SOP-2 CS/IT EDUCATION/BIG TECH AI ISSUES TRACK
POSSIBLE PH.D. PATH : PERCEIVED ISSUES AND PLAUSIBLE ONE STOP APPROACH
Introductory "Foreword/Preface"
I firmly believe that findings and proposed course of action are applicable to ANY school, as they are fundamentally perceived of broad relevance/quasi universal appeal, and to a certain extent open to and likely encouraging/welcoming multiple bailiwick participation and/or invitation to participate. Further, I strongly believe that whatever academic research is conducted is that it should unequivocally have a palpable impact, if possible since day one. My first hand mentee feedback research seems to confirm this - that's about 4+ years of data, some little, pilot "proof of concept" "success story" readily available to scale up by almost any school. However, when I reach to say Education programs because of documented background I get "maybe you should touch base with Engineering" and when I contact Engineering they bounce me back to Education ... back to square zero and going in circles...
Backup verbatim copies of submitted drafts are available and may be online updated via following link (also may ease going over material) :
https://engineeringfundamentals.com/1000Ace/martin-balestie-rough-statement-of-purpose-2026.pdf
https://engineeringfundamentals.com/1000Ace/engineering-education-graduate-school-novel-proposal-and-possible-PhD-path.pdf
While I also believe it could recommend singling out only those with strong rankings and/or credentials in engineering fields, it needs not to be the case. To hopefully ease the reading, I'm borrowing headings from classical Ph.D. app submissions. Will be glad to expand and/or provide concept illustration/source/other and/or even encourage parties to first hand, hands on explore independent as needed proposed ideations. Best way to “settle an argument,” i.e. first hand, independently produced data. Hope it helps. Here we go!
Personal statement that describes a significant issue or topic within an educational or learning context that you are interested in investigating.
Problem Statement # 2: Internet/Big Tech/AI -The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Unbridled Cyber Power: Unbalanced Equations, Loaded Dice and other nice things
KEY TERMS (partial list)
Silicon Valley the right way/disrupt the disrupters AI
Internet seems off limits or none of my business! cloud computing
digital hegemonies
Internet hegemonies
the secret rulers
Big tech/"AI" has little bit little appropriated itself of candidly volunteered collective frequently hard earned content. Initially search engines were supposed to just proffer kind of free publication slots/library shelves for [highly authoritative/well meant] third parties for a first position place. But then say 20 years later they decided let's crawl all this and put ourselves in that place. I think a similar confiscation has happened with openly shared [programming] code repositories. Corporations use for profit volunteered content. Plus promote moving all your stuff to borrowed land (cloud) and/or shuffling your own data around via encrypted disks in the name of increased security ...
There's nothing celestial in cloud computing!
This is not something new (as reminded by Dr. Guzdial, U Mich in Purdues pods and elsewhere). Quoting from Martin Greenbergers edited volume, Computers and the World of the Future (MIT Press, 1962), we hear from Snow:
"Decisions which are going to affect a great deal of our lives, indeed whether we live at all, will have to be taken or actually are being taken by extremely small numbers of people, who are nominally scientists. The execution of these decisions has to be entrusted to people who do not quite understand what the depth of the argument is. That is one of the consequences of the lapse or gulf in communication between scientists and non-scientists. There it is. A handful of people, having no relation to the will of society, have no communication with the rest of society, will be taking decisions in secret which are going to affect our lives in the deepest sense."
Computers most frequently are ahead of the law but NOT above the law; computers are as well most frequently ahead of education but NOT above ed. Can be innumerably extended... All these things are giving thoroughbred/ "heartland"/dependable/classical/"old school" CS/IT a bad name - friendly push backs are definitely needed!
At times Big Tech/AI handling is similar to credit card managing. Great inventions only at times one should use them the way they don't want us to use them! But then you have to figure some things out they won't ever spontaneously disclose/tell.
To be able to understand/be on a par/provide accurate critiques/have a chance with this ongoing mess and big tech corporations (at times even perhaps thought & fate dominators), universities must hands-on try/explore/replicate search engine platforms/findings/resultant viewpoints of the Internet. This is not just analytics. It's the whole process of building, maintaining and exploring results and findings first hand - versus mere consumers. Make search engines and tech the object or subject of study!! This will also aid lawmakers get a better idea of all things Internet and act accordingly.
AI is perfect feedstock for empty suits ... and a lot of people jump on the silver bullet bandwagon as has been done with other/prior technologies. The emperor's new clothes revisited! (kids aren't fooled). Yet there's tons of use for automata!
More grist to the mill
The Economist, September 27th 2025 "AI is killing the web. Can anything save it?"
Tom Wainwright Media and technology editor
Whats the time in Beijing? How old is Taylor Swift? Will it rain tomorrow? Every day people type their questions into search engines, which point them in the direction of websites providing answers. But something is changing in Search Land. Powered by artificial intelligence, sites like Google are turning into answer engines, which give users all the information they need without having to click through to other pages.
Great news for consumers in a hurry. Not so great for the websites they no longer need to visit. News, information and reference sites, from Tripadvisor to WebMD, are seeing alarming drops in search traffic. Fewer visitors means a smaller audience to sell to advertisers, undermining the central business model of the internet. AI is filleting the best of the web. In doing so, it threatens its existence.
This email was sent to: answers@engineeringfundamentals.com
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I anticipated things like this back in 2014 - 2016 on occasion of my UC Davis Capstone -> www.GalopeApproach.com
If domain DNS fails to work here's another way to access the "manifesto" ...
https://engineeringfundamentals.com/GalopeApproach.pdf
As regards secondary education research work/other, just proposing and supporting incorporating cybersecurity in the curriculum at some school or district level would be a plate tectonics repurpose. Even if just as an elective would do fine. One H.S. semester you get started; two semester training you're ready to go get some entry level job, help your family and still stick to continuing schools. The key is that is has to be fun - 100% in agreement with Dr. Severance/UofMich. Plus of course overall leverage of digital in all corners/depts. I would be wary of indiscriminate AI, VR, AR "silver bullet" proposals. I helped introduce teaching/learning programming in high school 40 years ago and all of us were happy. Only we can't be still teaching/learning only that!! Besides security awareness/concepts are needed as well - the "other guys" are not playing games.