1、X2U4-Living with Technology1Artificial Intelligence: Friendly or frightening?Imagine waking up one morning with the option of staying in bed and pressing a button tosend a robot to do all the work for you. How cool that would be! It may seem like buildingcastles in the air, but given the rate at whi
2、ch artificial intelligence, or AI, is being developed, inthe future such dreams may actually come true.At the basic level, artificial intelligence is a branch of computer science that aims todevelop intelligent machines. One of the essential aims of AI is to develop computerintelligence capable of l
3、earning from experience, adjusting to new inputs and performing taskslike humans. To achieve this aim, many approaches to creating true AI have been put forward,including “deep learning”, which enables a machine to improve its own performance by learningfrom the results of its previous actions. Deep
4、-learning AI has the capacity to analyse massiveamounts of data through multiple layers, imitating the complex networks of the human brain.The dream of AI has been around for centuries, and the development of computers sincethe 1940s has finally made it a reality. Years before the term “artificial i
5、ntelligence” was coinedin the mid-1950s, the theory had been explored by Alan Turing, one of the pioneers in the fieldof computer science. However, for a long time, AI technology developed very slowly. A majorbreakthrough in AI came in 1997, when Deep Blue, a chess playing computer, beat the worldch
6、ess champion Garry Kasparov. Then in 2017, a computer program named AlphaGo defeatedKe Jie, arguably the best human Go player, which demonstrated a significant advance indeep-learning AI systems.Nowadays, AI is already being applied in many fields: finance, health care, naturallanguage processing an
7、d art, to name but a few. From autonomous vehicles to domestic robots,from recommendation systems to computers writing novels, AI has an unlimited number ofX2U4-Living with Technology2applications. Ordinary people are now using AI to get instant translations of text in foreignlanguages, and machines
8、 can recognize fingerprints and even faces.In short, this technology is transforming the way we live. It is clear that we are at a turningpoint in history. With machines like AlphaGo now capable of thinking and learning from theirmistakes, we are getting closer to the dividing line between humans an
9、d machines. Thequestion is, where will all this lead? While AI enthusiasts promise us a bright future whereintelligent robots will be working to our advantage, these undoubted benefits also bringconcerns and fears. Could machines really develop human-like intelligence? And what wouldhappen if they d
10、id? Would thinking machines work alongside humans or threaten the existenceof humans? How would they be punished if they committed crimes or even murdered humans?As we become more and more dependent on computers, some scientists are urging us to thinkabout the dangers posed by the advances in AI. St
11、ephen Hawking, for example, warned, “Thedevelopment of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.”Apparently, such warnings demand our attention. We need to make sure that we will notfall victim to AI. We may still think it would be fantastic to relax all day and allow auton
12、omousmachines to do all the work for usbut perhaps we should not be too greedy and rather becareful what we wish for!英文英文词性词性中文中文castlen.城堡(build) castles in the air(建)空中楼阁，幻想，空想inputn.输入的信息；投入v.输入(信息)X2U4-Living with Technology3capacityn.领悟(或理解、办事)能力；容量，容积；职位，职责；生产量analysev.分析massiveadj.巨大的，大而重的；非常
13、严重的networkn.网络，网状系统；关系网，人际网；(互联)网络coinv.创造(新词语)breakthroughn.重大进展，突破adj.突破性的financen.财政，金融；资金；财力，财务管理v.提供资金to name but a few(表示列举)等等autonomousadj.自主的，有自主权的；自治的domesticadj.家庭的，家用的；本国的，国内的threatenv.危及，对.构成威胁；威胁，恐吓commitvt.犯(罪)；承诺，保证；花(钱或时间)vi.全身心投入，忠于crimen.罪，罪行；犯罪活动murderv./n.谋杀，凶杀urgev.敦促，催促；大力推荐，竭力
14、主张；驱赶，鞭策n.冲动，强烈的欲望posevt.造成，产生；提问，质询vi.摆好姿势X2U4-Living with Technology4n.姿势apparentlyadv.显然，可见warningn.警告，先兆；警戒demandv.需要；强烈要求n.要求，所需之物；需求，需要victimn.受害者，牺牲品；受骗者；祭品all victim to受伤，受损，被害greedyadj.贪心的，贪婪的recognitionn.识别，认出；承认，认可；赞誉，赏识databasen.数据库alternativen.可供选择的事物adj.可供替代的；非传统的hackern.黑客theftn.偷窃，偷窃
15、罪break into强行闯入，撬开；突然开始(笑、唱等)；顺利打入fail-safeadj.有自动保险装置的，具有自动防止故障性能的dronen.无人驾驶飞机distributionn.分发，分送；分配，分布predictv.预言，预告decreasev.减少，降低n.减少，降低X2U4-Living with Technology5denyv.否认，否定；拒绝承认，拒绝接受quantityn.数量；大量in large quantities大量，大批airlinen.航空公司threatn.构成威胁的人(或事物)；威胁，恐吓；凶兆spyvi.从事间谍活动vt.突然看见n.间谍spy on暗
16、中监视，窥探illegaladj.不合法的，非法的monitorv.监视，跟踪调查；监听n.显示屏；检测器；班长licencen.许可证，执照stadiumn.体育场，运动场highlightn.最好(或最精彩)的部分v.突出，强调；使醒目capsulen.小塑料容器；(装药的)胶囊；太空舱buryv.埋藏；埋葬，安葬；覆盖；遮盖；使陷入fountainn.喷泉，涌流；喷水池；源泉，丰富来源fountain pen自来水笔contemporaryadj.当代的，现代的；属同时期的，同一时代的X2U4-Living with Technology6n.同代人，同辈人seedn.种子；起源，起因w
17、heatn.小麦，小麦粒muscularadj.肌肉的；强壮的concludev.断定，推断出；达成，订立；(使)结束，终止justifiedadj.合乎情理的，事出有因的；有正当理由的superiorityn.优越感；优越性，优势virtualadj.虚拟的，模拟的；很接近的，事实上的at the forefront处于最前列，进入重要地位definitionn.定义；释义，解释headsetn.头戴式耳机sensorn.传感器，敏感元件practicaladj.实际的，真实的；切实可行的；有用的；实事求是的a host of许多，大量academicadj.教学的，学术的；学习良好的；纯理
18、论的immersiveadj.(计算机系统或图像)沉浸式虚拟现实的engagev.吸引住(注意力、兴趣)；雇用，聘用；与.建立密切关系twinn.双胞胎之一；一对相像的事物之一adj.双胞胎之一的；成对的，成双的clonen.好像一模一样的人，复制品；克隆动物(或植物)v.克隆，以无性繁殖技术复制X2U4-Living with Technology7barriern.障碍，阻力；屏障，障碍物；分界线，隔阂boil down to归结为，基本问题是fine-tunev.对.微调initialadj.最初的，开始的n.首字母optimisticadj.乐观的，抱乐观看法的annoyv.使恼怒，使生气；打扰，骚扰weedn.杂草，野草like weeds大量state-of-the-artadj.使用最先进技术(或方法)的，最先进的globen.球体 ，球状物；地球仪；地球，世界satelliten.人造卫星；卫星expensen.费用；开销；开支at the expense of在牺牲(或损害).的情况下gendern.性别envyn./v.羡慕，忌妒pubn.酒吧，酒馆
