mlblosso-blog - Tumblr blog

mlblosso-blog · 5 years

Text

Analytical Reflection

As we look throughout history and examine the themes and patterns of people’s reactions to new technology, as well as looking at the current response people give to our modern world, it can be easy to predict future techno-panics. While different technology is discovered and evolved, the pros and cons are brought forward about the product and its contribution to the well-being of society. As the study of technology and its capabilities are brought forward, it can be clear that there are connections and themes between many different types of technology.

Phase I: Techno-Panic Throughout History

A techno-panic is the mass fear of certain technology and its effect on society. As we read about in class, some of the devices that people were historically afraid of look silly when we see how they assist us today. However, as new technology arises, often spectators focus on the negative aspects of new technology rather than the things it could contribute. As it says in “Technopanic Throughout History #1”, there are different things that can drive these techno-panics. This can include them remembering how things were in the past, seeing bad reviews of the product, the role of the media exaggerating scenarios, and the list goes on. Both in ““Technopanic Throughout History #2” and the articles we talked about in class, some of Kurzweil predictions have been proven to be true as time has gone on. Looking at the predictions for the future, some feel that some of the changes are very unnerving. Thinking of all the things that must happen sequentially to lead up to some of those predictions makes people not want to see such changes.

Having technology at our fingertips brings forth a whole new generation of children. Often, it can be controversial as to whether children being immersed in so much technology at such a young age is good or bad. Because this is such a new idea, and no other generation has been brought up with so much technological capability at such easy accessibility, there can be a fear of how this generation turn out when they are able to start contributing to society. Often an argument is that children are losing their work ethic due to many things being done by technology. How this could affect the future workforce will bring forward a whole new skill set in people but could come with other skills lacking.

Phase II: The Future of the Body

With new technology comes new capabilities for what the medical field can accomplish and what help they are able to help their patients with. As the methods of medicine are changing from what they have been historically, this can create a techno-panic. For example, as it says in “The Future of the Body #1”, there is the potential of having a chip installed in humans that contains much of their personal information, including their medical records, that can be used to aid the reduction of online medical files. This could also help to allow medical personnel to access medical files at a much quicker rate in the case of an emergency. However, if this technology becomes a normality, those who do not want to participate with the installation of the chip in their body would almost be forced to due to the way of life.

It was both talked about in class and in both “The Future of the Body #4” and “The Future of the Body #2”, prosthetic limbs are becoming more and more advanced in their capabilities. I remember there was a year of the Olympics where there was the controversy of letting one of the racers run due to her prosthetic leg. They were unsure if her prosthetic gave her an unfair advantage to the rest of the runners. As prosthetic limb abilities heighten, they are able to be controlled by different muscles in the body. This could be related to the phase on cyborgs that was discussed later in the year as humans are being able to control technology with their own movements. Some fear that eventually technology and humans will become one being and will be reliant on each other equally. However, with the case of prosthetic limbs, I see that the patient needs some sort of assistance due to their lack of a limb, and them having the ability to control their own movement allows for them to feel like they have the same capabilities as someone who has all their limbs. It gives hope to those who do not have a limb.

Phase III: Intelligent Systems

Arguably the most controversial subject we covered this semester, intelligent systems covers a wide range of topics. One of the devices that are in the spotlight is Sophia the robot. Found in “Intelligent Systems #1”, Sophia can make facial expressions and speak automated messages in response to what you say to her. She is able to hear and retain information, and as she hears more, she “learns” more information. One of the misconceptions about Sophia and artificial intelligence as a whole is that she is able to think for herself and make decisions based on her own understanding. This is untrue as Sophia only learns new information by hearing what others say first. Due to this misconception, many believe that someday robots like Sophia will become much smarter than humans, take over the world and turn against humanity; however, this fantasy is highly unlikely. As it is alluded to in the video of “Intelligent Systems #1”, the narrator states that Sophia can read other people’s feelings and emotions. This statement is partially true due to Sophia’s ability to recognize facial expressions because of some of her pre-set knowledge. However, this idea makes people believe that Sophia is able to read people’s mind and thoughts which creates a techno-panic amongst the public. As the artificial intelligence company that created Sophia, Hanson Robotics, aims to make Sophia’s abilities sound as amazing as they can, some of her capabilities tend to be exaggerated and misunderstood. This is an example where misinformation in the media can affect people’s ideas and thoughts on a topic.

The next intelligent system discussed is self-driving cars. This system brings up a moral dilemma and scenario of whether the driverless car should save the passengers of the vehicle or five pedestrians crossing the road in front of the car if that event were to take place. Because there is not necessarily a specific right answer to this question, and as it states in article “Intelligent Systems #2”, there has been an incident where a driverless Uber vehicle hit and killed a bicyclist, it is understandable that there could be some fears and moral struggles with this technology. Some articles that we read in class even went as far as to say that we should be focusing on improving public transportation and working on making that more efficient rather than worrying about creating driverless vehicles. However, is this idea an issue of people living in the past and not wanting to move on, or is it a reasonable idea? I feel that we will slowly move out of public transportation in the future. Having a horse with a buggy was the most innovative transportation at one time, but if we imagine someone driving their horse and buggy in the city today, we would laugh and think that idea is absurd. When automobiles first were driven on the roads, many people feared the way they would affect horses riding on the road. This relates to the way I predict the effect driverless vehicles will have on public transportation.

Phase IV: Making and Things

The technology of 3D printing allows for things to be made precisely at a much cheaper cost due to the material used for the printing. As it was brought up in class and in the article “Making and Things #1”, the cheaper cost of prosthetics and other medical devices that 3D printing provides allows a wider range of patients to be able to afford such assistance. Many times, as it shows in the article “Making and Things #4” those in war or in other countries are two common recipients of this help. Clearly, the material of plastic would be much cheaper than the standard material used for making prosthetics. Printing in 3D also gives the opportunity to have customized prosthetics, bones, hearing aids, and the like to serve each patient with the exact help they need at a cost they can afford.

The ability to 3D print is also a benefit to manufacturers as they are able to make their products at a much faster rate and have lower expenses. It also creates the ability for anyone with a 3D printer to created anything they want right at their home. This can be related to having a cell phone at your fingertips with internet access. As I mentioned earlier, some people say that children are losing their creative abilities, but this technology could turn this idea around. More innovation could happen right in people’s homes and new technology and inventions would continue to be created.

Phase V: Cyborgs and Bioart

As I mentioned earlier, the dependence of technology on humans and humans on technology is becoming more popular as more technology is invented. Some predict and are experimenting with the idea of future generations having an ordinary central nervous system, but having that be attached to a technological system. Some prosthetic limbs that are connected to nerves and muscles could even be viewed as the start to cyborgs. For another example, as mentioned in source “Cyborgs and Bioart #1”, some scientists have already created a cockroach cyborg where they have connected a battery pack to the antenna of the cockroach to control when it went in and out. As this technology progresses, people start to fear that this will become a normality and they will be required to become a cyborg to be a part of society. However, humans are the very people creating such technology. The techno-panic of robots taking over the world can be related in the way that robots will be taking over humans, which some may then fear will take over the world.

The science of evolution describes this technology of cyborgs as the next evolution. To stay relevant in the world, humans will need to get “updates” for their survival. This is all a prediction and a fantasy, but it can be seen how this scenario could create techno-panic. However, the medical field is using a type of cyborg for good. In source “Cyborgs and Bioart #3”, a video shows how a man is now able to perform tasks almost as normal due to his muscles controlling his prosthetic arm. It can be seen in this cyborg that rather than the technology controlling him and his movement, he is controlling it. This can be a misconception that people may have about cyborgs that causes them to formulate so many fantasies about the future of cyborgs. Often, due to the way the media portrays certain cyborgs, people may feel that technology is controlling humans when that is not the case.

0 notes