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Artificial Intelligence
Artificial
intelligence (AI) is invading the world. In the 90s and early
21st century AI achieved its greatest success. There are more
and more jobs which humans leave to robots such as exploring
another planet, defusing bombs, exploring inside a volcano or
just doing boring household chores like cleaning. Computers can
perform a lot of functions: they can control cars and planes,
give us the news, play chess and football or compose music. Many
factory jobs are performed by industrial robots nowadays. It has
led to cheaper production of various goods, including
automobiles and electronics. Industrial robots have little
resemblance to a human being.
Artificial
intelligence has successfully been used in a wide range of
fields including medical diagnosis, stock trading, robot
control, law, scientific discovery and toys. Industrial robots
are also used for packaging of manufactured goods, transporting
goods around warehouses or hospitals or removing tiny electronic
components with great accuracy, speed and reliability. Robots
can move around, sense and manipulate their environment, predict
the actions of others and exhibit intelligent behavior.
Scientists are interested in designing robots that resemble a
human.
Are robots our
best friends or are they dangerous? It is still very difficult
to answer this question. Some futurists believe that artificial
intelligence will fundamentally transform society. Ray Kurzweil
has calculated that desktop computers will have had the same
processing power as human brains by the year 2029, and that by
2045 artificial intelligence will have reached a point where it
is able to improve itself. Other futurists and science fiction
writers have predicted that human beings and machines will merge
into powerful cyborgs - humans with significant mechanical
enhancements. Many people fear that highly intelligent robots
may take over and destroy the human race. There are a lot of
books and films about people losing control over clever machines
which begin to kill their creators. But maybe it is early to
worry as robots are still clumsy and not very intelligent.
But of course
there are some reasons to worry about robots. The use of robots
in industry leads to unemployment as many jobs are performed by
machines. Besides industrial robots can be dangerous and cause
harm to human workers. So much attention must be paid to
security.
There are a
number of competitions and prizes to promote research in
artificial intelligence. Many large companies have created
robots which can perform specific functions in the manner of a
man. Here are some of them:
ASIMO
(Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility) is a humanoid robot
created by Honda Motor Company. The robot is 130 cm tall and
weighs 54 kilograms. It can walk or run on two feet at speeds up
to 6 km/h. The robot can perform various functions. ASIMO can
follow the move¬ments of people with its camera, follow a
person, or greet a person when he or she approaches. ASIMO can
also recognize when a person offers him a handshake and other
people's movements. The robot can sense the environment and
avoids hitting people and other objects. It can respond to its
name, face people when being spoken to, and recognize sudden,
unusual sounds. ASIMO is also able to respond to questions,
either by a brief nod, a shake of the head or a verbal answer.
The robot has the ability to recognize 10 different faces. By
accessing information via the Internet, ASIMO can provide news
and useful information.
Wakamaru
is a Japanese domestic robot made by Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries. The robot has been created to provide companionship
to elderly and disabled people and to make their life easier.
The robot is yellow, lm tall, and weighs 30 kilograms. Wakamaru
can connect to the Internet, and has limited speech and speech
recognition abilities. It can say, 'Welcome back!', 'Let me
search the Internet' and other simple phrases. The functions it
can perform include reminding the user to take medicine on time,
and calling for help if it suspects something is wrong. When its
batteries run out, Wakamaru recharges itself.
Hitachi created
its second humanoid robot EMIEW2 in 2008. EMIEW2 weighs 13kg and
can move on wheels as well as two legs. The robot is 80cm tall,
a height for looking over desk tops. It has 14 microphones which
enable it to recognize human voice and sounds. The robot can
distinguish voices even when three people are speaking at the
same time and it can recognize voices spoken as far as 2m away.
Electronics and
Telecommunications Research Institute of Korea has developed a
robot with four human senses such as seeing, hearing, touching,
and smelling. POMI (Penguin rObot for Multimodal Interaction)
can move the eyebrow, eye lid, eye ball and lips. It also uses
various colors to show face expressions. POMI has two kinds of
built-in scent sprays to express happiness, sadness, and joy. It
also has a heartbeat device which makes people feel like the
robot's heart really beats up when they put the hands on the
left chest of the robot. It also can talk to people through a
built-in speaker.
1. Complete each sentence (A—H) with one of the endings
(1—8):
A. There are more and more jobs which humans leave to robots
such as
B. Computers can perform a lot of functions: they can
C. Artificial intelligence has successfully been used in a wide
range of fields including
D. Industrial robots are also used for
E. Robots can
F. Some futurists believe that artificial intelligence will
G. Other futurists and science fiction writers have predicted
that
H. The use of robots in industry leads to
1. medical diagnosis, stock trading, robot control, law,
scientific discovery and toys.
2. fundamentally transform society.
3. packaging of manufactured goods, transporting goods around
warehouses or hospitals or removing tiny electronic components.
4. exploring another planet, defusing bombs, exploring inside a
volcano or just doing boring household chores like cleaning.
5. human beings and machines will merge into powerful cyborgs.
6. control cars and planes, give us the news, play chess and
football or compose music.
7. unemployment as many jobs are performed by machines.
8. move around, sense and manipulate their environment, predict
the actions of others and exhibit intelligent behavior.
2. Give the definitions of the following words
• artificial intelligence (AI)
• robot
• cyborg
• android
• humanoid
3. Answer the questions
1) Why do people make robots?
2) Why do some people believe that robots can be dangerous?
3) What are the real reasons to worry about robots?
4) Axe there any limits to how intelligent machines can be?
5) What is the difference between human intelligence and
artificial intelligence?
6) Can a machine have human feelings? Why?
7) What may happen if humans hand over important decisions to
machines?
8) What science fiction books and films about robots do you
know? What role do robots play in people's life in these books
or films?
9) What is your personal attitude to robots?
10) Would you like to have a domestic robot? Why?
4. Fill in the table
The reasons to trust robots ...........
The
reasons to mistrust robots.........
5. Read the quotations below. Choose any statement and
comment on it
• 'The sad thing about artificial intelligence is that it
lacks artifice and therefore intelligence.' (Jean Baudrillard)
• 'Some people worry that artificial intelligence will make us
feel inferior, but then, anybody in his right mind should have
an inferiority complex every time he looks at a flower.' (Alan
Kay)
• 'No computer has ever been designed that is ever aware of what
it's doing; but most of the time, we aren 't either.' (Marvin
Minsky)
• 'Man has made many machines, complex and cunning, but which of
them indeed rivals the workings of his heart?' (Pablo Casals)
• 'The greatest task before civilization at present is to make
machines what they ought to be, the slaves, instead of the
masters of men.' (Henry Ellis)
• 'As machines become more and more efficient and perfect, so it
will become clear that imperfection is the greatness of man.'
(Ernst Fischer)
• 'The real problem is not whether machines think but whether
men do.' (B. F. Skinner)
Read Ray Kurzweil's predictions once again. Say if you agree
with them. Make up a list of your own predictions.
A. There are a lot of books, films, cartoons and comic books
about robots, androids and cyborgs. Read the synopses of the
following films. Answer the questions below.
1,
Robot'
In 2035 humanoid robots have become common. They are considered
to be absolutely safe as the Three Laws are integrated into
their minds:
1. A robot may not harm a human being or, through inaction,
allow a human being come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except
where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such
protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
NS-5s are new robots with an uplink to V.I.K.I. (Virtual
Interactive Kinetic Intelligence), allowing them to receive
updates wirelessly. But there is a robot which greatly differs
from others. Its creator has named it Sonny. The robot is unique
as it can display emotions, experience dreams, keep secrets and
disobey the Three Laws. Sonny has been created without an uplink
to VI.K.I. that is why when other robots revolt against humans
and attack them Sonny helps people destroy VI.K.I. At the end of
the film Sonny gets freedom and becomes the main characters'
friend.
'Terminator'
The Terminator is a cyborg assassin. It is very strong, has no
emotions and feels no pain. The robot has been sent to the past
to prevent a human resistance against the machines in the year
2029. It has a mission to kill and nothing can stop the
Terminator to accomplish it. The robot is indistinguishable from
humans as it is covered with living tissue. It has been invented
by highly intelligent robots which have the aim to take over and
destroy the human race. So the Terminator is very dangerous as
it is programmed to kill mercilessly. Fortunately at the end of
the film the robot is destroyed.
'WALL-E'
WALL-E is a robot which has been designed to clean up a polluted
Earth. WALL-E has been performing its duties for several
centuries and after many years of prolonged activation it has
evolved and become more human-like. WALL-E is fond of collecting
interesting knick-knacks which it finds among the rubbish. The
robot has made friends with a cockroach. It often watches an old
videotape of Hello, Dolly! and learns about human emotions
including love. WALL-E falls in love with another robot named
EVE which is cold and indifferent at first but warms up to
WALL-E a little later. Thanks to WALL-E's brave and adventurous
nature people return to Earth.
QUESTIONS
l) What are the relations between robots and humans in these
films? Are clever machines people's
friends/servants/exterminators?
2) What adjectives can you choose to characterize the robots
from each film (strong, funny, adventurous, powerful, dangerous,
harmless, helpful, merciless, clumsy etc.)?
3) When do the robots begin to experience human feelings? Why?
4) What is the main idea of each film?
B. Read the text 'Artificial Intelligence' and say if
machines can be as clever as humans.
Из учебного пособия
"Открывая
мир с английским языком. Современные темы для обсуждения.
Готовимся к ЕГЭ" Юнёва С.А. 2012г.
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