Authorship, Entrepreneurship, and AI

We had the privilege as a class to talk with Erik Hanberg, an accomplished author and entrepreneur who has been navigating around the rapid growth of AI in our workspaces. Erik shared his years of experiences telling us about the dangers and successes he's faced and what he predicts to come in the future. Today we'll be focused around my line of questions, why I asked those questions, and and how both of our journey's will change with the changes made through AI. A line that stuck with me is when Erik brought up how we (software engineers) shouldn't look forward to the job market especially for when we graduate. In my opinion he's right, this isn't just like when the internet came out. When the internet became big it forced many companies to shut down because it was no longer needed because of an easier way of completing whatever the company was responsible for online. Now with AI, the jobs aren't being created, it's being wiped out. There is a black hole in the software job market due to AI taking over the entree level jobs forcing hundreds of thousands of jobs to go obsolete because a "robot" can do their job. Erik brings up how even in the Authors realm there is a huge rift with AI as well in many categories. He brings up how there is an entire section dedicated towards AI writing and some people even bypass that to then flood the book spaces with AI written books that is ruining the other authors engagements. Even with audio books there is now a shortage of the need of voice actors since now you can create audio messages with AI that can take the voice of anyone famous and even with some information it can take your voice as well. After hearing all of this my questions started flying since I am in the field of technology, I had to understand what my future could hold. My first question had to do with Erik's career and what made him cater towards people online. Online spaces allow Erik to build that relationship and reach a more global audience that authors back then never had the opportunity to do. Frankly, it's much easier to sell online compared to in person. When you look at the evolution of books you can see that over time we went from ancient scripts to physical book copies to digital formats to now audio books with no visual words. Erik told us about the shift of how readers and their transformation on how they'll get their books. There is now AI books that can make a never ending story that the reader could feed more information into. You'll be able to read something that essentially you created but without the help of authors. These type of advancements can be very harmful and also redefine how readers engage with texts. When you look at AI and careers, Erik spoke against diving into the fields if your following the trend. That isn't bad advice to be honest. Many people are following this trend of becoming junior engineers due to the money but if you were able to instead dive more into the roles of things like AI and creativity like user experience design, ethical AI consulting, data structuring and/or much more. When you look at AI and authors I brought up the fact that it seems like AI is replacing authors. Erik was bit more optimistic on this question due to the creativity of authors compared to AI. He talked about how even though AI can write an infinite amount, it can never compare to the human mind and the creativity of our story telling. I believe we can tie that into any job, I believe that I can maintain the same mentality that Erik shared about how our brains and creativity can not be recreated or overthrown by AI.  

StartUp.com

A promising tech startup booms during the dot com era! Today we're going to pay close attention to the rise and fall of GovWorks. 

GovWorks, founded by Kaleil Tuzman and Tom Herman, created a company that would make it easier for people to interact with their local government. This could help with things like paying parking tickets and taxes. When we hear of innovations that can make our live easier we start to think two things: It's gonna make a lot of money (due to convenience) and everyones gonna want to do it because it makes life easy. The creators had the mindset of essentially modernizing our governments services to the public by building this online hassle free variation. If you think about the amazing things we have accomplished today with online technology it might seem hard for the people of today to understand but this type of innovation was ahead of the curb. The problem that comes with innovation is having many problems to deal with. When you create something especially in tech, there really isn't a blueprint to solve. Everyday there can be a multitude of problems that you have to be ready to face (things you've never encountered before) and this company had to deal with the same thing. When you add issues from the technical perspective, the competition pool, and problems from within the company, you can really see the struggles faced inside the documentary. The documentary highlights the behind the scenes of the downfall of GovWorks and its struggles. 

During the late 1990's the explosion of the new internet companies made people want to be the next overnight success. This drew entrepreneurs with big dreams and potential to try new things. Startup.com took this step and also took the risks that came with it. Two childhood friends, Tuzman and Herman, started this new company as mentioned before to revolutionize peoples interactions with the government. Something that we learn from the film is that it isn't just about the groups teamwork to get the company going, there's a huge factor of navigating challenges and facing failures. You can see the pressure of the company get stronger but weaker with its relationships within. When you're watching the film you can see that it isn't just a film but a lesson to the world. What I took from it is that success can seem appealing but the path to get there is beyond challenging. What I took away from seeing these people battling from within and without was by seeing the unique glimpse of doom. As a student it really reminded me that relationships on business can really shape everything. The film left me with an important reminder that even though innovation is indeed the key, navigating problems with adaptability and solid teamwork could change everything as well. 

Online Scavenger Hunt!

Discovering the Internet's Depths Through an Online Scavenger Hunt

This week, we delved into a valuable lesson about search engines, the everyday tools we often take for granted. We learned that it's surprisingly easy to uncover information online. Once something is posted it can linger indefinitely, waiting for someone curious enough to find it. An experience I had years ago came flooding back to me, I once stumbled upon an old forum thread from 2002 where Somali people were debating whether P Diddy might be of Somali descent and, if so, which tribe he might belong to. As a Somali myself, this blew my mind! Not only was I surprised by the subject matter (seriously, P Diddy and Somali tribes?), but I was in disbelief that my community was having these conversations on online forums more than 20 years ago. Growing up, I didn’t have much access to the internet since computers were so expensive. I never realized people were logging in daily, discussing niche topics, sharing ideas, and connecting worldwide. The internet back then was already this intricate web of connections and endless information.

Our recent class scavenger hunt really drove this home. When we came across a question about "Mr. Fry and his divorced middle sister's name," I thought, "I could probably find that if it's posted somewhere online." It felt like I was only scratching the surface of what's out there, imagining how easily AI could eventually piece together obscure information for us in a flash. Reflecting on this experience made me appreciate the depth of the internet and our ability to explore it. This scavenger hunt wasn't just a task, it was a glimpse into the real virtual world.