Perhaps the
most shining quality of Michael Welsh’s “The machine is us/ing us” is how
relevant it still remains seven years later. The video presents how information
on the web, such as text, images, and video, all which are being viewed and
uploaded millions of times each day, in turn, is teaching “the machine”, and
how “the machine is using us.” What “the machine” is exactly isn’t explained.
To my understanding, “the machine” is up to interpretation from the viewer. My
approach is more literal, where “the machine” is the actual device that
connects us to the web.
This
reminds me of an instance from when I moved back here to Washington last year.
During the summer I went camping with my best friends, but during the entire
trip, a particular friend wouldn’t stop starting at her phone. She was
desperately hoping for phone signal a dozen miles away from civilization.
Instead of enjoying her time camping, she spent most of her time trying to
connect online. In essence, it definitely seemed like “the machine” was using
her, as she became addicted to being connected online. Instead of taking the
chance to enjoy the “real” world, she instead chose to waste her time trying to
connect to the virtual world.
During the
time since Michael’s video had been published, we’ve encountered numerous
controversies mentioned in his video. Near the end of the video it reads “We’ll
need to rethink…” followed by several topics such as “copyrights”, “identity”,
and “ethics”. Over recent years the internet has been the battle ground for
many controversies and discussion surrounding these topics. These kinds of
issues may never go away, but they may be necessary for the evolving virtual
world.
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