Big Idea 5.1 Beneficial and Harmful Effects

Harmful Effects of Computing:

  1. Computing may lead to the application of AI in a majority of fields, which can put humans out of business.

  2. Computing can lead to the massive increase in bullying surfaces, including cyber-bullying, and can result in spam accounts spreading hate and other troll accounts.

  3. Computing can lead to the compromising of important PII, which can put people’s lives in danger.

Positive Effects of Computing

  1. We can optimize tasks that would take an extremely long time manually through computing.

  2. We can make resources that would take a very long time to distribute manually very easily distributable online and through computing platforms.

  3. Humans and computers can work together to put out products that have a positive impact on the world.

CPT Application

For our CPT in specific, I feel that the positives outweigh the negatives. As humans, we are working together with the resources provided by modern day computing to put out a non-biased news platform which can provide state of the art features for users to interact with such as random facts and words being generated, adding news stories, and signing up for instant news updates from a platform without any political agenda.

What are pros/cons on internet blockers at router and lack of admin password on lab machines at school?

Internet blockers on school routers can be useful, as they can prevent students from going on sites that may be completely unrelated to school, allowing them to stay completely focused in the classroom. Furthermore, having internet blockers can prevent cyber attacks at school from unauthorized sites. Some of the cons of having internet blocked at school is that it may motivate some students to get around that blockage, and can result in even more harmful effects in relation to the students’ attention in their classes. As far as not having an admin password on lab machines at school, it is a good thing as it allows for easy access to school resources, but it may not be good as anyone can simply login to the computer and plant harmful viruses on the system or even swipe other another student’s credentials.

What concerns do you have personally about the digital divide? For yourself or for others.

Personally, I feel that the digital divide is already creating a large dent in human and societal interactions. We are becoming much too dependent on computers to do tasks for us, and we are getting glued to the screen instead of going outside and participating in face-to-face interactions like before. Without these human interactions, our society as a whole will become defunct and many tasks which we are currently able to accomplish will become much more complicated.

Talk about dopamine issues above. Real? Parent conspiracy? Anything that is impacting your personal study and success in High School?

I feel that dopamine issues are real. Yes, parents may obsess over it to the point where we feel that it is “fake news”, but dopamine being released from possibly harmful activities can be bad for us in the long run. For example, watching YouTube or playing video games can help us to release a lot of dopamine, as those activities provide us with a stress break, but doing too much of these activities can cause a drop in energy levels, a drop in productivity, and an overall smaller resolve to get up, get physical exercise, go outside, and talk to other people.