###### tags: `CDA`
# Reading Responses (Set 2)

- Checklist for a [good reading response](https://reagle.org/joseph/zwiki/Teaching/Best_Practices/Learning/Writing_Responses.html) of 250-350 words
- [x] Begin with a punchy start.
- [x] Mention specific ideas, details, and examples from the text and earlier classes.
- [x] Offer something novel that you can offer towards class participation.
- [x] Check for writing for clarity, concision, cohesion, and coherence.
- [x] Send to professor with “hackmd” in the subject, with URL of this page and markdown of today’s response
## Reading Responses 2 out of 5

### Mar 28 Tue - Artificial Intelligence

Should ChatGPT and other AI software like DALL-E be accepted or disregarded when used for people’s work and homework? The application of AI like ChatGPT is endless and specifically is capable of automating human work in seconds raising the question: is this ethical and fair?

For students, a debate is emerging on whether or not using AI like ChatGPT is cheating. Rebecca Heilweel states “AI tools are already being used for one obvious thing: schoolwork, especially essays and online exams”. The problem with using AI not only comes from solely using it to complete schoolwork but also because of its undetectability. Heilweel claims “tools for detecting whether a piece of text is AI generated are emerging, the popular plagiarism detection software, Turnitin, won’t catch this kind of cheating”. The truth behind ChatGPT and cheating are that although it can be abused and is not the user’s own writing and words there are many benefits to it and it can be very helpful. I believe instructors should clearly lay out in a course syllabus whether or not AI is allowed and if it’s allowed in what way.

For people and their jobs, it can be very helpful. I have used ChatGPT to help me create pseudo-code and to help me get ideas for writing and it was very helpful. Heilweil claims ChatGPT is very capable of writing code and writing legal papers, both of which could impact the costs of services and jobs altogether.

I strongly believe this AI technology can help people and students solve more complex problems in quicker amounts of time. AI’s usage and development should be encouraged but what could become an issue is if people become reliant and dependent on AI software to get their schoolwork and work done. Reliance and dependence on AI can lead to a decadent society where people don’t write anymore. AI is capable of becoming the main way humans complete their daily tasks, work, communicate, and solve problems.

### Mar 31 Fri - Algorithmic Bias

Big data algorithms = big problems. Humans are subject to bias and for algorithms they too exhibit biases. To break down the process of how algorithms are biased and how to solve them first you need to understand what an algorithm is. An algorithm is a procedure executed on datasets to see if there are patterns within the data that can be used to create rules, models, and predictions.

Algorithms base their procedures and results on data. When data points towards one group of people or certain preferences the algorithm will focus more on that group making the algorithm unequal and seemingly biased. A model is the byproduct of an algorithm that takes a user’s input and gives an output. Cathy O’Neil makes a connection between baseball and mathematical modeling when she states, “...baseball represents a healthy case study–and it serves as a useful contrast to the toxic models, or WMDs, that are popping up in so many areas of our lives.” O’Neil believes baseball models are fair because of their transparency of data, the ease of interpreting the data, and the high correlation between statistics leading baseball to be non-bias.

On the other hand, as O’Neil mentioned some toxic models are popping up. These models can be harmful to our society and can be presenting inequalities. The reason why certain algorithms and models can be harmful is that they present bias towards one group. For example, in the other article by Fiona Rutherford and Alan White, the algorithm that Google uses seems to be racist because when searching “hands” many human hands pop up but there are basically no pictures of people of color’s hands. This causes users to believe that Google’s results and algorithms are racist.

This is dangerous to our society as it clearly presents bias that is present in history and the current data used in algorithms. To combat this issue when algorithms and models are being created there needs to be a value-sensitive design (VSD) taken into account to mitigate and remove inequalities in data that are clearly present because of bias and increase the diversity of data used to train the algorithm. Raising the question, should companies with algorithms using data train and evaluate or re-evaluate their models to make their outputs more equal and go against the status quo despite this not being what the data points towards?

### Apr 11 Tue - Collapsed Context

Are you “Being Real or Not”? Authenticity online especially on social networks sites is visible through multiple contexts and audiences. Alice E Marwick highlights how social network users have created tactics to navigate multiple audiences, “Like many social network sites, Twitter flattens multiple audiences into one – a phe- nomenon known as ‘context collapse’. The requirement to present a verifiable, singular identity makes it impossible to differ self-presentation strategies, creating tension as diverse groups of people flock to social network sites... Privacy settings alone do not address this… participants must contend with groups of people they do not normally bring together, such as acquaintances, friends, co-workers, and family. To navigate these tensions, social network site users adopt a variety of tactics, such as using multiple accounts, pseudonyms, and nicknames, and creating ‘fakesters’ to obscure their real identities… individuals only post things they believe their broadest group of acquaintances will find non-offensive.” Seeing these tactics, it can be concluded that due to tensions and differences between people online authenticity of individuals is commonly altered.

Looking at authenticity in terms of companies and brand culture, Brooke Erin Duffy and Ysabel Gerrard state that, “the promise of authenticity is deeply, and ambivalently, rooted in brand culture. When in 1971, Coca-Cola resolutely declared its soda “the real thing,” it made a not-so-subtle jab at competitor Pepsi.” Brand culture and popularity are causes for the authenticity of individuals and companies to be altered.

Examining authenticity with regards to the new popular app called BeReal “...historian Jefferson Pooley has argued, the more earnestly we pursue an “authentic” sense of self, the more marketers try to entice us with products and services that can fulfill that need. But, of course, it’s a Sisyphean endeavor.” The app BeReal attempts to bring users in by “being real” which is a counter to what most social networks are; however, as Kaitlynn Tiffany recently wrote, “the app about not getting famous is getting, maybe, too famous.” Many people on BeReal still get around how the app works and post content out of the specific “real-time”. This shows that individuals feel a need to be inauthentic online at times to better fit in or even to stand out from others. As we have discussed in class, a lot of social media has turned into a comparison game for many people where ordinary people see influencers and compare themselves to them. I believe this is an unhealthy practice and a side effect of social media which leads to this inauthenticity seen online.

In conclusion, in my life and those that I know this relates to me. When I was younger, I used to play a lot of video games and the way I acted on video games and with other online gamers greatly differs from how I act in real life. Another example is my brother-in-law’s brother who suffers from substance abuse and uses social media regularly to post schizophrenic images, and derogatory and negative messages. Taking the information learned from the articles and examples in my own life I believe it is very possible to have more than one personality online. This raises the question do people with multiple personalities suffer from a disorder or is it natural to act differently in an online versus in-person setting? Is this healthy for people to have different personalities online versus in-person?

### Apr 14 Fri - Authenticity, Work, & Influence

Are influencers being inauthentic bad for their audiences? The inauthenticity found in influencers ranges from them creating fake ads, sugar-coding their lives, and making it seem like they have it all. In the article by Taylor Lorenz, Brian Phanthao, a 19-year-old influencer from San Diego, states “In the influencer world, it’s street cred… The more sponsors you have, the more credibility you have.” Brian sees fake ads all over Instagram and this mindset of more sponsors equates to more credibility. This motivates influencers to fake ads and sponsored content in the hopes of getting real sponsors and advertising endorsements.

After seeing that influencers create fake ads and create false narratives of their lives for their own personal benefit and satisfaction, fans have mixed feelings. Specifically, the haters are critical of specific aspects of the influencer's narrative. According to Duffy, Miltner, and Wahlstedt, “the targeted influencers serve as individual scapegoats for the hatebloggers’ ire at the existence and reproduction of problematic, narrowly defined ideals of femininity, domestic life, and the possibility of “having it all.” The hate bloggers are frustrated and focus their attention on specific individuals (the influencers) who embody the ideals of femininity, domesticity, and the pursuit of having a successful career and family life. The hate bloggers are frustrated with the fact that these ideals continue to persist in society and are demonstrated by influencers and other individuals.

Ultimately after reading these articles, the relationship between influencers and society is a complex relationship where societal ideals, influencers, and the hate bloggers who reject these ideals clash together. Through seeing this I believe the influencers see what they do as harmless and beneficial for themselves and others; however, through deceptive measures, they are creating false narratives which affect the lives of their fans and naturally attract haters for creating false narratives and societal ideals. Because of this, I believe that influencers should be more authentic which will decrease their hater audience and help their fans to be authentic as well. This can change the culture in today’s society with youth attempting to achieve perfection and compete with influencers for views and worthiness.

### Apr 18 Tue - Pushback

Enough is enough. Pushback from using online networks and being connected is the next big controversy. There are many reasons that contribute to why individuals choose to pushback from being connected on online networks.

One notable reason why individuals choose to take a long break or quit social media altogether can be because it is an addiction. Ricardo Gomez states “A lot of people have asked, ‘Why don’t you just use it less?’ I think that’s sort of like asking a crack addict, ‘Why don’t you just put the crack in the closet and do less blow?” this analogy highlights the fact that social media use is like a crack addiction, making this a serious topic because naturally, addictions are not good. Social media addiction is a serious problem as individuals’ lives are affected due to spending significant amounts of time using it leaving less time for their own real life.

When individuals pushback they realize as Gomez illustrates “that just as there is value in connecting, there can also be value in disconnecting and just dealing with what’s going on inside our bodies and inside our minds.” Dealing with what’s going on in one’s life is seen as confronting problems instead of hiding problems and evading them through the use of social media. Kyle Harris serves as an example of this. He is an influencer who has quit social media for over an entire year as it was very addictive for him and affected his life and well-being.

Another reason individuals get away and pushback is because of what the actual online content contains and from receiving too much information. Joseph Reagle examines this and states “I fear that the future of online comment will continue to move toward large commercial platforms in which people have little privacy and see mainly the posts of the likeminded, the popular, and those who pay to reach us—a neutered filter bubble that serves advertisers rather than users.” This fear Reagle has highlights the risk using social media holds for users because of the possibility of content being altered and presented in a manner to benefit advertisers and companies rather than users by putting users in filter bubbles thereby relinquishing new perspectives. Furthermore, online commentary instead of serving as feedback and criticism can be deleted, altered, or censored to only represent the most popular comments and diminish opinions that are in opposition.

In general, as we have discussed in class, there is an enormous amount of content online and individuals can experience information overload, come to the realization they are addicted, want to improve their lives, and/or believe they are being put in a filter bubble all of which can lead to pushback.

As social media and networked individualism become more prominent in society it will be interesting to see if this will prove to be problematic. I believe a continued increase in the use of social media will prove to be problematic for society due to individuals dedicating less time to their own personal life and goals. Ultimately, individuals will be laying waste to their life by allowing social media to control them. Individuals will live inauthentic filter-bubbled lives in a desolate and infinitely large online realm driven by competition like money, views, and clicks with content often being meaningless and filled with hatred and controversy. If more individuals don't pushback from social media altogether or limit their usage, they may live to regret their lives.