Sunaina Parihar

I like your idea of the store changing based on the ruling demographic. I would like to see it one step further. As a customer is looking at an individual product they get an offer for that product, and a suggested pairing of something else to up sale. The IoT in the store would then safe it under the user file so when the customer goes to the POS the IoT can tie whatever deals where offered to that individual.

I am reminded of the scene in Minority Report where Tom Cruise walks into the store and the holographic sales clerk asks him about his last purchase.

I’m not sure how I feel about AI IoT being used that way in stores. While I realize that all stores have cameras and are monitoring everyone who comes in and out, it seems like a little bit of an invasion of privacy for them to be able to use facial recognition software to start building a profile of me and offer me tailored ads. On the other hand, when you think about it, social media sites like Facebook have already done the exact same thing. I seemingly have no problem with that! For some reason, it just seems so much more personal being inside a physical retail location. It will be interesting to see if the government is able to catch up to these technologies and introduce some sort of privacy law that will protect people in both situations.

I completely agree with you that IoT is a sustaining innovation, whether it’s paired with AI or if it’s just innovative use of technology in a new way – but fundamentally, nothing about IoT is new to us as it stands right now in 2020. The idea of our tech devices pairing and communicating with each other is old news. That’s why I love the approach you took with your article; the real innovation is happening with IoT is combined with AI. While I agree with some other classmates that the AIoT being used through security cameras in stores is a bit unsettling, I do think it has really promising potential for city planning and transportation!

I think using AI to impower the metrics is a great idea. The current process of collecting metrics for ecommerce is a very static process. If you complain AI, you can start seeing how environmental changes effect the business. I don’t just mean the weather. The AI could gather information on changes in regulations. Or it could gather information on competitors to project where the market is going at large. You are right, ecommerce is at its pivot point. It is time for companies to take advantage.

Sunaina, you’re absolutely right. What possibly could be done to prevent this misinformation? The media unfortunately has become a place of opinion and not news and we can see this for example, when we watch CNN and Fox News.
It baffles me that sites full of misinformation can even be published and I think that sites that are known for false information should be monitored and penalized, especially when it comes to facts about a global pandemic or opinions about a particular US government candidate.
You mention that the internet and social media is being used now more than ever which is evidently true. I think that this 2020 presidential election has taken this into account and has developed a plan to reach a younger generation and encourage them to vote more than ever before.

How do you feel about mail in ballots? I know my father is doing this but is concerned with recent news and how some have been found in the trash.

I think the tough thing about misinformation on the Internet is that unless the powers at be on Facebook or Twitter catch it fast enough, so many people are going to spread the false information that putting a “fact check” feature on posts is not going to be enough. I feel like half of my Facebook friends would honestly believe news they read about a potential candidate on a hastily created meme someone shared with them. I think it would be nearly impossible for social media sites to police everyone. It’s not just the new sites or the campaigns themselves putting out election messaging. Not to mention – there are sites out there like 4Chan or certain subreddits on Reddit that do no fact checking at all. I think the solution needs to at least be partly cultural – we all need to stop believing what we read on the Internet. We need to normalize doing research and checking out multiple reputable news sources. And I think we need to give folks the space to change their opinions once they realize what’s wrong with them.

I am a big supporter of more regulations on social media firms. However, I will play devil’s advocate on this. We expect social media companies to control and police up postings from individual users. What about traditional media outlets? I would argue that the main stream media does post factual information, but it is always very one sided. What is the difference between misinformation and just a slanted opinion? Where is that line?