I am a retiree from the Boomers generation working with a group of software developers. They set up a Facebook group, WordPress blog, Google Slides … in lightning speed. Ideas are shared “in low band width” (Fernandez) more than face-to-face. Ivy used state-of-the-Art techniques to shoot the video, fully coordinated with superb music selection. May was able to combine multiple screens using advanced editing software. After our presentation, I received compliments from a fellow classmate that our video was very “artistic”. During our online group discussions, I was particularly impressed by a Kristen’s thoughts on how to convey the concept of AI. Despite Asimov’s conceptual laws to protect humans from AI (40), there is still a certain degree of uncertainty. I adopted Kristen’s idea of expressing the uncertainly of AI via a picture. The picture was posted on our group blog. This group of software developers seem to be in a perpetual transient mode. While attending class on campus on one day, they can be in California doing co-op jobs on the next day. Their physical locations appear unimportant.
In fact, physical locations no longer play a key role in digital lives, even in battlefields. In WWI and WWII, technological innovation of sophisticated machines resulted in the destruction of human lives (Fernandez). Today, one of the latest technological innovation is digital attacks on the enemy’s utility system. Cyberwarfare becomes part of digital lives. Russia was able to cripple Estonia’s government, banking, and national media websites in 2007 (Orend). More recently, the New York Times reported that the US will escalate its online attack to Russia’s power grid system. US President Trump had granted more flexibility to the Cyber Command to launch offensive cyber strikes without presidential approval (Sanger and Perlroth). The US has evidence that Moscow has already planted malware in the US utility systems (Ranger).
The role of software is vital on cyberwarfare. With this latest development in armed conflicts, a country can attack the target state half a world away by planting some malware in the enemy’s utility system. Will our software developers become war heroes one day?
Abbie Ho 20701760
Works Cited
Asimov, Issac. “Runaround.” I, Robot. New York City: Doubleday, 1950. p.40.
Fernandez, Stephen. “Digital Lives and the Sense of (Not) Belonging”, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, 13 May 2019. Lecture.
Fernandez, Stephen. “The Impact of Media and Technology”, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, 15 May 2019. Lecture.
Orend, Brian. “Armed conflict”. Introduction to international studies. Oxford University Press, 2019.
Ranger, S. “Cyberwarfare escalation just took a new and dangerous turn.” ZDNet, 18 Jun 2019, https://www.zdnet.com/article/cyberwarfare-escalation-just-took-a-new-and-dangerous-turn/.
Sanger, D. and Perlroth, N. (2019, Jun 15). “U.S. Escalates Online Attacks on Russia’s Power Grid.” The New York Times, 15 Jun 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/15/us/politics/trump-cyber-russia-grid.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article®ion=Footer
ENGL 108D 