Our Relationship With Technology (Final Post)

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I believe technology is a vastly important, yet insidious, communication tool that has become a core part of many people's lives. While that is not necessarily a wild statement to make, it is vital to understand why it is both. First off, technology does have its benefits, it grants people abilities that would be absolutely impossible otherwise, such as instant long-range communication and access to vast amounts of information. With the introduction and advancement of technology, communities, and minorities are able to connect like never before. It is suddenly possible to learn about anything and then talk to other people about it. 

As for the negatives of technology, a massive one that is being addressed more and more is the invasion of privacy it allows (and might as well welcome). Companies are constantly collecting people's data to sell or to flood you with targeted advertisements. In fact, it is such a problem, that companies have to tell you they are protecting your data, instead of companies having to tell you if they are stealing and selling it.

It is at the point where this data is so valuable, that the government is openly searching through it. Just in the past month or so, an article by the National Public Radio network states that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said that they are looking through immigrants' social media for antisemitic activity and will use it as a reason to deny them immigration benefits. This just goes to show how technology's invasive nature can affect people's lives.

Furthermore, mental health is impacted heavily by technology, especially by social media. It can lead some people to self-harm or even commit suicide. Its portrayal of an "ideal life" and access to other people's opinions can be harmful to one's mental health. Likewise, it brings about "FOMO" or a fear of missing out, leading people, especially teens, to be constantly stressed about being left out of something.

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As for whether I believe technology is "healthy" or not, I think it is not. While it is a powerful tool that has helped a lot of people, between the invasion of privacy and the mental health risks, it should be kept at a distance. In the present and near future, AI has become an almost ever-present facet of technology. Its adaptability makes it a powerful tool, and as a tool, it too can be used for evil or good.

AI is quickly evolving, with thousands of new models and companies seemingly appearing out of nowhere. It won't be long until someone creates an artificial general intelligence (AGI), which has the processing power to independently create an artificial superintelligence (ASI), that would be capable of anything. AI is already connected to things like social media algorithms, allowing companies to collect data automatically with adaptable intelligence.

Recently, I myself have been experimenting with AI. It is surprisingly easy to download an AI directly onto your computer and ask it questions without even needing a wifi connection. With a little bit of coding knowledge, it is possible to create a personalized AI that works like Jarvis from Iron Man. These interactions with AI have made it apparent just how powerful they can be. While ChatGPT can help programmers code, it rarely gets it entirely right, and still needs a human's eyes to check its work, showing that AI cannot support itself quite yet.

Luckily, this means that AI has not yet become powerful enough to evolve into Ultron. Although that could be closer than we think. AGI could be right around the corner, and with it, the potential for a superintelligence to emerge.

Overall, technology has (so far) been used largely for good. While it has its negatives, it is still rapidly bettering society, and giving people amazing tools. Its power over us just depends on how we use it and on how much we rely on it.