be ready to take any opportunity that presents itself. When you see something that could potentially support you and your group, you must man up and take the chance.

Why might I have made that choice for myself? And how would I benefit if I did? Would the positive outweigh the negative? How do you weigh that cost-benefit analysis with a new communication technology?

When choosing for yourself in terms of adopters, there are only a slight number of positives. Sure, your personal wealth may grow, but that is about it. When shared with the rest of the group, you gain reputation, status and money. Honestly, it is not worth it to pick the rewards for yourself.

Blog #8

How do these issues affect you? Your friends and family?

Privacy seems to be a policy long forgotten. All of our activities can easily be monitored and recorded now, thanks to new innovations in technology. Facetime, Skype and our everyday phone calls are now unsafe from wiretaps and unauthorized watchers. Personally, I don’t use these methods of communication all that often, but I know a lot of people who do. I also know some people who definitely make important calls regarding medical or personal issues, and having that information leaked is a massive worry.

What should the government be doing about these issues?

When it comes to how our government can start solving this problem, I think that one or two laws concerning privacy need to be passed. As humans, we are insecure about many things, and we would like to keep some of that information to ourselves. Honestly, it may be better to look for someone else besides the government to fix this. Our issue isn’t the laws themselves , but the technology we wield. We need something stronger, something more secure and safe for people to carry around.

What can we do to protect ourselves from invasions of our privacy?

For once, we should try and put down the phones. If the person we call is somewhat nearby, why not drive or wait to talk to them? As technology evolves, the need for in person communication becomes less and less. For that reason alone, we should be enjoying the time we have left when it comes to talking with one another.

Blog #9

An Echo Chamber is an environment where a group that agrees on ideals share their thoughts. However, they do not allow others with different points of view to join them. They isolate themselves from others, to protect their thoughts. These do not necessarily have to be in person, as echo chambers can be created anywhere, online and offline.

Honestly, the effects it has on people depend on the issue entirely. If it is a small, trivial issue, you may not see a problem at all, and the chamber will slowly deteriorate as others lose interest. However, when it’s an issue that you are very adamant about and you know you have to do something, you may feel compelled to confide in others and share your viewpoints. 

A common example of where an echo chamber can generate is at the dinner table with family members. Parents are likely to push their ideals onto others present, so the three options listeners have are to agree, disagree or ignore. The latter is the best, as changing the subject can save the mood. 

When speaking about anything related to politics, echo chambers have a very high chance of growing and dividing friend groups. With the most recent issues in the political world, our population feels more spaced out than ever. This does not limit the topic to only government policies. Echo chambers can interfere over any disagreement, which is why people must learn how to defuse and dismiss them.

To avoid these sorts of spaces, simply listen. Allow others to share their thoughts on a matter and give your reasonings for whether you agree or disagree. Everyone deserves the right to have an opinion in this world. No matter the problem, there will always be those who choose one answer over the other, so we must respect people for their choices. 

Also, never glance over social media to see if things are actually true. Find multiple sources that you can rely on as fallback points. Misinformation is a huge problem in today’s society, as we tend to believe anything on sight with how fast news can circulate online. This is why it is important to watch your local news channel or find a well written article about the issue you are researching. Just because one twitter user states that a major historical event has occurred doesn’t mean that it should be documented and studied immediately. 

Finally, as stated before with the dinner table example, do not push your beliefs onto others. We may all be on different sides sometimes, but at the end of the day, we’re just human. We all will ultimately reach our limits when it comes to arguing, and there’s no need to tire ourselves out over these issues.

All in all, Echo chambers serve very little purpose on the positive side, and are most commonly known for their negative effects on others. The healthiest option is to ignore these spaces at all costs, while remaining active to ward off any oncoming storms that may try to sneak their way into an innocent conversation.

BLOG #6

 Group 5 presented multiple technologies, but the smartphone presentation really stuck out to me. There were three specific facts that stuck out to me. For one, Group 5 shared that more than 5 billion people own a smartphone. That’s over seventy-four percent of the world's population.  Second, of the 5 billion who own a smartphone, three quarters admit to being addicted to their phones or being on it during most of their waking hours, including their reduced sleeping hours. Third, as the group shared, it’s no surprise that a tool which has drastically changed how we communicate, work and play is so popular. It seems like only yesterday we were stuck with iPods.