IELT

Reading Test 118: Passage 3 - Attitudes towards Artificial

Intelligence
 Attitudes towards Artificial Intelligence

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions  27–40, which are based on the reading
passage below.
Questions 27- 32 [ Reading Passage -  Attitudes towards Artificial Intelligence ]
Questions 27 – 32
The Reading Passage has six sections, A-F.
Choose the correct heading for each sectiofrom the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-viii, in boxes  27-32  on your answer sheet.
List of Headings

i     An increasing divergence of attitudes towards AI

ii    Reasons why we have more faith in human judgement than in AI
iii   The superiority of AI projections over those made by humans
iv   The process by which AI can help us make good decisions
v    The advantages of involving users in AI processes
vi   Widespread distrust of an AI innovation
vii   Encouraging openness about how AI functions
viii  A surprisingly successful AI application

27.   Section  A
28.   Section  B
29.   Section  C
30.   Section  D
31.   Section  E
32.   Section  F
 
 Attitudes towards Artificial Intelligence
A.  Artificial intelligence (AI) can already predict the future. Police forces are using it to map
when and where crime is likely to occur. Doctors can use it to predict when a patient is
most likely to have a heart attack or stroke. Researchers are even trying to give AI
imagination so it can plan for unexpected consequences.

Many decisions in our lives require a good forecast, and AI is almost always better at
forecasting than we are. Yet for all these technological advances, we still seem to deeply
lack confidence in AI predictions. Recent cases show that people don’t like relying on AI
and prefer to trust human experts, even if these experts are wrong.

If we want AI to really benefit people, we need to find a way to get people to trust it. To do that, we need to
understand why people are so reluctant to trust AI in the first place.

B.  Take the case of Watson for Oncology, one of technology giant IBM’s supercomputer programs. Their
attempt to promote this program to cancer doctors was a PR disaster. The AI promised to deliver top-quality
recommendations on the treatment of 12 cancers that accounted for 80% of the world’s cases. But when
doctors first interacted with Watson, they found themselves in a rather difficult situation. On the one hand, if
Watson provided guidance about a treatment that coincided with their own opinions, physicians did not see
much point in Watson’s recommendations. The supercomputer was simply telling them what they already
knew, and these recommendations did not change the actual treatment.

On the other hand, if Watson generated a recommendation that contradicted the experts’ opinion, doctors
would typically conclude that Watson wasn’t competent. And the machine wouldn’t be able to explain why its
treatment was plausible because its machine-learning algorithms were simply too complex to be fully
understood by humans. Consequently, this has caused even more suspicion and disbelief, leading many
doctors to ignore the seemingly outlandish AI recommendations and stick to their own expertise.

C.  This is just one example of people’s lack of confidence in AI and their reluctance to accept what AI has to
offer. Trust in other people is often based on our understanding of how others think and having experience of
their reliability. This helps create a psychological feeling of safety. AI, on the other hand, is still fairly new and
unfamiliar to most people. Even if it can be technically explained (and that’s not always the case), AI’s
decision-making process is usually too difficult for most people to comprehend. And interacting with something
we don’t understand can cause anxiety and give us a sense that we’re losing control.

Many people are also simply not familiar with many instances of AI actually working, because it often happens
in the background. Instead, they are acutely aware of instances where AI goes wrong. Embarrassing AI
failures receive a disproportionate amount of media attention, emphasising the message that we cannot rely
on technology. Machine learning is not foolproof, in part because the humans who design it aren’t.

D.  Feelings about AI run deep. In a recent experiment, people from a range of backgrounds were given
various sci-fi films about AI to watch and then asked questions about automation in everyday life. It was found
that, regardless of whether the film they watched depicted AI in a positive or negative light, simply watching a
cinematic vision of our technological future polarised the participants’ attitudes. Optimists became more
extreme in their enthusiasm for AI and sceptics became even more guarded.
This suggests people use relevant evidence about AI in a biased manner to support their existing attitudes, a
deep-rooted human tendency known as “confirmation bias”. As AI is represented more and more in media and
entertainment, it could lead to a society split between those who benefit from AI and those who reject it. More
pertinently, refusing to accept the advantages offered by AI could place a large group of people at a serious
disadvantage.

E.  Fortunately, we already have some ideas about how to improve trust in AI. Simply having previous
experience with AI can significantly improve people’s opinions about the technology, as was found in the study
mentioned above. Evidence also suggests the more you use other technologies such as the internet, the more
you trust them.

Another solution may be to reveal more about the algorithms which AI uses and the purposes they serve.
Several high-profile social media companies and online marketplaces already release transparency reports
about government requests and surveillance disclosures. A similar practice for AI could help people have a
better understanding of the way algorithmic decisions are made.

F.  Research suggests that allowing people some control over AI decision-making could also improve trust and
enable AI to learn from human experience. For example, one study showed that when people were allowed the
freedom to slightly modify an algorithm, they felt more satisfied with its decisions, more likely to believe it was
superior and more likely to use it in the future.

We don’t need to understand the intricate inner workings of AI systems, but if people are given a degree of
responsibility for how they are implemented, they will be more willing to accept AI into their lives.

Questions 33- 40 [ Reading Passage -  Attitudes towards Artificial Intelligence ]

Questions 33 – 35

Choose the correct letter,  A, B, C  or D.

Write the correct letter in boxes 33-35 on your answer sheet.

33.   What is the writer doing in Section A?

     A   providing a solution to a concern

     B   justifying an opinion about an issue
     C   highlighting the existence of a problem
     D   explaining the reasons for a phenomenon
34.   According to Section C, why might some people be reluctant to accept AI?

     A   They are afraid it will replace humans in decision-making jobs.
     B   Its complexity makes them feel that they are at a disadvantage.
     C   They would rather wait for the technology to be tested over a period of time.

     D   Misunderstandings about how it works make it seem more challenging than it is.

35.  What does the writer say about the media in Section C of the text?

     A   It leads the public to be mistrustful of AI.

     B   It devotes an excessive amount of attention to AI.
     C   Its reports of incidents involving AI are often inaccurate.

     D   It gives the impression that AI failures are due to designer error.

Questions 36 – 40

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage?

In boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet, write

     YES                  if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer

     NO                   if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
     NOT GIVEN    if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

36.   Subjective depictions of AI in sci-fi films make people change their opinions about
automation.
37.   Portrayals of AI in media and entertainment are likely to become more positive.
38.   Rejection of the possibilities of AI may have a negative effect on many people’s lives.
39.   Familiarity with AI has very little impact on people’s attitudes to the technology.
40.   AI applications which users are able to modify are more likely to gain consumer
approval.