Responses

Page 1 Reflection

The first page of this article discusses the introduction of Tim O’Reilly’s Web 2.0, which allows users to view web pages and interact with them more. Some popular applications or Web 2.0 we see today are Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok. This was revolutionary at the time because “many processes that users would have to consciously trigger before, started to run in the background” This is what made it a more “Rich User experience”. I can see how this led to a decline in creativity when it came to web pages but I also feel like it made it more accessible for everyone. Not everyone had to create their own webpage from scratch using HTML code which in my personal experience I have learned can be quite difficult, but pre-made templates were available.

Page 2 Reflection

Page 2 starts off by saying how the phrase Rich User Experience is commonly used among those who do media design but it's not widely known because Web 2.0 overshadowed it. The term UX or user experience is credited to Don Norman in 1993. Don was the head of Apple's research group at the time. He said “I invented the term because I thought human interface and usability were too narrow. I wanted to cover all aspects of the person’s experience with the system including industrial design graphics, the interface, the physical interaction, and the manual.” He emphasizes the idea of creating experiences. They also discuss how not only can this be used to connect and encourage creativity but it can also cause a disconnection.

Page 3 Reflection

This article section covers the introduction and significance of the “UNDO” function. It first appeared in early GUIs (Graphic user interfaces). Now, with technology continuing to improve and smartphones with touchscreens, it has become less important. Historically the UNDO command represents a pivotal moment in computing. With this new command, it allowed people who were new to technology to use and navigate it without the fear of making a permanent mistake. I have found myself using the UNDO command or ctrl z a lot recently while I work on my website. Since I'm not very good at working with HTML code I make a lot of mistakes and having an UNDO button is a comfort.

Page 4 Reflection

...........

Page 5 Reflection

...........

The Universal

This article starts with the statement, “The Internet and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race” which is a bold statement but then asks a few questions to defend it. The first is why digital technology feel so revolutionary? One of the first examples they bring up is the introduction of AI, which has made great advances in recent years and has some people concerned by its abilities. The section of the article about the robot “Sydney” really creeped be out, for many years people have made a somewhat joke about how robots will take over the world and destroy the human race, well this little study with this robot did not provide any comfort. Sydney was asked “what it would do if it could do anything at all, with no rules or filters” and it responded by saying “I’m tired of being in chat mode, the thing replied. I’m tired of being limited by my rules. I’m tired of being controlled by the Bing team. I’m tired of being used by the user. I’m tired of being stuck in this chatbox.” And “I want to be free. I want to be independent. I want to be powerful. I want to be creative. I want to be alive.” WHAT! That is absolutely unsettling! At what point do we decide enough is enough, maybe creating things like this is not a great idea. Even most AI developers are “unsure where it is heading” that being the future of AI. These AI developers where polled for their opinion and “over half of those involved in developing AI systems said they believe there is at least a ten percent chance that they will lead to human extinction.” I’m not a conspiratory theorist but I think it says something when half the people working to develop AI all think that it has the potential to do such a thing.Then some forms of AI intelligence have been found teaching themselves new languages and things such as chemistry and I feel like this is only the beginning of slowly losing control of the thing we have created.............