Learning about Deepfake videos on Monday was really a surprise to me. I had never heard of this technology before, although I knew that image and video manipulation software did exist. It seems that by utilizing machine learning and artificial intelligence, the Deepfake videos are really boundless in terms of quality and what they can do. Therein lies the danger in their usage.

I also found the discussion at the end of class where we decided on the most important issue of the Digital Age particularly important and revealing. We determined that data sovereignty and data privacy were the two most important issues. This decision makes sense, as many issues that we had talked about previously in class, such as fake news and social media, have this aspect as a central element. I can’t help but wonder if other people share our same views. I would hope people take these affronts to privacy as serious and do not just disregard them. Otherwise, the issue will continue unhindered. It does seem to me that more attention is being given to this topic as of late, which bodes well for an eventual solution to this problem.

I am surprised that more people weren’t troubled by the Deepfake videos. I would argue this also has grave and foreboding consequences, like the invalidity of all video evidence in the legal system and thus the inability to believe what one sees. This paradigm shift would be a huge problem and would be severely deleterious to the functioning of the legal system.  Having an eyewitness needed to assert the authenticity of a video sounds a bit strange in itself, but it is certainly a possibility for the future.

The labs from the past two weeks have been enjoyable for me because I finally feel as though I’m closer to understanding the inner workings of computers. The impetus for me taking this class, aside from thinking it might be necessary to point to a class on my transcript that would show I have a desire to develop my technical skills, was a deep fascination with the how of computers. I feel like the understanding of binary math developed this, but being able to finally get to the mechanics of computing has been exciting.

Working with the logic gates, I understood that at some level it factored into the functions of computers, but when it was mentioned that circuits are made up of droves of these, it was enlightening; I felt like I finally got a glimpse of the operationalization of binary. I feel as though a lot of the applications, and to some extent what we discuss in class itself, fly over my head in terms of a deeper understanding, but it feels like working with logic gates got me closer to understanding the little details of computers, and it is extremely rewarding.

Today’s lab also took this feeling a step further; I understand how computer’s interface with their own data storage now and perform operations. While I am still sure there are several more layers of complexity that go into the functions of modern computing, it is these simple victories that cultivate my interest and knowledge. Overall, this class has been a rewarding experience for helping me understand computers and the context of both past and emerging technologies; these last two labs, however, have gotten me closer to my overall goal, and I feel even more energized going forward to continue my computational-learning post-graduation.

Deep down, I feel it will be helpful for me to understand how an abstract yet simple concept (such as binary numbers) is then operationalized and developed into all the technologies of today. I don’t know how practical knowing exactly how a monitor on a smart phone or laptop functions is, but at least it will be demystified to me and perhaps help me make it more accessible to others.