The Information Age, Artificial Intelligence, and Society

Information Age

An era believed to have started in the last quarter of the 20th century, characterized by rapid and easy access to and management of information through written or digital publications. It is closely linked to computers and is also called the Digital Age or New Media Age.

Information Anxiety

Difficulty in collecting and managing information because the amount of information can grow faster than people can handle it. The lesson associates the term with Richard Wurman in the 1980s.

Digitization

The conversion of analog processes or information into digital formats, enabling storage, searching, and recombination.

Connectivity

The use of global networks that reduce transaction costs and enable real-time coordination across borders.

Datafication

The process of turning social, economic, and biological processes into data that can feed analytics and automation.

Platformization

The role of digital intermediaries in organizing markets and communication; it can create winner-take-most dynamics.

Social Media

Online platforms that allow people to create, share, and interact with content instantly; they now influence communication, culture, business, and politics worldwide.

Friendster

A social media platform identified in the lesson as emerging in 2002.

MySpace

A social media platform identified in the lesson as emerging in 2003.

Facebook

A social media platform identified in the lesson as emerging in 2004.

Affordance: Identity

Profiles, handles, and reputation systems that allow users to establish an online identity.

Affordance: Interaction

Features such as likes, shares, comments, stitches, and duets that allow users to interact with content and other users.

Algorithmic Curation

The use of algorithms to prioritize content in feeds, often based on engagement rather than accuracy.

Virality Mechanics

Network effects that can rapidly amplify content across social media.

Social Media Monetization

The process of turning user attention and data into economic value.

Digital Citizenship

Responsible participation in digital spaces, including efforts to reduce misinformation, cyberbullying, harassment, and online abuse.

Data Privacy

Protection and responsible handling of personal information, especially because uploaded data may have long-term consequences and may be used beyond the uploader's control.

Misinformation

False or inaccurate information that can spread rapidly through digital and social media spaces.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The broad idea of creating machines or systems capable of performing tasks associated with intelligent behavior, such as answering questions, solving problems, recognizing images, or generating content.

Origins of AI

The lesson describes AI as beginning with the goal of creating machines that could think and solve problems like humans.

Turing Test

A test proposed by Alan Turing in the 1950s for evaluating whether a machine's behavior can be considered intelligent in a human-like way.

John McCarthy

The computer scientist who coined the term 'Artificial Intelligence' at the 1956 Dartmouth Conference.

1956 Dartmouth Conference

The conference associated with John McCarthy's coining of the term Artificial Intelligence.

AI Winters

Periods when progress and interest in artificial intelligence declined, partly because early rule-based systems faced limits in computing power.

Modern AI

AI from the 1990s to the present, driven by big data, powerful computers, and deep learning, with applications in language, vision, robotics, and generative tools.

Machine Learning (ML)

A branch of AI in which machines learn from data and improve their performance over time.

Deep Learning (DL)

An advanced form of machine learning that uses neural networks with many layers.

Computer Vision (CV)

Technology that helps machines see, process, and understand images.

AI Example: Siri or Alexa

An example used to illustrate AI because these systems can answer users' questions.

ML Example: Netflix Recommendations

An example used to illustrate machine learning because recommendations are generated from data about viewing behavior and preferences.

DL Example: Google Translate

An example used in the lesson to illustrate advanced machine learning/deep learning applications in translating language.

CV Example: Facebook Photo Tagging

An example of computer vision because the system can automatically recognize or identify people in photos.

AI in Science

AI is developed through scientific research in fields such as computer science, mathematics, and neuroscience.

AI in Technology

AI becomes practical through applications such as chatbots, robots, self-driving cars, and medical tools.

AI in Society

AI affects how people live, work, and communicate while raising issues involving ethics, jobs, inequality, and decision-making.

AI and the Economy

AI can increase productivity but can also displace jobs and widen inequality.

AI and the Environment

AI can require substantial energy, water, and hardware resources, contributing to carbon emissions and electronic waste.

AI and Digital Spaces

AI shapes online content but can also contribute to misinformation, deepfakes, and privacy risks.

Deepfakes

AI-generated or AI-manipulated media that can create convincing but misleading images, audio, or video.

Pax Silica

A U.S.-led initiative described in the lesson as aiming to build secure supply chains for AI, semiconductors, critical minerals, and advanced technologies while reducing strategic dependencies.

Philippines and Pax Silica

The lesson states that the Philippines joined Pax Silica in 2026 and plans to establish the first AI-native Industrial Acceleration Hub in New Clark City.

Pax Silica: Opportunities for the Philippines

Potential benefits include increased investment in AI and semiconductor manufacturing, high-skilled jobs, stronger research and innovation, technology transfer, and integration into global AI and semiconductor supply chains.

Pax Silica: Concerns for the Philippines

Potential concerns include pressure on water, electricity, and land; deeper technological dependence and geopolitical competition; and the possibility that Filipinos may not capture long-term value from innovation.

Information Age and Society

The Information Age changes how information is produced, accessed, shared, and managed, creating both opportunities and challenges for individuals and society.

Responsible Use of AI

The lesson encourages using technology not only to make the world smarter, but also more humane, just, and sustainable.