Social Networking AI Internet Is Technology Making Us Dumb

Technology has both enlightened and darkened the souls of humanity. It has connected people from all walks of life and it has also divided people. With the invention and proliferation of the internet, knowledge is just a web result and click away.

With articles discussing Google, social networking, and the creation of smarter than human computers, is technology truly a blessing, or ultimately a curse? In an article titled "Is Google making us Stupid?" by Nicholar Carr, the writer discusses the increase in internet usage and the perhaps increased decline in overall intelligence. While writers like Carr gain incredible ability to research quickly and with ease in the comfort of home, there is also more chances for people to go online to entertain themselves, skim text, and avoid actually reading.

Yes, it is more convenient than going to the library and looking up physical copies of information, but most people that go online do not go for educational purposes, they go to indulge in escapism. Another article titled "OMG: TWEETING, TRENDING, AND TEXTING (SUMMARY AND REFLECTION)" discusses the phenomenon of people absorbed into their mobile devices versus living their lives. Several videos and articles have remarked on this stating this new generation of youth are more obsessed and focused with their phones than reality.

Although people have become more absorbed with computers and personal computers like smart phones, advances in technology have also allowed for people to share and communicate natural disasters, crimes, and other important events that help the world see what happens throughout the various countries. In essence, much like the theme of this essay, and with anything, technology has both an upside and a downside.

While the internet provides a plethora of resources to create obsession and boredom among the youth of the world, it also provides chances for people to share and broadcast important events. One of the other perhaps negative aspects of the online world is social networking, which the article mentions. Social networking helps connect people, but it also creates a subculture obsessed with playing simple games and oversharing their everyday lives.

Another article titled "Nick Bostrom: What happens when our computers get smarter than we are?" bring into conversation the idea that computers and technology may overrun humanity. "Artificial intelligence is getting smarter by leaps and bounds -- within this century, research suggests, a computer AI could be as "smart" as a human being. And then, says Nick Bostrom, it will overtake us: "Machine intelligence is the last invention that humanity will ever need to make." (Bostrom) The movie "The Matrix" shows what could happen if machines took over the world.

This could be a bit of a stretch, but as humans begin embarking on the development of sophisticated robots and AI, this apocalyptic story may come to fruition. Regardless of the future outcomes, technology can be seen as a double-edged sword. It has enlightened humanity and also created people that are obsessed with entertainment, each other, and themselves. There.