So our Gen Z's are gradually and dominantly storming and taking over the world, especially in the area of social media platforms. Youngsters who were born between the years 1997 and the 2000s are addressed as the Generation of Zoomers (Generation Z) of our time. If you were born before this period, then Gen Z calls you old-school or old-fashioned. Haha
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Although the Internet was initially invented in 1968, so many innovations and modifications had been made in the time past before we have it as it is today. Social platforms like Facebook and Twitter (now known as X) were introduced in the 2000s. These platforms serve as an avenue for sharing and receiving information.
Since the invention of the internet, it has brought both significant and adverse effects to the world at large. While we look at the significant progress and achievements that the Internet has brought especially in the areas of education; lecture materials are easily accessible on the Internet these days, and the Google engine provides answers to questions and details during research processes.
Students as well as researchers can conveniently get their paperwork done in good time. school pupils are also not left out, through careful observations and study, one would notice that children exposed to digital methods of learning retain more knowledge and are way smarter than those who are taught manually.
Now with the invention of artificial intelligence (AI), things just got easier, as they are built up with the capacity of simulating human intelligence and solve problems. Educators, classroom teachers, pupils, students, and researchers can now depend on AI to make their work easy, convenient, and time-saving. A student given an assignment by the teacher, no longer need to worry about it or be anxious when waiting for his or her results. Assessment and grading can be achieved within a short time.
There are other aspects of life that the internet especially social media platforms have greatly impacted in society and the world at large; industries, companies, small and medium scale, businesses, health care, etc are grabbing the opportunity to improve their productivity and sales. Social media platforms as a medium of connection and communication play an important role in advertising and informing prospective clients about the goods and services offered.
However, there may be some disadvantages or adverse effects of this innovation, I would emphasize more about education. The first is total reliance and dependence on AI for everything, these can instigate laziness, especially on the part of the students. As much as the AI is built by human intelligence and its interaction is programmed, this can minimize the potential and capabilities of the subject (in this case the student or researcher).
Imagine, I am asked to write an essay or a business proposal and all I do is rely on AI to write a beautiful and perfect essay; devoid of errors, I probably would score a good grade or get the deal or contract but this can also limit me from believing in my ability or confidence. Learning through research is hard work, time consuming, and sometimes stressful but its advantage is that it expands our knowledge of the subject matter and builds up our confidence.
Another is even though assessing and grading a student's work using AI may seem less stressful, reliable, and authentic. For a teacher or lecturer who is asked to grade maybe over a hundred paperwork, now with the help of AI, the job becomes easy. But what happens when the AI is compromised or malfunctions? How about where there are limitations in AI? Even though human Intelligence is not 100% sometimes there are limitations to what is acquired by knowledge, and how much more a machine or technology is built by the same human.
Now another sad reality is that with the invention of Artificial intelligence, there are high possibilities of losing physical interaction. Attendance for instance to class would be drastically reduced if at all there would be. An uneducated person who can afford to access these technologies would not see the need to be in school, even though these innovations and technologies are built by those educated. These days people no longer see the need to attend a formal school with physical structures, all you need is a phone or laptop and a YouTube application. Hmmm....
The internet is a powerful tool for, information, transformation, and communication but the misappropriate usage of this tool causes more harm than good. Imagine when a piece of powerful information gets to the enemy, he uses that as a weapon of destruction. It is impossible to find perfection anywhere, but knowing how to curtail or handle extremes in usage is the way forward.