The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question.
Fears of artificial intelligence (AI) have haunted humanity since the very beginning of the computer age. Hitherto these fears focused on machines using physical means to kill, enslave or replace people. But over the past couple of years new AI tools have emerged that threaten the survival of human civilisation from an unexpected direction. AI has gained some remarkable abilities to manipulate and generate language, whether with words, sounds or images. AI has thereby hacked the operating system of our civilisation.
Language is the stuff almost all human culture is made of. Human rights, for example, aren’t inscribed in our DNA. Rather, they are cultural artefacts we created by telling stories and writing laws. Gods aren’t physical realities. Rather, they are cultural artefacts we created by inventing myths and writing scriptures….What would happen once a non-human intelligence becomes better than the average human at telling stories, composing melodies, drawing images, and writing laws and scriptures? When people think about Chatgpt and other new AI tools, they are often drawn to examples like school children using AI to write their essays. What will happen to the school system when kids do that? But this kind of question misses the big picture. Forget about school essays. Think of the next American presidential race in 2024, and try to imagine the impact of AI tools that can be made to mass-produce political content, fake-news stories and scriptures for new cults…
Through its mastery of language, AI could even form intimate relationships with people, and use the power of intimacy to change our opinions and worldviews. Although there is no indication that AI has any consciousness or feelings of its own, to foster fake intimacy with humans it is enough if the AI can make them feel emotionally attached to it….
What will happen to the course of history when AI takes over culture, and begins producing stories, melodies, laws and religions? Previous tools like the printing press and radio helped spread the cultural ideas of humans, but they never created new cultural ideas of their own. AI is fundamentally different. AI can create completely new ideas, completely new culture…. Of course, the new power of AI could be used for good purposes as well. I won’t dwell on this, because the people who develop AI talk about it enough….
We can still regulate the new AI tools, but we must act quickly. Whereas nukes cannot invent more powerful nukes, AI can make exponentially more powerful AI.… Unregulated AI deployments would create social chaos, which would benefit autocrats and ruin democracies. Democracy is a conversation, and conversations rely on language. When AI hacks language, it could destroy our ability to have meaningful conversations, thereby destroying democracy….And the first regulation I would suggest is to make it mandatory for AI to disclose that it is an AI. If I am having a conversation with someone, and I cannot tell whether it is a human or an AI—that’s the end of democracy. This text has been generated by a human. Or has it?
is the basis of AI tools like ChatGPT which can be used to generate academic content and opinion.
The author calls language the operating system of civilisation because almost all culture is built from it.
The passage says human rights and gods are “cultural artefacts we created by telling stories and writing laws” or “inventing myths”, so language is the basis of cultural artefacts and of the spread of values and culture. It also says AI could use language to form intimate relationships and change opinions, so language can shape views through emotional ties.
That language is the basis of tools like ChatGPT is not a reason the author gives for calling it the operating system of civilisation; ChatGPT is mentioned only as an example of the new AI tools.
Hence, is the basis of AI tools like ChatGPT which can be used to generate academic content and opinion.
cautionary, because the author lays out some adverse effects of the proliferation of unregulated AI tools.
Tone is judged from how the author presents the subject and what the author wants readers to do.
The author warns that AI has “hacked the operating system of our civilisation”, that “unregulated AI deployments would create social chaos” and could end democracy, and urges that “we must act quickly” to regulate it. The aim is to warn about harmful effects and call for action.
So the tone is cautionary. “Prescient” claims the predictions are proven, “alarmist” suggests exaggerated fear without reason, and “quizzical” reads too much into the closing question.
Hence, cautionary, because the author lays out some adverse effects of the proliferation of unregulated AI tools.
One of the biggest casualties from the spread of unregulated AI is likely to be the democratic process.
The author’s views must be inferred from what the passage stresses.
The passage says “Democracy is a conversation, and conversations rely on language. When AI hacks language, it could destroy our ability to have meaningful conversations, thereby destroying democracy” and that unregulated AI “would benefit autocrats and ruin democracies”. So the author would agree that the democratic process is among the biggest casualties of unregulated AI.
The author does not discuss technological or industrial benefits, calls the school-essay worry a question that “misses the big picture” rather than unfounded, and does not say fears of fatal harm are unfounded.
Hence, One of the biggest casualties from the spread of unregulated AI is likely to be the democratic process.
apply its mastery of language to create strong emotional ties which could exacerbate the polarization of political views.
In an “EXCEPT” question, three choices are outcomes the author names; the required choice is the one not named.
The author fears AI becoming better than humans at “telling stories, composing melodies, drawing images, and writing laws”, creating “completely new ideas, completely new culture”, and mass-producing “political content, fake-news stories” that could destroy democracy.
The author does mention AI forming intimate relationships to change opinions, but never says these ties would worsen the polarization of political views. So that outcome is not identified.
Hence, apply its mastery of language to create strong emotional ties which could exacerbate the polarization of political views.
Similar Questions
Zombie cells may contribute to age-related chronic inflammation: this finding could help scientists understand more about the aging process and why the immune system becomes less effective as we get older. Zombie or “senescent” cells are damaged cells that can no longer divide and grow like normal cells. Scientists think that these cells can contribute to chronic health problems when they accumulate in the body. In younger people, the immune system is more effective at clearing senescent cells from the body through a process called apoptosis, but as we age this process becomes less efficient. As a result, there is an accumulation of senescent cells in different organs in the body, either through increased production or reduced clearance by the immune system. The zombie cells continue to use energy though they do not divide, and often secrete chemicals that cause inflammation, which if persistent for longer periods of time can damage healthy cells leading to chronic diseases.
Identify the odd sentence out and key in the number of that sentence as your answer.
The last paragraph of the passage refers to “middle-class, white, professional men”. Which one of the following qualities best describes the connection among them?
Study the following sets of concepts and identify the set that is conceptually closest to the concerns and arguments of the passage.
According to the passage, who or what was an “alienist”?
“Conversely, when a defendant struck officials as unlike themselves, whether by dint of disease, gender, confession, or race, the precariousness of judgments about mental state was exposed.” Which one of the following best describes the use of the word “confession” in this sentence?
According to the incentive or moral hazard argument, which one of the designs below is most consistent with the claim that some inequality can raise growth?
Which one of the options below best summarises the passage?
The primary function of the three-part case for a positive income inequality–economic growth link in the first half of the passage is to show that:
The passage refers to "democratization". Choose the one option below that comes closest to the opposite of this process.
Important Questions from Non Grammar
- In formulating Principle VI (a), the ILC clarified the term "waging of a war of aggression" because:
- The author attributes the growing public frustration with the UN primarily to which pair of continuous failures?
- A primary point of divergence between the US Conservative position and the Secretary-General's Conservative position on security matters, according to the summary is:
- According to the critique's conclusion, the immediate, insurmountable barrier preventing the implementation of any reform, major or minor, is:
- The Secretary-General's 'Agenda for Peace' proposed a specific military capability intended to address the gap between traditional peace-keeping and full military action. This proposed unit was explicitly characterized by the summary as being:
