I’ve tried to make this about my generation, pop culture, and other stuff that I find interesting. Sure, I will keep doing that, but I really feel like moving in a direction that I am really passionate about. I will complete my degree in sociology in April 2026, which is something I should have finished 25 years ago, and I’ve become very entrenched in my schoolwork to finish this life goal of mine.

I recently had an Anthropology elective class, and found myself focused on tech advances and how it will affect our communication in the future. This is what I will mostly be talking about, with my occasional foray back into movies or music, and of course wrestling, but this is what’s on my mind now.

(US Embassy Kyiv, Flickr) 

My initial post in this anthropology class was in regards to the affects of AI on our culture, especially communication, and during the course I have been able to expand upon that. I am near 50 years old, feel like I am pretty tech savvy, and terrified of how artificial intelligence will affect my daughter’s life. She is already obsessed with interacting with her friends on Kids Messenger, often instead of in person, and struggles with her emotions when talking with them in groups so much that we have to limit her time on the app. On the other hand, she can spot a video or photo generated with AI faster than I can, so I don’t really worry about the dangers posed by deepfakes or other social problems her generation will face. 

I learned more in the course, though, about how all people really are connected. See, one of her friends is in Texas, while we are in Florida, and they were introduced on Kids Messenger by my daughter’s real world art class friend who was born in a state in the deep northwest. They all have the same things in common, even though they are in very different areas, and somehow the stars aligned for them all to all become friends. This is something no one in my generation, growing up in the 1980’s, had access to. Sure, we rode bikes together and played basketball in our driveways, but we had a very narrow view of the society in which we would come of age. What I’ve learned is that I need to embrace newer technologies before they embrace me, and not fear them, because the future will be driven by what I fear and I will be left behind. 

I found an image of Olympic gold medalist Angela Hucles playing with children in Ukraine over a decade ago, when they celebrated of all things, “America Days” in Ukraine. We are all so much more connected in life because of what we share in common, and that gives me more hope that the technological advances we are seeing won’t destroy society, but may actually improve understanding and relationships globally. 

References 
US Embassy Kyiv (2013). “OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST ANGELA HUCLES VISITED UKRAINE TO CELEBRATE “AMERICA DAYS”. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/usembassykyiv/8634721942/in/photostream/