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Dan: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English.
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I'm Dan and joining me today is Neil. Hi Neil.
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Neil: Hi Dan. What's with the protective
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gear and helmet?
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Dan: I'm just getting ready for the inevitable
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rise of the machines. That's the takeover
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of the world by artificial intelligence, or
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AI, which some people predict will happen.
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Neil: Inevitable means cannot be avoided or
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stopped. Rise of the machines? What do you mean?
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Dan: It's our topic in this 6 Minute English.
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We'll be talking about that, giving you
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six related pieces of vocabulary and, of course,
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our regular quiz question.
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Neil: That's the first thing you've said
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that makes any sense. What's the question?
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Dan: The word 'robot' as we use it today
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was first used in a 1920's Czech play 'Rossum's
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Universal Robots'. But before this, what
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was its original meaning? a) forced labour
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b) metal man c) heartless thing
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Neil: I will go for a) forced labour
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Dan: We'll find out if you were right or
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not later in the show.
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Neil: OK Dan. Tell me what's going on.
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Dan: I saw a news article written by BBC technology
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correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones about the
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recent CES technology show in Las Vegas. He
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interviewed David Hanson, founder of Hanson
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Robotics, who said it was his ambition to
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achieve an AI that can beat humans at any
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intellectual task.
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Neil: Surely it's a good thing! Better AI
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and robotics could take over many of the jobs
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that we don't want to do, or that are so
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important to get 100% right… like air traffic
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control. We'd never have another plane crash.
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It would be infallible because it would be
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so clever.
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Dan: Infallible means never failing. And that's
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what bothers me. What happens when its intelligence
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surpasses ours? Why should it do what
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we want it to do?
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Neil: To surpass something is to do or be
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better than it. Dan, you've been watching
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too many movies. Robots fighting humanity
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is a popular theme. Guess what… humanity
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often wins. And besides, we would programme
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the computer to be benevolent.
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Dan: Benevolent means kind and helpful. But
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that's just it, once the intelligence becomes
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sentient, or able to think for itself, who
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knows what it will do. We humans are not exactly
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perfect, you know. What happens if it decides
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that it is better than us and wants us out
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of the way?
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Neil: Don't worry. Asimov thought of that.
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Isaac Asimov was an American science fiction
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writer who, among other things, wrote about
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robots. He came up with three laws that every
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robot would have to follow to stop it from
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acting against humanity. So we're safe!
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Dan: I'm not so sure. A sentient robot could
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make up its own mind about how to interpret
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the laws. For example, imagine if we created
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an AI system to protect all of humanity.
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Neil: Well, that's great! No more war. No
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more murder. No more fighting.
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Dan: Do you really think that humans can stop
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fighting? What if the AI decides that the
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only way to stop us from hurting ourselves
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and each other is to control everything we
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do, so it takes over to protect us. Then we
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would lose our freedom to a thing that we
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created that is infallible and more intelligent
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than we are! That's the end, Neil!
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Neil: I think that's a little far-fetched,
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which means difficult to believe. I'm sure
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others don't think that way.
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Dan: OK. Let's hear what the Learning English
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team say when I ask them if they are worried
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that AI and robots could take over the world.
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Phil: Well, it's possible, but unlikely.
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There will come a point where our technology
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will be limited – probably before real AI
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is achieved.
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Sam: Never in a million years. First of all
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we'd programme them so that they couldn't,
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and secondly we'd beat them anyway. Haven't
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you ever seen a movie?
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Kee: I totally think it could happen. We
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only have to make a robot that's smart enough
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to start thinking for itself. After that,
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who knows what it might do.
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Neil: A mixed bag of opinions there, Dan.
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It seems you aren't alone.
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Dan: Nope. But I don't exactly have an army
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of support either. I guess we'll just have
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to wait and see.
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Neil: Speak for yourself. I've waited long
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enough – for our quiz question that is.
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Dan: Oh yeah! I asked you what the original
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meaning of the word 'robot' was before
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it was used in its modern form. a) forced
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labour b) metal man c) heartless thing
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Neil: And I said a) forced labour
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Dan: And you were… right!
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Neil: Shall we take a look at the vocabulary then?
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Dan: OK. First we had inevitable. If something
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is inevitable then it cannot be avoided or
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stopped. Can you think of something inevitable, Neil?
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Neil: It is inevitable that one day the Sun
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will stop burning. Then we had infallible,
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which means never failing. Give us an example, Dan.
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Dan: The vaccine for small pox is infallible.
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The natural spread of that disease has been
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completely stopped. After that was surpasses.
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If something surpasses something else then
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it becomes better than it.
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Neil: Many parents across the world hope that
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their children will surpass them in wealth,
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status or achievement. After that we heard
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benevolent, which means kind and helpful.
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Name a person famous for being benevolent, Dan.
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Dan: Father Christmas is a benevolent character.
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After that we heard sentient. If something
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is sentient, it is able to think for itself.
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Neil: Indeed. Many people wonder about the
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possibility of sentient life on other planets.
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Finally we heard far-fetched, which means
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difficult to believe. Like that far-fetched
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story you told me the other day about being
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late because of a dragon, Dan.
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Dan: I swear it was real! It had big sharp
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teeth and everything!
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Neil: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's the end
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of this 6 Minute English. Don't forget to
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check out our Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube
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pages. See you next time!
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Dan: Bye!
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Neil: Bye.