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.