Risk

Despite all of that there are some negatives to being too connected at least for some.  Privacy can be one of those issues.  Many have either heard or even said themselves that there is a certain amount of discomfort related to having Smart Devices like Alexa always listening.  Sure the specifications of those devices indicate that it is not recording or performing true active listening until it is summoned with a specific command or wake word.  Either way it is easy to argue that it is still listening to every noise and word spoken around it in order for it to pick up its wake word.  Other concerns have been expressed about hackers gaining access to these devices.  One specific case of this had hackers setting up the voice activated devices to record everything around them.  Another case had hackers gain access to the devices so that the hackers could access and control the smart home devices like thermostats, lighting and so on.  Another case had hackers speaking to unsuspecting children in the home in attempts to terrorize them.  All of these issues can give a moment of pause on whether these devices can be trusted to operate in our homes and businesses.  There are network protocols in place but that is only as secure as how the system and network is set up.  Questions like are you using a secure versus an unsecured network become highly relevant.  How secure is your password for your network and also your account associated with the devices being utilized.

As mentioned before another risk that exists also lies in the information we obtain.  Is it factual?  Today media outlets include social media and news outlets seem to be riddled with false information.  It's so bad that now everything is being analyzed by fact checkers on a regular basis.  Even AI is being used to try fact checking articles, posts, and other information that is out there.  The scary thing is that sometimes the fact checkers are also giving out false information.  Just because a fact checker comes out of the wood work to state that something is false doesn't mean the information was actually false.  It may have been true but the fact checking software or person didn't have all of the facts.  Maybe they researched the facts but found more false information.  In the end we still have to be careful on whether the original information was true or not.  Today more and more people are walking around angry or upset based on information they read or received and in many cases that information isn't even real.  While this may be considered by some the age of information we have to be careful that we are not angry about something that isn’t even real.  In the age of information that is equal amount of false information as there is real information and its a scary thing.  Operating using false information can have personal, financial, and political ramifications.  That false information can tear a family apart, destroy a business, or an empire.

Artificial Intelligence can also pose its problems.  You have to be careful about which AI you're using.  Some are more reputable than others but they are all plagued with inefficiencies.  Inaccurate spellings, minor oddities in the images, and coding projects that have a multitude of errors or other problems.  Many are using AI as the easy way out.  Instead of learning a skill or how to do that skill better they are using the program to get the product with minimal to no work.  Schools all over the country are struggling with students turning in papers claiming they claim to have written but evidence shows it was produced exclusively or near exclusively by some form of AI generator.  Recent court cases show that the government is taking a strong stand against this practice.  A student in 2024 was expelled by the college for plagiarism since they used AI to write their paper.  The case went to court to fight for the students' place in college but the court agreed that the student gave false statements when claiming to have written the paper which is grounds for plagiarism.  With AI quickly being the next stage of evolution in our progression in the age of information, why is this a bad thing?

That is a great question but recent history has shown why.  Too many are graduating without the basic skills to do the jobs they have graduated to perform.  Accidents have happened due to the quality of work that was diminished by a work force trying to use Artificial Intelligence to get the job done instead of true skills and knowledge.  More and more people are hitting the work force and either have no knowledge of how to do the job with their efforts limited to using AI to get the job done or know how to do the job but are using AI as a short cut but in either case the results are going to be unknown.  It may come out alright but it may also come out badly.  What is the conclusion here?  For one we have to make sure we are still learning the skills of our trade.  AI is nothing more than a tool and we should treat it as such.  Our tools should not replace us.  It's nothing more than a tool to help us do our tasks but not supposed to replace us.  To that end if we use that tool we have to make sure the information it gives us is accurate.  We have to remember that even AI can give false information or make mistakes based on the information it has available to it.  That is why we need the skills so we can make sure the AI is right before it causes a mistake.

Connected

         So the primary gist of all of this is that it's ok to be ultra connected to our electronics.  It gives us access to tools and information like never before and can be used to make our lives easier.  We can spend more time working on ourselves and allow our technology to do some of the more mundane tasks of our lives.  It can help us save money while also helping us remain comfortable through the control of our homes like the thermostat to name one.   Despite all that we have to be mindful that connection can come at a cost.  We have to be careful with that technology on what others can do against us with that information.  We have to be careful not to implicitly trust that technology and the information it gives.  Verify everything, check everything, and make sure that information is accurate.  Don't let your personal lives or work suffer because of the use of technology or information that is less than accurate.  If you're working on your studies and learning a trade, focus on that trade for what it was.  At one point you decided you wanted to work in that trade full time.  Presumably it was something you loved or something you enjoyed doing.  Since you wanted to one day work that job so make sure in your studies you actually learn that trade.  Don't let AI do it all for you because your skills will allow you to double check that work even if you allow the technology to help you do it as a tool.  Remember you are your best self, not the AI or information you have obtained but the skills you have developed for years.   Complete those tasks well so that you can have pride in how well you accomplished it just like we used to before these tools existed.      

Walter Kiser - 1/4/2025