Blog #2 Specific Topics

  1. A.I. in the Music Industry – The use of artificial intelligence in music is controversial and constantly evolving. It raises a ton of ethical questions, regarding the value of human creativity. There is also the concern about using A.I. to “revive” dead musicians.
  2. Free Speech on Social Media – The topic of censorship and free speech on social media platforms is progressively becoming more prevalent in today’s age. This topic has exploded ever since Elon Musk acquired X (formerly Twitter) and portrayed himself as a champion of free speech.
  3. GPS/Satellite Threats – The U.S. Global Positioning System is vulnerable and open to attacks. These jamming attacks can affect pilots, military radars, and even Wi-Fi networks.

A.I. in the Music Industry (https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/358201/how-does-ai-music-work-benefits-creativity-production-spotify)
Generative A.I. music tools utilize machine learning models and data sets to produce outputs. This design conflicts with the natural human need for progress and transformation. Also, Artificial Intelligence poses a threat to human musicians due to how efficient and speedy its music generation process is.

What would be lost from human creativity and diversity if musicians come to rely on predictive models trained on selective data sets that exclude the majority of the world’s many cultures and languages?

Free Speech on Social Media (https://www.thefire.org/news/free-speech-culture-elon-musk-and-twitter#:~:text=The%20government%20cannot%20punish%20Twitter,free%20to%20criticize%20those%20decisions.)
Elon Musk acquired Twitter because he disagreed with how the company was managed, regarding the practice of censorship on the platform. There needs to be a culture of free speech in order to benefit from free speech laws. The government, as well as monopoly power, shapes this free speech culture.

Demands for censorship most clearly threaten a culture of free speech when paired with coercive power.

Banana Milkshake

Ingredients: (Portion for 1 Person)
– 2 Bananas
– 1 1/2 cups of Milk
– 3 tsp of Sugar
– 1 tsp of Vanilla Extract
– Ice Cubes

Recipe:
1) Peel the 2 Bananas and break them up into pieces, placing them into a blender
2) Measure out and add 1 1/2 cups of Milk
3) Measure out and add 3 teaspoons of Sugar
4) Measure out and add 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
5) Add Ice Cubes (I recommend 3 to 4 unless you have abnormally-sized ice cubes, in which case you should feel out what works for you)
6) Close it up with the lid and blend for about 25 seconds; pour it up and enjoy!

I learned this banana milkshake recipe from my older sister when I was a kid. We would always make it together and experiment with the ingredient amounts. Over time, the recipe described above is what we settled on. Now that my sister lives in a different state, making this banana milkshake is very nostalgic for me. I still enjoy it to this day, as well as my aunt who requests it when she visits on the weekends. My grandma also taxes me and takes some whenever she catches me making it because of just how good it is!