#5

13 September 2011

Lesson 5.

Intrigued.

ICTs and world change.

We started off with the video about Project Natal, which is a really eye-opening innovation. I read Prof's view about this interactive artificial intelligence system and I do agree that there are infinite possibilities and advantageous ones at that. However, one possibility that was mentioned was how one could model the avatar to be like a lost loved one or someone who has passed away. Haha well I think that this would only result in an unhealthy phenomenon of people living in the 'past', unable to move on from their grief of losing a loved one. We are currently living in a society which sees people marrying in online games, marrying their favorite manga character and even someone marrying his own pillow. Thus, I do think that there is a real concern that some may misuse or rather overuse this technology and form unhealthy obsessions with their avatar! I may be over-exaggerating here but take for example, a girl crazy over some guy and she creates an avatar in his likeness. Over time she may think that she has a real relationship with him, and if she is not able to differentiate between virtual and reality there might be some pretty troublesome consequences for the real guy! Also, I feel that letting children interact with the avatar may result in adverse impacts. Sure, it may be good to help them improve their interaction skills especially if they are shy in nature. But they could grow dependent on the avatar and spend all days indoors instead of leading a proper childhood with real-life friends! With all these concerns in mind, I still do acknowledge the positive possibilities of this system. I agree that it is a good idea for old folks to have a system in place to take of them and lessen their boredom. But ultimately, I feel that human to human interaction wins hands down anytime. For now, I think I am only able to accept such a technology perhaps in the gaming world. But that is just the conventional me speaking. Who knows, a few years down the road, this may become so normal (just like how ivf became generally accepted) and every household may have their own avatars!

We also discussed whether we have captured the potential of ICTs.

"Have ICTs been used to eradicate poverty, prevent conflict, and promote freedom?

The evidence is certainly against us, so far. As we invented and deployed communication technologies-telegraph, telephone, radio, television-the tools of ubiquitous one-to-one and mass communication-we created the deadliest century in human history. We developed the technical means to share with every human the most advanced knowledge in health and food production, the provision of clean water, healthy housing, and economic development. But these same technical means of communication enabled global warfare, international crime, and mass mobilization of hatred and prejudice. Today, they enable pinpoint targeting of conventional bombs, deployment of weapons of mass destruction, destruction of personal privacy, and ubiquitous surveillance."

-Reading 2

While reading this article, this particular passage stood out for me and truly I agree that yes ICTs have been used to drive world change, but this is so both positively and negatively. For me, I think that the problems that come along with the use of ICTs is inevitable, its like a double edged sword. I feel that ICTs can be used to overcome these problems, ironic as that is. Say for example, the invasion of personal privacy. People find out actually find out that their privacy is being invaded through the mass media, they then voice their unhappiness through the same mediums; they get a platform to air their opinions. I think one important thing about ICTs is that it really gives people a voice. And it is through that, that we can expect things to change, in this case invasion of personal privacy.

I would also like to highlight the question at the beginning of the passage, "Have ICTs been used to eradicate poverty, prevent conflict, and promote freedom?". I felt that this question tied in really well with Reading 3 which highlights the several ways we can use ICT to achieve the MDGs! I think that there are several good ideas there but they can only happen when there is the appropriate infrastructure put in place. I like the idea of elearning as a way to achieve universal primary education as children don't usually get an education because schools are so inaccessible for them. Thus, elearning would be a good way of bringing the education to them and they can save their traveling time as well. ICT can also be used to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, this I feel is a good thing because hungry people don't learn well!! Yet illiteracy and computer illiteracy may hinder elearning from being a smooth process. However I feel that these aren't as huge an obstacle as mindset is. By mindset, I am referring to the traditional thinking of the parents who regard work on the farm as more important than education. More often than not, these children are expected to work on the farms whole day long with the parents and there might not be time for them to learn. Mindset is something that is really hard to change and I think that is one reason why the full potential of ICT has not been captured yet in such countries. Ultimately, I think that ICT will definitely play a major role in helping these people break out of their poverty cycle and achieving the MDGs, but this would definitely require the appropriate infrastructure and adequate support from the local government.

One question that was posed today was "Why haven't we fully capitalize on the knowledge revolution?"

Answers that came up was that it is still relatively young and ICTs are not so pervasive yet. I agree with these points and would just like to add to them. As I have mentioned, mindsets in certain cultures have prevented the maximization of the potential of ICTs. Also, in less-developed countries, ICTs as compared to getting shelter, food and water, are not as important to them. To fully capitalize on the knowledge revolution there is a need to increase the scale of systems as well as improving them so that there could be an increase in productivity. The problem with this is the high costs and that is also a factor that is holding us back. The knowledge revolution and the usage of ICTs are still evolving, and we never know where the next stage is headed, so I guess we are all still trying to keep up with our understanding of the current technology. My dad often says that he lived in the most wonderful time period, because he got to see the time when there was no mobile phones, to huge blocks that passed off as mobile phones to our tiny compact phones nowadays or when there was only black and white television to color television then to plasma and even 3D televisions now! Perhaps one reason why we haven't been able to fully capitalize on the knowledge revolution is because it keeps evolving and evolving! Much faster than we can catch up with it and fully grasp its full potential. Which I guess, is a good thing?

I rate this lesson a 10/10 because I really thought that this topic, as well as the presentations, were really interesting!! I like the flow of today's lesson as well, it was well-paced and was not too rushed.