Introduction
In 2008, Nicolas Carr published an article titled “Is Google making Us Stupid?” in an American Magazine, the Atlantic. With its personal mention, the author appeals to all Internet users with a risky question. Carr contemplates historical evidence of people’s minds being affected by a new type of medium, comparing it to the struggles many have had since starting to search online daily. Although the author discusses the influence of the entire Internet on human brains, he brings attention to Google’s founders’ idea of developing artificial intelligence that would be sufficient to supplement a person. In his article, Nicolas Carr draws a precise understanding of the Internet’s influence; however, his prospects of the consequences of such technology are extremely dark and pessimistic.
The Internet’s Side-Effects
The side-effects of the never-ending screen time of the generation are plain. Nicolas Carr begins his article with the description of him and his colleagues experiencing the results of easily accessible information on the Internet (1). Short attention span and prioritization of processing speed or efficiency of information absorption are the by-products of searching online. On the example of Frederic Nietzsche and his typewriter and the invention of a clock, the article makes an argument about the influence of technology on human minds in the past (Carr 4). With the proof that such events have already taken place before the appearance of the Internet, Carr predicts future changes in media. The popularity of apps for scrolling short news synopses and 15-second videos demonstrates that Carr’s prognosis came true as humans became more reluctant to spend their time on intense reading or watching.
Criticism of Technology in The Past
In the article, Carr addresses the skeptics of his ideas by yet again drawing examples from the past. He discusses Socrates’s criticism of writing, which would allegedly cease the exercise of memory and the existence of true wisdom (Carr 6). However, the author mentions that despite Socrates’s fear of the effects new technology has brought, he was short-sighted on the possibilities and benefits it would produce (Carr 6). Similarly, the invention of Gutenberg’s printing press used to worry scholars about the undermined value of books and the development of less studious minds (Carr 6). Some of the fears were not baseless; however, these event’s contemporaries were unable to imagine the aid printed books would have for the world.
The Future with Artificial Intelligence
With both evidence of the effects technology has on people’s minds and the historical precedent of skepticism being overturned by the incredible usefulness and convinces of the devices, Carr returns to Google’s aspiration. He turns the desire to create an artificial brain with access to all knowledge into the idea of a brain that does not require processing thoughts (Carr 5). Comparing such a prospect to the end of Stanley Kubrick’s A Space Odyssey, Nicolas Carr concludes with the understanding of people’s minds being flattened into artificial intelligence (5). Such a depressing and fearful idea is comparable to one of Socrates and the critics of the printing press.
Conclusion
Nicolas Carr’s article forms a good understanding of the influence technology has on the human brain and draws a pessimistic conclusion on its future trajectory. The author compares the effects of Nietzsche’s typewriter and a clock with the thought process that the Internet dictates nowadays. The past criticism and skepticism of newly introduced media are similar to one of the contemporary world. Despite admitting to the existence of such attitudes towards beneficial and helpful technology in the past, Carr makes a similarly fearful prediction of the future of artificial intelligence. I can’t entirely agree with the author’s stance, yet I approve of his historical evidence, demonstrating the possible immeasurable benefits of Internet technology.
Work Cited
Carr, Nicholas. “ls Google making Us Stupid?”. The Atlantic Monthly, vol. 302, no.1, 2008, pp. 1-6.