Blog entry 1

Chapter 5 Retooling Solidarity, Reimagining Justice in Race After Technology strikes as an effective analysis of our relationship with modern AI technologies such as VR and how they have and will continue to make an impact on humanity. The influence of modern AI technologies reaches much deeper than the scientific and technical aspects of our lives. By allowing new experiences to individuals, the essence of humanity and human empathy can be captured through the lenses of VR. "Virtual reality (VR) technology, in particular, is routinely described as an empathy machine because of the way it allows us to move through someone else's world." (Race After Technology, 169) Being able to experience issues and environments without the need to actually step out can allow us to feel empathy for others living lives much different from our own. In today's social and economic environment, social issues that the upper class would likely never experience can be replicated via VR gadgets and software.

"Empathy makes businesses grow. In the first quarter of 2016 alone, venture capitalists invested almost $1.2 billion in VR technologies." (Race After Technology, 169) Tech companies benefit and gain profit from VR technologies due to the growing market hoping to push the technology further. But can such technological advances really be beneficial for the greater good of society? Or do they drive different social classes ever further apart? 

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