The Big Robot Questions

For all the great things that Robots are doing for us, it seems as if there are much more downsides than upsides.

First off, I most definitely DO NOT want a robot to be like a human. It is unnecessary and highly likely of leading to horrible things. Why do people want robots to be exactly like us? Isn't being human something special that no other type of thing could be? What happens when robots are so much like us, that they think they are us, or even worse, better than us? We can go to the example of the lovely Disney Channel Original Movie Smart House. If you don't know what it is i'll give you a quick breakdown. A kid wins a smart house for his family because he is too busy taking care of everyone else. The house acts as a mother named Pat and eventually controls everything and locks them inside the house. Sounds like a nightmare right? So this robot mother thinks she knows best for the humans and controls everything in their lives. This was made in 1999 but it seems like they were onto something.. With the technology now a days this is highly likely of turning into reality. I want nothing to do with it.

Once these robots reach a level of human behaviors the world will be a worse off place. Now we have to consider, since they are like us, are they humans? Should they have rights? Are they going to take over the world like iRobot? I believe they are NOT humans. Humans created them, and they can be turned off with a switch (hopefully). They shouldn't have any rights considering they aren't human! If we give them rights and humanity, they are likely of doing bad things. They need to be programmed to know right from wrong, but they will never have instincts or a gut feeling about a situation. They will only know what is programmed for them to do. Even if they are programmed to make judgements, there is always the possibility of malfunctions and wrong decisions. These robots should never be allowed outside of whatever environment they are being tested, and if they are in people's homes, they need to be highly regulated.

On the other hand, I do not mind the robots that are made for helping with completing tasks. These are the type of robots we should be using to create a faster and more efficient way of completing tasks. Although many people may be losing jobs, I believe it is beneficial from a business standpoint. If you had the opportunity to pay less money and get the job done faster, would you do it? I know I would. People will still need to be around to supervise or control and fix these robots, but for the most part, efficiency is key to success.

Overall, robots that are like humans should never be a thing. I know it is inevitable and it will and/or has already happened, but I want out of it. There are way too many ethical issues with human robots that would need to be dealt with and I for one am not taking part in it. The day we are able to put an artificial brain into our heads to stay alive is the day we are going to be in a whole lot of trouble.

Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/02/drones_in_home_robots_and_military_machines_pose_several_questions_.html

The Most Ethical Way to Stream Music: Not At All

The article for today was very interesting and had a lot of good insights on streaming music. I have been more open to buying artists music than streaming it lately because I actually put in thought on how much work they must have gone through to get the work done in a professional manner. Most people enjoy music and listen to it daily, so shouldn't we be purchasing that music? It is like any other product except it pleases our ears for hours. How cool is that? 

I remember when Limewire first came out (like napster). That was a game changer. At that point I hadn't purchased or thought of purchasing music because I figured I could find everything online. When Limewire was shut down it was bittersweet, but for the better. Clearly there had to be some other way of getting "free" music and that's' where streaming sites came in.

Seeing the figures for how little artists make when people stream their music on places like Spotify and Pandora was really shocking. I assumed they didn't make as much as they would selling their music but I had no clue it was that low. Spotify and Pandora rely on different artists and musicians to use their music, so why are they completely ripping off the artist? Clearly something isn't correct here. I most definitely will not be using Spotify and Pandora anymore, considering I wasn't a huge fan of it before. 

I also found it extremely surprising that Xbox music was one of the most ethical ways of streaming music. It's a shame that not as many people are using Xbox music as there are Spotify users. I myself rarely use Xbox music, but may have to try it out again.

Source: http://digitalethics.org/essays/ethical-way-stream-music/

Privacy Rights and Data Brokers

Reading about Data Brokers really had me question if I have any privacy. I never thought about all the different ways these companies can get our information and sell it to marketers. Besides this being partially unethical, they often are sharing data that isn't even correct. "Consumers have no means of knowing that they have been placed into a particular category and thus often do not realize that they are offered substandard rates for loans or are being denied health insurance based on information that may be incorrect" (Fernback). We are put into these categories and are penalized for false information which doesn't make any sense. We have no option of privacy to delete certain information or choose what is being shared. 

This article immediately made me think about Facebook and how they use all of your information and posts for advertising. One day I'm looking up microphones and within minutes ads are showing up on my Facebook. Do we have any privacy? With the digital age and internet, I believe we don't have much. My philosophy is that if you post it on the internet, it is not private in any way, shape, or form. The only way for it to be private is if it is within your home where nobody can see or hear it. If you are going on the internet making your profiles "private" and messaging people "private" information it really doesn't matter. Either way the information is out there and if Facebook doesn't have it, another company might. 

Another incident the article reminded me of was the Target data breach. Target has a huge database of information from all of their customers and one of the worst possible scenarios happened, all the data was leaked. If someone was able to breach into a huge company like Target and get a massive amount of consumer information then we aren't very safe of having any privacy.