We surely live in very interesting times. A hundred years ago, two world wars has shaped the way in which we live in so drastically, that communicating to you today from my desk, is made possible at the speed of light.
Like with so many aspects in life, technology therefore has come to life and almost as an entity by itself, to keep pushing the boundaries. And so too the people behind it.
Last month, the World Wide Web Consortium, "held its most contentious vote in history". The vote was on how copyrighted video is to be delivered within a browser. And while this seems quite mundane, it affects the role in which 3rd party apps changed in daily internet usage. And when there's a stir at the pockets of corporations, catastrophe (oh sorry, serious commitment) follows.
For corporations, competition is part of the package. And the bigger the business, the more intensified and innovative strategies will be applied. Since the magnitude of the whole business is so enormous to feed.
One quote from the movie 300 describes this quite well and rings to the tune that Xerxes' army is "so vast, it drinks the rivers dry".
So why would we sit back and allow corporations to not only have so much influence in our lives, but also has clearly all the potential to dictate it as well?
Entering Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning.
Megan Conley has recently written an article "If You're Not Building a Bot, You're Already Behind", stating the value of automated communication to customers. Legitimate points were raised.
So too is a long list of other valid requirement we can look at, like finding breast cancer 30 times faster with AI. Who wouldn't consider this as valid, viable and needed applications in times where, well, time has become such an overbearing factor?
However, we cannot deny that the balance has already been disrupted in the way in which we function as a (now modern) society. And ridiculous as it seems, this means that we have entered an era that is hinted by the cult movie series, the Matrix. A point made maybe a bit strong, but also not too strong, in my opinion.
Some might question the legitimateness of this line of thinking. I get that, especially considering that we've been so brainwashed by movies and the need to have things in a shorter time frame. It's almost like takeaway food has become part of the norm.
But I'm not the only one that has come to the realization that even though we have come to depend on these unnatural mechanisms, the result of this dependency can be quite detrimental to the way in which we live in the long run.
Funny enough, I've actually been a very strong supporter of innovation. In fact, I'm promoting cryptocurrencies and BlockChain technology as much as I can, since there are legitimate reasons as to why these can help us.
But in all this, maybe we should be very honest with ourselves and like Elon Musk, ask the question on each account, as to what are the real reasons that we support AI and machine learning for particular applications? Is it to truly assist us in that environment, or are we opting for it, to just make life easier (and therefore us lazier).
Not an easy subject, I know, since we as humans to like to be lazy. But this is worthwhile and quite necessary to consider. Especially at this stage of our existence.
