# Reading responses 2

## 3/28 Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) has made everything much easier in the modern world. People can efficiently perform tasks with AIs like ChatGPT and Lensa's Magic Avatar, including developing computer codes, writing poems, composing music, or drawing portraits. The milestones achieved through generative AIs and their advances form Rebecca Heilweil's blog post narrative. While Heilweil (2023) recognizes generative AI achievements, she questions their effectiveness and efficiency, wondering whether they are appropriate substitutes for human labor. AI systems are imperfect, sometimes producing flawed and inappropriate creations or results. However, their ability to automate simple tasks has made work more manageable. People can accomplish simple tasks with AIs, but distinguishing original work from AI-generated work has become challenging (Heilweil, 2023).

AI systems present numerous opportunities for the world and raise complex challenges. The question to ponder is: how will advances in AI systems impact humanity? Heilweil (2023) states that AI systems develop through machine learning, whereby they gain knowledge from past experiences, and the data people feed them. Unfortunately, since AIs gain knowledge from people, they reflect people's flaws, biases, and stereotypes, calling into question their effectiveness. Nonetheless, this has not stopped the systems from becoming mainstream. Heilweil notes that some institutions are even considering how to incorporate these AIs into their operations (2023). While there is no clear answer as to whether AIs will take over people's jobs, there is a need to exercise caution in allowing these systems to become mainstream because we have not truly understood them and their impact on our future.

## 3/31 Google's Racist Results

Is Google racist, or is it the society we live in? This question is complex and, at the same time, easy to answer when confronted with evidence. Fiona Rutherford and Alan White take over the challenge in an article dubbed Here's Why Some People Think Google's Results Are Racist. Racism is a persistent issue that has become increasingly sensitive in today's society. The public has been exposing those people, organizations, or institutions it finds racist. Google has become a victim of this exposure. A graphic designer researching hands realized that most of the images in her Google search were of white hands (Rutherford & White, 2016). Her discovery led to a deeper investigation involving men, women, and children, with results mainly showing white people.

The bias does not stop there. Internet users have discovered that many search results are racially biased, with most results depicting white people with prompts for words beginning with "beautiful." A search of Asian women mainly shows images from dating and porn sites, while another of "black people are" generates autosuggestions like monkeys, rude, and crazy (Rutherford & White, 2016).

When confronted with the findings, Google management argues that the search engine's evolving algorithm generates results based on people's popular prompts. The company's defense is unsatisfactory as it claims to have a diverse workforce and points to a similar problem in other search engines (Rutherford & White, 2016). Although society is primarily to blame for Google's search engine racial bias, the company is also partly to blame. The company should adopt a culture of accountability and equity in its workforce and operations to eliminate structural racism.

## 4/7 The Techno libertarian Perspective

Space explorations and their potential benefits to the human race's evolution have always fascinated the world. The American population's fascination with the tech sector and the Silicon Valley myth forms Flatley's narrative's basis. In the past, American society persisted in believing that tech entrepreneurs could solely revolutionize the digital economy. They saw no role for the government in this vision and mainly regarded it as an adversary that stifles innovation (Flatley, 2017). However, recent developments indicate otherwise. The US government plays a more significant role in Silicon Valley's success. It provides resources and funds crucial for space exploration research and testing (Flatley, 2017). Scholars regard this involvement as the techno libertarian perspective. While the techno libertarian perspective seems revolutionary and an answer to humanity's many problems, I wonder whether it is a realistic goal. The techno libertarian ideal is not new and can be traced back 40 years to Timothy Leary, an LSD advocate, fugitive, and researcher (Flatley, 2017).

Leary's vision for humanity's future was space migration, life extension, and intelligence increase. Modern-day tech entrepreneurs like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Larry Ellison also pursue a similar vision. The three goals for Silicon Valley idealists are symbiotic, and achieving one without the other will prove useless, as Leary argues. Both past and present techno libertarians agree that the free market and corporate innovation are the drivers of their ideals and the basis for their success (Flatley, 2017). Unfortunately, these supposed drivers of successful innovation have proved evil. What is to prevent these evils from manifesting into space and the universe if conquered?

## 4/11 The Doomed Quest for Online Authenticity

The first thing that comes to mind when we see a picture, video, or any image online is whether it is genuine or doctored. This has become the norm in an increasingly digital world. Duffy and Gerrard delve into this narrative of online authenticity and its impact on our society with reference to BeReal, the French photo-sharing app (2022). BeReal pitches itself as a unique social media app that promotes authenticity by shaming fakery and dissuading shallow performativity. According to Duffy and Gerrard (2022), people have praised the app for its informality, spontaneity, and genuine glimpses into normalcy.

However, there is speculation whether the app will outlive the hype, or the public will outgrow its tendency to tally likes as representations of perfectionism, common in mainstream social media apps. The most worrying issue here is whether BeReal is truly authentic. Also, can it promote authenticity in a society plagued by fake perfection? Duffy and Gerrard (2022) argue that it is unlikely for the app to maintain its authenticity since every generation has its version of originality. The authors note that today's society is locked in reactive dynamism or a cycle whereby each new social media app describes itself as original in relation to its precursors. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Peach, and Bema also promised a version of authenticity during their startup days (Duffy &Gerrard, 2022). Therefore, it will not be surprising if BeReal follows a similar trend as other social media networks when new apps emerge in the near future.

## 4/18 Pushback
The number of times I've been on the fence about trying a new restaurant or buying a new product, only to ultimately decide against it after reading the reviews because of one bad review out of ten. One is too high to ignore. As highlighted by Professor Reagle in his chapter, having access to a plenitude of data can be both exciting and unsettling. The collective online consciousness can be illuminating, motivating, and thought-provoking, but it also has a far darker side. The freedom to remain anonymous online can bring out the worst in people, as we talked about in one of the lectures. Anonymity online can provide a false sense of security, allowing users to speak their minds without concern for the consequences of their actions.

This has been the trend for anyone or any company that has a huge following; the level of rudeness people display is astonishing. They are quite disrespectful and seem to have no idea that real people are reading and responding to their remarks. This is why it's crucial to have comment moderators, both to keep people from seeing bad content and to keep people's reputations intact. I often find that communicating digitally is a complete nightmare. However, I do believe that there are numerous benefits to posting comments online. People can initiate civil conversations, ask questions, and make connections with those that catch their eye. They can pick the brains of complete strangers and get answers to questions they might not ask anyone else in person.

To completely avoid digital communication is, in my opinion, impossible. I agree with Professor Reagle that being deliberate and thoughtful while using the internet is preferable.