We are the media. The media has been with us since the beginning of time, whether you believe in the Old Earth or New Earth. Each and every one of us has a real history, an actual archive of where we came from. The media has travelled with us through time, encountering artificial intelligence and questioning what the future may hold for human life. Advancements in technology could shift the way we communicate with people. The media will continue to be with us though, even if some sort of super intelligence controls us, because the media is archived in our lives forever, for we are the media.
The archaic root of the media began six thousand years ago. For some though, the root is much deeper. For those that believe in a monotheistic religion, six thousand years ago is the creation of not only man but the spoken form of communication as well. This root began at the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Here, the “heavenly tape” of the Book of Life began; the life of the human’s origin or archive began here. When talking about religion and God, a subject that can come up is angels. Angels are in existence to protect and guide us human beings as well as carry out God’s tasks. Angels are the messengers of God, protecting us along our path of life, which makes me wonder, are we the media of the angels? If we carry out God’s tasks, doesn’t that mean that we are his media? Are we not the “Sims” of God? He has created this world for us to live in, with plants, animals, and people to interact with. Could it be said that it is His virtual world we are living in? He made it possible for humans to communicate and to get their ideas across to one another, as well as creating an archive that we live in. It was stated in class that we are digital creatures, guided along on a path that is always on play. If we are digital creatures, when will the rest of life become digitalized and artificial intelligence be the norm?
Computers are a part of modern media. Google helps us find certain articles, facts, and stories. Computers also allow us to play games, allowing us to become our avatar. With all the advancements computers have brought to us, will computers actually succeed the human race? Artificial intelligence is the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, such as intelligent computer programs. Alan Turing was the inventor of the Turing test, which tests a machine’s ability to demonstrate intelligent behavior. In the test, a human engages in a conversation with another human and a computer, designed to generate a conversation indistinguishable from that of a human. If the human cannot tell the difference between the machine and the other human, then the computer is said to have passed the Turing test. If this type of testing was being done in the 1950s, what is to come of this? Could computers actually be as convincing and realistic in conversation as a human being? This produces a curiosity within me: will we live our lives within computers? The computer serves us with information. With advancements in technology every day, maybe one day we will have to serve the computers. Or will we even know the difference if computers are so life-like?
With artificial intelligence a possibility, singularity is a factor that may become a reality for our future. This singularity refers to a hypothetical future appearance of a greater-than-human intelligence through technological means. Would that mean that these “super intelligences” design the future generations to come, as if they are the controllers of the humans, or “Sims”? Today, we can play games against the computer online, such as Jeopardy!. If the computer can beat us at that game, what will occur with the increasing technological advancements? Will the computer be able to build a skyscraper without our help? Maybe the life of a virtual world or video game is to be our day to day life.
These are all unknown aspects of the future, but one thing for sure is the importance of actuality. We know we have a real history or an actual archive. We have an account of where we come from. We may be digital creatures on play, where one day we could have conversations with computers and have our “God” be a freshman in college controlling our lives like on the Sims. Whatever our future may turn out to be, we have our archive, our story in the Book of Life. Our origin began there and our origin is the beginning of the media. I may not know what the future may be—our media may solely be through computers, being in their virtual world. What I do know is that without a doubt we originated and created the media, and the media will continue. We are the media.
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