Blog #10 automation and AI

 The rate at which technology evolves has increased exponentially in the past decade. The consequences have been made apparent by this documentary. AI and self-driving cars 10 years ago were considered science fiction but are now a reality. AI if used properly can further every branch of science and bring us into a new age of science and innovation. But that comes at a cost.

Automation has caused countless people to lose their jobs. In the documentary, we see a factory that used to have hundreds of people working the floor reduced to a handful of people and automated machines. In theory, this should make these goods cheaper but as we’ve seen in recent ages the cost of everything has increased. Also in the documentary, we see former factory workers helping a food bank distribute goods to those who have lost their jobs.

Later in the documentary we see the facial recognition software used in China which brings up the topic of privacy. With AI’s integration with surveillance technology, it has become increasingly easy for governments and corporations to closely monitor people. This technology is not just used in China but around the world. This asks the question: is the safety of our cities worth our privacy?

This documentary reminded me of the dead internet theory. Automation and AI on the internet have created a strange relationship with its users. Dead internet theory is the theory that in the near future(or now) the internet will be full of automated responses that human-made content will be rare and that AI-generated content will make up the majority of what we see online. This can lead to AI’s being stuck in an echo chamber which will cause something known as “model collapse” where AI bets are trained by AI-generated content which will in a sense poison the AI causing the next generation of content will become warped and illegible to humans. 

An example of an AI model collapse article here

Model collapse was also the case in the infamous incident where two Facebook chatbots were made to talk to each other and made up their language so Facebook shut them down. The so-called “language” they created was a very inefficient version of English.

AI is dangerous when used improperly it's up to humanity to ensure that AI is used properly and the dead internet theory stays a conspiracy theory.