Discussion Week 1
When reading and picking points out of the first article, the first point that struck me was how the concept of cloud technology only BEGAN in the mid 2000’s. It seems crazy to me that this was happening around the time I was born (2005)! In a short 18 odd years it is extremely impressive how technology has developed, nowadays you have access to all the information in the world within a few seconds, you can video call people from across the world and much more. This article also highlights technology being a “Life Skill”. I agree with this analogy as since technology plays a huge part in everyday life, its only common sense that being knowledgeable of the World Wide Web would benefit you. It may also provide and aid oneself with attaining a job. This is why I believe schools across Ireland should put more of an emphasis on teaching students like myself about Technology. (Insider, A domain of one’s own 2015)
At first Tim Berners-Lee’s idea of the World Wide Web was for the intellectuals and not for commercial use. However, this idea has been almost thrown to the side because in today’s world it was used mainly commercially. Apps such as Twitter, Facebook etc. take away from the intellectual part of Technology. Also, this article highlights some of the “Worrying Trends” and Dangers of technology e.g. loss of control of personal data, misinformation. As students in a third level school, we were be aware of these dangers as we delve head first of the deep world of Technology. (Watters, 2017)
Discussion Week 2
Personally, I really enjoyed reading and taking in information from this Article, Although I sometimes struggled to wrap my head around the whole concept of his article what I did find was that it appealed to my visual senses and his frequent use of examples made it easier to understand his points.
This piece demonstrated how quickly platforms change and in this case Blogging. Straight away I saw clear a distinct link between this article to the text we read in last week’s discussion as in week 1(A domains of one’s own) focused on the Progression of Technology. While full of interesting topics, the most interesting point I took away from this article is the number of different types of blogs e.g. Photoblogs (Instagram), Microblogs (Twitter) etc. I didn’t realise that these everyday apps I use were a type of blog. I was under the allusion a blog was just some sort of letter, diary thing. It is really impressive how blogs over a short time have developed into all these new sites used across the world. (Marino, 2019)
Discussion Week 3
After watching this brilliant movie, I came away very unsure on how I was feeling. On one hand I was frustrated, angry and confused while on the other hand I took great satisfaction on how the brilliant life of a true genius Aaron Swartz was portrayed.
From a very early age it was clear that Aaron seemed different than most kids his age. His Mom knew he was going to be special. And as that old saying goes “Moms know best”, She was right. Aaron was able to read at 3, and was able to code at 12! When I was 12, I don’t think I even opened a computer never mind being so skilled that I could carry out coding. His unique ability to learn and innovate at such a young age was truly astonishing.
As Aarons life progressed, he continued to follow what he loved but now was starting to form his own opinions on topics, and of course acted on them. He believed knowledge, Information should be available for all. His good intentions to “Make the world a better place” was cruelly ended by the US government.
Aaron became their number 1 enemy, just for doing the right things? He was tracked, spied on arrested and his reputation was ruined. Despite this Aaron with all his courage and bravery continued to stand up against these vultures, to fight for wat was right. Eventually due to the constant torture put on Aaron’s life, his own life finally game to end. All in order to protect their own identity.
This movie is a brilliant demonstration on how you should always stand up for wat you believe in, no matter who goes against you! Aaron is an inspiration for us all and is now a person I will eternally look up to.
“Life is short (or so I’m told) so why waste it doing something dumb? It’s easy to start working on something because it’s convenient, but you should always be questioning yourself about it. Is there something more important you can work on? Why don’t you do that instead?” (The internet’s own boy: The story of Aaron Swartz | full movie (2014) 2014)
Discussion Week 6
This is What Extinction Sounds Like
This Incredible, short video really captured my imagination as it really highlighted the effected of global warming, pollution etc are having on our natural environment. Habitats and Animals are slowly being pushed ever close to extinction and this video did a brilliant job in demonstrating that.
Berne portrayed the changes in our environment by the contrast of sounds. He compared the sound of a dead habitat where it was mere silence compared to same habitat that used to be full of fish noises, swimming happy.
He also revealed the significant change in noise from the same location nearly 10 years apart. In 2015 there was nothing while in 2004, there seemed to be a flock of birds in full voice.
In conclusion this video is another excellent example on how to get a point across by using a different strategy such as sound. I really enjoyed watching this video and would defiantly recommend. (This is what extinction sounds like 2016)
Discussion Week 11
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
What is it? The simple way to describe AI in my opinion is a machine/device that acts like a human. It is the simulation of human intelligence by man-made machines e.g. computer systems. AI works by ingesting large amounts of labelled data, analysing the data carefully for correlations or patterns. By using these patterns AI is able to make predictions on future states. Mad isn’t it!
Before I began my college journey, I was never really exposed to types of AI and I didn’t really know what it was. Now things are different. I am now exposed to apps such as Chat GPT, Quill Bot etc. What always amazes me is how accessible these apps and AI is to people. It’s all just there for you with a click if a button. However, I do feel that college has definitely tackled the topic of AI. Whether that be teaching the positives, negatives or even how to use it properly and they have done this by lectures or even by doing an activity like this one.
Joy Buolamwini
Dr. Joy Buolamwini is a computer scientist and poet of code who uses art and research to illuminate the social implications of artificial intelligence. She is the founder of the Algorithmic Justice League, is an award-winning researcher and a Poet of Code. (About)
In her Ted talk, Joy spoke brilliantly about Algorithmic Bias or the “coded gaze”. She mentions how it results in unfairness and that it leads to exclusionary experiences and discriminatory practices. We see how the social robot was not able to detect her face in her school and also a few years later in Hong Kong. It turns out the same Facial recognition software was used!! Joy learnt then how algorithmic bias can travel across the world as quickly as downloading files.
Across the US, the police force is now using facial recognition in crime fighting. 1 in 2 adults in the Us (117m) have their face in facial recognition software. That’s a lot of People. But however, Labelled faces is not failing proof and still remains a problem today. “Machine Learning is used for facial recognition, but is also expanding beyond the realm of computer vision”.
In the book of Weapons of Math Destruction, Cathy o Neil talks about WMD’s (Widespread, Mysterious and destructive algorithms) and how they are being increasing used to make decisions that impacts our daily life. E.g. Do you get Hired or Fired? Do you get into your chosen College? etc. Some judges even use generated risk scores to determine how long an individual should get in prison. Are they Fair? No, we have seen algorithmic bias can lead to wrong outcomes.
In Conclusion, while yes AI has proved to be intelligent, it also has its faults and you can take for granted whatever it says is true. (Buolamwini, How I’m fighting bias in algorithms)
References
- Insider, W. (2015a) A domain of one’s own, Wired. Available at: https://www.wired.com/insights/2012/07/a-domain-of-ones-own/ (Accessed: 12 December 2023).
- Watters, A. (2017) Why ‘a domain of one’s own’ matters (for the future of knowledge), Hack Education. Available at: https://hackeducation.com/2017/04/04/domains (Accessed: 12 December 2023).
- Marino, M.C. (2019) Teaching writing in the post-blogging era, Medium. Available at: https://markcmarino.medium.com/teaching-writing-in-the-post-blogging-era-ab7848247e33 (Accessed: 12 December 2023).
- The internet’s own boy: The story of Aaron Swartz | full movie (2014) (2014) YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vz06QO3UkQ (Accessed: 12 December 2023).
- This is what extinction sounds like (2016) YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnpsMG0PWRY (Accessed: 12 December 2023).
- About (no date) Poet of Code. Available at: https://poetofcode.com/about/ (Accessed: 12 December 2023).
- Buolamwini, J. (no date) How I’m fighting bias in algorithms, Joy Buolamwini: How I’m fighting bias in algorithms | TED Talk. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/joy_buolamwini_how_i_m_fighting_bias_in_algorithms?subtitle=en (Accessed: 12 December 2023).