Final Post - Relationship with Technology

 Our Relationship with Technology

When I reflect on technology and its relationship with our world today, my biggest concern is children. 

As someone who loves kids and hopes to have a family one day, the relationship children have with technology raises many red flags for me. As time passes, kids become increasingly dependent on technology because of their exposure to it and their relationship with it. The world is completely changing because of technology. 

Because this topic is interesting to me, I conducted further research about the role technology has in child development and found three points that should raise concern for everyone. 

1. Technology puts children at risk for addiction and overuse. 

Technology addiction is a type of behavioral addiction that occurs because of dopamine releases. When people watch video games, scroll endlessly through videos, or receive likes on a post dopamine is released in their brain. This is concerning, because the more this happens, the more a person wants to experience that feeling again. Dopamine levels decline with age, which means children have much higher levels of dopamine,  Children should get bursts of dopamine from using their imaginations when playing with friends, or learning how to ride a bike! Not playing dangerous video games with friends for hours. Technology is created to be addictive, and if we're not careful, it will become the next harmful drug. 

2. Technology is a simple way to ruin a child's innocence. 

Technology allows kids to have internet access, and with internet access comes harmful content access. The online world is a terrifying place full of inappropriate content and online predators, and it's not anywhere a child should be spending their time. Not only are they at risk to finding out Santa isn't real because a Mommy influencer posts "Elf on the Shelf ideas" on TikTok, they also can view pornography and sex trafficking content. Children deserve a childhood full of imagination, creativity, and innocence, however, technology and online media makes it almost impossible. 

3. Technology limits a child's opportunity for interaction. 

As children develop, they need to interact with people of all ages. This helps with social and communication skills, among other things. If a child is sitting in front of a screen for the majority of the day, they're missing out on important interactions. A prime example of this is a child playing on a tablet at the dinner table instead of talking to their family. Or a class of first graders learning on Chromebooks instead of listening to their teacher. Slowly but surely, their interactions are becoming a small tablet instead of the people around them. 

Watching Are You Lost In The World Like Me in class provided me with a different perspective on how kids are experiencing the world today. Our relationship with technology becomes their relationship with technology. We are obligated to give children the childhood they deserve, and being glued to phones 24/7 is the exact opposite of what we should be doing. 

Personally, I feel like I am somewhat addicted to technology. I am constantly checking my phone, scrolling through social media, and texting my friends. I sometimes think about how much of the world I must be missing because my face is in my phone. It is really sad to think about all that I've missed so far. This class has definitely helped me identify where my relationship with technology stands, and where I need to make improvements. As I continue to age and mature, I hope I can work towards separating technology from my life and using it only for things like communication and documenting moments. For my future kids, I hope I'll be able to confidently teach them that there's more to the world than what you see through a screen.

Blog #10 - AI

Living in the age of AI   

 After watching the video regarding AI in class, I realized how unaware I was of the capabilities of artificial intelligence. One of the things that stood out to me the most was that in the next 15 years, hundreds of jobs will be at risk because of AI. This is definitely a huge takeaway because it puts our futures at risk. As an undergrad communications student, I am currently pursuing a career that could one day be overtaken by artificial intelligence. Already I've noticed the difference AI is making on my life, and I noticed this in the video as well. AI is included in ring doorbells, writing movies, and completing honorable work in school. High Point University has already had to adjust to artificial intelligence when it comes to school work. If AI is used without permission, students are reprimanded. 

    Before watching this video I knew AI was listening to us, but I didn't know the extent of it. The video said "Our behavior is what gives AI the ability to predict our future behavior. In my personal life, I know of one device that is definitely listening to me- my Alexa Echo Dot. It is crazy that a small device can hear everything I say to my friends, to my mom on the phone, to the music I listen to, and more. To be honest, it feels very invasive because it is. The scarier thing is I have no idea what is being done with this information.

 The video also mentioned that AI can detect a lot about of depending on voice features. These robots are trained to detect changes over time in our voices and determine more about us in real time. These robots can tell when we are sick if we have a stuffy voice, if we're going through a manic episode, or depressed. As time goes on, AI is going to know every single thing about us and it's currently happening right in front of our eyes. We allow it into our houses, jobs, and even our cars. 

    One person in the video compared the presence of AI in our lives as "artificial intelligence is one type of intelligence beating the other". Not only are computer-related jobs being overtaken, but also jobs in industries ranging from healthcare to agriculture are opportunities for AI to take over. Most of the time we think about robots taking over computer science jobs, but they are also harvesting crops. This affects my life personally because I am from Kentucky and most of my family is farmers. It's crazy to think about the impact AI is making on our lives today and how we are competing to keep our spot in many areas of our lives such as human interaction and jobs. It will be interesting to see how much of our lives will change as AI continues to replace us.

Blog #9 - Awareness

 

False Flags

A false flag is a hostile or harmful action (such as an attack) that is designed to look like it was perpetrated by someone other than the person or group responsible for it.

The name, “false flag” was born from conflict among pirates in the 16th Century. The tactic was well thought out and successful- pirates would approach enemies waving friendly flags and tricking the enemy into thinking they were allies. Once they were close enough, they would reveal their real flag and attack. As time went on, this method was used continuously as nations blamed others for their own behavior in order to justify further violence.

When executed correctly, the false flag method is usually successful. False flags disguise violence, which is not necessarily a “good” thing. However, false flags are not happening as frequently as the media suggests. The most recent example of false flags involves the United States, Russia, and Ukraine. In 2022, United States officials suspected that Russia would conduct a false flag operation on Eastern Ukraine, because of the stationed soldiers near the border and claims of provoked conflict. In 2014, Russia invaded Ukraine through a false flag operation which resulted in Russia's occupation of Crimea. Officials claimed that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 involved false flags because the act was designed to look like Ukraine was provoking conflict.

False flag operations cause many issues for nations and societies, as they can serve as an excuse for partaking in violent behavior. For example, in 1965 false flags allowed President Lyndon B. Johnson to increase involvement in the Vietnam War. Additionally, false flags also justify wars, undermine opponents, and decrease the success of nations in conflict by risking their financial status.

Because of the increase in media use and the role it plays in war, I assume the number of false flags will decrease over time because it is hard to keep anything private. If an organization was planning a false flag operation it would take an immense amount of planning for it to be successful because of the lack of privacy through technology. Lawful interception puts false flag operations at a huge risk because the planning of them could be detected very quickly. Additionally, surveillance and monitoring are two methods government officials could use to "spy" on enemies.

It will be interesting to see how much technology plays a role in either the increase or decrease in false flag operations. Either way, this will have a huge impact on our society as we begin to see technology take part in higher operations.

Recently I was scrolling through TikTok and saw a video about a rival game between Yale and Harvard. At this game in 2004, Yale students played a prank on Harvard by giving them place cards and telling them they said "Go Harvard on them". Harvard students held up the cards during the game which resulted in them finding out the cards said "We Suck". After seeing this I was immediately reminded of false flag operations. I fully understand that a rival football game is not anything close to war, however, the concept is the same. Yale was deceitful. They came up with a plan to attack the enemy by pretending the operation was done by the other group. In the end, it seemed like Harvard was hurting themselves when in reality it was Yale all along. This example helped me understand the concept of false flag operations and really explained the purpose and methodology behind it.