Danial, Week 9: The Growth of Technological Power
Since the start of the digital age in 2002, human life has been vastly altered through the creation of the internet and other massive technological creations. I can’t even remember the last time I was doing homework without simultaneously listening to music.
Humanity has become immensely empowered through numerous technological advancements. For instance, individuals can access vast amounts of information through a simple google search, a tool unavailable to individuals before the 1980s, eliminating the need for traveling to a store to purchase a book with the answer.
A massive benefit technology has is empowering individuals through communication. In the past, individuals were forced to communicate through letters which took up long amounts of time to reach the recipient. With the invention of the telegraph, people can communicate with long distance relatives significantly impacting their mental health.
So if technology provides us all these benefits, how would society survive without it?
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Recently, even posting just a picture of yourself online has a risk of being used to create a fake video through AI, which has the capability of destroying reputations. The dangerous potential and power of technology requires humanity to take back control to prevent disastrous consequences, but how do you take back control from something that dominates almost every aspect of your life?
I liked the topic of your blog as it showed how technology has the power to control us. Like you, I also listen to music while studying. Technology has many advantages as you mentioned such as saving money by not needing to buy unnecessary books that people had to do in the 1980s before Google. I also liked how you mentioned many positive impacts technology has on us and gave many examples to strengthen your claim. You mentioned communication has become much easier helping us to always be in touch with our loved ones. You also had a great transition from talking about benefits to asking a question about whether or not “society can survive without it.” I don't think our society can survive without technology as everything around us requires technology. If we want to finish our homework we mostly need Internet or to check our grades we need Internet. Many of the new technologies have sadly had a bad influence on us as we tend to avoid thinking because we can just do a simple search to get our answers and have spell check to help with spelling errors. I liked the comparison you made between man and his pet to showcase the effect technology has on our society. It was an effective and accurate comparison. Artificial intelligence, as you mentioned, has many negative impacts on us because it affects our thinking capability and creativity as many people can easily make AI do most of their work. You also showed the risk it has on our social life as it can produce any “fake videos” of us with just one picture. I loved how your concluding sentence was a question rather than a statement. It will make the readers think about this topic more in-depth. Overall your blog was well-written and thoughtful.
ReplyDeleteHey Daniel,
ReplyDeleteI really like the way you began your blog by mentioning the “start of the digital age in 2002.” It highlights how recent the introduction of technology and smartphones was. In the short span of two decades, mankind has progressed these technologies so much while progressively becoming more dependent on it.
On an average day, I spend around eight hours with technology, whether it is my phone, laptop, T.V. or iPad. It’s honestly mind boggling when you realize that eight hours is a third of our day. Nevertheless, it’s our reality because of how much technology has slowly creeped into our lives. In the 1990s, phones could only be used to make a call or send a text message. Now, literally anything can be done from our phones from shopping to calling to watching a show. Naturally, it’ll be hard to put down something that can fulfill all our desires.
I appreciate how you touched on the problems caused by technology. It’s often overlooked due to the various benefits technology provides us. While I myself am essentially a slave to my phone and laptop, I also understand the importance of taking precautions while using them. These precautions could be two-factor authentication and protected passwords.
Thank you for writing this blog!
I agree that technology has become ingrained in our daily habits, to the point where without it life would be vastly different. You mentioned that technology has many positives, which of course it does. It makes communications easier, can perform complex calculations, and is a convenience to everyday life. One example you stated was the easy asceses to the abundance of music. Another is the thousands of tools and information websites so readily available. However, there are negatives, which starts from the idea that most of these tools are free. For websites such as social medias to make a profit, companies have to run ads. More ad revenue is correlated to the number of users the website has, giving social medias an incentive to keep users on the platform and make it as addictive as possible. You summarized this relationship as a man and his pet, where technologies control much of are lives. Much of it makes life more convenient, but we often rely on it too much.
ReplyDeleteHello Danial, your topic covers the many concerns of technological advances in society. As technology begins to progress, more power is produced through the utilization of these inventions. I agree that technology has its beneficial components, however, there are many disadvantages to it as well. With the power of artificial intelligence, students submit essays that were not created by them. Through this, students become more reliant on technology rather than their own knowledge. Technology has caused many of this generation to grow lazy to learn and put in the effort to do their own work. This puts society at risk of giving individuals who rely on technology high power. Your example of "fake videos" made by artificial intelligence backs up the dangers of technology and the power it holds. It reminded me of how even voice artificial intelligence is being used to impersonate other people. Your blog has really enlightened me on the power of technology and it's uses!
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