discussion and reply to a peer post | Coursehero Helper

I’m studying for my Social Science class and don’t understand how to answer this. Can you help me study?

Sometimes it is helpful to get an outside perspective. In your discussion post, describe your selected social science issue and include two relevant questions that social science professionals (e.g., psychologists, sociologists, or anthropologists) might be interested in.

In response to your peers, add a relevant question or summary that will support them in narrowing the investigative focus for their topic/issue.

To complete this assignment, review the Discussion Rubric document.

Peer 1

Good evening everyone,

The social science issue that I am proposing for investigation is “social attitudes towards artificial intelligence”.

Artificial intelligence (commonly referred to as “AI”) is essentially the body of work related to building “intelligence” into computers. Traditionally speaking, computers execute strict commands that are programmed by humans; they are essentially advanced calculators, appearing to make complex decisions, when in fact, every single decision a computer makes is based on its human programmer. In other words, computers are great at following orders and doing math very quickly, but they are not necessarily intelligent. How many times has your own computer simply “froze” or “locked-up” on you? This is your computer blindly executing commands without questioning if the commands are accurate or may cause it to lock up.

Artificial intelligence is different. With AI, programmers are not simply asking a computer to blindly execute commands. Instead, they are asking a computer to learn to make decisions on its own, re-programming itself based on new information that becomes available and from things it has learned from the past.

You may be thinking…what does this have to do with Social Science? That would be a great question. Experts already predict that as artificial intelligence improves and evolves, it is very likely that AI will replace many of today’s desirable and high-paying white-collar jobs. For example, even today, an AI application can search hundreds of thousands of legal documents and records in minutes; work that would have taken lawyers and their teams hundreds of hours to complete. AI has also been shown to be better at identifying tiny anomalies on high-resolution CT scans than any human doctor. (Haenlein & Kaplan, 2019).

The reason I chose this social science issue is that I feel strongly that artificial intelligence will have a dramatic impact on society over the coming decades. Social scientists of the future will be called upon to study these impacts and propose solutions to myriad social/societal issues created by artificial intelligence.

Some example questions that a social scientist may ask today include:

• [Psychologist] Will increased interaction with artificial intelligence lead to higher rates of depression?
• [Anthropologist] Does a cultures adoption of advanced technologies affect its sense of identity?
• [Sociologist] Does the use of artificial intelligence influence a communities trust in their local government? For example, if a city uses cameras and facial recognition to search for known criminals, will regular citizens feel that their own privacy is being violated?

I’d love to hear some feedback on my choice of a social science issue. Do my social science questions make sense? Don’t hold back, I’d prefer honest responses so I can improve my approach, if needed.

Looking forward to the discussion.

Thanks,
Clyde

Reference:

Haenlein, M., & Kaplan, A. (2019). A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence: On the Past, Present, and Future of Artificial Intelligence. California Management Review, 61(4), 5–14. https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1177/0008125619864925