The uprise of digitalization in our world has benefitted us immensely, organizing laborious work in seconds, manufacturing hundreds of objects in minutes, and amplifying the signals used to communicate with loved ones and friends across the world. But one question remains- is AI and the digital world comparable to our natural world in terms of benefit and quality of life? It is hard to say generally, but there are several aspects in which a digital and natural representation can be compared. Let’s thing of historical permanence. In our natural world, there are several traditions and ways of approaching situations that have been passed down generationally. A monument that holds historical value stands to teach us the importance of our history, and the things our ancestors held close to their hearts with importance. Despite this, historical monuments, and objects decay with time, losing their original structure but never losing their value. Digitally, we can preserve our history and access it at our fingertips, but the value of the history is lost within the bounds of technology. What we lose naturally, we can preserve digitally, never forgetting the true meaning and original form/structure. We gain preservation but we lose our ability to remember the authentic time frame of the historical moment. This is just one example of many- digital representation keeps our memories sharp, allowing us to remind ourselves of important historical context. The emotional authenticity is lost in digital representation, as the tales of history have become monotone technologically.
