Chapter 4
While AI has sped up progress, calling it the 'new electricity' might not fully explain its impact. Think of AI as turbocharging electricity. Accelerating various processes such as manufacturing, transportation, and information. Every day, billions of people create a mind-boggling amount of data. With five billion people collectively producing 2.5 quintillion bytes of data daily, the exponential growth in information flow underscores AI's supercharging role in our digital landscape. For instance, on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, hundreds of hours of video content are uploaded every minute, with the volume increasing by 90% in just two years.
AI is often hailed as 'the future' or the 'new electricity,' a term popularized by Lynch (2017) and Synced (2017), and is considered the driving force behind the 'fourth industrial revolution,' as described by Crameri (2018).
On the other hand, there's a growing discourse urging a deeper reflection on the implications of integrating AI into the fabric of our lives. Researchers, have posed critical questions that urge us to reflect on our interactions with AI: How do they shape our behaviour and experience, or even our understanding of and interaction with other human beings? What is left out when humans and their actions are transformed into datasets? Who gets to participate in the discussion on where should the systems be used, in what way and for what purpose? What is the underlying worldview and myth driving the development? (Dufva&Dufva, 2020). By asking these questions it is possible to shed light on the often concealed agendas, ideologies, and assumptions that shape how we perceive and interact with technology, ultimately ensuring that these considerations are not hidden from those who will inherit the digital landscape.
DATA Never SleepHow Much Data Do We Create Every Day?The itching back of a cyborg: Grasping AI systems. 
