Effects Of Technology: Is Google Making Us Stupid

In the most basic sense, a computer is simply a rock that we taught to do tricks, like a dog trained to bark when we say “speak.” In reality, however, this “rock” that was recently added to our daily lives is so much more. It lets us write words without using paper, it lets us find information within seconds, and it lets us be creative. The possibilities for computers seem endless. Like always, with these positives come a number of negatives.

Researchers and programmers are giving computers minds of their own, and although there are genuine use cases, artificial intelligence and algorithms have the potential to target individuals for political motives and other types of advertisement. Not only this, but it seems A.I. may as well be necessary for society, as technology could be making people less intelligent. Will artificial intelligence take over the jobs market? Many believe it to be so, but do the negatives really outweigh the positives?

Google as a search engine of the internet has existed for a while and it has grown to use complicated algorithms and programs to make the search experience smoother.

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In “Google, democracy and the truth about internet search,” author Carole Cadwalladr has had a much different experience. She believes that Google is facilitating hate by allowing the suggestion of unfavorable search results. To understand why Google seems to be suggesting right wing ideas, she brings up an essay by Jonathan Albright, an assistant professor of communications at Elon University. His essay proposes the idea of right wing websites spreading like a wildfire through links posted on various websites that slowly bleed into the wider internet, “They try to find the tricks that will move them up Google’s PageRank system.

They try and ‘game’ the algorithm” (Cadwalladr). This exploitation of Google can lead to unfavorable ideas spreading, as Cadwalladr has experienced herself. One such company misusing the algorithm is Cambridge Analytica. They track your internet usage to use that data in adapting political messages to individuals (Cadwalladr). Sometimes an idea that you thought randomly came up on the internet could very well have been calculated elsewhere. This sort of behavior is not well regulated, according to Cadwalladr. Since algorithms are written by people, their choices have impacts, “But we don’t know what choices they are making. Neither Google or Facebook make their algorithms public” (Cadwalladr). Persuading popular opinion is part of the process, but when exploitative measures are taken, that is where the system requires attention.

Since the dawn of the internet, the way we consume information has been changing slowly from books and written text to tiny squares on a screen that form letters. Computers nowadays allow us to consume information at the touch of a couple of buttons. The potential problem lies in the way we consume it. People become so used to reading quick blurbs of information that we cannot seem to focus on larger pieces of text. In the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” author Nicholas Carr looks to be no stranger to this effect, “My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles” (Carr). This same idea can be related to some film trailers. In a quick 2-3 minutes, every enjoyable part of the movie is spoiled within that time, thus making it useless to see the entire film. Similar to the internet, information is very summarized at points that reading into a deeper meaning is at times pointless. According to Carr’s research, however, the human brain is not designed to read as it is designed to use language, but rather it teaches itself to do so. This leads to the idea that processing information on a neurological level through the internet is much different from reading books. Carr brings up the philosopher Nietzsche, who later in life was struggling to write and begins to use a typewriter, where Carr quotes him saying: “…our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts” (Carr). This malleability of the human brain even at such a point as Nietzsche’s failing health suggests that it is not static even at a later age, as Carr’s research points out. The implications of such malleability could result in human dependence on A.I., but the implications of A.I. itself are troubling. Carr points out that the very existence of artificial intelligence implies that thinking is a mechanical process… and one that can be improved at that.

Artificial intelligence is a very complex but vital topic. Kai-Fu Lee, a Taiwanese-American computer scientist, argues that artificial intelligence has the ability to show people what it means to be human. In his TED talk, Lee begins with some background in Chinese entrepreneurship, where the work ethic is quite busy. The issue that Lee has seen is that these entrepreneurs see their jobs as what gives their lives meaning. Lee, while studying a book by Bronnie Ware, has found that people on their deathbed actually regret not spending time with loved ones instead of wishing they had worked harder in life (Lee 10:16). Lee argues that artificial intelligence has the potential to fix this problem by relegating A.I. to the “routine” jobs, opening up more opportunities in the creative space. Creative jobs are the one things A.I. will not take away, as Lee argues that AI will never be able to create, “AI can optimize, but not create” (Lee 8:37). Once the routine jobs are taken, we will be encouraged the more creative jobs. Once we embrace AI, the qualities that make us human will become more profound, “AI is serendipity” (Lee 14:18).

I do not believe that computers are here to end our life as we know it. While in some cases I agree with Cadwalladr’s arguments, I know that Google’s algorithms have been observed to take on a form where the search results are based on the most popular events and based on your own previous searches. I cannot say that I believe that Cadwalladr’s experiences were intentionally negative, where somebody would be purposefully making her search results about hate, but it is quite unnerving that such an opposing viewpoint can pop up attempting to change your viewpoint. Computers are a great balancing act between intelligence and lack thereof. On one hand, the abundance of info available at our fingertips makes allows us to become as knowledgeable as we would like to be. On another, the constant splattering of info seems to defocus our minds, and on that I agree with Carr. As with most new technology, skepticism is a part of it no doubt. Sometimes this can cloud our judgement away from the positives. All in all, most who use computers would agree for the most part that they are a great invention, including me. As with Lee’s speech, I believe the more technology develops, the better off we as humans will become.

Works Cited

1. Cadwalladr, Carole. “Google, Democracy and the Truth about Internet Search.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 4 Dec. 2016, www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/04/google-democracy-truth-internet-search-facebook.
2. Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 2008, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/.
3. Lee, Kai-Fu. “How AI Can Save Our Humanity.” TED, Apr. 2018, www.ted.com/talks/kai_fu_lee_how_ai_can_save_our_humanity.