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UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

DYSON TO START MAKING HOUSEHOLD ROBOTS

5 Reading for general understanding

You are going to read a text about robots. Scan the text on page six quickly and match the headings
with the correct paragraphs. One heading cannot be matched to any of the paragraphs and should
be marked ‘Not given’.

1. Working with the machines? :

2. The future is already here. :

3. Rights for robots. :

4. Approaching a point of no return. :

5. The obstacles in our path. :

6 Reading comprehension

Read the article again. Complete the sentences with between ONE to THREE words from the article.

1. There may well be a robot in your home already, quietly performing its
such as cleaning dust or mowing the lawn.

2. A of robot assistants, such as Ubtech’s Lynx and the AsusZenbo are

preparing to enter our lives.

3. A singularity could be achieved when an AI agent begins of self-

improvement cycles.

4. Humans may be more interested in upgrading their own rather

than developing intelligent AI.

5. Mobile phones and laptops are dependent on , a Rare Earth material.

6. A future in which we are to robots is far from being a certainty.

7. An evolved AI may well have a plan for that is beyond human

understanding.

8. A relationship between robots and humans could be far more than

a war.

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UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)
DYSON TO START MAKING HOUSEHOLD ROBOTS
The rise of the robot
Are we building a future that will destroy us?
1. The robots are taking over. Don’t panic – they’re
not waiting outside your door – but perhaps there’s
one in your home already, quietly going about its
programmed task; cleaning dust or mowing your
lawn. With each passing year, the field of robotics
is advancing and corporations are taking advantage.
Along with AI assistants like Amazon’s Alexa or
Google Home, a new generation of robot helpers is
getting ready to enter our lives. From Ubtech’s Lynx,
which can play your favourite music and remind you
of daily tasks to the Asus Zenbo, which acts as a
security system and can even read bedtime stories to
your children, there’s no escape from the rise of the
machines.
4.
2. Some are concerned. The late Professor Stephen
Hawking believed that robots will eventually replace
humanity, and experts have, for decades, pointed to
a hypothetical moment in time in which technological
growth will become uncontrollable and irreversible –
the singularity – which would result in huge changes
to human civilisation, perhaps even the end of the
species. The theory states that, eventually, an AI
agent such as a piece of software or machine will
enter a reaction chain of self-improvement cycles,
resulting in a state of intelligence that will surpass
anything a human can offer. Some AI researchers
believe that this technological singularity could occur
by 2050. Should we be alarmed?
3. While it is true that technology has exploded,
particularly in the Digital Age, many prominent
experts remain sceptical of the singularity theory. In
order for machines to advance to such a point, it
is probable that we would need to crack quantum
computing first, a technology which is still in its
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infancy. It is also possible that, instead of an
AI developing a form of superintelligence, humans
would use technology to upgrade their own levels
of intellect. Of course, all forms of technological
advancement depend on our ability to keep building
and inventing, both of which require resources that
we may not have access to for much longer. Rare
Earth materials are naturally occurring and cannot be
replaced or recreated. We rely on some of them,
such as *lithium, for gadgets ranging from mobile
phones to laptop computers. When they inevitably
run out, how will we continue to create microchips
and machines?
Even if we solve our resource problems and
successfully tackle global warming, there is no
guarantee that we will one day wake up to a future
in which we are slaves to robot masters. We tend
to assume that AI, once it evolves beyond our
capabilities, would want to destroy us – but why
would it? Perhaps it would have different goals,
a vision of the future we can’t begin to fathom.
Machines may even come to value our planet and all
its lifeforms more than we do. After all, they will be as
dependent on our world as we are. Optimists within
the tech world believe that an advanced AI would
want to work with us, finding a relationship with
humanity far more beneficial than a war. If so, the
ball may be in our court: would we, in panic, attack
first when we realised our creation had eclipsed us?
Can we abandon our destructive ways, and learn to
live with the machines? We may find out what fate
awaits us sooner rather than later.
Sources: washingtonpost.com, theguardian.com,
bbc.com, futurism.com
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