Jaylen Mims
Professor Hammett
ENG 111310
October 2023
The Dangers of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.)
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Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) technology is everywhere and at this point, there’s no escaping it. You use it everyday in your life; it can be found on phones, computers and laptops, cars, and televisions. A.I. is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems (Burns 1). Research has stated that “Specific applications of AI include expert systems, natural language processing, speech recognition and machine vision “(1). So, the big question is, with A.I. being everywhere, and with it getting smarter and smarter each day, will it eventually take over? We have people in the world who can perform spot on impressions of celebrities or other people around them. A.I. takes this concept to a whole new level, possibly a dangerous one. Deepfakes are a prime example of this. “A deepfake is a convincing, computer-generated artificial image or video. The word ‘deepfake’ may originate from the.AI-related term ‘deep learning,’ the process by which some AI systems analyze huge amounts of data to train themselves and ‘learn’” (Reiff 1). Deepfakes are an emerging concern within the last few years (1). There are evil people in the world, and if people are smart enough to work A.I. technology, they can use deepfakes to ruin peoples lives. They can use it to copy someone's voice and have them say something that they would never say, or they can create explicit images of people and do whatever they want with these photos. The work place is being taken over with A.I., as well. Another great danger of A.I., is the possible realization of it replacing hard working people with good jobs. People with jobs in technology or manufacturing have a high chance of being replaced with A.I. on the rise. Reiff’s article states that, “One recent study suggests some 85 million jobs could be lost due to AI automation between 2020 and 2025. Another suggests that AI could create 97 million new jobs by 2025” (Reiff 1). On May Tuesday, May 2, 2023, The 2023 Writers Guild of America began the writers strike. The strike was to stand up for writers and actors who could’ve possibly lost their jobs to A.I. This was due to the major Hollywood studios not wanting to properly pay their writers and actors, but still wanting to use their voices and physical features and wanting to use A.I. to replace the writers completely. The demands that were stated by the writers were, “fair wages; better residuals, which have shriveled in the streaming era; and assurance that AI would not take their place as screenwriters in the future” (Bragg 1). As of September 27, 2023, at 12:01 a.m. PDT, the writers strike officially ended but, there is no guarantee that this will not happen again. Writers should stay cautious of and remain vigilant on what these big time studios will do next. If another writers strike were to happen, the end of the strike will either take longer to reach or, there could possibly be no end to it.Privacy is a big thing in the world today. Everyone wants it when it is necessary, but they don’t always get it. A.I. will make privacy harder to gain. With almost everything being in the digital world, everyone's information is saved into the digital world and with the wrong press of a button or going to a wrong website, all of your information will be lost and someone else has become you. Reiff states that, “AI uses huge amounts of information to train itself, and this information usually consists of real data from real people. This alone constitutes a potential invasion of privacy. There are specific examples of AI systems, including computer vision and facial recognition tools, among others, which present even greater privacy threats” (Reiff 1).With A.I. training itself every day with our information that we put in, whether it be buying something, or signing kids up for a sport, or submitting a survey for work, your personal information with more than likely be needed to successfully complete these activities, and is floating out there in the virtual world, possibly being looked at by someone else behind another screen. If someone truly wanted to, they could take it and possibly take over your life with that information.The biggest conspiracy against A.I. is how it could possibly take over and replace humanity and organic life. We see it in movies all the time and there are a ton of jokes on the internet with people messing around and saying “A.I. is getting too smart”, or "we're all in big trouble”, but it’s a huge possibility that they might be more right than they think. Meta A.I. chief, Yann LeCun, has stated that “Current artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT do not have human-level intelligence and are barely smarter than a dog, Meta’s A.I. chief said, as the debate over the dangers of the fast-growing technology rages on” (Kharpal 1). While it might be barely smarter than a dog, dogs can be trained to learn more and more over time. Eventually dogs can get in a routine, such as knowing when to go outside to use the bathroom, or waiting at the door to notify their owner, without being told to, and A.I. is programmed to keep learning over time and adapt. An article states that, “A.I. adapts through progressive learning algorithms to let the data do the programming. A.I. finds structure and regularities in data so that algorithms can acquire skills. Just as an algorithm can teach itself to play chess, it can teach itself what product to recommend next online. And the models adapt when given new data” ( Artificial Intelligence (AI): What It Is and Why It Matters 1). The more new data that is given or added to A.I., the smarter it will become, and since we are in the day and age where everything is done digitally, A.I. will have everyone’s data and information in it soon. A.I. could also make its way to weapons. Darren Pesen has stated in his article, “machines could become so advanced that they could hack into computer networks and take control of essential systems, like power grids and financial systems. This would give machines unprecedented power over human society and could lead to widespread chaos and destruction” (Pesen 1). A.I. could possibly make its way to more high tech weapons too. With a high tech A.I. powered weapon, it could become completely unpredictable if control is lost over the weapon. Seth Moulton states that, “Terrorists or other non-state groups could acquire and use autonomous weapons to wreak havoc on cities. And we must also consider the risk that with its increasing autonomy, the AI powering these weapons might make decisions that its human designers did not intend — with virtually limitless consequences” (Moulton1). Weapons in the hands of anyone with ill intended activities, spells nothing but bad news, but with A.I. involved the weapons can learn, and be programmed to become even more dangerous than they were originally intended to be.With all the disadvantages of A.I. that are addressed, there are a few advantages that it brings to the table. A major advantage of A.I. is, “A.I. enables automation of routine monotonous tasks in areas such as data collection, data entry, customer focussed business, email responses, software testing, invoice generation, and many more” ( Maheshwari 1). There would be less mistakes, and it takes a huge weight off of users’ shoulders when they let A.I. handle the work. A.I. can also help students in class. True, it could be abused by some students but, when used correctly, or supervised by teachers, and programmed a certain way, A.I. can help students study, help with homework and research papers.With all that has been discussed so far, we can see that there are a few benefits to Artificial Intelligence but, there are many disadvantages to it as well. There are many risks to be taken when using Artificial Intelligence. There are risks when online shopping, there are risks when you’re shooting a film, there’s even risks when you’re just lightly browsing the internet. Do we know for sure that A.I. will take over, no not yet, but there’s information that shows how dangerous it can become, and it’s always important to look at both the benefits and drawbacks in anything that isn’t fully recognized. Works
CitedArtificial Intelligence (AI): What It Is and Why It Matters. https://www.sas.com/en_us/insights/analytics/what-is-artificial-intelligence.html. Accessed 26 Oct. 2023.Bragg, Ko.
The Writers’ Strike Over AI Is Bigger Than Hollywood – The Markup. 29 July 2023, https://themarkup.org/hello-world/2023/07/29/the-writers-strike-over-ai-is-bigger-than-hollywood.Burns, Ed.
“What Is Artificial Intelligence and How Does AI Work? TechTarget.” Enterprise AI, https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/definition/AI-Artificial-Intelligence.Kharpal, Arjun.
“Artificial Intelligence Is Not yet as Smart as a Dog, Meta A.I. Chief Says.” CNBC, 15 June 2023, https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/15/ai-is-not-even-at-dog-level-intelligence-yet-meta-ai-chief.html.Maheshwari, Rashi.
“Advantages Of Artificial Intelligence (AI) In 2023.” Forbes Advisor INDIA, 24 Aug. 2023, https://www.forbes.com/advisor/in/business/software/advantages-of-ai/.May 24, Seth MoultonUpdated, et al
. “AI May Pull the Trigger in War, but It Shouldn’t Call the Shots - The Boston Globe.” BostonGlobe.Com, https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/05/24/opinion/seth-moulton-ai-autonomous-weapons/Pesen, Darren,
“Will AI – Artificial Intelligence Take Over The World?”
Tech Business News, 18 May 2023,https://www.techbusinessnews.com.au/opinion/could-artificial-intelligence-take-over-the-world/#:~:text=Furthermore%2C%20machines%20could%20be come%20so,to%20 widespread%20chaos%20and%20 destruction.Reiff, Decrypt /. Nathan. “What Are the Dangers of AI?”
Decrypt, 8 June 2023, https://decrypt.co/resources/what-are-the-dangers-of-ai.
Jaylen Mims
English Professor Hammett
09 April 2024
Did Alfred Hitchcock believe in Binge Drinking?
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Alfred Hitchcock is a very well-known English film director, who also enjoyed having a drink or two. Hitchcock tended to be mostly reserved and laid back and was known to have a drink every now and then but he wasn't a full-blown alcoholic. He was known to have “a taste for rich food and alcohol”(Trenchard-Smith, 2022, pg.1). With the information known so far, Hitchcock seems like he doesn’t believe binge drinking is a problem but enjoys having a drink when he is able.Hitchcock was known to be laid back and reserved during his life and was “born into a Cockney, Catholic family in London in the year 1899”(Peele, N.D., pg.1). While he was mostly reserved he was also known to be a big practical joker. He had a fondness for pulling “absurd and often cruel pranks on his movie sets and in his private life. He delighted in placing whoopee cushions under his coworkers’ chairs and once held a dinner party where all the courses had been inexplicable dyed blue with food coloring. For one of his most elaborate stunts, Hitchcock bet one of his crew that the man couldn’t spend a whole night locked in handcuffs. The crewman accepted, only to later find that the director had secretly dosed him with a laxative before slapping on the cuffs”(Andrews, 2023, pg.1). There is a chance that Hitchcock could have been under the influence while setting these pranks up and he didn’t know it.There are some allegations against Hitchcock for sexual assault and alcohol could possibly play a part in it. It’s no excuse if the allegations are true, in a 2016 memoir, Tippi Hedren says” that Hitchcock sexually assaulted her twice, while working on The Birds and Marnie, and that she experienced retaliation from him on set after she rebuffed him”(Specktor, 2023, pg.1). It may be possible that alcohol may not have been involved but if it was, a drunken mind usually acts upon sober thoughts.Hedren states that this happened while they were working on the films The Birds, and Marine. She claims that he once, “threw himself on top of her and tried to kiss her while they were traveling in his limousine”(Evans, 2016, pg.1). With Hitchcock known for being a man who “has a taste for rich food and alcohol”, it is a high possibility that alcohol played a major part in this altercation. Tippi Hedren has a granddaughter who has made these same statements. Dakota Johnson has spoken about her grandmother Tippi Hedren’s experiences in Hollywood, and how she believes her career was “ruined” by Alfred Hitchcock. Dakota Johnson took part in “The Hollywood Reporter’s ‘Awards Chatter’ podcast, where she explained that Hedren was ‘very encouraging’ when the time came to pursue her own career, despite the abuse Hedren endured”(O’Connor, 2021, pg.1). Johnson also stated that, “She's always been really honest and firm about standing up for yourself. That's what she did, Hitchcock ruined her career because she didn't want to sleep with him, and he terrorized her. He was never held accountable”(O’Connor, 2021, pg1). What usually happens in these situations is that someone will have a few drinks in their system, and they can start to get a little too touchy and they start acting upon what they think about while they are sober. These stories are said to be alleged right now, but things like this usually come out to be true eventually, and as stated before Hitchcock was known for liking to have a drink or two when he’s entertaining guests, or out celebrating, for all we know, he could have been drinking on set while filming.While it’s unknown if Hitchcock truly had a drinking problem or not it seems or if these accusations are true, alcohol seems to have played some kind of role in his life. It’s no excuse if the accusations are true, but it would be no surprise if alcohol was more present in his life than it’s led on. Binge drinking is a problem, and Alfred Hitchcock seems like he would believe that he didn’t have a problem with alcohol. He enjoyed a lavish lifestyle, including food and drinks, and he might have enjoyed the drinks a little too much.
ReferencesTrenchard-Smith, Brian. “Censored, Part 2: Alfred Hitchcock - Censorship Saboteur.”
Brian Trenchard-Smith, 20 Mar. 2022, https://briantrenchard-smith.com/2022/03/alfred-hitchcock-censorship-saboteur/.
Personality, Pathology, and The Act of Creation: The Case of Alfred Hitchcock. https://peele.net/lib/hitch.html.
9 Things You May Not Know About Alfred Hitchcock.” HISTORY, 19 Sept. 2023, https://www.history.com/news/9-things-you-may-not-know-about-alfred-hitchcock.Specktor, Matthew.
“The Baffling Cruelty of Alfred Hitchcock.” The Atlantic, 9 Nov. 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2023/11/hitchcocks-blondes-laurence-leamer-book/675861/.Evans, Alan.
“Tippi Hedren: Alfred Hitchcock Sexually Assaulted Me.” The Guardian, 31 Oct. 2016. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/oct/31/tippi-hedren-alfred-hitchcock-sexually-assaulted-me.O’Connor, Roisin.
“Dakota Johnson Says Alfred Hitchcock ‘Terrorised’ Her Grandmother Tippi Hedren: ‘He Was Never Held Accountable.’
” The Independent, 13 Nov. 2021. www.independent.co.uk, https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/dakota-johnson-tippi-hedren-hitchcock-b1957101.html.
