Giving Voice to the Monster

What is most likely the author’s main purpose in writing “Frankenstein: Giving Voice to the Monster”?

• To inform the reader that many cultures have produced stories about artificial life forms

• To examine the motivations and internal conflicts of characters in the novel Frankenstein

• To persuade the reader to oppose the unregulated development of artificial intelligence

• To explain how the novel Frankenstein has important insights that are relevant today

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In paragraphs 1–4, Winner discusses the long tradition of myths and legends about artificially created beings. Winner is interested in these stories because they —

• demonstrate that science fiction is an important literary genre

• reveal how humans have always strived to advance technology

• show how ideas have spread over time across many different cultures

• raise issues about the nature of humanity and our responsibilities related to our creations

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Which of the following characteristics of the selection is the best indicator that it is a formal essay?

•       It has a creative title.

• Its tone is serious and impersonal.

• Its purpose is to entertain the reader.

• It contains many ideas that are loosely organized.

Select the italicized word from the text that provides the best context clue to the meaning of the word algorithms in paragraph 15 of “Frankenstein: Giving Voice to the Monster.”

An appropriate, highly practical, obviously troubling set of developments at present are found within a particular  domain of scientific inquiry and  application, a zone of works not all that dissimilar from the one the fictional Victor Frankenstein explored—today’s realm of advanced  computerization, smart algorithms, artificial intelligence (AI) and  robotics.

• Domain

• Application

• Computerization

• Robotics

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Which is the best example of what Langdon Winner refers to as “Frankenstein’s problem” in paragraph 15?

• A new medicine developed to control pain turns out to be highly addictive.

• A social-media app limits the ability of users to post misleading information.

•               A technology invented to limit greenhouse gases is very costly to implement.

•       A car that runs on hydrogen fuel threatens to lower the profits of the oil industry.

Which phrase from paragraph 19 provides the best clue as to the meaning of the word automation in the paragraph?

• future employment

• excited warnings

• artificial devices

• key actors

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Read paragraph 15. Which excerpt from the selection best reflects the idea that artificial intelligence is likely to become a future “Frankenstein’s problem”?

• What is the relationship between the creator and the thing created? (paragraph 6)

• Put even more simply: The impulse to power and control typically comes first, while the recognition of personal and collective moral obligation arrives later, if ever at all. (paragraph 13)

• “I am in the camp that is concerned about super intelligence,” Gates wrote. (paragraph 17)

• “Once you start to make machines that are rivaling and surpassing humans with intelligence, it’s going to be very difficult for us to survive.” (paragraph 18)

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Which two statements best capture Winner’s message to the reader in the concluding paragraphs?

• The time is now for us to reconsider high-tech robots and gadgets and return to the kind of simple life that Mary Shelley advocates for in her novel.

• The time is now for us to assess our capacity to prevent future technologies from causing the kind of harm that Frankenstein’s creature threatens to do.

• The time is now to take a lesson from literary history and listen carefully to the warnings of leaders in the high-tech industry, as dire as they may be.

• The time is now to work out a negotiation with AI robots about what they will do for us and what we will do for them, since Shelley seems to imply that there is no other way.

• The time is now to reread Mary Shelley and understand what she is really saying: that we must listen to people like Clive Sinclair and do our best to re-engineer our robots.

According to Langdon Winner, what is the best question to ask after inventing a new and important technology?

• What are the ways in which this new technology could be used most intelligently, as opposed to most conveniently?

• What are the ways this new technology could fail, break, or prove inadequate?

• What is our moral responsibility to prevent this new technology from making life worse instead of better?

• What makes the design of this new technology simply too advanced for current circumstances?

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Read the excerpt from paragraph 4 of the selection.

. . . basic questions about what it means to be alive, what it means to be conscious, what it means to be human, what membership in society entails.

What is the effect of the parallel structure in this quote?

• It provides a cohesive flow of related ideas.

• It shows that the first idea is the most important.

• It highlights the author’s authority on the subject.

•               It allows for a smooth transition between thoughts.

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