Comms Law & Ethics: Parkinson, AJ

Frontline Documentary - In the Age of AI  Well that was a pretty disturbing 2 hours that I will never get back. "In the Age of AI," is a  two-hour PBS Frontline documentary released more than five years ago discussing how artificial intelligence is reshaping society. The movie highlights both optimism and the evils that can result from AI. As fast as AI is progressing it was surprising how much has already changed. Key Notes from the Documentary: Global AI race, rivalry between the United States and China.  The transformative potential of AI. Experts highlight how self-learning algorithms can process vast amounts of information to solve complex problems, showcasing applications ranging from advanced medical diagnostics—such as predicting cancer development—to the creation of self-driving vehicles that could drastically reduce traffic accidents. (note some of these applications are already being in motion today just five years after the documentary) Scary warnings about t...

  “Why is the U.S. government the best government in the world?” There are lots of reasons I believe our democracy is the best, but others may not agree. The answer really lies in how persuasive someone can be. ”That’s the beauty of argument, if you argue correctly, you’re never wrong.” This is a stand-out quote from the movie Thank you for Smoking.  The movie explores the ethical issues and the role of lobbyists in promoting products. Nick Naylor, the protagonist, is a lobbyist and Chief Spokesperson at Big Tobacco. He lobbies for cigarette companies, while trying to be a role model for his son Joey. He meets every week with other lobbyists from alcohol and firearms industries, calling themselves the MOD (Merchants of Death). He fights the anti-smoking campaign from Senator Ortolan Finistirre who is trying to get cigarette companies to put the skull & cross bones picture and warning on their packaging. The underlying theme questions how far are you willing to stretch you...

    In my opinion, I think it comes down to how mainstream news decides what they will cover in the daily news. There's a theory called "Indexing" from a scholar Lance Bennett, that says news outlet tend to only report the range of opinions the politicians in Washington are already debating about. So if no one in Congress is seriously arguing against a war, the media treats being firmly antiwar as outside mainstream view even if a lot of people actually believe in that view. I also think that some of these big news companies don't want to seem too opinionated in one direction because that will make them seem like activists, instead of neutral reporters, which isn't great for their brand or their sponsors.      I've seen antiwar protests, and activists, but I never seen or heard of the actual websites. This is true for a lot of people. I don't believe is't anything of hiding the information, but more about resources, and algorithms. Big, well known news...

  “Why is the U.S. government the best government in the world?” There are lots of reasons I believe our democracy is the best, but others may not agree. The answer really lies in how persuasive someone can be. ”That’s the beauty of argument, if you argue correctly, you’re never wrong.” This is a stand-out quote from the movie Thank you for Smoking.  The movie explores the ethical issues and the role of lobbyists in promoting products. Nick Naylor, the protagonist, is a lobbyist and Chief Spokesperson at Big Tobacco. He lobbies for cigarette companies, while trying to be a role model for his son Joey. He meets every week with other lobbyists from alcohol and firearms industries, calling themselves the MOD (Merchants of Death). He fights the anti-smoking campaign from Senator Ortolan Finistirre who is trying to get cigarette companies to put the skull & cross bones picture and warning on their packaging. The underlying theme questions how far are you willing to stretch you...