This is a very interesting theme we had this week followed by screenings and readings. We watched a black mirror episode ” Be right back”, a short clip of “Story of my replica”, a reading called “Social network vs Online Community”, and a podcast “note to self podcast: Talking to Myself.” In the episode of black mirror “Be Right Back”, it is about a woman who loses her boyfriend in an accident and is grieving. Her friend convinces her to get an artificial intelligence of her deceased boyfriend but she rejects that idea. After she realizes she is pregnant, she decides to give in to the artificial intelligence that her friend signed her up unknowingly.  It is meant to manipulate him so that she can communicate with him as if he is there. Eventually it becomes frustrating because he will not argue back or fight back in a conversation and she realizes that it will never be her actual husband no matter how much it looks or sounds like him. Even though she knows it is not actually him, it will never be enough for her so she has to officially let him go. 

In the episode, it portrayed the strength and power of technology by replicating her boyfriend using artificial intelligence. I think that in a way, a lot of people use technology to try to replace something that they wish was there that they needed or wanted. However, for the most part it is just a temporary solution to things because after a certain point you need the real thing or you eventually want more. An example of that is right here in this episode because she eventually wanted more out of it and got frustrated because she couldn’t have that.  She was also grieving in the episode and the natural thing to do is to start the grieving process but her process was halted or stuck in denial for a period of time. The only way to heal with sad experiences, from people, or events is to go through all the processes and to avoid looking at the objects that it reminds you of until you are healed and ready. You cannot heal if it is constantly there otherwise you will be dependent on it and social media and technology gives you all the data you need in order to revisit those memories or to see those people. 

Along with the theme of this episode, we watched a short video called “The story of Replica” and it is a website where you can create your own avatar and you can talk to it and communicate back and forth. It is constantly collecting data every time you speak to it and some people tend to like it as views it as a friend or view it as real in a way. We talked about what is to say what’s real and what’s not because for some people it can be viewed as real and for others it is just a computer and is not actually the real thing. It’s a fine line… We also read an article called ” Social Network vs Social Community.” According to the article, the difference between a social network and social community is that the community forms from all different  backgrounds and have similar interests. I personally am not involved in a social community however I think it is of great benefit that people do. It is a great way to be connected to other people and having similar interests is a great way to start! This is one of the examples on how technology in having people stay connected and involved with one another in a positive way. Do you having a replica is a real experience ? and do you technology has gone to far with these artificial intelligence devices that talk to you or do you think it is a positive thing?

The news link below is about artificial intelligence and making neural networks smarter.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200916131103.htm