Argument Against AI Progression

Throughout this class, we have had numerous discussions about the first amendment. Specifically, how our rights are violated and how we can protect them. All of the videos shown in the final prompt for this blog show extremely negative foresight for the future more focused on technology and greed. Looking closely at the video on AI, the concern voiced in the video is how AI will impact job loss. The point that I want to talk about is facial recognition in part 1 of the video. The video divulges into how heavily integrated AI is in everyday life in China. They also stated the fact that within two decades China has caught up with the US on AI technology. The part that was not explained was why the US has had setbacks in AI development because consumers are concerned about their privacy.

I remember back when the original Amazon Echo came out in 2014 and there was about a 2 month period where everyone was amazed at how you could talk to a small tower from anywhere in your house and get a response from the internet. Slightly after however, people began wondering how the Echo truly worked and how it knew when you were talking to it. Once people learned that their every word was being recorded they were appalled. There were countless articles about how AI and “Smart” devices were recording our conversations. Although it's been almost ten years these practices are still in effect. Have you ever noticed that you start getting ads for a product a day or so after you talk with your friend about it? It’s the same audio recording, invasive technology. The American people have slowed the invasive progression of these privacy stealing technologies for years. A similar case happened with Edward Snowden who is arguably one of the unsung heroes of the American people. Snowden exposed the CIA for listening to hundreds of thousands of phone calls. We’ve had discussions about this in class and that it was a blatant invasion of privacy and yet we allow major tech companies like Amazon, Google, Apple, and others to do the same and make a profit off of our personal information. This example is taken to the extreme in China. AI systems manage all of your data. This allows convenient transactions like using your face to pay for groceries via facial recognition. The scary part is when you realize how much information the AI has about you. The video mentions super apps like WeChat that combine social media, banking info, and instant messaging all in one. This means that this app alone has access to all of your financial info, all of your text messages, and knows all about your social life. The app knows practically everything about you. And with the advanced facial recognition systems paired with this, they can put a face to that data. Among all of the privacy concerns, I worry about hackers. If someone were to gain access to that database they would have access to all of your information. While the future looks positive now it is not bad to speak your mind and protect your privacy.