Was life better offline? Writers and actors accuse AI of stealing their work. TikTok has been linked with latter-day witch trials. Some say the internet has broken our society.
The internet: 'Harsh, cynical, illiterate'
Was life better offline? Writers and actors accuse AI of stealing their work. TikTok has been linked with latter-day witch trials. Some say the internet has broken our society.
In the 19th Century, Americans came to believe that it was their "manifest destiny" to occupy the whole of North America. No matter that it already belonged to the Native AmericansThe indigenous people of the Americas, who lived in the region before settlers from other places.. American settlers began to push West.
In the vast expanses of land in which they settled, there was no government. It was a place where people could be free, but without laws, violence was common.
Now some experts think the same thing is happening all over again online.
Governments lack the knowhow or the will to regulateMake rules or create a group to control an activity. the internet. So people behave in the same way that they did two centuries ago. Sometimes they abuse this freedom.
But the difference with the Wild West is that the internet is everywhere. So the chaos it causes is global.
A few months ago, voice actor Greg Marston found an online AIA computer programme that has been designed to think. tool that converts text to speech. It was speaking with his own voice.
The company responsible had bought his voice from IBMAn American multinational technology company. It's longer name is The International Business Machines Corporation., to whom Marston had sold it in 2005. He could not know he would one day be competing with an AI version of himself.
Writers are also losing control of their own work. And Spotify just yesterday said it would take no action against AI-generated music, causing angst for musicians.
That is why some think it is time to accept the internet has been bad for humanity.
Some psychologistsScientists who study the mind and behaviour. warn that the internet is making us unhappy. On social media, people project an ideal image of their lives that makes other users feel dissatisfied with their own.
And there is evidence the internet is shortening our attention spans. In 1984, 35% of American children said they read for pleasure almost every day. Now it is just 17%.1
But others say we should not be so quick to judge. The internet can be a social lifeline. Surveys have consistently found that internet users have more life satisfaction than non-users. And it gives us free access to all the world's knowledge.
Was life better offline?
Yes: Before the internet, people could spend their time reading and learning. They were happier and less anxious. Not only has it robbed us of all that, but now it is threatening to put us all out of work as well.
No: The internet has given us access to opportunities for learning and growing that we could never previously have dreamt of. We cannot blame it if we are making bad choices about how to use it.
Or... There is no way of going back to an offline world. All we can do is try to get the internet under our control so it does not wreck people's lives.
Keywords
Native Americans - The indigenous people of the Americas, who lived in the region before settlers from other places.
Regulate - Make rules or create a group to control an activity.
AI - A computer programme that has been designed to think.
IBM - An American multinational technology company. It's longer name is The International Business Machines Corporation.
Psychologists - Scientists who study the mind and behaviour.
The internet: ‘Harsh, cynical, illiterate’
Glossary
Native Americans - The indigenous people of the Americas, who lived in the region before settlers from other places.
Regulate - Make rules or create a group to control an activity.
AI - A computer programme that has been designed to think.
IBM - An American multinational technology company. It's longer name is The International Business Machines Corporation.
Psychologists - Scientists who study the mind and behaviour.