AI: Good or Bad? Or Both?

Many people call this decade "The Age of AI," however many people only point out the bad or the good. Very rarely do people ever address both sides. 

Having watched the first half of this documentary, I saw examples of both the good and the bad. Having already known information about both sides of the argument on if it is good or bad, being able to learn new information, especially about information that applies directly to me, was incredible. 

This video showcased and addressed the good when it mentioned how AI is helping to detect for breast cancer. Breast cancer is a very aggressive form of cancer and has caused many people and their families a lot of harm. Having a direct relation to this topic, I was more inclined to learn more about how it helps and how it can change the lives of people who were and will be affected. This video states that complete artificial intelligence can detect the cancer better than the human eye can. It mentions how the human eye can be prone to mistakes, whether it be by missing the cancer or thinking that something is cancer when it is not.

Something else that is pointed out is that the earlier cancer is spotted, the easier it is to be defeated. Knowing how aggressive different types of cancer can be, and learning how it can help detect breast cancer from this video leads me to think that it could be incredibly beneficial to detect and defeat other types of cancer within a range of ages. 

The bad side that is mentioned in the video is that the government is able to track humans. This topic is incredibly similar- if not the same- as the topic in my previous post about privacy. Government officials from both our country and others can take pictures of people's faces, cars, license plates, and personal houses to use in future situations if they need to know any information about you. Often times, this is without consent which means that it should not be allowed.

This can become a matter of national security because it shows that other country's governments can get information about us and use it against us. They can get pictures of us and our permanent addresses and use that to spy on us, or even use it in a data breach.

By AI being used to get photos and other information about people, this can lead to both identity theft and an invasion of people's online security. It can hack into people's social media profiles and impersonate them, and it can even find people's social security numbers and IP addresses and use them to participate in illegal activities.

Privacy & The Invasion of It

Privacy is one of the biggest and most cherished securities people can have. As a person who values their privacy and being able to choose who I express myself to, these TEDTalks have shown me that privacy is no longer a thing that we can control. These videos address a variety of different aspects of privacy, and how it is being taken from people.

In one video, the aspect of being watched and tracked is addressed. The video gives the specific example of advanced military equipment being handed to small-town police stations, and relates that back to digital surveillance equipment. This equipment is being used to track specific people if they are perceived as a threat or if they are suspected of something. It is even used to track license plates. While this may seem good, the video addresses that even if you do not have a prior record or even if there is no warrant, police officers and agencies can still use this technology to track you.

How do these issues affect you? Your friends and family?

This both directly and indirectly affects both me and my family. As a person who values my privacy and security, knowing that I can be easily tracked and spied on is not a good thing. Even if a person is caught doing something bad, it cannot be used in a court of law because there was no warrant. Since this applies to all people regardless of having a past record or a warrant, I think that all people should be worried about this.

What should the government be doing about these issues?

Since this issue is mentioned in the 4th Amendment, the government should not allow the breach of a person's privacy without reason. It is mentioned that while the 4th Amendment does protect citizens from unreasonable search and seizures, it does not protect ones that are considered reasonable by the law. The government should be able to prevent this from happening without the right evidence to back-up a warrant.

What can we do to protect ourselves from invasions of our privacy?

To protect ourselves from invasions of privacy, there are many things that people can do. Firstly, people can change their social media privacy settings to either private or friends only. While this one has to do with digital footprint, it is still useful. Secondly, if you notice that you are being tracked or spied on unreasonably, you can go file charges. However, a way to prevent this from happening is to advocate for change and to protect yourself online.

The Invention of the Telephone

Many people in this day and age have always known what a telephone is. The younger generations especially have not had a time without them. However, while there are now smartphones- there used to just be landlines and flip phones.

Going way back to the 1800's, the telegraph was invented in the 1830's-1840's. This device was monumental for the spread of information around the world. The science behind it was that the telegraph was a system that used a battery to supply an electrical current. This means that when a message would be sent via electrical current, it would be received by a magnet that would move an armature. This armature would them transmit the signals through a series of dots and dashes. This is now known as Morse Code. 

By knowing this information on the telegraph, it helps to understand how the telephone developed from this. The telegraph was an amazing invention that made the delivery of messages easier for long distances; however, there were many downsides. A few of them include lost transmissions, cost (only four words were free, so long messages cost a lot of money), the lack of overseas communication, and only one message could be transmitted at a time.

Alexander Graham Bell

This leads us now to the invention of the telephone. Alexander Graham Bell- who is credited widely as the true inventor of the telephone- first started working on his invention by creating a "harmonic telegraph." This was an improvement from the original telegraph because it could transmit multiple messages at one time. The next year, Bell discovered that his tuned reeds- the ones he used in his harmonic telegraph- could transmit and receive complex sounds. This was the basis for his invention of the telephone.

The First Telephone

Bell and his partner- Thomas Watson- came up with a receiver that could turn electricity into sound in 1875. The very next year, on February 14, 1876, Bell's lawyers submitted the original patent for the telephone to the Patent Office in Washington, D.C. Bell was soon granted the patent- which is US Patent 174465A- on March 7, 1876. Three days after this patent was published- on March 10, 1876- Bell made the first ever telephone call to his assistant- Watson. This phone call is famously remembered as being "Mr. Watson, come here- I want to see you."After this first phone call, Bell soon returned to his original "magneto" transmitters and receivers that he used in his harmonic telegraph. He used these to develop practical designs of the telephone. 

Elisha Gray

Antonio Meucci

However, there were other inventors of the telephone that either were not credited or whose patent expired. Firstly, Italian inventor Antonio Meucci demonstrated the electromagnetic transmission of his voice in 1856- 20 years before Bell did. However, Meucci's patent expired when he did not renew it in 1874. Secondly, there was an American inventor- Elisha Gray- who worked at the same time as Bell. Gray worked on the "telephony" and submitted a patent on the same day as Bell. However, Gray's was received later, therefore Bell's patent got approved.

As for the impact, telephones have evolved through the years. They have also changed the way that humans communicate with each other. As well as becoming the primary source for news and media. When looking specifically at the most notable changes that the telephone has undergone, it is necessary to recognize that many different people from different countries have contributed to the change.

In 1892, the most popular version of the telephone was used in hotels and was the Western Electric folding cabinet. In 1905, the most popular was the Chicago upright desk set. One of the most popular forms of the telephone- the Rotary Phone- was extremely popular in the 1940's. The first commercial line of mobile phones came out in 1983 from Motorola. The first camera phone from Sharp came out in 2000. In 2007, one of the most popular phone brands today- Apple- came out with the first iPhone. Speaking of today, the most popular phone brands consist of Apple, Samsung, Google Pixel, as well as Motorola.

Popular Phone's Today

In conclusion, the invention of the telephone is one of the biggest inventions of technology. Not only is it used by so many people, but it has changed how the world goes about communication and news. It went from being not practical at all, to being one of the most practical pieces of technology now.

The Eight Values of Free Expression

Eight Values of Free Expression are as follows: Marketplace of Ideas, Participation in Self-Government, Stable Change, Individual Self-Fulfillment, Check on Governmental Power, Promote Tolerance, Promote Innovation, and Protect Dissent.

These eight values are something that I had no idea about until we learned about them in class. All eight of these values have a direct impact and meaning toward our freedom of speech. After learning about them all and observing what each one does, I have found that there are three that matter the most to me.

The first one being the Participation in Self-Government. This means that citizens will not make informed and good decisions in regards to elections if they do not know how candidates stand for certain policies. Simply put, citizens need to be able to communicate with government officials as well as candidates and vice-versa. This is important to me, because this is the first year that I am able to vote and I want to know that I am making a well-informed choice and whomever I select for any position.

Individual Self-Fulfillment (aka Self-Actualization) is another one that is incredibly important to me. This is when free speech lets people be themselves and explore their own identities. Personally, I love being able to continually explore and change my identity by using my first amendment right of free speech. This is most prominent by my use on social media. Often, I find myself and others using platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat to express ourselves with trends, videos, pictures, and even how we text.

Lastly, Protect Dissent is important to me because it protects all opinions and views, no matter how unpopular they are. This, in turn, means that all people have the right to disagree with things as big as the government and as little as yourself. There are two extremely big and difficult topics that are being talked about right now that help showcase this value. 

The first is the current Israeli and Palestinian conflict. This topic has been an extremely "popular" topic of conversation within the news, on social media platforms, and in person via protests. Even political figures, actors, musicians, and regular civilians have been talking about it. They have been criticizing countries, governments, people, and platforms that have not done anything to put an official end to the crisis. This showcases how "protect dissent" is crucial for this conversation that has been occurring and continues to thrive in the media.

The second is the overturning of Roe v. Wade. When this was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022, many people spoke out about their opinions and how they felt regarding it. This topic of conversation has been extremely rampant ever since. There has been a range of ways that this conversation has been spread. This most popular has been protests, rallies, post on social media, articles, and the news. This example however, is a better example of "protect dissent" that is being directed at our government because they are directly talking about their negative feelings both towards the U.S. government and the Supreme Court. 

Overall, all of the eight values are incredibly important- not only to us, but to our Government as well. While there may be three values that I relate towards more than others, that does not mean that they are more important. Quite the opposite actually- they are all as important as the others. Therefore, it is to say no matter how you like to exercise your free speech, whether it is online, in person, or by how you conduct yourself around others, it is your right and your duty to conduct it how you see fit.

The U.S. Supreme Court

The United State's Supreme Court is the highest court in the Nation and is compromised of nine Justice's with one being the Chief Justice. This group of people hears cases in public, but reaches their decisions in private. This means that they hear the questions in a public courtroom in which lawyer's on opposing sides are given 30 minutes each to present their arguments for the court. Afterwards, the Justice's convene in a conference room to vote on a case.

As a person who tries to keep up to date on political news, I am not one who knows how said news is decided on or who decides on it. So watching this video and hearing from the Justice's how they operate the system and how complicated it can be was extremely educational. Something that I knew nothing about and learned a lot of information on was how long the Justice's serve for.

Chief Justice John Marshall

The Justice's serve for an average of 16 years each. This means that throughout all of American history that has been just over 100 Supreme Court Justice's. The longest serving Chief Justice was Chief Justice John Marshall who served for a little over 34 years, while the shortest serving Chief Justice was Chief Justice John Rutledge who served for just over 5 months. 

Chief Justice John Rutledge

The most important thing take-away from the video was that after voting on a case, a Justice on the majority side writes an opinion that explains the legal reason behind the decision. This process is the most time-consuming part of any of the Justice's work. The first draft of this normally finished in four weeks, however revisions and adjustments may go on for months. At times- if a case is particularly difficult- a Justice may switch sides. On extremely rare occurrences, the majority may become the minority. Also, regarding opinions, any Justice may write a separate opinion that can either dissent from the decision, or concur in the result, but disagree with the reasoning. 

Example of a Petition for Certiorari

The fact that the Supreme Court receives about 100 new cases every week- which makes almost 7,000 a year- is the most surprising thing that I learned from this video. From those numbers, the court only accept about 100 of the petitions for certiorari (the court process to seek judicial review of a lower court's or governmental agency's decision or ruling) a year.

By watching this video and taking in all of the new information, I learned truly how powerful the Supreme Court is and how much work the 9 Justice's have to do. Not only do they hear the petitions- often referred to as "questions"- but they have to interpret the United State's Constitution and uphold the rule of law whilst they reach their decision. Also, once they reach their decision they have to spend what can take months to write their opinion on the decision before the ruling can officially be released to the public.

My Top Five Sources of News and Information

CNN is a great source of daily news and it is really easy to find online. This news outlet can be found online as a website, on social media platforms such as Instagram and even TikTok. While this account does provide coverage on a lot of news, it's coverage can be found to be left-leaning.

Youtube is an amazing place to find news because it shows coverage by many news platforms and clip of event from various points of view. However, since this platform is one that people can easily post fake information and fake news, it can be challenging to find accurate information. 

Apple News is the source that I look at daily. This source provides a wide variety of news from a plethora of outlets; namely including The Washington Post and CNBC. This app also provides categories of news that you can choose from. Right now, "Election 2024" is a special coverage category.

Google News is one of the most neutral sources that I use. This platform provides daily updates from multiple other platforms and sources, similar to Apple News. This platform also shows Local News, "For You," and topics that align with your interests.

The last source would have to be my friends and family. On days where I am really busy and do not have time to check the news myself, I ask my friends and family what they either saw on the news or heard. However, this can have some downsides because I will be learning about the news from biased individuals.