1 . Facing AI extinction
In a recent White House press conference, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre couldn’t suppress her laughter at the question: Is it “crazy” to worry that “literally everyone on Earth will die” due to artificial intelligence?
While AI pioneer such as Alan Turing cautioned that we should expect “machines to take control”, many contemporary researchers
Before the deep-learning revolution in 2012, I didn’t think human-level AI would emerge in my lifetime. I was familiar with arguments that AI systems would insatiably seek power and resist shutdown — and obvious
Yet after 10 years in the field, I believe the main reasons are actually cultural and historical. By 2012, after several hype cycles that didn’t pan out, most AI researchers had stopped asking ‘what if we succeed at replicating human intelligence’,
When concerns resurfaced outside their community, researchers were to quick to dismiss outsiders as
One basic argument is by analogy: humans’
But wouldn’t it be humans wielding AIs as tools who end up in control? Not necessarily. Many people might choose to deploy a system with a 99 per cent chance of making them phenomenally rich and powerful, even if it had a 1 per cent chance of
Because no safe experiment can definitively tell us whether an AI system will actually kill everyone, such concerns are often dismissed as unscientific. But this isn’t an excuse for ignoring the risk. It just means society needs to reason about it in the same way as other complex social issues. Researchers also emphasize the difficulty of predicting when AI might
Attitudes are changing, but not quickly enough. AI x-risk is admittedly more
Big tech sponsors AI ethics research when it doesn’t hurt the bottom line. But it is also lobbying to exclude general-purpose AI from E. U. regulation. Concerned researchers recently called for a(n)
This brings us to the ugliest reason researchers may dismiss AI x-risk: funding. Essentially every researcher (myself included) has received funding from big tech. At some point, society may stop believing reassurances from people with such strong conflicts of
A.Comfortingly | B.Unfortunately | C.Accidentally | D.Luckily |
A.express | B.feel | C.downplay | D.highlight |
A.threat | B.boost | C.disgrace | D.contribution |
A.extinction | B.health | C.resource | D.exposure |
A.abandoning | B.cherishing | C.frustrating | D.narrowing |
A.arrogant | B.irresponsible | C.ignorant | D.biased |
A.cognitive | B.physical | C.linguistic | D.emotional |
A.deliberately | B.abstractly | C.frequently | D.fundamentally |
A.tightening | B.exercising | C.maintaining | D.escaping |
A.assist | B.surpass | C.collect | D.evaluate |
A.obvious | B.urgent | C.questionable | D.private |
A.legal | B.financial | C.professional | D.ethical |
A.investment | B.pause | C.research | D.initiative |
A.take place | B.grow up | C.sink in | D.go away |
A.interest | B.religion | C.taste | D.law |
2 . The Great PowerPoint Panic of 2003.
Sixteen minutes before touchdown on the morning of February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia (“哥伦比亚”号航天飞机)
The immediate
By the start of 2003, the phrase “death by PowerPoint” had well and truly entered the
Wired ran an excerpt (节选) from Tufte’s booklet in September 2003 under the headline “PowerPoint Is Evil.” A few months later, The New York Times Magazine included his assessment — summarized as “PowerPoint Makes You Dumb” — in its
Despite the backlash it inspired in the
On its face at least, the idea that PowerPoint makes us stupid looks like a textbook case of misguided technological doomsaying. Today’s concerns about social media somehow resemble the PowerPoint critique. Both boil down to a worry that new media technologies
A.disappeared | B.disintegrated | C.distributed | D.disappointed |
A.side | B.cause | C.feature | D.issue |
A.collected | B.unified | C.dropped | D.single |
A.discounted | B.viewed | C.accessed | D.founded |
A.muted | B.absorbed | C.buried | D.sunk |
A.technical | B.popular | C.negative | D.special |
A.possibly | B.reasonably | C.ordinarily | D.necessarily |
A.accommodated | B.combined | C.distinguished | D.enhanced |
A.abstract | B.repetition | C.review | D.brief |
A.press | B.publication | C.media | D.criticism |
A.opened | B.created | C.threw | D.jumped |
A.rules | B.harmonizes | C.impacts | D.roars |
A.feature | B.encourage | C.value | D.defend |
A.Therefore | B.However | C.Certainly | D.Surprisingly |
A.difference | B.truth | C.time | D.concern |
1.你遇到的情况;
2.智能手机的利与弊;
3.你的看法和倡议。
注意:
1.词数100左右;
2.可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
Dear Editor,
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Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
4 . In our information-driven society, shaping our worldview through the media is similar to forming an opinion about someone solely based on a picture of their foot. While the media might not deliberately deceive us, it often fails to provide a comprehensive view of reality.
Consequently, the question arises: Where, then, shall we get our information from if not from the media? Who can we trust? How about experts- people who devote their working lives to understanding their chosen slice of the world? However, even experts can fall prey to the allure of oversimplification, leading to the “single perspective instinct” that hampers (阻碍) our ability to grasp the intricacies (错综复杂) of the world.
Simple ideas can be appealing because they offer a sense of understanding and certainty. And it is easy to take off down a slippery slope, from one attention-grabbing simple idea to a feeling that this idea beautifully explains, or is the beautiful solution for, lots of other things. The world becomes simple that way.
Yet, when we embrace a singular cause or solution for all problems, we risk oversimplifying complex issues. For instance, championing the concept of equality may lead us to view all problems through the lens of inequality and see resource distribution as the sole panacea. However, such rigidity prevents us from seeing the multidimensional nature of challenges and hinders true comprehension of reality. This “single perspective instinct” ultimately clouds our judgment and restricts our capacity to tackle complex issues effectively. Being always in favor of or always against any particular idea makes you blind to information that doesn’t fit your perspective. This is usually a bad approach if you would like to understand reality.
Instead, constantly test your favorite ideas for weaknesses. Be humble about the extent of your expertise. Be curious about new information that doesn’t fit, and information from other fields. And rather than talking only to people who agree with you, or collecting examples that fit your ideas, consult people who contradict you, disagree with you, and put forward different ideas as a great resource for understanding the world. If this means you don’t have time to form so may opinions, so what?
Wouldn’t you rather have few opinions that are right than many that are wrong?
1. What does the underlined word “allure” in Para.2 probably mean?A.Temptation. | B.Tradition. | C.Convenience. | D.Consequence. |
A.They meet people’s demand for high efficiency. |
B.They generate a sense of complete understanding. |
C.They are raised and supported by multiple experts. |
D.They reflect the opinions of like-minded individuals. |
A.Simplifying matters releases energy for human brains. |
B.Constant tests on our ideas help make up for our weakness. |
C.A well-founded opinion counts more than many shallow ones. |
D.People who disagree with us often have comprehensive views. |
A.Embracing Disagreement: Refusing Overcomplexity |
B.Simplifying Information: Enhancing Comprehension |
C.Understanding Differences: Establishing Relationships |
D.Navigating Complexity: Challenging Oversimplification |
注意:词数100左右。
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A. untouched | B. preparation | C. disproportionately | D. outlook | E. committed | F. shake |
G. redirect | H. target | I. reduced | J. expose | K. typically |
Over the past few weeks, many people around the world joined me in celebrating my career firsts — from winning my first Golden Globe to earning my first Oscar. While I am grateful for this unforgettable moment in my professional life, I want to
My life changed eight years ago when one moment shook my
It was April 25, 2015, and I was visiting local organizations. Suddenly, a deadly earthquake hit the country. I have never felt the type of fear and panic I felt that day, when the ground beneath shook so powerfully that I was not able to stand on my own feet.
I was fortunate to make through that day uninjured, but not
Crises are not just moments of disaster: They
To fully recover from a disaster and be prepared for the next one, the specific needs of women and girls must be factored into the humanitarian response.
This year we are halfway toward the 2030
7 . In the fog of uncertainty about how new technology will change the way we work, policymakers around the world have flocked to the same idea. No matter what the future brings, they say confidently, we will need to upskill the workforce in order to cope.
The view sounds reassuringly sensible. If computers are growing smarter, humans will need to learn to use them to humans’ advantage. Otherwise, they may run the risk of being replaced by computers.
Research published by the Social Mobility Commission shows that workers with degrees are over three times more likely to participate in training as adults than workers with no qualifications. That creates a virtuous circle for those who did well at school, and vicious circle for those who did not. If the robots are coming for both the accountants and the taxi drivers, you can bet the bean counters will be more able to retrain themselves out of danger.
It is no good criticizing employers for directing investments at their highly skilled workers. They are simply aiming for the highest return they can get. And, for some types of lower-paid work, it is not always true that technological progress requires more skills. The UK’s latest Employment and Skills Survey, which is performed every five years, suggests the use of literacy and numeracy skills at work has fallen since 2012, even as the use of computers has increased. The trouble is, when the computer makes your job easier one day, it might make it unnecessary the next. Many of those affected by automation will need to switch occupations, or even industries.
It is time to revisit older ideas. The UK once had an energetic culture of night schools, for adults to attend after their day jobs. These institutions have been disappearing due to funding cuts. But a revival of night schools could be exactly what the 21st century needs.
It is still not clear whether the impact of new technology on the labour market will come in a trickle or aflood. But in an already unequal world, continuing to reserve all the lifeboats for the better-off would be a dangerous mistake.
A.Employers also invest more in better educated workers by launching employer-sponsored cmployee education programs. |
B.According to an Oxford University study, nowadays employers are more likely to hire the first-year apprentices. |
C.Rather than just “upskilling” in a narrow way, people could choose to learn an entirely new skill or trade. |
D.But the truth is, the people who are being “upskilled” in today’s economy are the ones who need it the least. |
E.People can effectively train or upskill themselves to meet their specific professional needs. |
F.But a retailer or warehouse company is not going to retrain its staff to help them move to a different sector. |
8 . Mental Health Crisis Among Teens Demands a New Approach
Since the CDC released its survey results last month showing alarmingly high rates of sadness and depressive thoughts among teens, fingers have been pointed from two sides at the causes of this crisis.
According to the CDC’s findings, more than one in five of the 17,000 high school students surveyed reported mental breakdown. Their rates of sadness and hopelessness are the highest in a decade, reflecting an increasing trend exacerbated by society’s isolation(隔离)and stress.
Parents as well as teachers and others who have direct contact with children must accept this preventive approach. It is crucial that they not be afraid to ask direct questions about depressive thoughts.
A.And they should resist the false idea that raising a question creates a risk that was not there before. |
B.This means that we must put aside our disagreements and approach this issue as a matter of life and death. |
C.Some have argued that the climate issue has created an existential threat and accompanying anxiety. |
D.Hospitalization may also be appropriate when the person in question shows an immediate danger to themselves. |
E.At the macro(宏观的)level, our country can do so much more to help people struggling with mental health problems and their families. |
F.It’s time to stop blaming and turn our attention to this generation of struggling teenagers. |
G.It’s time for those who have the power to amplify(放大)their voices and drive change to focus on helping teenagers and families access the help they need. |
1. 简述刷短视频的利与弊;
2. 你的观点。
注意:1. 词数80左右;
2. 开头与结尾已给出,不计入总词数。
参考词汇:刷短视频 watch short videos
Good morning, everyone.
I’d like to
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