What are the positive aspects of more and more complex artificial intelligence and machine learning?
- What about privacy, pros and cons?
- What about national security?
- What about online security and identity theft?
The creation of artificial intelligence has the potential to dramatically change human life. We have already seen some developments from automation. One of these has been the loss of jobs to automation. Some of this is due to trade deals, but most of it has come from increased automation. People will have to learn new skills in order to be competitive in the future job market, unfortunately, many people will not be able to afford it. According to the Hill, less than half of Americans would be able to afford an unexpected $1000 expense. Getting the necessary skills for a new job would require more than an unexpected expense.
Surveillance Capitalism is a word that has been used to describe the new era that we are headed into. In order for companies to get the information that they want so they can market advertise effectively, companies need to obtain the private information of individuals. Based on what we search for, we leave behind information about ourselves. Such data can be very revealing and many people are unaware of the full effects of it. Social media companies offer their services for free so that they can have the data of more people and sell the data. Social contagion experiments are also another development that is interesting. Facebook along with other companies has ads encouraging people to vote during the midterms. According to a study in the 2010 midterms, about 300,000 more people were encouraged to vote. While more people exercising their right to vote is a good thing, companies have the ability to selectively encourage people sympathetic to the party that favors them to vote. A new law in California has increased consumer privacy by allowing individuals to opt out of giving their data to online companies and know what information is collected.
There is also a danger that authoritarian government will use such data collecting to predict who may be a threat to their regime. China has arrested many Uighurs because they feel that there are some individuals within the Uighur community who have separatist sympathies. Surveillance of the Uighur community can use factors such as if you have facial hair, what language you use, or how often you pray. This is a targeted attack of an ethnic minority group. Technologies like this have the potential to be used by our government, and to a degree are being used. America has a history of institutional racism and censorship. Just because we have the first amendment and the fourteenth amendment does not mean that we truly live up to them. We have made great strides, but while the path of history may bend towards Justice as Dr. King said, it does not mean that there are not periods of backsliding and strife. Homeland Security under Joe Biden has moved to target online disinformation, a move that I am concerned about. While there are some real nutjobs on the internet, I don't think our government is a good regulator of them. Our government has lied to the American people of the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, commited a genocide against the Indians, and allowed African Americans to live as second class citizens for 100 years after the end of slavery. All of those things are still controvertial statements in America which shows that the government cannot be trusted to protected our rights. We need to be able to express our opinions about where our country does, in order for it to improve. People will push back if someone says something stupid. I have said many stupid things and people have told me why I was wrong. In order for the American Experiment to succeed, debate and freedom need to be allowed to flourish or else we are lost.
There is a debate about whether the government should regulate the use of ai. I think the government should. Ai has the potential to create a lot of problems such as unemployment, the proliferation of fake audio and video clips, and the ability to destroy the privacy of an untold number of people. I think that the privacy bill that California implemented was good. I think people have a right to know what they are buying. I also would support a law that would make it so you could see a simplified version of the terms and conditions, available by audio and visual. Many people do not read the terms and conditions. I understand that there are a number of regulations companies need to follow, and they are for lack of a better term trying to cover their ass, but they are too complex for the common person to understand.
Automation is the replacement of workers with machines, the replacement of labor with capital. "If they dare to come out in the open field and defend the gold standard as a good thing, we shall fight them to the uttermost, having behind us the producing masses of the nation and the world. Having behind us the commercial interests and the laboring interests and all the toiling masses, we shall answer their demands for a gold standard by saying to them, you shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold." (William Jennings Bryan, Cross of Gold,1896) These words are from one of my favorite speeches in American history. Unfortunately, I think few Americans know of the Cross of Gold Speech. It is a speech about bimetallism, but more importantly, it is a speech attacking the establishment for their betrayal of the people. I would say that there is a feeling across the youth, regardless of political beliefs that to put it simply "America is Dead". I have this feeling too, I feel that the America, my parents grew up in is gone. I feel that we are fighting a continuous culture war at home, fighting unwinnable wars abroad, and the rich are getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer. We are in a time of great potential, a time to provide prosperity to everyman man, woman, and child, but much of those gains have gone to the wealthy and the powerful. According to Forbes in 2020, the world's billionaires got 1.9 trillion dollars richer. I am not a communist, but do feel that our system is broken and needs change.
A good example of this is the price of college tuition, the prices for in-state public colleges have risen from $4,202 in 2003 to $11,541 in 2023, adjusted for inflation. Some of this is due to improvements in quality and the use of technology, but the overall effect is My good friend Nick Nunez gave a wonderful presentation about this, last Thursday, and proposed ending the loan by the government, forgiving all students loans, and having private banks give out the loans. I approve of this process. I would also favor making public universities free. Another issue that is facing the youth is that of loneliness.
Another problem that is inpart caused by the rise of technology is the rise of people feeling lonely, particularly the Youth. I think part of the reason that people feel lonely is that they are distraced by social media. The Algorithms of social media encourage you to use the product. I also think that the average American spends a lot of time working jobs that they are not engaged in. Americans feel isolated and I think that is part of the reason why patriotism has collapsed is many people feel left out both by our political system and in their personal lives. Many will gawk and say that the youth are degenerate because they don't love their country as much as they should, while this may be true for some, gawking at why your opponents are bad is not a great strategy to changing their minds. I love my country, I love that we have given people the ability to speak freely, I love that we have been a haven for many immigrants who have fled their homelands in search of freedom, and I am proud that we have been a nation that has let people with unusual ideas experiment. I love my brother with all I love, he is a very smart and caring man. He is a physics teacher. When asked who I thought of when I think of Jesus at a Catholic Confirmation event, I said my brother Jordan. I look up to my brother, as an example of how I can be more kind and patient with others. If my brother became a different man, a man who would make the man is he today look like Jesus, I would be infuriated. A country is no different, I love my country, but I am embarrassed at what it has become. I think some real work needs to occur for our country to be the land of the free, home of the brave, a haven for the oppressed, and a place of opportunity like it was when my Father was my age. I know that my standards are high, as they should be, but I believe America is capable of them. America will never be perfect like my brother will never be as good as Jesus, but it can be an example for others.
https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/poverty/590453-survey-finds-over-half-of-americans-cant-afford-a-1000/
https://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5354/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2020/12/16/the-worlds-billionaires-have-gotten-19-trillion-richer-in-2020/?sh=164b5d37386f
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/see-20-years-of-tuition-growth-at-national-universities
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