Blog #10

Artificial Intelligence: There's So Much We Don't Know

Artificial intelligence has invaded our lives by taking away certain aspects of jobs or jobs altogether and has taken away our privacy as well.  This is extremely scary and alarming, because I've only thought about AI in the sense of ChatGPT, but this video showcased so much information that I was unaware of.

AI took off in 2016 when Google DeepMind's AlphaGo program defeated the best player of the game Go, Lee Sedol, four to one.  This was a major achievement for AI, because people learned on that day that AI can use instructions from humans and develop its own instructions and does things that are unexpected and unthought of by humans.  Though this feat was incredible and a win for AI, people did not fully understand the effects that would occur when implementing AI machinery into everyday life.

One negative effect of AI technology getting implemented into the workforce is the fact that with this new technology, production increases, resulting in employers needing less workers.  Therefore, families and communities overall are taking hits because people are losing money, and not only can they not put food on the table for their families, but they are unable to spend money and put it back into the community for others.  It was very sad to see how the small town featured in the video was struggling and it was mind boggling to see how extensive the effects were.  Automation effects towns across the country, because if employees don't lose their jobs altogether, they get put into less skills positions that pay less.  So, activity would still be consistent or even more efficient, but the number of jobs available are low and do not pay as well as previous ones did.  This was very alarming to me, because I feel as though that my family could eventually be affected by this, because my dad works in one of the Freihofer's factories in my hometown.  I'm not sure what my family would do if Freihofer's used automation predominantly and got rid of many workers including my dad.  We would take a major hit financially and I'm sure our lives would be totally different than they are today. We wouldn't have the same opportunities that we have today because my dad wouldn't be capable of providing them for us.  So, this issue really hit home for me, and I was blown away by the fact that only 20% of jobs are lost due to offshoring.  Therefore, the reason for job loss is mostly caused by automation.  Automation impacts lives more than many employers like to admit and clearly, AI technology isn't beneficial to all.  Instead, the use of AI in cases like automation creates this standoff between capital and labor, and people with capital always win.  This standoff effects all, because people with power, like company owners, have control of the distribution of capital.  So, money goes into the machines, and with limited workers due to higher efficiency with the machines, most of the money returns to these people in power.  The money never trickles down, resulting in people being incapable of supporting their families and contributing to our economy.

As I've mentioned, Artificial intelligence has taken over the workforce, increasing the stress in households and communities as people try to get by on the little pay they still receive.  If matters couldn't get worse, not only is AI taking away individuals' livelihoods, but it's also completely invading our privacy for the benefits of powerhouse companies like Google and Facebook.  "Surveillance Capitalism," according to the video, is private, human experience that is claimed as a free source of raw material.  Essentially Google takes the behavioral data that is gained by the traces we leave of our search and browsing history and learns as much as they possibly can about you to exploit our private thoughts.  They look at this data, because they want to keep us on Google for long periods of time and want to provide us with ads and top search results that we will most likely click on.  It is startling that this hasn't been brought to our attention before, because Google is constantly gaining information about us with each click to remain superior and prosperous.  I'm disappointed that Google turned to this because I feel that the founders could have gone down a different route instead of exploiting its consumers.  The unofficial motto when Google was first created was "Don't be evil," but they have become evil in a sense, because they kept this privacy invasion a secret from everyone.  Instead, I think that this invasion of privacy is only needed if someone has committed a crime, because the data that Google collects could be useful during investigations.  Once the investigation is over, the data should be deleted.  However, I want to make it very clear that I think that people should be aware this is happening and should have a say in how much data Google should be allowed to keep, if any at all.  I think that safety should be top priority, so I do understand why some of this data having could be valuable in case there was security breaches or aggressive crimes being carried out, but I don't think it's right to gain this intimate information just for the sake of keeping a business relevant.

Facebook has also taken advantage of AI technology and has found out through experimentation that they can make certain adjustments on the platform, like changing the feed to affect our actual mood in real life, without our knowledge.  They can to control the way we think in a certain aspect, because they manipulate our feed based on our previous behavior, then they put things on our feed that they expect will gain reaction from us.  This is a complete invasion of our intellectual thoughts, and it's unsettling that AI can change our views and thoughts through a screen.  I'm sure if Facebook let the public know about this, they would be outraged, and many may either demand Facebook to stop or stop using the app in its entirety.  I'm glad that people are trying to make laws for us to have the control over where our behavioral data goes, who has access to it, and how much of it.  It's important for society to be aware of AI's manipulative and invasive power over us.  I am pleased that I have noticed that certain social media apps and Google now have a notification that pops up before I begin to search, so that I can control my own behavioral data.

China has taken AI technology use to the extreme and has essentially become a full "surveillance state," meaning that they are able to identify who their citizens are, what they believe in politically, their religious standpoints, their language, etc.  No one is safe and especially for Turkic Muslims called Uyghurs, who are targeted simply based on their beliefs.  They are targeted and can be stopped in the middle of the street and patted down by the police with AI technology that identifies them.  It's sad and shocking to see that this invasion of privacy has separated families and has even led to torture and death.  These people don't deserve to be taken from their everyday lives and sent to re-education camps, so it is startling to see that AI and the greed to be in absolute control has evolved to this targeting and destruction.  There's no hope in democracy in China, and I really hope that other countries do not adapt to this kind of technology and behavior.  If they do, I believe the results would be catastrophic, hardly anybody would have a say in government.  Chaos would ensue and the world would continue into this progression of sameness and conformity and no improvement would continue.  People would be incapable of sharing their own opinions and the Marketplace of Ideas would dissipate.

Though one cannot deny the benefits of AI, I thought it was much more startling that society doesn't know much about the extensive power AI has over us.  Therefore, I think that more attention needs to be placed on what AI is capable of, because at the end of the day we need to secure people's livelihoods in the sense of protecting jobs and people's behavior and thoughts.