Artificial Intelligence

After watching the movie, I learned that artificial intelligence is a form of computer science that is disturbed with creating machines that are able to do tasks that need intelligence from humans. I believe that there are many positive and negative aspects of this technology. To begin with, it is a quick way to get the information you need because computers do not usually make stupid, silly mistakes. If you need to find out information last minute, this technology is perfect for that. It can do so much in such a little amount of time. 

On the other hand, there are also negatives to everything. People do not think a lot about how much information this technology actually knows about one individual. From face recognition, to an "Alexa" in your kitchen, to looking up things on the internet, there is such little information the in genuinely private. I also believe that it is very expensive. For example, almost everyone uses technology nowadays for communication, social media, and news. This can get very expensive especially for people who cannot officially afford it, but still want the newest technology to keep up with everyone.

Smith Mundt Act

The Smith Mundt Act  was an amendment to the United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948. It allowed certain materials produced by the State Department to be distributed outside the U.S. In 1945, this act was first introduced by Karl E. Mundt who was a congressman. Then, in 1948, it was finally signed into law by President Truman. The Smith Mundt Act enabled the State Department to communicate with other countries through book publication, broadcasting, magazines, and other media communication. The issue was whether or not the State Department could be counted on to create and distribute all of these products. There were also concerns that this act gave the State Department too much power to decide what information represented the United States to foreign countries. 

The Smith Mundt Act affects society in many ways because people considered it propaganda. For example, after World War II, many people in the United States had a lot of negative thoughts of government propaganda because of censorship and false, inaccurate information. Almost everyone also had a really bad feeling about propaganda in general because of anti-Jew and pro-Nazi information spreading throughout Germany during the 1930s. The Smith Mundt Act and the distribution of inaccurate information could also affect myself personally and my entire generation. This is because of how much time we spend all over the internet and how much social media influences us. It is so easy for teens, adults, and even children nowadays to be manipulated with information as lots of facts or rumors are easily spread. These rumors may help or hurt a cause, institution, or even a person. 

In 2012, the Smith Mundt Act was amended, making a new set of laws that addressed publicly-funded broadcasting. This revision allows materials produced by the State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors to be spread within the United States of America, while the original Act allowed this information to be shared within outside countries. This revision provides great transparency to the American people regarding publications by the United States Agency for Global media, and similar news organizations funded by the federal government. The new law also takes into account modern technology and context, such as social media, the internet, and satellite broadcasting. This transparency can ensure that the American people can have access to uncensored, accurate reports that are not biased. It also allows open debate and discussion, which is not always found in mainstream media. I think this is important because it helps to avoid the distribution of propaganda from the government. Under the new law, these government-funded news networks must present information that is accurate and objective, not biased, which will prevent misleading the public or the promotion of a specific political agenda.