Our Changing World

Lead-in
1. a. Look at the title of the unit. What changes to our world do it represent? Think about:
• transport • natural disasters • technology • environment
b. How will these changes affect our lives in the future? Which will have the greatest impact on our
lives? Which are changes for the better and which for the worse? Discuss it.
b. Which of these expressions do you use to speak about past, present and future?
• in the past • today • in a few years' time
• in the old days • whereas these days • in the not too distant
• years ago • at the moment future
• a thing of the past • in recent years • by the year 2050
• in my grandparents' • recently • in years to come
time • becoming more and • years from now
more
c. Now, use some of the expressions to discuss other changes to our lives. Think about:
• entertainment • work • education • business
• communication • clothes
2. Look at the following possible technological advances. Which ones do you think will occur in the
next 50 years? Are there any which you think will never happen? In groups, discuss your answers,
giving reasons for your opinions.
• a computer that can hold a proper conversation
• a manned mission to Mars
• a vaccine against AIDS
• an electric car which is as fast as a petrol-powered one
• a device which predicts earthquakes accurately
• a hurricane-proof home
3. Paraphrase the following quotations. What does each one mean? What attitude does each speaker
have towards technology? Which quotation is closer to your own ideas? Discuss.
‘If we continue to develop our technology without wisdom or prudence, our servant may prove to
be our executioner.’ Omar Bradley (U.S. WWII Army General)
‘Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better.’ Richard Hooker (British
theologian)
Reading
a. You are going to read an article about artificial intelligence. Before reading, in pairs discuss the
following questions.
1. What tasks can robots do now?
2. What famous robots do you know from science fiction books or films?
3. Do you believe that we will ever create machines that are able to think as we do? Should we
try to?
b. Now scan the text to find information about the following. Check with your partner.
• Alan Turing • The Turing test • Herbert Simon • AM • Christian Goldbach • Deep Blue
The Search for Artificial Intelligence
Robert Matthews, a leading UK researcher, outlines his mission
It is one of the most evocative phrases in the lexicon of science: artificial Intelligence, ‘Al’, the
creation of machines that can think. Just the mention of it conjures up images of HAL, the all-too
intelligent computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey, and C3PO, the chatty, batty robot from Star Wars.
For over half a century, computer scientists have been working towards creating such machines,
spending billions of pounds in the attempt. And hanging over their efforts has been a challenge set by
a British mathematician widely regarded as the father of Al research: Alan Turing.
During the 1930s, Turing showed, in theory at least, that a ‘universal machine’ could be built,
capable of performing all the tasks of any special-purpose computing machine. After war-time work
on code-breaking, Turing helped to turn his discovery into the reality of an electronic computer. But
he also believed his proof meant that computers could mimic the action of the human mind.
In 1951, Turing published a prediction: by the end of the century, computers would be able to
hold a five-minute conversation with humans and fool 30 per cent of them into believing they were
dealing with another human being.
It is a deadline that has come and gone, along with huge amounts of funding. Yet no computer is
remotely close to passing the ‘Turing Test’. What went wrong? Why has no one succeeded in
creating Al?
In fact, Al is already here, earning its keep in banks, airports, hospitals, factories - even our own
home and car. It may not be quite what many were led to expect, but then the story of real-life Al is
one of misplaced dreams, bitter feuds and grant-grabbing hype.
Today's computer scientists divide into two broad camps on the issue of Al. The pragmatists see
Al as a means to creating machines that do for thinking what engines have done for physical labour -
taking on tasks we humans would prefer not to do: spending endless hours scouring heaps of market
data for trends or scanning piles of medical images for signs of disease.
Then there are the visionaries, still wedded to Turing's challenge and trying to bring the sci-fi
image to life. For them, Al is all about computerised ‘assistants’ that solve your printer problems and
robots that talk to strangers. There are some who even see Al as the route to understanding the
workings of the human mind.
Without doubt, it is the visionaries who have done most to get Al research on TV shows such as
Tomorrow's World, it is the pragmatists, however, who have got Al out of the door and into;
successful applications: the neural network cooking controls of microwave ovens, for example, or the
expert system that vets credit card transactions.
When current Al technology is pushed closer to its sci-fi image, the results can be more irritating
than impressive: witness Microsoft's Paperclip Assistant, and the Al-based ‘help-desks’ of some high-
tech companies. Even now, 50 years after work began on intelligent machines, only the bravest
customers trust the automated telephone ticketing system at their local cinema.
Even so, visionary Al researchers working away from the mainstream have pulled off some
striking achievements. Herbert Simon's 1957 prediction that a computer would make a mathematical
discovery came to pass 20 years later, when a logic-based program named AM, developed by
Douglas Lenat at Stanford University, discovered that every even number greater than four seemed to
be the sum of two odd primes.
Simon's prediction that a computer would become world chess champion also came to pass - in a
manner of speaking - in 1997, when IBM's Deep Blue computer beat Garry Kasparov, the greatest
human exponent of the game.
Most likely it will be one of the Al visionaries who finally creates a computer that passes
Turing's 50-year-old test. For many in the mainstream Al community, however, beating the Turing
Test is viewed as little more than a party trick. They are hard at work addressing far more basic issues
in Al - like convincing computers to hand over the cinema tickets you've paid for.
c. Read the article carefully and answer the questions that follow.
1. According to the writer, the term 'artificial intelligence'
A is missing from some scientific dictionaries.
B makes us think of machines from sci-fi films.
C is overused among computer scientists.
D implies that computers can be too clever
2. Turin believed that
A computers could copy human thought processes.
B computer research needed more funding.
C computers would eventually replace human beings.
D computers might be used for immoral purposes.
3. Computer scientists today
A do not distinguish between sci-fi and reality.
B are making our dreams come true.
C do not agree about the aims of Al development.
D are spending far too long on Al research.
4. What is the writer's view of the Microsoft Paperclip assistant?
A It is a very helpful device.
B It is not to be trusted.
C It is an impressive development.
D It is rather annoying.
5. The discovery made by Lenat's computer program
A went against 18th century mathematical theory.
B was greeted with excitement by Al researchers.
C showed predictions about Al to be false.
D enabled it to win games like chess.
6. According to the writer, what do many mainstream Al researchers think is most important?
A inventing a computer to beat the Turing test.
B developing computers to become chess champions.
C improving computerised services in daily life.
D creating computers for entertainment purposes.
Vocabulary Practice
Match the bolded words in the passage with their synonyms below.
• time limit • disputes • groups • publicity • imitate • trick • achieved
• creates in the mind
Text Analysis
 What do the underlined phrases in the text mean? Discuss.
 What are ‘visionaries’ and ‘pragmatists’? How does their approach to Al research differ?
What have they each achieved? Discuss in groups.
Discussion
a. In groups, discuss what applications of artificial intelligence you would like to see in the future.
Think about:
• education • work • entertainment
• homes • travel • medicine • finance
b. In pairs, design a robot of your own. Present it to the class and explain its function.