UBIQUITY
As many people have expected, We are living in an environment saturated with wired and wireless connections. This technological explosion has become a part of our daily lives; but we don't really realize, to what extent , our trivial behaviors rely on informatic systems and our interaction with them. While we are living in the era of pervasive computing, we may wonder about the change that pervasive computing has brought to our lives and our social and cultural responses to these fascinating technologies and increased change. Some people remain fearful of the impact of the brain machines on our human behavior, on the other hand, others are struggling to make our environment filled with intelligent machinery, like the air we breath, and to make our interactions with this machinery as smooth as possible.
The story of creating smart machines equipped with the same reasoning capabilities of humans is very old but the era of computers makes it very realistic in the eyes of scientists. Since we have machines that manage to do all these tasks, it is time for a new generation of machinery that can do exactly what we can do or better; from understanding our behavior to making decisions on their own. The article: " A Bayesian Computer Vision System for modeling Human Interactions", provides and excellent example of what people interested in artificial intelligence are trying to do. In fact, they focus on creating machines that understand human behavior and respond according to this interaction. It is stated in the article: " Our approach to modeling person-to-person interactions is to use supervised statistical machine learning techniques to teach the system to recognize normal single-person behaviors and common person-to-person interactions" (Oliver, Rosario, Pentland 831). There are many limitations to accomplish this goal as any new technology or knowledge but the dream seems to be realistic for these people. according to the same article, if the models are trained to recognize a limited number of human behavior, how to make them understand new patterns without limitations : "A major emphasis of our work, therefore, is on efficient Bayesian integration of both prior knowledge (by the use of synthetic prior models) with evidence from data (by situation-specific parameter tuning). our goal is to be able to successfully apply the system to any normal multiperson interaction situation without additional training".
This article provides an example of what is going on in many laboratories spread throughout the world and how artificial intelligence focuses on creating smart practical machines that understand and interpret our behavior and probably surpasses our reasoning capabilities.
Whitehead’s main argument is that the Mi’kmaq have historically been homogenized as “Indians” or “Savages” and not as individual Nations with individual stories and histories. Whitehead further argues that what does exist is typically dominated by the colonial perspective. In her own words Whitehead’s stated goal of this text is to “counterbalance such works, by restoring to our collective memory – whether we are Micmac or not – a sense of the individual and specific.”
In Whapmagoostui, “accidental and suicidal deaths, drug and alcohol related illnesses, infectious diseases, and chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus and cancer are all found- sometimes in disproportionate number-in native communities across Canada” (14). By waamistikushiiu standards, such health conditions are deplorable; yet for the Cree, these ailments readily signify a deeper, perpetual ache of land and culture. For centuries, influences of waamistikushiiu culture have altered Cree living. Devastating fur trades, land usurpation, mercury poisoning in fish and waterways, and flooding damage are only a few of the casualties to Cree life in the whiteman’s pursuit of happiness. As “the only way to acquire [miyupimaatisiiun] strength is to eat Cree food, and the only way to get Cree food is by hunting,” the Cree are bound to defy whiteman devastation of their land and assert rights to survival on their own terms (94).
Rynard, P. (2001). Ally or colonizer?: The federal state, the cree nation and the james bay agreement. Journal of Canadian Studies, 36(2), 8.
Physician-assisted suicide is defined as a physician providing either equipment or medication, or to inform the patient of the most available means, for the purpose of assisting the patient to end his or her own life. The people’s opinion support PAS according to a poll given in 1998. The majority 33% of people agreed that Physician assisted suicide should be made legal in a variety of circumstances, and 32% agreed with making it legal in select cases. (Gallup)
First of all, the “Right-To-Die” group and the Hemlock Society contend that terminally ill individuals have the right to end their own lives in some instances, and because PAS is illegal, many patients are unable to get the help necessary to terminate their lives and must involuntarily endure the extreme pain and suffering of their diseases. Others argue that PAS must be legalized...
The evolution of technology has had a great impact on our lives, both positive and negative. While it is great to be able to travel faster and research anything with the smartphones that now contain almost every aspect of our daily lives, there are also many advances within the realm of technology. Nicholas Carr presents information on the dependency aircraft pilots have on automated technology used to control airplanes in the article “The Great Forgetting”. Likewise, in “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” written by Stephen Marche, the result of isolation and pseudo-relationships created by social media is shown throughout the article. We live in such a fast paced society with so much information at our fingertips that we don’t make time to go back to traditional ways to ensure safety or create in-person relationships, making these two articles very relevant to the world and its current events.
There is no doubt that the technological advances in recent years have changed the way we live. We are now able to talk to people in any part of the world within six seconds, we can watch events from any country such as the Olympic Games live on television screens in our own living room’s, we can even have interactive video conversations through as small a device as a mobile phone. These advances have benefited millions of people worldwide but we have reached a stage where it is now time to stop and think of what is happening to us as a result of all this automation and modernisation; we are becoming over-dependent on electronic devices to carry out simple tasks, we are becoming less and less aware of
There is no doubt that the technological advances in recent years have changed the way we live. We are now able to talk to people in any part of the world within six seconds, we can watch events from any country such as the Olympic Games live on television screens in our own living room’s, we can even have interactive video conversations through as small a device as a mobile phone. These advances have benefited millions of people worldwide but we have reached a stage where it is now time to stop and think of what is happening to us as a result of all this automation and modernisation; we are becoming over-dependent on electronic devices to carry out simple tasks, we are becoming less and less aware of people and activities in our own communities, even family activities are gradually becoming a thing of the past.
Many regard PAS as allowing doctors to kill and claim that it is corrupting the practice of medicine (Anderson). They argue that allowing euthanasia or physician assisted suicide is going against everything the practice of medicine stands for and that once a doctor assists one person's suicide, they will eventually be doing the same for any patient, including those with curable conditions (Walsh). Those with an aversion to euthanasia claim that the physicians in countries that allow the practice, such as Switzerland and Belgium, have no boundaries on who should or should not be given the options of PAS or euthanasia. Those against euthanasia conclude their arguments simply by saying that there must be a limit to the phrase “by every means necessary”, implying that euthanasia is taking it too far (Anderson). Thus, the entire argument against euthanasia and PAS is that once they are legalized, there will be no stopping the numerous physician assisted deaths. However, those that argue against euthanasia and PAS make the claim that legalizing euthanasia and PAS will lead to many physician assisted deaths without providing evidence and explanations as to how this chain of reactions will occur. Because they commit the logical fallacy of slippery slope, the argument against euthanasia can easily be debunked by using countries that allow euthanasia, such as Switzerland
In order to see how artificial intelligence plays a role on today’s society, I believe it is important to dispel any misconceptions about what artificial intelligence is. Artificial intelligence has been defined many different ways, but the commonality between all of them is that artificial intelligence theory and development of computer systems that are able to perform tasks that would normally require a human intelligence such as decision making, visual recognition, or speech recognition. However, human intelligence is a very ambiguous term. I believe there are three main attributes an artificial intelligence system has that makes it representative of human intelligence (Source 1). The first is problem solving, the ability to look ahead several steps in the decision making process and being able to choose the best solution (Source 1). The second is the representation of knowledge (Source 1). While knowledge is usually gained through experience or education, intelligent agents could very well possibly have a different form of knowledge. Access to the internet, the la...
The past two decades have overwhelmed the human experience with technology, along with all its distractions. The direct relationship between the mind and the body’s ability to adjust from these distractions can be extremely difficult .Further research has shown that it has become an addiction for many. Technology has significantly improved our lives as a whole through experiences such as Global Positioning System (GPS), cell phones and social networking allowing us to communicate with different people around the world. These technologies make our daily lives easier and more efficient. However, this also discusses the effects of technology on various aspects of our everyday personal experiences both with each other and with the world around us. On the other hand technologies such as cell phones have become a problem in getting students to focus in class and distracting drivers and thus, resulting in vehicle accidents. Technology is beneficial, but can also become an inescapable distraction in our lives. It is important to view technology as having the ability to make our lives better or worse, yet also as having the ability to change our personal lives and behavioral patterns.
The approach to artificial intelligence should be proceeded with caution. Throughout recent years and even decades before, it has been a technological dream to produce artificial intelligence. From movies, pop culture, and recent technological advancements, there is an obsession with robotics and their ability to perform actions that require human intelligence. Artificial intelligence has become a real and approachable realization today, but should be approached with care and diligence. Humans can create advanced artificial intelligence but should not because of the harm they may cause, the monumental advancement needed in the technology, and that its harm outweighs its benefits.
Albert Einstein quoted, “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” The use of technology today is affecting our future generations by introducing them fast into using technology. Children today are focusing more on Ipads, Ipods, smart phones, or other electronic devices, rather than focusing on their knowledge. In addition, toddlers are mastering using electronic devices before they can even speak. (Alison Lee, 2013) According to research conducted by Alison Lee, it has been shown that when her child was 17 months old, he could activate the television by the use of the remote control. Although, today’s technology has also abducted the minds of adults, and It makes them addicted to it. For example, due to careless driving and many causes of death accidents, this happens from people who use their electronic device while driving their vehicle. In fact, technology is being upgraded annually, and causing more people to get addicted to it. Today’s society is very addicted to technology, that studies indicated that 2013 is the year where some human beings have an internet disorder. In addition, people who have internet disorder suffer from this condition. However, people who are overly attached to the use of technology makes them more prone to anxiety, physiological disorders like cyber bullying, and clutched to that electronic device would dominate home life.
Artificial Intelligence is the scientific theory to advance the scientific understanding of the mechanisms underlying thought and intelligent behavior and their embodiment in machines. This is going to hold the key in the future. It has always fa...
Shyam Sankar, named by CNN as one of the world’s top ten leading speakers, says the key to AI evolvement is the improvement of human-computer symbiosis. Sankar believes humans should be more heavily relied upon in AI and technological evolvement. Sankar’s theory is just one of the many that will encompass the future innovations of AI. The next phase and future of AI is that scientists now want to utilize both human and machine strengths to create a super intelligent thing. From what history has taught us, the unimaginable is possible with determination. Just over fifty years ago, AI was implemented through robots completing a series of demands. Then it progressed to the point that AI can be integrated into society, seen through interactive interfaces like Google Maps or the Siri App. Today, humans have taught machines to effectively take on human jobs, and tasks that have created a more efficient world. The future of AI is up to the creativity and innovation of current society’s scientists, leaders, thinkers, professors, students and