Google-The Brain of the Future?

[drewlane]

Okay, some of the stuff Mr. Carr said was scary, if not aboslutely terrifying but he has a very good point. Google could possibly be making us....stupid. Now, I'm not saying we should go out and hold a riot, but I do think we need to listen to the wise words in this article. As a web-advocate and student, I know that Google is one of the best things that has ever happened to the human race. We get amazing information and searching....for free! If Google decided they wanted to charge a monthly fee, they could, and I would happily pay it. Why? Because I can get the information I need, cite it, and write an essay in under 3 hours if I'm feeling up to it. If I went without Google, it would take me 3 hours just to get the research for the paper found, not to mention 3-4 more hours to cite all of my sources in the appropriate MLA format. Without a computer, it could easily take me a day.

What's the point in all of this rambling? Google is no longer a luxury, it is necessary. When Google was founded, people saw it as a nifty way to retrieve the information they needed without an entire library handy. Now, libraries are trying to become more like Google because everyone uses it. I guarantee you that at your local library there is a computer that can digitally acess the book you are looking for and tell you exactly where it is. This is because people started getting upset about having to walk in the library and actually LOOK for the book because they never have to do it at home when they use Google. Without Google, homework wouldn't be possible for me, or anyone at all because the libraries are beginning to close. With the effective software that Google is cranking out, they can even make my Facebook time or online shopping session as simple as using Google with Google Chrome. I no longer have need for Microsoft Word because I have Google Docs, which makes allof my documents available on any computer anywhere in the world.

Despite all of the amazing things Google has done, we need to realize just how scary this situation could become. Not only could Google make us stupid, but theycould make us...smarter. As the article stated, Google has been looking for a way to create artificial intelligence to make our lives easier. However, in order for them to create this technology, they have to find what people search for. They did this by creating one simple, free piece of software-Google Chrome. This alternate web browser tracks exactly what sites you visit, adds you see, and where you like to do your shopping online and reports them straight to the Googleplex. This allows Google to "optimize your searching needs" as stated in the Google Chrome Terms of Service. When you click "I Agree-Download Now" you sign away the right to your private web browsing. How scary is that?

Now I'm not trying to say that we should just up and kill Google, I'm just saying Mr. Carr has a point. If we don't stop using Google as an extension of our mind, being distracted while your reading will be the least of your worries. You may just have a new Google brain doing the reading for you.

[jordynperry]

I agree with you in the statement that we shouldn't up and kill google, but I am seriously considering up and giving them a good smack in the back of the head right around now, because I swear they MUST be aiming for a computer take over. Did you know that they are already attempting to make computers feel regret through certain software programs? Well they are. Click here to see.

The idea behind them teaching computers to feel something along the lines of regret is to attempt to make them (computers) go more swiftly to the desired links. Making them 'feel' bad whenever they don't find the correct material swiftly enough makes them want to feel the 'reward' of getting to the right link more quickly. However innocuous this new innovation may seem though, it could very well be the beginning of the smarter computer that the Google article was talking about. Which would, of course, be a very bad thing, perhaps not exactly when it happened, but definitely some time in the future when human creativty and ingenuity hit a brick wall because of it, and computers basically made up for it by taking over everything.

[amandarussell]

Firstly, I will say that Google anything is amazing. With that said, I do find it frightening that machines are becoming more and more intelligent. In fact, Hasegawa Group at the Tokyo Institute of Technology has been working on a robot... that can think and learn for itself. If you thought Google was becoming a monopoly of your mind, imagine having a robot maid that can figure out how to clean your house without ever being told what to do. Or, even worse, a robot president that sends out cute little robot armies to destroy humanity. Now, now, it won't be like that in our generation (thank all that is holy), but it very well could be a possibility that robots will live among humans at some point.

Now that the exaggeration is out of the way, I will say that people are being consumed by technology via their own decisions. So, I would rather not place blame on Google or any of Google's products, because, it's my life and I can sign away my rights if I want to. I think the bigger issue is the failure, by many people worldwide, to grasp the scale of this technological takeover. Whether it is going to continue to be docile or not, I cannot say. I can say, however, that I would be prepared for robots before zombies.

[drewlane]

Actually, I completely agree with both Jordyn and Amanda. I don't think we should up and kill Google because they make everything awesome, but I do think we need to be a little bit worried about what the are doing. Amanda also has a point in her last sentence, I believe that the robots will be here to take over before the undead are. We see rapid progress in technology every single day, and soon, we won't have anything else to do but give our computers emotions. Soon, organizations like Google and Facebbok will be working on artificial humans. First, it will just be house-cleaning robots, but soon, we will find that the robots are superior to ourselves. and yes, this may seem like an exaggeration, but think a little bit. Jordyn and Amanda have great points. We could find ourselves up to our necks in silicon chips and scrap metal sometime in the near future, and that scrap metal may be able to talk. THAT is something that makes me shiver, not Google Chrome, Docs, or the new Chromebook. The potential threat to humanity is what is scary.