Final Blog: Relatioship with AI

     Human advancements with technology have developed incredibly throughout history. Humans have started with stone tools and fire, which over thousands of years has turned into computers and electricity. When put in situations that require advancements, humans have stepped up to the plate to innovate. We have created transportation into the depths of space, ships to the deepest parts of the ocean, and technology to communicate with anyone on Earth. In modern society, we have developed a way for our technology to function on it's own and follow our programming. Artificial Intelligence is one of humanity's most impressive inventions, and also one of the most terrifying. 

    Artificial Intelligence is the ability of a computer to perform tasks closely related to that intelligent beings. We have created these programs to respond to our inputs and function on their own, depending on the circumstance. We have grown as a society and learned to utilize them to make our lives easier. Some of the most recognizable AI are Siri, Google, and Alexa. I have Siri on my iPhone, and I use it almost everyday. Being a responsive computer, Siri assists me in setting timers, calling people, and other useful tasks. These could all be done easily without a program, but I use Siri for the convenience. People have used some of these AI to optimize their houses as well. Some of my friends use Alexa to set the temperature in their house and lock the doors when they leave. AI have become integral parts in our daily lives.

    Some AI have helped us with our daily lives, but there are others that serve specfic functions and purposes. More advanced AI can learn from their experiences and, maybe someday in the future, think for themselves. AlphaZero is an AI that is the ultimate chess player. It can calculate the best possible move on every turn and knows how to win every game. When it played against another AI, Stockfish, it defeated it so completely that Stockfish forfeited. IStockfish knew that there were no more chances to win, so it gave up. This is just a small example of how powerful some AI can be. 

    In the future, humans may create Artificial Intelligence that can rival what we have predicted in sci-fi media, but honestly, I don't think that will be in our lifetime. When trying to create an AI that is self aware, we have to start with understanding everything there is to know about humans. To give a robot conscienceness, we first have to fully understand what it is. Conscienceness is such an abstract concept that it may be impossible to fully replicate it in an android. Even if we get close to it, it would probably end up in failure due to human error. To create a perfect AI, we have to eliminate all human error, which is impossible. As a video game designer, I have to code my game to make everything work fluidly, and if I, a human, write an incorrect line, it will cause my game to malfunction. If we have any errors in creating AI, the AI will behave unpredictably, which could be dangerous. 

    I would love to see fully responsive and self aware AI, but I think it is something I will not see in my lifetime. Technology still needs to develop for us to create what we want to. Our relationship with technology and knowing how it works can always be worked on. In a hypothetical scenario, once we have these AI that can think like humans, it might cause more chaos than good. It could cause ethical debates to accept androids as life if they can think for themselves and be self aware. It is a large issue, but it would be extremely interesting to think about. Technology allows us to live comfortably, and the use of AI is a tremendous addition.

More information as a presentation:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1EFgba_M9atSk1JfnnmqAypKUJRUoQUuPAMEkLz9xEMM/edit

Response to First EOTO

     The first EOTO in class allowed me to learn facts about inventions I did not think much about before. Not to say that I took these inovations for granted, but I did not research their origins. During the presentations, we learned about the Facebook Dilemma. This was something out of my initial scope of knowledge, so hearing about it caught my attention. Facebook is a great platform to connect with people and learn about the world, but it has some fundamental problems. It's algorithm slowly learns as people use it to try to make a more accessible platform. Because of this, it can promote and push the wrong information. Firsthand, I have seen Facebook promote false information to countless people. There must be a way for the company to make sure that the information posted on their website is factual.

    As I was researching information on this topic, I ran into an interesting issue. When I used Google to learn about this dilemma, I had to search it in multiple different phrasings. I wanted to read articles about Facebook's issues, but I mainly found Facebook's own reports on frequently asked questions (shown below). It feels weird that this company would own everyone on the first page of these sources to indirectly not allow people to easily learn. It may not be the case, but it feels like Facebook is trying to hide slander about themselves. This became an extremely interesting topic and has opened my mind to possible theories about Facebook.

Blog ? Diffusion Theory

 

    The concept of the email fits perfectly with the Diffusion Theory graph. In the late 1900s, the email became a popular way of communication due to its ease. From a personal computer, net cafe, or library, people can send information to each other without worrying about fees or issues. Email started to gain traction once people saw how useful it can be, and from any computer. The ease was enticing. As time went on, the capabilities of sending an email grew, so it drew more people in. Being able to send information to anyone anywhere was a huge breakthrough. I think that email usage started to slowly go down was when SPAM became more common and other communication devices were popularized. Email is primarily used for business and professional settings, and casual chatting is done through texting and social media. Emailing is still used around the world, but I do not believe many new people are coming to use it, most people already have it or are using another form of communication.

Blog 3: Is There a Separation Between Church and State?

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects the American people's freedoms of speech. This amendment allows citizens of the United States to have open freedoms of speech, press, religion, and more. One of the six topics in this amendment has always stood out to me at different times in history: freedom to practice any religion and prohibiting establishing an official religion. Being able to speak freely and practice any desired religion is very enticing to citizens in America. Religion is extremely important to people, and having that right taken away for any reason is terrible. Even though there is no official religion established in this country, there is an implied one: Christianity. 

Christianity has played a considerable part in America's growth since the very beginning of the country. While the U.S. Constitution does not mention God or Christianity specifically, it's essense is riddled though our country. According to pewresearch.org, all but four states speak about a God. In a country where we have no official religion and a presumed separation between church and state, it is worrying to see this so often. There are mentions of words like "Christian," "Lord," and "Almighty." If our country is trying to be open to all ideas and allow people to believe what they want, this goes against all values.

One of the most noticable declarations of our country being heavily religious is the presidential inauguration. Whenever a new president is inaugurated, they are allowed to chose how they are inaugurated, as long as they take the Oath, ‘I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,’” (au.org). The ceremony surrounding this Oath is a custom determined by following the pattern laid by the previous presidents. There is no mandate to swear in on any particular item, but most presidents swear in on a Christian Bible. This is not a declaration of the country's religion, but it is showing the public which morals the president will uphold and follow. Many presidents even add the words "So help me, God" to the end of their Oath. 

While I am a firm athiest, I was raised in a Jewish family. I was taught different values than the majority of the country and grew up with an open mind about my family's religion and others'. It was always odd growing up saying the national anthem in school and saying "In God is our trust." I learned to not mention my familiy's religious values after seeing how many anti-semetic hate crimes there are in America. Some people in this country are not very open to other religions and ideas outside of their own, and extremist groups put others in danger because of what they believe in.

It becomes increasingly hard to argue against the fact that there is not much of a separation between church and state in this country. If we, the people, really wanted to follow this claim, we would remove religious words and push for a more open ended wording. Because I do not believe in a God or subscribe to any religious group, I would be more open to conversations with people about our country if we did not have to include personal beliefs. America is about freedom to believe in whatever the citizens want to, and having biased political writings go against its original ideas.

Blog 2: SCOTUS

Before reading into this topic, I did not know much about the Supreme Court. I knew that it had jurisdiction to decide what is constitutional and not, but the inner workings have always been a bit of a mystery to me. It is interesting to learn that the president is the one to nominate new judges. I remember hearing about new additions to the Supreme Court during Donald Trump's presidency, but I did not know that he was the one to actually nominate them. This process can be beneficial under a trustworthy president, but it could also be a detriment to the values of the role. If a sitting president has extreme bias, they could nominate whoever they want. The upside to this process is that the person in question has to be accepted by the Senate. 

A fact about the Supreme Court that surprised me was that sitting justices would serve until they died or retired. In other aspects of government, there is a term limit, like for the president. I am not well versed in all the processes of being a justice, but this seems like a dangerous amount of time. It does not seem like there are measures to make sure a justice is still fit to serve years after they are placed into power. On one hand, it is beneficial for the same people to stay as judges because they have years of experience running the country, but on the other hand, it is dangerous to have people remain in power without checkings to see if they are still fit to serve.

Blog 1: Top News Sources

1) Twitter 

As of recently, Twitter has been my top news source. It has a myriad of sources within the platform, but I focus on first hand experiences shared on the platform. When major news is broadcasted across the country, some information is left out for production's sake. When I browse through Twitter, I balance professional news coverage with witness reports. I do not trust every citizen report, but I take the information I gather from all of them and come to a reasonable conclusion.

2) CNN

Out of all major news sources, I think I trust CNN the most. From my experiences, they have been the most reliable in terms of current important news. Other sources feel too biased for my liking, and even though CNN is too, it feels like it covers all ground. They show information that is relevent to the common people and evidence that major events are indeed taking place.

3) Instagram

One of the reasons I appreciate Instagram as a news source is that my friends are very on top of the most recent events. Sometimes before I know about something that has happened in the world, I see that they post links to reliable sources of information. In addition, they post links to relief funds and helpful links during crises. Spreading information on Instagram is remarkably easy, but that is a double edged sword. False information can be spread at the same rate true can be. When looking for information, it is important to know which sources, and the people that post them, can be trusted. 

4) Youtube

When I go on Youtube for news, I search for news in hobbies I am interested in. I use the above sources for worldly and political information, but I use Youtube to learn about activities I am interested in. I am on one of the Esports teams at HPU, so Youtube is a valuable source of knowledge for how to become a better player. I play a game called Overwatch, so I want to be on top of all the new information that is released. 

5) IGN

IGN is a major news source for video games. Being a video game enthusiast and game developer, I want to learn about all of the current gaming news. IGN stays very up to date with their information and is always posting about the new news. While I apprecite the constant news, their rating on games is sometimes questionable. Game reviewers are paid to review and write about games, so they are not the best players. Their ratings for games are based on players who are not that skilled at the game, so it is hard to trust their judgement on difficult games.