Blog post #9

 The Age of AI

The initial thought of AI, artificial intelligence, I as a student immediately think of my peers common use of looking for course work help from programs such as ChatGPT or Socratic. Many professors and institutions warn agains the use of outsourcing our work to such programs because it devalues the work and defeats the purpose of lessons, other professors argue that this is where the world is going and it is necessary that we learn how to work with these tools in order to be relevant in our future careers. 

While completing this assignment, I even utilized forms of AI (don't worry Dr. Smith I did not outsource my work!). Reviewing the YouTube video, I utilized the tool that shows where most users rewound the video, I asked my Amazon Alexa to connect to my IPhone which I played my study playlist (automatically created by AppleMusic), and I researched relevant articles on Google (where plenty of user based ads popped up). 

Although a violation to the Guide To Campus Life and infraction to academic integrity is concerning, it is far more concerning how the government and major corporations are using AI to enter into private aspects of community life. The world has fully emerged itself into the digital world. The internet has become a marketplace for every aspect of modern life. AI has revolutionized these abilities into a highly profitable data collection process. With every click, every view, and every action (or non- action) taken companies are able to track your trail and accumulate data about you. This valuable data can be sold in order predict your future actions. "You would be horrified if you knew what we know about you". - A Google Exec. As I previously mentioned, the data these companies have access to is within every aspect of our personal and private lives. 

A Business Model

Larry Page and Sergy Bryn created a platform, Google, that forever changed the world. Their catch-phrase to this model was "Don't Be Evil", they were referring to the way in which technology (specifically AI) could, and eventually would, be used. The two, unparalleled to the current stance of their company, were deeply opposed to advertising. They feared that this would forever distort the internet- it has. Eventually,

in order to stay afloat, Google did turn to utilize this technology in order to profit and continue offering a free search engine to the public. They begun selling the data that is collected with every search and trace left by users. In order to keep this most valuable, they kept it a secret until Google became a publicly traded company. The business model became: Provide free service (which at this point is a necessary service for day to day life) --> collect data from users (often without complete consent) --> sell valuable data. Soon other brands followed, including Mark Zuckerburg's Facebook which found itself in hot water in the Cambridge Analytical Scandal of 2018. This scandal brought to light the "phycological profiles", including political views and how they can be affected, that are collected and sold. This raised the alarms for many that democracy is in danger! Any billionaire with enough money to do so can take away our ability for free though through the purchase of our data and utilizing AI to target. 

Surveillance Capitalism 

Personally, I enjoy that my ads are relevant to my interests, but being aware of that this doesn't just apply to ads for things like clothing but incentivizing Americans to vote (or vote in a particular way) does cross

the lines of concern.  This is done through various tactics, including sponsored search: which matches consumers to advertisers based off of their uses and regular interests. "Surveillance capitalism claims the private, human experience as a free source of raw material fabricated into a prediction".  Many users assume they have some control over how much, and if, they are surveilled. Often, this is not true, and when it is true there is not "proper consent". This is due in part to lengthy "privacy" contracts signed when clicking "I consent to the terms and use of this app" (which we are all guilty of tapping yes without really reading). The users un-awareness to these abilities has allowed for surveillance capitalists to further take advantage of their data. 

Current State or Horror Movie

The data collected through our internet use is obviously a concern, but what about the data collected each

time we exit our homes (or while in home) and drive on the street or swipe a credit card? In China, the
state is always watching. They introduced cameras to monitor if people are jay walking, but they also use cameras and technology to track individuals based off of their face (or even how they walk). In Xinjiang, the Chinese government is using their surveillance technology to target Turkic Muslims, Uyghur. Their every move is tracked resulting in prosecuting their people and sending them to detention centers for "reeducation". 

How IJOP looks on the government official's side

The Chinese surveillance system is a major human rights violation! They have popularized the use of a system known as "Integrated Joint Operations Platform" (IJOP) which has an app that is used by government officials to track extreme amounts of personal information: ranging anywhere from religious affiliation to blood type. Each time a government official stops a person for "suspicious behavior", which could be exiting through the back door opposed to the front, they scan their ID and all their information pops up. They are then able to flag people for any reason and arrest them, under "the suspicion of disrupting the societal order". 

Technology like this is extremely concerning because although the United States has the legal infrastructure to protect against our government from implementing any similar use the mere fact that it exists and can be used by .anyone threatens the privacy of all people. As previously mentioned, much of our surveillance happens without our awareness to it.