EOTO 2

     For my EOTO #2 I chose to do “Cord Cutting”, which is a term that is used to define the movement away from cable television to streaming services that are based on the internet. Companies like Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, and many others gained so much traction from this. Instead of being forced to pay for cable bundles with hundreds of channels you’ll never use, streaming offers cheaper and digital options, making it more flexible and responsive to what you really need. What started as a small movement that only a few people believed in, has become a massive trend and completely changed the way we interact with media. 

    It seems like it’s a win for customers, giving people the control they’ve wanted over what they watch and when they watch it. You don’t have to sit around and wait for a scheduled program, or pay for channels you don't even use. Especially for younger generations, especially for college students who grew up watching YouTube or Netflix, the whole idea of cable already feels outdated. 

    There are a lot of big changes that happen with this, as customers leave cable in the dust, media companies lose a ton of money. Local news stations, independent programs, and even franchise TV shows are struggling to stay a-float in this saturated market. Creating things like “news deserts” in poor and smaller communities, where there’s no access to any local or trusted reporting. Cord Cutting may be a good way to save money, but it leaves a lot of people uninformed, which is a major issue in today's world.

    This movement also puts a lot of power on tech companies. Cable was once owned by only a few big telecommunications companies, now it’s controlled by companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, etc. Which collect data on their users, monitoring what we like to watch, when we do, and how long we like to. Raising serious concerns about internet security. If we start to rely on digital media and these companies understand that they can morph and manipulate what we see, it can become really bad extremely quick. That being said, cord cutting doesn’t have the same effect on everyone in the same ways. Families with more money can afford to have multiple subscriptions, good WiFi, etc. Poor families must rely on free streaming or stick with cable bundles. The youth may find it super east to understand, while adults might absolutely hate it. These are differences that can create an unfair advantage with some having more access to news or educational opportunities than others. 

    It almost feels natural, at least for my generation. I never imagined cable being around for that long. That being said I had no idea what would take over. My friends and I are able to stream whatever we want, but as we move on, we need to think about what we are leaving in the past, and who’s controlling our new form of media. It’s not just about saving money, it’s truly a shift in our media. If we don’t tread carefully, we could just fall into another monopoly. 

Age Of AI

     One part of the In The Age of AI that stuck with me was the part about China and their government using artificial intelligence for their surveillance. The documentary explains how they use facial recognition and how they track data to monitor their citizens on more of a broad scale. It’s not science fiction, or far in the future it’s really happening today. What shocked me the most was normal it’s all becoming, cameras all over the place aren’t a concern to the average person. AI is able to identify individuals in large crowds in a matter of milliseconds, it also gives the government the ability to track the places they’ve been. They say it’s meant for safety, but it obviously restricts and limits a lot of freedoms. Citizens are constantly watched, monitored, and even punished for behaviors that don’t fit within the laws (like running red lights) caught by AI. 

    This forced me to think of my privacy in a completely different way. Since the thing with facebook and Mark Zuckerberg sitting in front of congress, I knew tech companies keep tabs on people data, but this documentary highlighted what could happen if governments are the ones in charge of this power. It’s not about controlling ads or what they’re recommended, it’s literally control of peoples lives and the things they interact with. 

    It also made me question the future, if one singular country is in charge of the AI, do they control the rules of surveillance and security? The United States and China are trying to take charge of Artificial Intelligence, this movie shows how this race can literally define out future. From aspects like our national security to our basic human rights. 

    Watching In The Age of AI made me realize that AI isn’t about cool new tech. It’s about being responsible with a power we don’t fully understand yet, it’s about understanding what kind of world we’re going to want to live in. I hope when people watch this, they think about what they’re building in the future and who will be in charge of it. If not, we’re all pretty much doomed.