Fiona Chen, Period 7, 11/28/2023

Fiona Chen

Period 7

11/28/2022

Modern Mythology 2023

Socio-political Consciousness

What are your thoughts and feelings about issues of inequity, oppression, and/or power?

How do you reflect critically on your own beliefs, assumptions, values, and experiences, and how these can influence your perception of self and others?

Inequity, oppression, and power is something that we will never be able to shake off. It will always be present within our society, as the three are interrelated and go hand in hand with one another. With power, comes oppression on those who are powerless, and with oppression comes inequity. Although people are who we usually think about when questioned about those with power, technology is becoming more and more advanced as well. Technology can be blamed for many cases of inequality and oppression. It’s growing more and more powerful, and thereby can be used to obtain power. In many cases, technology gave one group leverage over another. In the early stages of technology’s development, it had already started to take over jobs that were previously manual. We have probably long past the point of returning to a life without dependency on technology. Everything is on the internet, and we can argue whether the pros outweigh the cons. Either way, it holds an undeniable power over us as a human society, even though we were the ones to first create it. For example, we all know what artificial intelligence is. It is something that sits in our mind and makes us wonder whether it will eventually overpower us. Recently, art generated or “made” by artificial intelligence has been increasingly taken advantage of, as people utilize existing works of art to create supposedly original art pieces. It is a prime example of how technology has given people power over others. Artists spend the majority of their lives refining their craft, only for others to easily manipulate and use their art without permission within minutes. There is no control over how that AI art can be used, whether it is being sold or utilized in other ways. Everyday, more art is uploaded onto the internet, and as long as it is on there, it’s opted into databases like Stability AI, where copyrighted art is used without permission. Even though music is protected by copyright, art is not, and is being freely used. This problem has created an atmosphere where artists as a community are joining together to take a stance against this issue, and having it be heard. It makes me glad to know that we are able to speak up and do something about it. Although the advancement of technology is inevitable, we should adapt to it accordingly.