The aim of achieving the perfect way to create artificial intelligence, an AI, is one that many people wish to achieve and one that society is anticipating. The movie Ex Machina (2015) explores the development of a somewhat “perfect” AI Ava, who draws parallels to a robot that exists today, Sophia. In the movie, Ava’s creator Nathan mentioned something that society now days all believe to be true. That is, we are all being watched through our screens and everything we do can be tracked. No one is safe from the devices we all have become depend on. One thing this movie brought to light was the idea that we all expect AI’s to be the perfect human. In the movie, Caleb is questioned by Ava as to what would happen to her if she were to fail the test in which he responds that she might be switched off. Ava then asks Caleb if he, as a human, has someone to test him and if he fails, he will be switched off. With some who fear that one day, technology would be the end of humanity, why is there a strive for the creation of something too perfect for society to handle? Its clear that the human species will cease to exist because there will always be something a robot cannot do, so whats the purpose of creating something that is better than us in every way. Towards the end of the movie, Caleb starts to question if he himself is an AI because it seems that everyone aside from Nathan is an AI. It brings up the question of whether or not there exists and AI in society today. Maybe there is a Kyoto in society but theyre made so perfectly that we don’t even realize it.

After watching the movie “Ex Machina”, I feel really really impressed.  It is about an AI name Ava uses her intelligence to escape the laboratory.  At first I thought, Ava is just a regular AI or at least better than regular AI since she can communicate with Caleb. Also, even though I don’t think she has any emotions since she doesn’t really show how she feels, she feels Caleb’s emotion.  Also, when Ava tells Caleb that he should not trust Nathan because Nathan is lying about everything, I even thought Nathan will be the big boss in the movie. However, at the end, Ava escapes, kills Nathan and even locks Caleb inside the laboratory.  This proves my point that she didn’t have any emotions, in other words, she doesn’t have a heart. That’s why she locks Caleb inside even though Caleb tries to save her. One thing that frightens me is that she uses the sympathy inside a human to help her to escape.  She pretends that she fall in love with Caleb and acts like she is curious about the outside world. Because of that Caleb begins to have pity on her. Because of that Caleb decides to help her to escape. It is really scary when an AI knows the weakness of most humans, and she planned everything by herself, which means she might be smarter than a human being. Also, I observe one thing in the movie. Everytime when a new test begins, there will be something written on the screen says stage 1, etc. Even though it is talking about the process of turing test, I interpreted that in different ways.  I feel like it is more like Ava’s plan step 1. And at the end, when Ava kills Nathan and locks Caleb, the screen also prints that for one last time. I think this basically means Ava’s plan is successful.

This movie makes me rethink about AI. Before watching this movie, I feel like why not just have AI, they are great.  They can do everything for us. Right now, I feel like AI might be more dangerous than human beings. What makes human being so dangerous is that they have the intelligence to dominate other species. However, humans will not do anything they want because they have emotion and sympathy.  They sympathy the weak, they help the people who used to help them. Emotion/feelings and sympathy are the greatest weapon to restrict human beings. However, AI don’t have that and in fact they might be smarter than humans. Therefore, they become unstoppable without humans’ control. Also, fun fact. Usually in the terror movie, those monsters are very similar to a human, such as zombie etc. The reason why it is make like that is because humans naturally resist something that looks like themselves, but at the same time not a human being. Therefore, if AI are made to be look like a human being, it will cause a lot of terror, and if AI is able to think by themselves, they might start to resist humans and even try to overthrow them.

Algorithms of Oppression by Safiya Noble is about how algorithms and technology have promoted racism and sexism. The author talked about the problem with Google’s search engine in order to support her argument. I found this book excerpt to be really interesting because I never really considered Google’s search engine to be racist or problematic. One example that showed the problem with Google’s algorithms was that African Americans were being tagged as apes or animals. Another example was that when searching the word N*gger on google maps, the result would be the white house. Another problem the author discussed was whether the information on Google is real. A lot of times when using searching up something on google, a paid advertisement would be the number one result. I agree that this a problem because most people would click on the first link believing it is the most popular and trusted but actually it is a paid ad.

I wanted to learn more about Google’s search engine by watching a video on youtube of Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai responding to Congress. One congresswoman asked the question as to why when searching up the word idiot under images, a picture of Donald Trump comes up. Pichai said that the search engine matches the key world with millions of online pages. Google determines what pictures are the best match for the keyword based on relevancy, popularity and how other online users are using the word. Pichai also says that there is no one manually choosing pictures to match with keywords. I believe the problem is not only Google’s algorithms but people who use the internet. Google handles about 3.5 billion searches in a single day so it would be difficult to monitor racist or sexist search results. It would also be hard to program the search engine to differentiate what is racist and what is not since it is not human.

Star Trek: The Next Generation’s episode “The Measure of a Man,” is based around an argument whether an artificial intelligence deserves human-like rights. Lieutenant Commander Data is an android, which is defined as an automaton made to resemble a human being, made by Dr. Noonien Soong. Commander Bruce Maddox has come to take Data, so he can use him as research on how to create another being like him. Since there is only one of his kind, Commander Bruce would need to take Data apart and risk him not being able to put him back together successfully. Under Captain Picard’s advice, Data decides to resign so he would not be submitted to the procedure. This is when there is a debate whether Data is the property of Starfleet command, therefore does not have the right to resign. Opposing the ruling, Captain Picard requests a hearing where Commander Bruce Maddox regards Data as non-sentient. When asked how to define someone as sentient, he says they must possess three qualities; intelligence, self-awareness, and consciousness. Commander Bruce argues that there is no way to prove that Data does not have even the smallest amounts of all three qualities. The Starfleet court ultimately rules that Data has the right to choose. This case is one difficult to choose opinions on, as artificial intelligence are generally created for their intelligence, not to mimic humans. But, an android specifically is made in the image of a human, and as they procure human-like emotions it can be understood the desire for their rights.

Algorithms of Oppression by Safiya Noble is an eye-opening composition as it sheds light on a topic many people are ignorant to. The basis of the book is surrounding the racial discrimination against people of color, in particular women in technology. Safiya explains how Google’s search engines are prime examples of this racism and sexism. Google has unnoticeably used their search engines to form our minds and lives by making us associate particular words with negative racist and/or sexist connotations. They, in turn, have been biased to the white community, giving them privilege by always portraying them in “perfect” light.

Conversations about ethics and racism, A.I. and algorithmic ideologies

As stated by great Martin Luther King, Jr “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy”, I kind of related to this awesome episode of TNG’s ‘The Measure of a Man’. The way Data initially reacts to being told he has no rights. He takes what would for any man be a reason for outrage and instead approaches the situation purely with logic. He has strong opinions on the matter, but he doesn’t get upset, because that’s outside the scope of his ability to react. His reaction is based solely on the logical argument for his self-protection and his uniqueness. And at the end, after he has won, he holds no ill will toward Maddox. Indeed, he can sort of see where Maddox is coming from. Overall, I agree with the fact that all beings are created but that does not necessarily make them the property of their creator and since no one is owned, everyone has the right to make their own decisions regarding their life.

Safiya Umoja Noble’s ‘Algorithms of Oppression’ is interested in the consequences of the cultural transition of digital technology from visionary to the framework of everyday life. Although Noble focuses mostly on Google and its parent company, Alphabet, her argument applies literally to Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, and WordPress. Noble explains how Google replicates the harsh material history against black women through the mechanisms that operate its search engines and advertising policies. Although her primary focus is on the relationships between Google and black American women, her argument always has an eye on other historical forms of oppression. It may be that the monopoly of Google and similar infotech corporations have grown large enough to creep into all public life or it may be that the racial, gendered, sexual, and classed social life have traditionally targeted black women in America so particularly that there are very few oppressive tactics that have not been applied to black women at some point or another. In any case, Noble always has an eye on a wider public while she attends to the historical differences of American black communities.

References:

https://via.hypothes.is/https://writing4engineers2019.commons.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/blogs.dir/6105/files/2019/01/SAFIYA-NOBLE.pdf

At the point when Data leaves his commission instead of be destroyed for examination by a deficiently gifted researcher, a formal hearing is gathered to decide if Data is viewed as property without rights or is a conscious being. When Data’s rights as a sentient individual are placed under trial, Starfleet forces Riker into a position where he must prove that Data is only an Android. I trust that androids shouldn’t have any rights since they are not people and can be unusual and can overwhelm us humans.It is seen that Data is viewed as a property of the armada and can’t be surrendered on the grounds that he is a robot and not a human and doesn’t have any rights. An individual can be viewed as somebody that have the attributes of knowledge, mindfulness, and a blackout. What I have perused from the extract demonstrated to me that we indulging into the psyches of the youthful about racism through the web. The web has turned into a spot where there is no channel to anything. Likewise, it isn’t right that individuals influencing programs for web engines  have the right away to bolster into sexist and racist dispositions.The show begins with the team individuals playing a game of cards. Perusing outward appearance is critical to card games. I was reasoning what the scene was about from simply the title and assumed that it was tied in with testing what man can achieve. Prior to finishing the episode, I read the excerpt about algorithms in search engines, for example, google. I trust that one day the PCs will assume control over the world and convey humankind to termination. The information fellow creeps me out with his fake tone endeavoring to seem like somebody with no feelings in their voice. Artificial intelligence gains as a matter of fact not from books as indicated by what Data expressed I trust that they will never have genuine feelings like us living creatures.  

In the episode, “The Measure of a Man”, it is mainly about the conflict between the rights of a machine.  In this episode, there is a robot named Data. Data is a high intelligent robot who are very similar to a human.  Because of that, a commander wants Data to be his experimental tools. He wants to use Data as a tool to develop and recreate many robots who is just like Data. but Data will die because of that.  Then the captain of the star ship disagree with that because he consider Data as his crew, not a robot. After a debate, the captain win and finally Data will not be killed.

Even though in this episode, it implies that technology, such as robot has the right just like our human beings and not treating them well is like treating them as slaves, I don’t really think that is realistic in the real world.  First of all, machines are not slave, even though we use them. They don’t have a life, feelings, or anything that a normal human should have. Also, they are created by human beings to make their lives easier. People do not create them because they want to make more people or more lives.  Also, I don’t really think that humans will not treat their machines with violent since they are really expensive to get,(at least myself) but updating them is reasonable. No one wants to spend 100 hours just waiting for your computer to restart. Therefore, comparing them with slaves in the episode is not really appropriate. Lastly, it is not reasonable for machines to have their freedom and do everything they wish because even our humans have unequal rights and freedom.  People are discriminated against by each other based on their race, color or culture. If machines are granted rights, then what about those humans who do not? Does that mean they are even worse than the machine? Thus, I really think if we can’t even get our own rights, there’s no point of getting a machine’s right.

After reading the excerpt, Algorithms of Oppression, I feel really depressed.  I never notice that searching engine is one of the weapon that people use to attack other people. The discrimination online is much greater than what I thought.  I never know people use words like “sex” to bind them with black girls. I feel really bad about them.I think we are all humans and have identical genes,( other than skin color) why would people discriminate against them? I am one of the victim of discrimination too. When I just came to America, I got discriminated against by my classmates because I don’t speak English. I know how it feels, so I don’t want it to happen on anyone. Also, there are always sexism happening online.  I have seen many comments about that such as “ girls should stay home’ I just don’t understand it. A lot of girls are smarter than boys. Girls and boys are same other than biological structures. Without girl, life will be a lot difficult today. Therefore, please treat girls with care.

The Tiny Swiss Company That Thinks It Can Help Stop Climate Change

The New York Times published an article on Feb 12, 2019 on the same topic as above by Jon Gertner where it states that the two European entrepreneurs want to remove carbon from the air at prices cheap enough to matter. Over a period, many scientists around the globe have warned on this very concerning term ‘Climate Change’. It is a change in the statistical distribution of weather pattern, which remains for a longer period around decades of years, in a certain area. Affecting or gradually changing the pattern of life, flora and fauna of that area, and leading towards the destruction of Mother Nature. The reason behind this are some biotic processes, variation in the solar radiation received by earth, volcanic eruptions and one of the major causes is the human interruption or activities.

The research made by various scientists put a light on causes of climate change, in late 19^th century scientists started arguing that human emission of greenhouse gases can be the cause behind climate change, at that time many other theories were there like solar radiation and volcanic eruption. But in 1960’s research results started indicating that the heating effect of carbon dioxide is the major cause. In 1970’s scientific research widely accepted the heating effect of carbon dioxide, in 1990’s with the development of computer systems and other advanced techniques, it was confirmed that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide etc., are the causes behind climate change. After industrial revolution there is 40% increase in these gases, these gases are also produced from automobiles and other sources.

Through this article, I came to know the fact that carbon dioxide (CO₂) can be removed from the air for commercial purposes which safeguards the future of humanity. They have built ‘direct air capture’ machines which collects CO₂  and once trapped it would be siphoned into large tanks and trucked to a local Coca-Cola bottler where it would become the fizz in a soft drink. The captured carbon dioxide from the air is also passed via pipeline to an enormous greenhouse nearby, where it was plumping up tomatoes, eggplants and so on which significantly is very ecofriendly. This process requires huge investment and energy, so they are trying to gain a commercial base to sell their CO₂ to agricultural or beverage companies. The company’s main goal for air capture isn’t to turn it into a product but to pull huge amount of CO₂ out of the atmosphere and bury it.

By these researches people are getting aware of the reasons behind the changing scenarios of climate change and can take measures to have a sustainable place to lead life in future, and conserve Mother Nature.

References:

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