Blog Post #9

The Age of AI

Seeing artificial intelligence gradually advance has been fascinating. While this level of technology is incredible, it’s extremely scary to see how it is being abused. This struggle is outlined in the documentary In the Age of AI.

When Lee Sedol was set to play the ancient chinese game “Go” against Google’s Alphago, he was confident in his abilities insisting technology wasn’t at the point of where it could outhink a human. He was sorely mistaken as the software was fed past “Go” games to study and learn from and was able to come up with moves humans had never thought of before. This shocked the world because it meant the limits of AI were being redrawn and its uses could only increase from there. Helping prompt ideas or find solutions is one thing, but taking over our positions in society is another.

Automation is now being referred to as a “silent job killer,” as efficiency is being prioritized and clerical jobs like human resources and finance are at high risk for being taken over by AI and software robots. If half of Americans can’t afford a surprise $400 expense like a car repair fee, they surely can’t afford to lose their job.  Another issue with the move to increase use of automation is how the wealthy are favored without thought. Capital are only ones with economic benefits as labor is being replaced by technology because they don’t have enough experience or money to get to a job that can’t be taken over yet. 

I work at a smoothie shop and just today we were busy my entire shift; I didn’t sit down once. The phone was ringing constantly and there was always someone in the store. Now that self-serve order kiosks are a normal encounter, I get nervous thinking of that device coming to my place of work. If we set up a kiosk or online AI helper for our phone pickup orders, it may increase comfort and convenience for some customers, but I have no idea how we could possibly keep up. At one point does efficiency go too far? While we can get a smoothie out in about a minute, sometimes it doesn’t feel fast enough and orders can pile up. If the small job of taking orders is replaced, it’sony matter of time before taking the smoothies and cleaning the store becomes replaced by technology. A machine could be invented to make smoothies and be at the register to take customers orders, but would it truly be better? Maybe orders wouldn’t be lost or smoothies spilled, but our store would lose its personality and connectivity. We make conversation with the customers, ask them about their lives, remember their orders, and try fun smoothie combinations. I don’t think efficiency is worth eliminating the human experience and interaction all together.

As mentioned in my previous blog post regarding a few TEDTalks I was asked to watch, I’m one to be skeptical of using Face ID and my household doesn't use an Alexa or similar device. I learned how police plate readers are used to monitor people, our phone calls and texts can be intercepted, and the government would prefer full access to these surveillance features. Watching the documentary only added to my fear of how my information can be collected and used. The video mentioned how in China devices are being placed on the street to record citizens and discourage jaywalking. Beyond jaywalking, it is a way to let citizens know the government is watching and has begun using the technology to create a “total surveillance state.” They can watch and choose to send people to political re-education camps that have reports of death and torture. This software also raises problems with discrimination as Muslims are being subjected to detainment and prison because data and surveillance says they're at risk of being part of terrorism. It doesn’t end there as some Chinese companies have begun to branch out to other countries; in Senegal a large stadium has been built by one said company as “help,” but really aims to maintain social stability.

For large companies like Google or Facebook, artificial intelligence has become an integral part of their platforms. They are mining the data of our lives as we leave behind digital exhaust or traces and they apply machine learning algorithms to learn user interests and predict what we would click on. They can use targeted ads as they learn our thoughts, what we want, need, what our friends like, etc. In 2004, Google was reluctant to reveal their revenue/engagement numbers showing how much they had increased after using the software. Sure they may not have wanted other companies to begin competing with them by  adopting the technology, but hiding the data collection from users is not acceptable. Shoshana Zuboff explores the complexities of this idea further in her book and explains in the documentary “we thought we were searching Google, we had no idea Google was searching us.” Swaying users buying decisions, habits, political perspectives, and directing them towards what only appeals to them is dangerous. Sadly, “technology has become a tool of control, not transformation.”