2021 text3
time: july, 22, 2021
title: ai can have values if not a conscience
sources: the christian science monitor
this year marks exactly two centuries since the publication of “frankenstein; or, the modern prometheus,” by mary shelley. even before the invention of the electric light bulb, the author produced a remarkable work of speculative fiction that would foreshadow many ethical questions to be raised by technologies yet to come.
句型表达：
this year marks n years since y.
本年恰逢y n周年。
也可以说：this year marks nth anniversary of y.
produce 创造
speculative adj.推理的
foreshadow 预示
ethical adj.道德道德的
ethics n.道德道德
business ethics 商业道德
medical ethics 医德
a code of ethics 道德标准
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today the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (ai) raises fundamental questions: “what is intelligence, identity, or consciousness? what makes humans humans?”
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what is being called artificial general intelligence, machines that would imitate the way humans think, continues to evade scientists. yet humans remain fascinated by the idea of robots that would look, move, and respond like humans, similar to those recently depicted on popular sci-fi tv series such as “west world” and “humans”.
布景常识弥补：
人工智能分为两种，一种是“强者工智能”（或“通用型人工智能”，英文是artificial general intelligence），即具有处置多品种型的使命和运用未曾意料的景象和才能（可以了解成“超级人类”）；另一种是狭义的专业领域的人工智能，即只能处置某一专业领域的使命的人工智能，比方alphago、人工智能医疗等（可以了解成“人类超级助理”）。
evade 躲避，躲避
sb evade sth
sth evade sb标明“sth难住sb”;“sb与sth无缘
fascinate v.招引
sth fascinate sb
sb is fascinated by sth
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just how people think is still far too complex to be understood, let alone reproduced, says david eagleman, a stanford university neuroscientist. “we are just in a situation where there are no good theories explaining what consciousness actually is and how you could ever build a machine to get there.”
just a, let alone b，这一规划意为“单单a就…，更别说b了”
good adj.充分的
goog evidence 充分的根据????
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but that doesn’t mean crucial ethical issues involving ai aren’t at hand. the coming use of autonomous vehicles, for example, poses thorny ethical questions. human drivers sometimes must make split-second decisions. their reactions may be a complex combination of instant reflexes, input from past driving experiences, and what their eyes and ears tell them in that moment. ai “vision” today is not nearly as sophisticated as that of humans. and to anticipate every imaginable driving situation is a difficult programming problem.
at hand =close 接近
recent economic performance suggests that a major crisis is at hand.
近期经济体现意味着一场大规划的危机即将发生。
pose questions/ challenge/ risk/ danger/ threat/ problem
thorny adj.扎手的 =knotty ~question 扎手的疑问
knee jerk reflex 膝跳反射
capable of sophisticated but not worldly, is the most kind mature.
深谙圆滑却不圆滑，步崆最仁慈的老到。
anticipate +n 意料会有某事发生
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whenever decisions are base

d on masses of data, “you quickly get into a lot of ethical questions,” notes tan kiat how, chief executive of a singapore-based agency that is helping the government develop a voluntary code for the ethical use of ai. along with singapore, other governments and mega-corporations are beginning to establish their own guidelines. britain is setting up a data ethics center. india released its ai ethics strategy this spring.
get into questions 遇到许多疑问
develop the code / rule for…，标明“拟定关于…的规则”
along with 标明in addition to（除了……还有）
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on june 7 谷歌 pledged not to “design or deploy ai” that would cause “overall harm,” or to develop ai-directed weapons or use ai for surveillance that would violate international norms. it also pledged not to deploy ai whose use would violate international laws or human rights.
ai-directed weapons指“人工智能制导武器”
surveillance 监督，侦办
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while the statement is vague, it represents one starting point. so does the idea that decisions made by ai systems should be explainable, transparent, and fair.
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to put it another way: how can we make sure that the thinking of intelligent machines reflects humanity’s highest values? only then will they be useful servants and not frankenstein’s out-of-control monster.
to put it another way 换句??br>
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　31. mary shelley’s novel frankenstein is mentioned because it
　　[a] fascinates ai scientists all over the world.
　　[b] has remained popular for as long as 200 years.
　　[c] involves some concerns raised by ai today.
[d] has sparked serious ethical controversies
分析：
例子题
假定作者在最初说到某本书或某个作业，有可以：
1. 作靶子，然后进行批判，然后引出自个的不一样观念；
2. 引出文章的写刁难象或主旨。
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　32. in david eagleman’s opinion, our current knowledge of consciousness
　　[a] helps explain artificial intelligence.
　　[b] can be misleading to robot making.
　　[c] inspires popular sci-fi tv series.
[d] is too limited for us to reproduce it
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　33.the solution to the ethical issues brought by autonomous vehicles
　　[a] can hardly ever be found.
　　[b] is still beyond our capacity.
　　[c] causes little public concern.
[d] has aroused much curiosity.
分析：
curiosity 文中未曾说到
而fascinated呈如今说到仿照人类思维的比照难以做到
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　34. the author’s attitude toward 谷歌’s pledges is one of
　　[a] affirmation
　　[b] skepticism.
　　[c] contempt
[d] respect.
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　35. which of the following would be the best title for the text?
　　[a] ai’s future: in the hands of tech giants
　　[b] frankenstein, the novel predicting the age of ai
　　[c] the conscience of ai: complex but inevitable
　　[d] ai shall be killers once out of control
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