The reading for class by Kelly illustrates the importance of robotics in the world today and what it means for the future. The quadrants of jobs that humans and robots can perform differently leads to a lot of questions as to what robots, cyborgs, and artificial intelligence are capable of. At this point, there are current jobs that robots can do faster and more efficiently than humans can. Many of these jobs have been automated already by robotic machinery. In the future, one of the other quadrants will make this transition. Kelly’s “A” quadrant outlines jobs that humans do today, but robots will eventually do better in the future. I think of the impending technological advancements of Google’s self-driving car. This is a task that currently humans are only capable of. These types of activities are nuanced and almost stylistics. The reactions and decisions that humans have to make is something that cannot be easily translated into a robotic agent. However, the developers of this car are finding ways to make this possible. This car is successful to this point in trials. It may end up being a safe, suitable replacement for something humans have been doing for a hundred years. Who is to say if it catches on and revolutionizes the automotive industry? At this point we will have to wait and see. Regardless, this is one example of the future of artificial intelligence and robotics. One other quadrant that Kelly also talks about details jobs that we can’t even imagine yet. Now this is abstract. This represents something of a momentum-based storyline of technology. New devices, advancements, and gadgets are the breeding ground for more devices, advancements, and gadgets. These are things that can provide the solution to problems that we don’t even know exist yet. What and where this will lead to is just the next chapter in the story of robotics, cyborgs, and artificial intelligence.
Do We Have The Right To Be Forgotten?
This is such an interesting question because it opens the door to so many more questions. Not only the moral question of whether or not a person has the right to control what is said about them online. But also, the question of whether this sort of policing and monitoring is even possible, or fair to the person who is writing/creating it. American free speech is something we take for granted and something that we use daily on various social media platforms to comment about or lives, and sometimes other people. I would personally feel like I was having myself censored if I was told that I had to take something down. While I do understand why you would feel victimized if a particular, unfortunate legal document was available online or if somebody defamed you publicly, but retroactive censorship cannot be enforced. Realistically, actually undertaking the enormous task of removing what people ask to be taken off the internet is impossible. There is way too much content to police at this level. Instead, we should just be living with a thick skin and instead decide to move on.
In an age where all information is so easy to find, access, and obtain, it really just isn’t possible to be forgotten. The only people who at this point are forgotten by the internet are the elderly who have never had a presence online to begin with. Anybody growing up now has immediate and constant access to the internet and all of the information that comes along with it. It is impossible for somebody in this generation to become forgotten by the internet. Now, if somebody came up to me personally, and said they felt that I should take down something that I put online, I would consider it then. That is being a nice, understanding person. This is an issue that shouldn’t have a solution in the legal world, but rather one that can be worked out via person to person communication, understanding, and sympathy.
Do We Have the Right to Be Forgotten?
Is Google making us stupid?
In short, no. The internet is not making us stupid. The internet is changing us, that’s for sure. But, no it is not making us stupider. In fact, I’d say it’s making us smarter. I have more information at my fingertips right now than my grandparents had in their town’s public library. I can learn anything right now. Anything! It is truly amazing. Now, maybe the information I seek when I use google on my smartphone isn’t always scholarly media, but it is still information I seek out. In an era of instant communication and satisfaction, it is expected that we stay up to date with what is happening. That means learning. I am a frequenter of Wikipedia, which you could argue is humanity’s greatest contribution to education and information. It blows me away how fast I can learn things.
Carr makes an allusion to Plato’s work, which said that Socrates, “bemoaned the development of writing. He feared that, as people came to rely on the written word as a substitute for the knowledge they used to carry inside their heads, they would […] cease to exercise their memory and become forgetful.” This is the same conversation we’re having about the internet. Plato and Socrates were asking themselves, “Is writing making us stupid?” not “Is Google making us stupid?”. It is very obvious, looking back, that no, of course, writing did not make us stupid. Writing did not replace the knowledge in our minds, and did not make us lose our memory or become forgetful. Writing made us smarter as well. It is a way to retain information and spread it and is one of the biggest components of all teaching and learning. We soak up knowledge as human beings, we just do. Via our own thoughts, our writings, the writing of others, or even an online resource.
I’d even go so far as to say that nothing has made me smarter than Google and the internet. Schooling taught me reading, writing, and mathematics, but Google search has taught me more than any other teacher, book, or experience. I don’t think we fully understand the capabilities of the internet and how we can and should spread knowledge through it. As digital natives grow up, the whole world will be exposed to and using the internet. I think this will be the time when things really get interesting. The moment everyone, from all ages, is seeking information via the internet in the same way is the moment that we will full embrace its teachings.
What are you hoping to learn in this course?
This
class provides a lot of interesting opportunities to learn a lot of things. I am most excited to tackle the “society” portion of Communication, Information, and Society. The idea of analyzing communication and how it has impacted society and the people who make it up is very interesting to me. Getting to see how different forms of technology shape both how information is spread and communicated is something that is going to be very fun to explore. The impact it has on us and how it has shaped the society we are a part of and how we communicate is something that we will talk about, and I am excited for it. I also like the way that the course is set up, using these forms of technology to submit homework and talk about the subject material. We will be submitting our assignments to https://mycourses.purdue.edu/webapps/login/ which is a great system we have in place here at Purdue.
COM 251 Blog - Michael Casey 