The Age of AI

Artificial intelligence is a form of automation that is taking over the world. Artificial intelligence and automation isn't just in manufacturing companies or far away jobs, you can find computers replacing workers in your local Panera or McDonalds. More and more cashier positions in fast food restaurants and grocery stores are being replaced by computers and self-checkouts. 

This is a huge convenience boost, as computers are faster than a cashier worker. However, not only do these computers take simple jobs that high school students could take to strengthen their social skills, but it's actually doing the opposite by encouraging social avoidance. 

Developing social and soft skills is crucial for our generation and the next so we can function in society and make informed decisions for ourselves. With the option of self-checkouts and online in-person ordering, more and more people are opting for the option that does not require them to talk to people. 

Avoiding these interactions are causing younger people to become more antisocial which causes them to be unable to make decisions or think for themselves. In the future, we could see detrimental impacts of this during voting processes and personal decision making. Automation replacing workers is supporting isolation in our world. 

Behavioral marketing is a set of actions aimed at promoting or selling products bases on users' interactions with brand's websites, social media pages, and other online areas. This digital marketing offers different tools to use people's behavior patterns to a company's advantage. It knows how people think and can predict what people want or feel before they do. Behavioral marketing is taking the uncertainty out of life, but that's not all good. 

Uncertainty is a part of life, and it helps us to make decisions regarding our values and beliefs. It is crucial that we are able to make these decisions so we can think for ourselves and not be controlled by the government. Behavioral marketing also includes something as simple as Instagram reels. These short videos are monitored and catered to how someone interacts with their current video, showing related videos depending how the previous video was interacted with. These surveillance technologies have realized that adjusting a user's feed could make the user happy or sad. They can control the emotions of users by showing a sad video or a funny video, it's that easy. This is scary because if an online environment can change real world behavior, that opens the door of how people could be controlled in the future. 

Artificial intelligence, automation, and online surveillance are taking away our decisions making and judgment skills, which could cause negative impacts for our freedom in the future. 

For information about this topic, I watched this video, and read this article and this article.