Blog Post #10: Living in the Age of AI

AI (Artificial Intelligence) has become more popular and commonly used over the past few years. It has taken over our world and completely changed how we use technology today. As I was watching the documentary, I found it intriguing that the scientists mentioned that AI teaches us how to predict an outcome. The first time I heard about AI was a year ago when I saw a post on TikTok about people using AI software to write their academic essays for them. While some college professors are more lenient when it comes to their students' AI, it can also be harmful because are using as much creativity and they are simply relying on a robot to do their work for them. Additionally, the documentary mentioned that the increase of the use of AI and robotics has caused a decrease in jobs; more specifically, factory workers. The standard of living has dropped 15 percent. Children now have a higher chance of dropping out of school. The town of Saginaw, Michigan has experienced economic decline over the past few years. Companies now rely on robots in their factories to build machinery as well as packaging goods. An article published on Brittanica claims that the shortage of skilled staffing in automation technologies raises the need for vocational and technical training to develop the required workforce skills. 

AI can also contribute to the issue of privacy. The documentary made a good point when it mentioned that a lot of times we think that we are simply using social media, but in fact, social media is using us. This is because whenever we search or browse on our devices, we are leaving digital traces. For example, when I have Google searched a brand or a product, I begin to receive digital ads on social media apps about that same brand or product. 

According to the documentary, Google says that the purpose of this is to improve the user experience. It can be intimidating or frustrating when a simple search turns into your social media pages being bombarded with repeated ads of that product. This is because companies make money off of ads, and they don't want us to know how much money they are making. 

https://www.britannica.com/technology/automation/Consumer-products