Living in the Age of A.I.
According to Oxford Languages, a subdivision of the Oxford English Dictionary, artificial intelligence is defined as "the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages." This definition mentions some areas that AI has the capability to perform in, but with the rapid advancement of technology, humanity's growing dependency on it, and our ability to sacrifice practicality for convenience, AI can do more and be used for more and more things in our lives. And this reality can be frightening especially because of the development of forthcoming AI-inspired technologies that have the potential to blur the lines of personal privacy, national security, autonomy, ethicality, and morality.
In Frontline PBS' documentary, In the Age of AI, experts discuss the various uses for AI, both positive and negative, in commerce, healthcare, finance, transportation, and even government. This documentary was very thorough in its examination of these past AI phenomena and their trends that can shape the future. It was very educational for me and encouraged me to critically think about how we as the human race need to evaluate the choices we make in the name of technological and AI-powered advancement and the costs of those choices. I learned in greater detail the extent of China's mass use and abuse of AI. I also learned some of the things that America is planning and endeavoring to implement to try to compete with Chinese AI practices and execution. Along with America's plans to compete with China, I was able to understand more clearly how AI affects American jobs and commercial business.
Along with all the things that I have learned. I was frightened to see how AI has been weaponized and used to violate personal privacy and surveil people excessively. I knew that China wants a total surveillance state because of its communist nature and makeup, but seeing these happenings made me realize how extensive, daunting, and unacceptable mass surveillance is. I was able to see how the Chinese government and government officials overextend their reach and watch their citizens.
They are constantly watching them and making sure everyone complies with mandates given for how the government would want them to live. Especially during the peak of Covid-19, this surveillance was taken to alarming proportions. Chinese citizens were being and are still being watched like a hawk to make sure that they are six feet apart, always wearing a mask, and are staying locked in their homes. People who disobeyed were tracked, beaten and mugged in public, and eventually imprisoned. These examples and many more shown in the documentary demonstrate the dangerous reality of what AI looks like in the wrong hands and when it is motivated by malicious intent.
Watching this documentary caused me to truly think about how AI influences and has significantly changed how we look at privacy. This documentary also prompted the thought of the balance of national security and the sacrifice of personal rights and autonomy. While this documentary heavily focuses on China's role in the use of AI, the United States is a big part of this new age of AI. The United States claims that it has used mechanisms like algorithms and cookies for the bettering of personalized intenet and app experiences. While this sounds all well and good, mechanisms like these can be so dangerous being that your phone and computer knows so much about, including your likes, dislikes, and even subconscious behaviors and trends that you perform.
Also under the AI umbrella, surveillance capitalism is a rapidly growing industry. With users allowing cookies and agreeing to those terms and agreements, that are so long that no one rarely ever reads, they are granting various companies permission to sell their personal information imputted in the apps and websites. And because they are selling this information, they are receiving profit in return. Some would say "How can they do this; isn't this a breach of personal privacy?" Ethically, yes, but legally, no because by logging on to those sites and downloading those apps we relinguish those things to them.
Practices like this always cause many to inquire about who gets to dictate what speech and actions potentially pose a threat to national security and who gets to use AI to surveil these people. These questions makeup the notion of security vs. privacy. And as I have seen in my life and in the documentary, national security vs. privacy can be dicey and subjectively based on what you believe and where you stand on various issues. Some believe that we should sacrifice our privacy rights for national security, but some do not believe that we should because it is indeed a slipery slope and can be easily abused. I believe that there should not be a total and complete sacrifice of privacy, but because of incidents in history that had proven an increased need for security measures, we should be open to seeing what things need to be implemented that require the use of AI and technology and judging accordingly by situation.
Artificial intelligence can be positive for humanity. We can use these innovations and newfound technological advancements to help better the quality of people's lives, as they see fit. "As they sit fit" is they key phrase because how many groups in world have said they are using their innovations and ideas were for other people's benefit but in fact were harming rather than helping. AI can really be used as positive tools and not negative weapons to harm, bully, mandate, overreach, and domaneer. Advancement in AI is very intriguing and can spark personal ideas on what the future of this world could look like with the assistacne of this great aid.
