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20 views3 pages

Artificial Intelligence - Reading - Student's

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vasilenkotany2003
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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

PRE-READING QUESTIONS

1. Discuss what you know about artificial intelligence.

2. Do you believe that machines can behave like humans? Why or why not?

3. What traits do you think humans have that machines do not?

4. Would you like to have a robot? What would your robot do?

5. Have you seen these movies? Discuss what you’ve heard about the films.

a. I, Robot

b. Artificial Intelligence

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Copyright 2008. This eBook is produced and distributed by Red River Press Inc. All rights reserved. The contents within this e-book/document may only be
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ESL Lesson Plans -Business in English - Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence - An Overview

Can computers think? Do robots have the same characteristics as humans? Which is more intelligent - man or
machine? The debate is ongoing.

Humans are capable of several traits. Among them are reasoning, planning, learning, and communication. Are
computers and machines capable of the same traits? Essentially, the definition of artificial intelligence is the
intelligence that a machine demonstrates. With the onslaught of robots, computers, and other technological
advances, one might believe the study of artificial intelligence is new. However, people have been working on
intelligent machines for years. One of the more famous names associated with the field is Alan Turing. Turing
believed that if a machine could pretend to be human, then it was intelligent.

One thing that people can do with artificial intelligence is play games. Machines are available that play chess at
expert levels. They’re not even that costly. Turing wrote the first computer chess program in 1950; however, it
wasn’t until 1958 that a chess program beat a human for the first time. Over the years, computers began playing
in tournaments with some wins and some losses. As the years progressed, computers started winning more and
more. In 2005, a team of computers beat chess champions Veselin Topalov, Ruslan Ponomariov, and Sergey
Karjakin.

Many industries, such as the airlines and technology, are incorporating artificial intelligence into their work.
AT & T lists artificial intelligence as one of their research areas. Universities such as Carnegie Mellon,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Stanford University have done research in the field. MIT has
CSAIL (Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory). One of the lab’s research areas is an attempt
to understand and develop artificially intelligent behavior. A lot of the research is done by faculty members
who work with students. Some U.S. government agencies help fund CSAIL.

As industries experiment and researchers study, the public has become more aware of the possibilities. The
movie industry has made several films that usually are classified as science fiction. One popular film was I,
Robot. Another was simply titled Artificial Intelligence. People have also started buying toys and tools that
display certain traits. The FurbyTM was a popular robotic toy that eventually learned to speak English. The
RoombaTM is a vacuum that is made by the iRobot Corporation. It vacuums without being pushed. If it doesn’t
need a human to guide it, is it smarter than a human? There are many questions left to be answered in this field.

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Copyright 2008. This eBook is produced and distributed by Red River Press Inc. All rights reserved. The contents within this e-book/document may only be
photocopied by members of ESLlibrary.com in accordance with membership terms and conditions. Contact [email protected] for complete details.
ESL Lesson Plans -Business in English - Artificial Intelligence

VOCABULARY TASKS

A. Write a definition for the four human traits mentioned in the main reading.

a. reasoning: ______________________________________________________________________________
b. planning: _______________________________________________________________________________
c. learning: _______________________________________________________________________________
d. communication: _________________________________________________________________________

B. Choose the word closest in meaning to the vocabulary word used in the main reading.

1. science fiction 4. onslaught


a. story based on a true event a. not many
b. story based on a person’s life b. a few
c. story based on an imagined science c. none
d. story based on a true place d. a lot
2. robot 5. tournament
a. a machine a. a series of games
b. a human b. a series of developments
c. an animal c. a series of traits
d. a food d. a series of machines
3. traits 6. possibility
a. physical attributes a. something that will happen
b. distinguishing characteristics b. something that won’t happen
c. personality flaws c. something that may happen
d. mechanical tasks d. something that should happen

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Copyright 2008. This eBook is produced and distributed by Red River Press Inc. All rights reserved. The contents within this e-book/document may only be
photocopied by members of ESLlibrary.com in accordance with membership terms and conditions. Contact [email protected] for complete details.

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