Week 7

1. Do you think artificial intelligence will be a significant problem in the future?

If artificial intelligences have the ability to evolve themselves, they will eventually become a significant problem. It took human beings hundreds of thousands of years to go from the hunting age to the agricultural age; thousands of years to go from the agricultural age to the industrial age; and only two hundred years to go from the industrial age to the atomic age; after that, it took only a few decades, we have entered the information age. Intelligent civilization has a terrifying ability to accelerate evolution. In the book "Einstein's Wastebasket" by Andrea Diem-Lane it states "The human mind and the computer will be indistinguishable, Kurzweil contends, except with the caveat that the computer version will be so much faster (10 million times faster than the brain's electrochemistry) and much more capable of processing data” (Diem-Lane 3). This passage demonstrates that there is an unimaginable intelligence gap between artificial intelligence and humans, and that this unparalleled intelligence will allow artificial intelligence to evolve in a very short period of time. The self-evolution of artificial intelligence is so fast that in the not too distant future humans will not be able to understand them, and will even be controlled by them instead. Excessive industrial development has allowed the elite of humanity to control the major resources of society, with 10% of the population now owning more than 90% of the wealth. And in the future artificial intelligence will replace the human elite to completely dominate human society. Therefore, I have a pessimistic attitude towards AI and the future of humanity.

2.How has technology impacted your life?

Technology, a word of the times, does not seem unfamiliar to our ears, because the environment we live in is the era accompanied by technology. As an international student, the presence of airplanes has facilitated my travel to the other side of the world to study. Not only that, the advent of the Internet has given me the opportunity to learn knowledge from all over the world and to communicate and learn with people from all over the world. The Internet has penetrated every area of society and influenced all walks of life. From concept to behavior, from tradition to innovation, from work to daily life, many fields have undergone radical changes due to the application of Internet technology. When the economy meets the Internet, it is like adding the wings of development. If the economy leaves the Internet, it will also be difficult to advance. Internet technology is constantly developing new industries while eliminating many traditional industries. The Internet has also greatly improved the operational efficiency of society and reduced costs, so that many tasks can be done efficiently with less time through the Internet. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to mark our era as the Internet era.

While the Internet has brought benefits to people, there are also many worrisome things. Due to the connection between the Internet and the economy, there are false advertisements, bad information, pictures, floods, illegal businesses, and fraudulent websites. The Internet is highly addictive and takes up too much of people's time. Einstein’s Wastepaper Basket states that “Already it is estimated that young adults spend nearly ten hours a day or more in front of a screen—from computers to phones to gaming devices” (Diem-Lane 22). In short, while enjoying the benefits of technology, we must also beware of its negative effects.