In the Age of AI

The advanced creation and utilization of artificial intelligence today is a mesmerizing, yet startling advancement in technology. In some ways, the evolution of this technology into something we’ve only ever imagined, something we'd expect to see only in movies and on TV, is extremely impressive and enthralling. In The Age of AI showed us uses of technology that we have never seen before. Some of these uses seem like they could vastly improve our life, like having the ability to obtain a loan in just eight seconds, or foregoing interpersonal interaction for things like ordering food or other goods. The technology also allows for the automation of certain tasks that could take jobs away from humans. Some see this as a disadvantage, however, I think that this is a great feature of this technology. Even though there may be fewer jobs, the jobs being eliminated are jobs that are a waste of people's time and rarely add actual value to their life other than a paycheck. I think the elimination of certain jobs will force humans to evolve past rudimentary tasks that benefit the rich, and hopefully drive more people to reach self-actualization and devote their time to things that add meaning to their lives. However, the video also gives us a glimpse into why this technology may not be all good. In fact, it’s not hard to see why the use of this technology by the government is actually primarily a negative thing. The degree to which artificial intelligence has the capacity to invade our privacy is unprecedented. The video displays how this new technology can be used to surveil the general public. From automatically reading our license plates to having the ability to identify us almost anywhere using facial recognition, to actually tracking where we spend our time on a daily basis, the government has access to far too much information about us. On one hand, you could see this as a good thing. It allows the government to keep up with people and possibly be alerted to threats in the community. Some say that surveillance techniques can be useful to deter, document, and reduce crime. However, we are not all criminals, so why should we all be treated like one? When we see how this extreme surveillance technology is used, it raises the question: can civil liberties and public surveillance coexist? That is a question still being explored, but in my opinion, with the technology that the government has access to today, the answer is a simple no. 




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