Topic: Artificial intelligence and Robotics

I Reading skills

Read and remember the following words and word combinations used in their specialized meanings.

artificial intelligence	- штучний інтелект
human-like intelligence	- людиноподібний інтелект
robotics	робототехніка
controversial	спірний, дискусійний
assembly line	складальний конвеєр
problem-solving	розв'язання проблем; прийняття рішень
fuzzy logic	нечітка логіка, формальна система логіки
vague	нечіткий, невиразний,
to predict	передбачати, прогнозувати
generalized analytical ability	здібність аналітично узагальнювати
infamous example	сумно відомий приклад
largely theoretical	досить теоретичний
frustrating task	ускладнене завдання
sophisticated field of study	сучасна сфера дослідження

 

Read and translate the following text into Ukrainian

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is arguably the most exciting field in robotics. It's certainly the most controversial. Everybody agrees that a robot can work in an assembly line, but there's no consensus on whether a robot can ever be intelligent.

Like the term "robot" itself, artificial intelligence is hard to define. Computer scientists prefer a looser definition, calling AI the study of how to make computers to do things. According to the technical dictionary − artificial intelligence is a field of study that explores how computers can be used for tasks that require the human characteristics of intelligence, imagination and intuition. Ultimate AI would be a recreation of the human thought process − a man-made machine with our intellectual abilities. This would include the ability to learn just about anything, the ability to reason, the ability to use language and the ability to formulate original ideas. But today’s AI machines can only replicate some specific elements of intellectual ability.

In early days of artificial intelligence, scientists thought that the computer would experience something like an electronic childhood, in which it would gobble up the world’s libraries and then begin generating new wisdom. Few people talk like this today because the problem of simulating intelligence is far more complex.

Today the term artificial intelligence encompasses several subsets of interests.

Problem solving. This area of AI includes a spectrum of activities from playing games to planning military strategy. The basic idea of AI problem-solving is very simple, though its execution is complicated. The computer can only solve problems it's programmed to solve − it doesn't have any generalized analytical ability. Existing chess computers are one example of this sort of machine.

Natural language. It is associated with artificial intelligence because humans can make the best use of AI if they can communicate with the computer in natural language. Furthermore, understanding natural language is a skill thought to require intelligence. In one of infamous example, the computer was supposed to demonstrate its prowess by translating a phrase from English to Russian and back. Despite the computer’s best efforts “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” came back “The vodka is good, but the meat is spoiled”. One of the most frustrating tasks for AI scientists is providing the computer with the sense of context that humans have.

Fuzzy logic. This is a type of artificial intelligence that allows machines to “think” more like humans, providing a method of precisely measuring vague concepts. Fuzzy logic was invented more than 25 years ago and had been used successfully in electronically controlled devices ranging from vacuum cleaners and automobile transmissions to subway system and rocket-docking system. It also helps guide self-guidance system in robots.

Expert systems. An expert system is a software package used with an extensive set of organized data that presents the computer as an expert on a particular topic. For example, a computer can be an expert on where to drill oil wells, or what stock purchase looks promising or how to cook soufflés. Therefore, these AI systems present programs that mimic the decision-making and problem-solving thought processes of human expert on some particular topic.

Robotics. This field involves endowing computer-controlled machines with electronic capabilities for vision, speech, and touch. Scientists hypothesize on how and why we learn and think, and they experiment with their ideas using robots. Some scientists focus on humanoid robots because they feel that being able to experience the world like a human is essential to developing human-like intelligence. It also makes it easier for people to interact with the robots, which potentially makes it easier for the robot to learn.

Although considerable progress has been made in these sophisticated fields of study, a hard band of scientists are continuing to explore AI, focusing on how computers to learn.

 

Find the answers to the questions.

1. What do you think artificial intelligence means?

2. Can robots be intelligent?

3. What false opinion was spread among some scientists in early days of AI?

3. What subsets of interests does AI encompass?

4. What is the main idea of AI problem-solving?

5. What is meant by fuzzy logic?

6. What is an expert system?

7. How does an expert system work?

8. Where might you find an expert system at home, at work?

9. What role does natural language play in a process of creating AI?

10. Give some successful and infamous examples.

11. What role will robots and AI play in our everyday life?

 

Complete the sentences.

1. Everybody agrees that....

2. According to the technical dictionary....

3. In early days of artificial intelligence....

4. Few people talk like this today....

5.... several subsets of interests.

6.... as an expert on a particular topic

7.... with the sense of context that humans have.

8.... which potentially makes it easier for the robot to learn.

 

 

Match the following English words with their definitions.

1.	robot	a.	is a branch of computer science concerned with teaching computers to think.
2.	an expert system	b.	is an approach to computing based on "degrees of truth" rather than the usual "true or false" (1 or 0) Boolean logic on which the modern computer is based.
3.	artificial intelligence	c.	is a computer program that simulates the judgment and behaviour of a human or an organization that has expert knowledge and experience in a particular field.
4.	robotics	d.	computers whose chips are designed to mimic the human brains
5.	neutral networks	e.	traditionally recognize objects by their shapes or else “see” a dominant colour.
6.	vision robots	f.	is a computer-controlled device that can physically manipulate its surroundings.
7.	fuzzy logic	g.	is a branch of engineering that involves the conception, design, manufacture, and operation of robots.

 

True or false statements.

1. Artificial intelligence is only used in playing chess.

2. AI software can rely on vocabulary and rules of grammar for language translation.

3. In early days of AI, scientists thought that it would be useful just to stuff facts into computer; however facts are useless without the ability to interpret and learn form them.

4. Robots are distinct from ordinary computers in their physical nature -- normal computers don't have a physical body attached to them.

5. Robots have to look or act like humans but they don't need to be flexible to perform different tasks.

6. Already, there are prototype medical robots designed to ask patients about their symptoms and to provide counsel, simulating comforting emotions -- a role traditionally occupied by a human doctor.

7. Robots and artificial intelligence are two of the most exciting scientific fields today.