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1. an artificial brain can learn faster than a human brain?
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1. an artificial brain can learn faster than a human brain?
2. robots have emotions?
3. robots can be smarter than humans?
4. people will be controlled by intelligent machines?
5. A. I. can make the world a better place?
6. robots can help us create a more pleasant way of life and more free time?
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ROBOTS – HELP OR PROBLEMS? | |
| Arguments in favour of robots | Arguments against robots |
| J do the heavy, repetitive work (are very useful on production lines); J do the difficult and dangerous jobs (in space, with bombs, …); J can help those with disabilities to be more independent; J simplify the work; J allow a considerable reduction in costs (don’t get paid); J increase productivity; J don’t eat or sleep; J don’t get bored; J don’t get sick or grow old (don’t die); J don’t have feelings, so, don’t get depressed and don’t create bonds with people, treating everyone equally; J don’t go on strike; J make the world a better place; J can simulate some aspects of human intelligence; J don’t need to go to school, just need to be programmed; J can learn faster than humans; J can be controlled by humans; | L cause unemployment; L make the workplace and the world impersonal; L don’t keep company; L don’t solve problems and make decisions; L aren’t adaptable to circumstances and can’t handle emergency situations; L can get smarter than humans; L can turn against humans and, consequently, control them; L can’t recognise and express emotion (so, will never have true Emotional Intelligence) and, therefore, can’t help people at an emotional level; L can make people get lazy, with no will to learn, study or work; L can make people get dependent on them; |
Useful expressions:
❀ Do you really think so?
❀ I agree up to a point, but don’t you think…?
❀ I’m not sure you’re right about…
❀ But surely that can’t be right.
❀ No, I’m sorry but I disagree with you there.
❀ No, I’m afraid I can’t agree with you about that.
❀ You can’t be serious!
❀ You must be joking!
❀ Like I mentioned / said before…
❀ I’d just like to say…
❀ In my opinion… / From my point of view…
Read the text " The Surgeon" and say what makes the end of the story unexpected.
The Surgeon
(After Isaac Asimov)
The surgeon looked up without expression. " Is he ready? "
" He is nervous, " said his assistant.
" They always are... Well, it's a serious operation. "
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" I'll see him in this room, " said the surgeon. " Has he made up his mind? "
" Yes. He wants metal; they always do. "
The surgeon's face didn't change expression. He stared at his hands. " Sometimes one can talk them out of it. "
" Why bother? " said the assistant, indifferently. " If he wants metal, let it be metal. "
" You don't care? "
" Why should I? Both way it’s a medical engineering problem and I'm a medical engineer. Why should I go beyond that? "
" I care. I have to try. " The surgeon pushed a small button and the door opened. The patient moved into the room in his motorchair, the nurse stepping along beside him.
" You may go, nurse, " said the surgeon, " but wait outside. I will call you. " He nodded to the assistant, who left with the nurse, and the door closed behind them. The man in the chair watched them go. He looked worried and uncomfortable. He said, " Will we be starting today? " The surgeon nodded. " This afternoon. "
" I understand it will take weeks. "
" Not the operation itself. But there are a number of small points to take care of. "
" Is it dangerous? " Then, as though trying to sound friendlier, but against his will, he added, "... doctor? "
The surgeon paid no attention to this. He said calmly, " We take our time to make it less dangerous, and we already have all the required equipment. But I must ask you to make a decision. It is possible to supply you with either of two types of cyber-hearts1 metal or... "
" Plastic! " said the patient irritably. " Cheap plastic. I don't want that. I've made my choice. I want the metal because it is better. "
" It depends on the patient. In my opinion, in your individual case, it is not. And we prefer not to call them plastic. It is a fibrous2 cyber-heart. It's made of a polymeric material designed to imitate as closely as possible the human heart you now have in your chest. "
" Exactly, and the human heart I now have in my chest is worn out, although I am not yet sixty years old. I don't want another one like it, thank you. I want something better. "
" We all want something better for you. The fibrous cyber-heart will be better. It has a potential life of centuries. "
" But it does wear out. No, I want it to be metallic, doctor. What's the matter with you? Are you afraid I'm making myself into a robot... into a Metallo, as they call them since Metallos became citizens? "
" There is nothing wrong with a Metallo. As you say, they are citizens. But you're not a Metallo. You're a human. Why not stay a human? "
" Because I want the best and that's a metallic heart. And will you be the surgeon in charge? They tell me you're the best. "
The surgeon nodded. " Very well. I will do what I can to make the operation an easy one. "
The door opened and the chair moved the patient out to the waiting nurse.
The medical engineer came in. " Well, " he said, " I can't say what happened just by looking at you. What was his decision? "
The surgeon bent over his desk, putting together some records. " What you predicted. He insists on the metallic heart. It has become a real mania with people ever since Metallos became citizens. Men have this strange desire to make Metallos out of themselves because they think that Metallos are physically strong and powerful. "
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" It isn't one-sided, doc. You don't work with Metallos but I do; so I know. The last two who came in for repairs have asked for fibrous elements... I suppose that someday we shall have Metallos that are a kind of flesh and blood, and humans half made of metal. We have two varieties of intellect on Earth now and in the near future we won't be able to tell the difference between them. We'd have the best of both worlds; the advantages of man combined with those of robot. "
" You'd get a hybrid, " said the surgeon almost angrily. " You'd get something that is not both but neither. I believe in being what one is. I wouldn't change a bit of my own structure for any reason. I am myself; well pleased to be myself; and would not be anything else. "
He had finished now and had to prepare for the operation. He placed his strong hands into the heating oven and kept them there until they became red-hot and completely sterilized. Though his speech had been emotional, his voice had never risen, and on its metal face there was, as always, no sign of expression.
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