Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the buzz word at the turn of this new year. Everybody is exploring the opportunities that the hottest apps, namely
Chat GPT,
Bing or
Bard, offer to improve performance in their jobs. In the previous post, we learnt that the major consumer electronics companies presented an array of AI powered appliances at
CES 2024 Las Vegas. In this post we are going to look at some of the concerns that AI is raising in a number of areas, from espionage to personal freedom.
Lesson plan tip: these interviews and articles can be used as background information for a "flipped-classroom" homework task: each student chooses one story and listens to it during the weekend. Then, on Monday, students share a short oral summary of the interview in small groups of up to 4 students and they talk about some of the key words they have learnt. After that, they can discuss the opportunities and the threats that AI offers, for example with the "For & Against" list published by Phoebe Reynolds in English Teachers Around the World (Facebook). It is a simple, but challenging information gap activity to practice authentic listening/ reading, speaking, summarizing, debating and to activate passive vocabulary.
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If you are interested in face-recognition technology, you can start by reading the
Digital Trends article
Clear View AI's facial-recognition app is a nightmare for stalking victims about
Clear View, an app that can identify an individual with minimal information, and it is widely used by government and law-enforcement agencies to search for criminals. But the power of Clear View can be used for the wrong purposes in the hands of authoritarian governments or wrongdoers, as you can learn if you listen to
Fresh Air's interview to New York Times reporter
Kashmir Hill,
Inside the Secretive AI Company that Knows your Face. C1 students can read the Digital Trends text first to build up background information and they will find interesting words like:
to stalk, hubris, a startup, to snap [a photo], a creep, a boon, a stalker, a nefarious [purpose], a statement, to monetize, to scrape [information], to track [somebody] down, to harass, a flaw, a stark [increase], an ongoing [problem], disruptive [tech], to launch, [sexual] assault, to misuse, to rape). The 42 minute NPR interview with a script is recommended for C2 students who will encounter interesting words like:
to unlock [a phone], to scrape [photos], to log into [an app], a beat (area), a [tech] dystopia, Planned Parenthood, to harass, creepy, to wield, chilling, to name and shame, a restroom, to blend in [with the population], a corpse, [to turn the] tide, the toll, an outlet, bodybuilding, workout, a counter, the breadcrumb, state-of-the-art [technology], to be pulled over [by the police], a warrant, larceny, bewildered, a gang, a consignment store, [surveillance] footage, a bunch of [photos], [the charges (law)] to be dropped, shoplifting, [to be in the] lineup, faulty, wrongfully [arrested], [a technological] breakthrough, to rig up, the brim [of a baseball cap], countless [photos], a building block, a cease-and-desist [letter], a whim, to harness [the benefits], to track [someone], to harvest, a seasoned [consultant], a vintage [store], a dive bar, astounding, buggy, to pitch [this technology], a venue, to sue, to hang out with [artists], to shift, to be anointed [the candidate], nefarious [purposes], a fine-tuned [technology], a rioter, to storm [the Capitol], the blowback, to let the cat out of the bag. AI tools have long been utilized in cyberwar and espionage. In
How AI is Transforming National Security,
Mary Louise Kelly interviews FBI Director
Chris Wray and U.S. National Security Agency Director,
Paul Nakasone for NPR's
Consider This Podcast. The segment lasts 11 minutes and has a script, so, it can be easily accessible to C1 students and above. You will come across interesting words like: a
thriller,
sneaker, [under] siege, to hack into [computers], to compromise [data], a go-to [tool], devastating [consequences], to ponder, on the flip side, cyber snooping, a formidable [adversary], ransomware, penchant, overreach, what makes [it] tick, a stride.
If you want further information about the race and gender bias of facial recognition tech, you can listen to the Fresh Air interview
Unmasking AI's racism and sexism where the computer scientist and founder of the
Algorithmic Justice League,
Joy Buolamwini, explains the inbuilt biasses of AI's algorithms. This is a long, 37 minute interview with a script, so it can be recommended for C2 students, where they will find interesting words like:
the male gaze, the coded gaze, to coin [a term], grad school, a glitch, [to issue] an executive order, a landmark [executive order], to endow, fanciful, to debug, to bake in [priorities], messiness, mahogany, a windfall, to floor, a nuance, a slew [of letters], overreliance, to misgender, a benchmark, to take steps, to regulate, a class-action lawsuit, an opt-in [program], to opt-out, groundbreaking [technology], to label, to speak up, a burden, to come off [like an angry black woman], a gimmick, a stake, a gasp, to dip my toe into[something], a hoax, a fraudster, a fallback, a high-paying [job], a low-paying [job], an inmate.If you want to know how AI tools can be used in modern political campaigns, including deepfake videos, you can listen to
AI's Influence on Election 2024 where radio host
Meghna Chakrabarti has a conversation with several experts, including
Darrell West, author of the book
How AI Will Transform the 2024 Elections, for her WBUR (Boston) programme
On Point. This 47 minute radio show is fast and very complex audio, due to the references to domestic American politics, and because it deals with several topics in a row, which limits the help that a single context can offer to learners of English, so, although there is a script, it is recommended for teachers and Experts (Ex), above C2 level. Some key words you will find are:
a bill, sparsely, a giveaway, a deepfake [video], a disclaimer, malarkey, heck, to utter [a word], to wreak havoc, a bribe, [highly] polarized, to endorse [a candidate], tinny, shady, a caretaker, to curb [the use of harmful AI content], grass roots [level], a deterrent, a loophole, the boogeyman, to pass the legal muster, to reach out [to voters], to level the playing field, to cast [a vote], to crack down on [misinformation], a purveyor [of this information], wary, to flag [instances of virality], a circuit breaker, mainstream, to open the floodgates, to triple check [information].
