Creation or Possible Abomination?

Artificial minds, is this really possible? I feel that humans one day will be able to create some form of artificial intelligence in the future that can compute, analyze and react to its stimuli like humans do. As expressed in the article Artificial Minds by Jason Holt, it is possible, but can this pose a threat? In is article he uses the example of the movie the Matrix to prove is point. Yes, that is just a film, along with the Terminator and the Alien movie series which all have and use a form of artificial intelligence. I think that within the next 10 years we will have actual mobile robots that can process and analyze information and scenarios presented to them. One of the main arguments of the article is that computers cannot act as we do because they lack a mind, or that computers can be like us because we don’t have a mind. I don’t think that either one of these points of views is correct. I feel that humans have a mind, if we didn’t have a mind, then how is it that we have been able to develop such intricate technology and solve world problems in civilized manners. Robots, to my knowledge, have processing centers which allows for them to react. Now if you think about it then we humans also have processing centers which we call our brain. Now the next possible problem is the robots beginning to think too much on their own and rebel against their creators like in I, Robot. But I don’t think that technology will ever get to the point where it will rebel against us.

Can This Love Be Real?

This is finally something I can wrap my head around, technology and love. In the 2001 film Artificial Intelligence the people of that society and time explore the idea of a synthetic being that can not only respond to external stimuli such as pain but that can also comprehend and feel emotions like love. To us in 2012, this seems like a foreign concept, a completely outlandish notion. “A machine that can love, not possible.” But that is only because we do not view the entire spectrum of what machines already do for us in today’s society. If one is really to think about it machines do just about everything for us; machines wash our clothes, brew our coffee, and even brush our teeth. There is still one very important piece of technology that allows for even a wider range of functions to be carried out, the cell phone. A cell phone allows anyone to do just about anything from talk to someone face to face using face time, to order your dinner so you can just pick it up, or send a text to a family or friend expressing how much you care for them. In the film they succeed in creating their synthetic being, a child who can love, but as predicted the problem then becomes the human, us, being able to love a robot. I have no doubts or reserves about us one day being able to create a robot who can understand and express the human emotions we take for granted but then the problem I see, just as in the film is us the creators being able to love our creation in return.

Not Another Lit posting

I haven't uploaded a post recently mainly because I haven't been reading the assigned class articles, but here goes another posting on the exciting read that is English 115. For this week we were assigned to read two different articles both taking a different stance on technology and how it is viewed and used in modern day society. The first article I read was written by Sherry Turkle and is titled Can You Hear Me Now? This article focused mainly on what technology is doing today; how people have become reliant on their laptops, blackberrys, and tablets to communicate and relay information as quick as possible. I feel that this article did a really good job at countering her own argument which I feel gave her stance more credibility. She provided views form the other side of the argument and that allowed for the reader to weigh both sides of the topic. The next article was written by Clay Shirky and is titled Gin and Surplus. this article was  a bit more one sided. He used only his point of view for the article and did not give a lot of information on the other side which caused his argument to lack a bit of credibility like the last one had. While the last article focused on how people are with modern technology, this article focused mainly on the origins of this social revolution on he sitcom from years before. I personally think that the better article was the one written by Turkle because of the counter argument provided in the article. Her article was also much more optimistic as opposed to the cynical view of Shirkys article.

Confusion for Homework

Here’s another post for my English class guys. I had to read The Veldt by Ray Bradbury and all I have to say is what? I read this excerpt for class and thought I would understand what it had to do with but as I began to read it, I began to get lost in the reading. At first I believed it was going to be an excerpt about a happy married couple named George and Lydia Hadley who are discussing their children’s nursery. I was under the impression that their two children were around the age of one to two. As you read on you find out that the nursery is no ordinary nursery nut instead a high tech thought projector of some sorts. From what I gathered, this room is made of crystalline structures that illustrate whatever the subject is imagining. The two parents enter the “imaginarium” as I call it and get to see what it is that their children are thinking about. As they enter the room they see that their children spend a lot of their time imagining and playing in Africa. They not only see the scenery but also get to see the violence and hostility that their children imagine. They not only see the pride of lions eating their prey of the day. Seeing this, the two parents become alarmed and worried, call upon their trusted psychologist to analyze the situation. After analyzing the room he suggested that the children be given a break from the room. In the end it turns out that the children made the room come to life, and eat their parents. I got so lost in the reading of this story that I really stopped paying attention. Well I hope you enjoyed this blog guys.

Plugged In-ness: New Way of Life or Regression in Progress?

I recently read an article focused on how society is "plugged in" and beginning to seclude themselves from the real world. In today's society, whether it be for scholarly purposes or for personal interests, the Internet and technology are a necessity, but the question then becomes when is enough, enough? In the article titled Is Being "Plugged In" Changing College Campus Life? authors Liz Williams, Ethan Kolek, and Meg Kluge, students at the University of Massachusetts discuss the benefits and costs to technology and use of the Internet in the world today. Some of the topics discussed in the article are things from membership in campus groups and organizations decreasing in the last 20 years to how the Internet is beneficial in sharing information in a timely manner not only locally but across the world. In the article, the authors kept a very neutral stance on the subject, being careful to balance both sides of the argument but I can state my side a bit more clearly. Even though I agree with the authors that now because of technology, there has been a decrease in the "personal" aspect of actual socializing, I feel that things like phones, hand helds, and more recently tablets and ipads are more helpful than harmful. I do remember the days, although I was fairly young, when you could have a conversation with someone and have their full attention; today it is difficult to carry on a conversation with a person without hearing a chime or feeling a vibration in your pocket or purse alerting you that you got a text, Facebook notification or Tweet. The benefit of having your entire world in the palm of your hand is that you will never miss a single thing. Anyone in your close circle or friends, family, or loved ones can very easily send you the information necessary to keep up to date and informed; everyone can be up to date now. If it isn't all that clear, I'm for this new age that we are stepping into. I feel it will be the start to a new age enlightenment period where everyone will soon have access to all different kinds of information around the world. So when is enough ever enough, I feel that when it comes to acquiring information, there is never a limit that can be placed on it, after all, how can anyone place a limit on the ever expanding mind?

Facebook: Addiction or Healthy Habbit?

Facebook, the worlds largest most popular social networking site. Just about everyone in every culture has a Facebook account where they post status updates about their days, struggles, and thoughts, pictures and let others know where they are by checking in. As useful of a tool that Facebook is to reconnect with long lost friends, co-workers, or distant family, some have become addicted to it. Myself being an 18 year old college student can atest to the fact that I may spend too much time constantly checking on what my friends are doing, or uploading pictures and maybe sharing too much information about my life. As I came to the realization that I may share too much or spend too much time on Facebook I saw that as do many others. The X generation, as is called anyone born during the 90's, has grown up to rely on the internet and its various tools, like Facebook. You can log into Facebook at any given time on any given day and see a teen who a status update in the last 5 minutes or a photo of him/herself. You look around any campus, whether it be a high school, college, or university and you can see a large number of people using their phones or laptops to look at what everyone they know is up to. As an assignment in my class I had to go 24 hours without checking or updating my Facebook; I thought it sounded easy...at first. I told myself, "it won't be hard." "Just don't log in." It turned out to be quite the challege. Having the Facebook app right on my phone made not checking it that much harder. My phone would buzz and chime alerting me that I had a new post, or that I had been tagged in something several times in that one day alone. The urge to reach into my pocket and pull out my phone to check it was great. Once the day was over, and I had gone into review all of my notifications, I saw I had a slight reliance on Facebook. Whenever I was bored, not speaking with someone, or walking from class to class I would use my phone to check things out on Facebook, but not being able to use it made me actually see my world. I actually looked around my campus and noticed just how big and fairly green CSUN is. I got to look at the people with whome I actually go to school with. I believe that Facebook is a very useful tool that just about every person on the journey we call life carries in their arsenal to keep informed as well as entertained. Facebook can be a healthy habbit and not an addiction as long as you do not become heavily reliant on it, and by heavily relaint on it I refer to keeping your phone in your hand all day in a death grip as if it were your life line. Instead casually check it out and learn to use it less. So now I ask, are you addicted or not?