1

Final Review & Reflection

Nicholas J Angilley

OGL 340

Dr. William Erwin

February 28th, 2023

Final Review & Reflection

Over the entirety of the duration of this course, I have managed a great deal to put aside

my own personal opinions and assumptions of Artificial Intelligence. Although difficult, gaining

knowledge to have the ability to connect the course material and relation with the current

situation of society at hand was my main goal in the class, which I feel definitely was a success.

Although the information was in fact, a lot to digest, I think the structure of the class was

thoroughly planned to build upon going through the modules in chronological order to help

interpret the complexities of AI. Without going into uncharted depths of the complexities of both

the scientific and technological when it comes to actually developing AI that an average person

may not be inclined, the class really dug deep into the area that does not get examined; the

human aspect.

Module 1 for me was the most eye opening for myself because the previous knowledge

on the subject was made up of hearsay, brief news articles, and my own cynical opinion of the

potential outcomes. The real eye opening experience came from the consumption of how the

deep learning capabilities to date have really come to fruition. Learning how it overall is

interconnected to constantly evolve, analyze information and then optimize the outcomes that

surpassed my imaginations of the capabilities of to date. With that being said, coming to grasp

that the research and development is well past where I had assumed, was the threshold of
 2

approaching the rest of the class with a completely open mind. The information definitely set the

tone for what was expected in regards to the rest of the course material. Lastly, I think the clarity

of the U.S. being number one for developmentation and China being number one for

implementation was necessary, but I felt as though people were not connecting the differences in

culture, government, and lifestyle as to why China is able to be number one globally for AI

implementation.

In module 2, having an understanding as to how AI really works from the previous

module, broke into not only the immediate and potential long term impact of AI. Shining light as

to the positive contributions it can bring to reality such as to job development and growth along

with the economic growth. Trying to decipher where human advantages and capabilities will

have the opportunity compared to implementing AI to replace human capital in repetitive or

“less-skilled” jobs to focus people in areas that can promote growth. There is also the other end

of the spectrum that was brought to light which are the negative impacts that are directly

associated with AI, which I think in a more large scale cynical perspective, definitely outweighs

the majority of its positive impacts. Considering we still have a limited amount of knowledge of

AI’s real capabilities, there is no real way of pinpointing exactly what it will do globally. The

module created a foundational awareness of the overall research based and statistical

probabilities of its impacts on society.

Module 3, dove straight into the sociological impacts of AI which are one of my personal

biggest concerns. Understanding that the medical field will greatly benefit from AI, which will

also greatly benefit society as a whole. It stills brings to question the real intentions of what will

be readily available to the average person. There were also very informative and insightful

aspects brought to question as to Bias being integrated into AI. From the criminal justice
 3

perspective, to the algorithms being directly embedded into the technology, the conversations in

the textbook along with debates from the scientist in the field really enabled me to think deeply

into the what, what, why, when, and how AI will be largely relied on in future societies.

As the former was the sociological impacts, module 4 explained the past, current and

potential future psychological impacts collectively. Considering the decline in mental health and

awareness in society with the technology that is currently in practice, the impact of AI could be

detrimental to the masses in all social classes. The “abuse” of technology on both the tech giant

level down to the individual level will greatly impact how we communicate, travel, work,

essentially all basic human behaviors. Without the masses being educated, the optimistic outlook

of not being abused as a whole, is very slim. There is also a vital, critical, necessity for more

education within the emotional intelligence field at the human level that needs to be implemented

into the education system to then become more self aware along with the potential emotional

intelligence capabilities of AI.

Module 5, collectively took all of the information provided in previous modules, and

provided insights as to how to counter the negative aspects of AI. Shining light as to how current

political, economical, and societal beliefs are in need of a reform in regards to the singularity we

will experience in our lifetime. Understanding that the traditional measurements of our

economical and political health is outdated and not practical with the rapid revolutionary impacts

AI. Reforming the education to understand the difference between capitalism and conscious

capitalism, as well as the necessary foundational knowledge that will enable future generations

to prosper.

Lastly, module 6 had continued to shine light as to the current complexities in our society

that largely deal with the ethical intentions behind the use of AI. Understanding that there will be
 4

a learning curve on an evolutionary perspective to all species on Earth which is to say there will

be a great deal of change globally; and everyone is aware that even the smallest of changes are

painful, especially when it reaches the lengths from individuals to national & international levels.

In conclusion, the overall class was probably one of the most engaging to not only think

in an individualistic mindset, but putting human life in its entirety into perspective. The class was

organized and very interactive with the information gained, and being able to express opinions

amongst classmates and interpersonal networks. The combination of very informative textbooks,

AI Superpowers China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order and The War on Normal

People, directly corresponded with each chapter’s main topics, gave insight, and very interesting

perspectives on AI. Along with the choice of textbooks, the specific videos (I cannot express this

enough) significantly assisted with understanding the human side of artificial intelligence. The

videos were all very engaging, full of information, and entertaining to really understand and

connect the complexities of AI, and I can confidently say I am familiar with the majority of areas

that will greatly affect human life as we know it. Not to “kiss ass” but Dr. Erwin, without your

teaching abilities, tactics, and overall openness made the class all more enjoyable and

consumable. The yellowdig discussions actually gave value to interpretation, instead of just a

check in the box for completion. The fact that you went to the lengths of showing the classes

statistical data from our interviews and personal surveys gave intrinsic value to what we as a

whole were learning. There are very few online based courses that I can really attain and retain

information, and this is definitely one of them.