I’m really surprised at how quickly time goes by. It seems like 2024 only started a few short weeks ago, but we’re about to roll into the fourth month of the new year.
The future is now. A phrase coined by football coach George Allen in the 1970s, seems ever more present and real as it relates to technology.
As a wide-eyed boy in the 60s, I was fascinated by the future. Shows like Lost in Space and Star Trek kept me captivated in front of the television; I even wanted to be an astronaut. The Jetsons cartoon, a Hanna-Barbera production, had Rosie the robotic maid, flying cars, video calls, smart homes, and even wearable tech (smart watches).
Fast forward to today. All of these things, well most of them, have become part of our everyday lives.
The pace of these “new” things are happening fast with regard to the various innovations available to mankind. I’ll be honest, I’m not quite ready to embrace all of this newness that is being thrown at us. Heck, I’m still discovering new functions on both my home computer and cell phone that I’ve never used. I don’t need to answer calls through my computer, that’s what I have a cell phone for. It’s all about convenience, I get it. I do check my emails, surf the web, play word games, and even write my blogs with my handheld device so I’m not entirely against progress. I’m definitely not a luddite (a person by definition reluctant to use technology, especially computers), but maybe a better description would be a “luddite light”.
For me, I don’t need or even want the latest gadget(s) with all the bells and whistles on it to make my life better. But sometimes we don’t have a choice. Like when an operating system for your computer is no longer supported or when one’s cell phone becomes obsolete. It’s frustrating and generally expensive to upgrade and update. I recently changed my cell phone carrier from one to another because of better pricing and benefits. What I didn’t realize until several months later, was that I wasn’t receiving text messages from my older sister as I had when we were with the same carrier. She has an iPhone and I have a Samsung and she actually thought that I had blocked her, something I’d never do. I ended up calling her about something and got an earful wondering why I had been ignoring her texts. I explained to her that I didn’t know what she was talking about. What made things even more mysterious, is that the hubster and I both have Samsung phones and he could receive her text messages, yet I could not.
Eventually I filed a complaint through the Federal Communications Commission because even after speaking with technical support of my new phone provider, they claimed that everything on the back end was fine. When I contacted my previous carrier about the issue, they too claimed that all was fine. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I started receiving my sister’s text messages. Oh, as part of the troubleshooting, I ended up upgrading my phone thinking that the newest tech would solve everything. Instead, it’s now costing me $10 more a month on my plan.
Cell phones, computers, and now even our cars have become smart(er) devices. Back in my day (picture a fashionable, not- so gray haired oldish man saying this), when driver’s education was offered in high school, I learned the proper way of driving a car with your hand placement at 10 and 2. Now-a-days, you don’t even have to have your hands on the steering wheel. Tesla brand cars have been in the news over recent years because of its “auto-pilot/self-driving” feature and not in a good way with the number of crashes on roadways. These hands-free features were once a science fiction gimmick but are now being advertised as a “safety” feature by most mainstream auto manufacturers. I can understand having a feature available in your car that will safely steer it over to the side of the road if sensors indicate exhaustion or inebriation. The problem with so much of this high tech automation built into cars means that there will be less focus on the actual task of driving, knowing that the car will provide any corrections needed when the driver is distracted.
But what if you can’t afford having the latest tech? Our society already suffers from an abundance of the haves and the have-nots. Does this mean at some point, that the have-nots will be forced out of their low-tech-no-tech cars and into a less accommodating and less convenient transit systems instead? Or, will a fleet of driverless vehicles be the transportation salvation for everyone? I may be a little paranoid in saying that the idea of traveling on the already congested roadways as a passenger in one of these vehicles really scares the s#$t out of me. I think we should tap the brakes (😁) and slow down until there are not only safety protocols in place for sharing the road with autonomous cars, but also make sure there are equity measures developed for a previously “hands-on” industry. Technological advancements are supposed to make our lives better and easier, but there’s usually a cost that’s paid. That said, as we speed our way into the future, I think about how humans tend to exploit things (and people) in the name of progress and the greater good.
In November 2023, members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists ended a 118-day strike on the heels of a strike by the Writers Guild of America; both unions were in a battle for their craft and livelihood. One major point of contention for the unions was the use of artificial intelligence (AI) by studios for program creation. This would essentially replace actors and (script) writers with even more profits flowing directly to the studios.
Some schooling…
Alan Turing was an English mathematician who created the first computing device for complex calculations. During the end of the second World War (1939-1945). Turing’s devices would supply military information decoded from encrypted German intelligence.
Class dismissed. 🔔
Who knew that when the fundamentals of AI technology were created by Turing, within 79 years, the seeds of his innovations would become rooted in every automated system on the planet. This contribution helped win the war and established the beginning of the digital age. Today, with platforms such as ChatGPT, you only have to provide the parameters of your question or request and you can have the ChatGPT write reports, essays, poetry, and even song lyrics based on whatever style you want. To me this sounds really cool, but I question how something like this can’t be used for anything other than cheating the system. Think about test exams, college dissertations, and really any part of modern academia to prove that a person has really learned the information.
Humans are proven to be lazy and default to shortcuts to complete a task. For example, I hate waiting for a pedestrian signal to change and sometimes I jaywalk; when done safely of course. This technology is a great tool, but it has already been proven to be a tool of deception like when it was used to impersonate President Joe Biden for robocalls. There are also “Deep Fake” videos where AI is used to generate the sound and likeness of an individual in an attempt to cause deception. This may not seem like a big deal to some people, but when it comes to an election or duping a business into paying a transaction, it’s no longer a neat gadget to play with, it’s a criminal accessory.
Maybe my fascination about the future is getting the best of me and the ethical concerns are for nothing right? A rather optimistic someone once said the future is bright. I would add to that, as long as the sun keeps shining what could possibly go wrong?
Judge Don't Judge...Much 