The Center of Human Technology in my own word is like a group of “techie friends” who realized how much of an impact social media platforms have on the public. CHT realizes the impact of YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram; but most importantly the use of AI and how rapidly it is growing and taking over. The mission of CHT is to help the public navigate ways to use social media and AI ethically and safely. CHT wants the public to become more educated on how these companies keep humans scrolling for hours on end, thus making money off of them from ad revenue. CHT wants technology to benefit us and wants to inform human on how to avoid becoming a slave to technology.
I believe CHT hit the nail on the head with their analysis of social media. People are addicted to every aspect of social media; they will scroll endlessly for hours, become fascinated with specific content creators. It seriously becomes an addiction. When people are bored, what’s the first thing they do? They usually pick up their phone and scroll. A few minute can turn into three hour. The corporations behind social media keep people hooked. There are monetization programs so the more that an individual posts, gains followers, and builds “community” the more money they have the potential to make. The corporations behind social media also use bright lights, contests, and catchy sounds to keep people enticed. I am not shocked by this at all…I myself have started scrolling in the evening, and then I look at the time and it 1 am in the morning! I believe people have to have discipline when it comes to social media. The goal of social media cooperations is to get your attention, now they are using AI to push content that they believe you will find interesting. Kind of scary. Social media has definitely evolved in the last year. An example that comes to my mind is how all the platforms are starting to follow the TikTok model. The apps are all competing with each other to be number one, so they use the same tactics across all platforms.
CHT is definitely on point with their opinions of AI. AI is moving at an astonishing speed and it is troublesome. Think about all the “fake news” and AI generated content. There are some people who are gullible and they believe everything they see on the internet and that can be dangerous/deadly. I agree with CHT, AI could cause division, miscommunication and mis-trust due to the fact that people will start believing anything. There will be individual who will start believing false things and it could lead to chaos and confusion. I would not challenge their opinion, because I agree. However, I think educating people on how to detect AI, distinguish reality vs. virtual reality, and the the ethical uses of AI, could be beneficial.
The YouTube vide Could AI Go Rogue, my reaction is in the middle. It brought to my mind the movie I, Robot with Will Smith. I also feel that I am a bit of a conspiracy theorist and may go down “the rabbit hole” at time when it come to what things could look like later. I very well believe that although in the clip they spoke about things like deep fake videos and videos that have hate speech, but my mind thinks about killer robots, and I believe it is closer than we think. Think about it now, if you are ever in the City of Atlanta there are robots that patrol and record neighborhoods and areas like The Beltline. I believe the robots that are being used generate facial recognition software. CCTV is used to view the footage the robots pick up. Who is to say in a few years they test out armed robots that are controlled by humans at command stations? Just a thought 🙂
I think as social workers it is very important for us to have a positive/healthy relationship with AI. I do not think that AI will impact the profession much, because a lot of the work we do we have to interact with clients face-to-face. I believe if anything in the years to come Social Workers will be needed more than ever. Social media has given people depression, anxiety, produced eating disorders due to body comparisons. I also believe that AI could be used to help social worker complete paperwork faster and make some task manageable, but we have to be careful with HIPPA and how we can keep patients identity safe. I also feel that online platforms make mental health accessible to a lot of populations we serve.
I do not believe we should be scared of AI as Social Workers, but we should be literate and educated on the advances of technology.
HI, I like how you connected the Ai Rouge video to the movie I, Robot; I also wonder how far the AI technology will go in the future and I agree that it’s extremely important that ethical laws should be put in place sooner than later, to make sure AI benefits the people and does not harm them. Many features AI can bring are already here and are great advance in the technology world, like the ability to operate remotely, facial recognition, automation , but the miss information and the possibility of crating negative outcomes with he use of AI (like killer robots), is scary.
Hi Allison, I really enjoyed your perspective on the video, AI, and the increase need for Social Workers. I do not consider myself to be a “conspiracy theorist” per say, however I can relate to some of the thought provoking ideas and theories that correlate with Ai and technology. Yes, technology will be the way of life as it already has shaped so many profession, however the ethical and bias aspects are what we are all concerned about. ” Social media has given people depression, anxiety, produced eating disorders due to body comparisons. ” This is such a powerful and layered statement that we as future social workers, counselors, therapists, pyschologists, behavioral analyst, and all other professions alike will have to address these concerns and the affect on a client’s life.
Hello Allison,
I agree with your take on the CHT mission. I think they want to bring awareness and a safe way for people to engage with AI technology. I also, think CHT want companies to build better models that have ethical oversight instead of mass producing for profit. With that will bring sufficient security systems to not lose control.
Hi Allison,
In regards to social media- when bringing up the endless scrolling when bored, I often wonder the impacts that will have one us as a society. Boredom is where innovation and creativity are born. What in the world will happen to us without any boredom at all? I have little kids and am constantly trying to put them in situations where they are bored and have to come up with their own entertainment. Like social media is for older kids and adults, they make content for littles that is just as absorbing and mind-melting. How in the world is this going to effect their brain development? When you mentioned accidentally staying up until 1am, it made me think on how all this will impact our natural rhythms…will we begin to forget how humans used to live?
I love the engagement. I believe that AI is advancing everyday. I feel as humans it is important to lag off and “touch grass.” @Miranda I have little ones as well. I only allow them to get on youtube on the weekends, but I intentionally plan fun thongs for us to do on the weekends so they have to leave their Ipads. If they say they are bored I tell them to find something to do or clean lol. they usually find something to do. A lot of times we have to force ourselves to create.