Kailana, Ian, Miya, Jack
Over the decades humans have begun to gather data digitally rather than on paper. Information is now being recorded using computers and the development of AI has been a priority in computer engineering. The processing of big data provides some benefits, but the development of AI threatens our society. AI is surpassing humanity, and big data poses threats to our privacy, making many question what are some things to mindful of moving forward with AI technology.
The progression of technology is passing a threshold. AI is growing too rapidly and it is surpassing human control. A common theme in science fiction media is AI becoming too powerful and overtaking human society. This theme, although a bit dramatized, is becoming a reality. AI is powerful, but the threats exist. Take something similar to Amazon’s Alexa, a device that is capable of controlling electronics and other components of someone’s home. If that system were to be hacked or become self driven, it has the potential of causing several problems for humans. Technology and AI are becoming a much more integral part of our lives, and today we see those interactions almost everywhere. While AI is becoming more prevalent this is not a new issue. David Mindell in his book Between Human and Machine explains the history of how this interaction has manifested in technology. He states that “Licklider and his disciples recognized that we live in constant interaction and exchange with machines, and that the boundaries between human and mechanical continue to blur and evolve as the online world takes on an order and a reality of its own” ((4)Mindell). Our lives are blending into the existence of technologies, and technology is becoming such a prominent part of society. It is reaching a point where we must ask ourselves if we are still human and if technology and AI are becoming more and more human. These questions are not easy to answer, but they are questions that we will need to be answered as AI and technology improves.
If the line between technology and humanity is becoming more and more blurred, where does our privacy stand? Are we still secure and do we still have privacy? As previously discussed, our genetic information is often available online, but we willingly relinquish our right to privacy in those cases. If again we consider some of Google and Amazon’s technologies, we see AI that is constantly listening in on us. The technology also recognizes where we frequently travel, recording our travel patterns, sleeping habits, and even account accesses. AI is monitoring our lives, and we need to ask ourselves what we will do if AI turns against us. AI has the capacity to control our lives, and it could be argued that AI already controls our lives.
However, AI is very much a part of our lives. Another current example, although not the ultimate end of AI, AI exists in our lives. AI has an effect on many aspects of our lives, including our entertainment and data management. Netflix’s as a media streaming service has predictive recommendations for what to watch comes at the forefront of what is being called AI today. “It analyzes billions of records to suggest films that you might like based on your previous reactions and choices of films. This tech is getting smarter and smarter by the year as the dataset grows” (Adams, Forbes). However, often the smaller or more independent shows and movies are lost leading to more mainstream or well known recommendations. This is due to how this form of AI functions it is though the “opacity of algorithms and private control of platforms alters the ability of the public to understand what is ostensibly a part of the public sphere, but now in a privatized manner” (Tufekci). This leads to an extremely filtered understanding of what is available to either watch or what we see in ads on a daily bases which are a huge part of what we base our opinions on.
AI is moving beyond media control and is beginning to influence areas such as voter information and other political data. In recent elections instead of utilizing simply public appeal, they have begun to target more specific groups based on their demographics, political leanings, and even socioeconomic standings, this is known as computational politics.“Computational politics turns political communication into an increasingly personalized, private transaction and thus fundamentally reshapes the public sphere, first and foremost by making it less and less public as these approaches can be used to both profile and interact individually with voters outside the public sphere”(Tufekci). This lends itself to creating a false sense of knowledge, because of the limited picture of the world that is catered to each person through social media or the media in general.
Many view AI as such a positive technology, but very view consider the possible negative effects of AI. AI is surpassing human understanding and capacity, it is becoming too modern as Bruno Latour might say, and AI is beginning to wear away at our individual privacies. AI is becoming a very prominent part of our lives, and we need to ask ourselves if that is a good thing. We believe it is not, for the reasons described, and AI needs to be kept in check. We need to analyze our approach to AI and work to maintain control over AI before AI begins to control us more than it already has.
Bibliography:
Adams, R.L. “10 Powerful Examples Of Artificial Intelligence In Use Today.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 6 Nov. 2017, www.forbes.com/sites/robertadams/2017/01/10/10-powerful-examples-of-artificial-intelligence-in-use-today/#45b15db5420d.
Mindell, David A. Between Human and Machine: Feedback, Control, and Computing before Cybernetics. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004.
Tufekci, Zeynep. “Engineering the Public: Big Data, Surveillance and Computational Politics.” First Monday, firstmonday.org/article/view/4901/4097.