TEXT 4. What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is wide-ranging branch of computer science concerned with building smart machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. AI is an interdisciplinary science with multiple approaches, but advancements in machine learning and deep learning are creating a paradigm shift in virtually every sector of the tech industry.

Less than a decade after breaking the Nazi encryption machine Enigma and helping the Allied Forces win World War II, mathematician Alan Turing changed history a second time with a simple question: "Can machines think?" Turing's paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" (1950), and it's subsequent Turing Test, established the fundamental goal and vision of artificial intelligence.

The expansive goal of artificial intelligence has given rise to many questions and debates. So much so, that no singular definition of the field is universally accepted. 

In their groundbreaking textbook Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, authors Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig approach the question by unifying their work around the theme of intelligent agents in machines. With this in mind, AI is "the study of agents that receive percepts from the environment and perform actions." Norvig and Russell go on to explore four different approaches that have historically defined the field of AI:

1. Thinking humanly

2. Thinking rationally

3. Acting humanly

4. Acting rationally

The first two ideas concern thought processes and reasoning, while the others deal with behavior. Norvig and Russell focus particularly on rational agents that act to achieve the best outcome, noting "all the skills needed for the Turing Test also allow an agent to act rationally."

While addressing a crowd at the Japan AI Experience in 2017, DataRobot CEO Jeremy Achin began his speech by offering the following definition of how AI is used today: "AI is a computer system able to perform tasks that ordinarily require human intelligence... Many of these artificial intelligence systems are powered by machine learning, some of them are powered by deep learning and some of them are powered by very boring things like rules."

There exist the following AI examples:

Smart assistants (like Siri and Alexa)

Manufacturing and drone robots

Optimized, personalized healthcare treatment recommendations

Conversational bots for marketing and customer service

Robo-advisors for stock trading

Spam filters on email

Social media monitoring tools for dangerous content or false news

Song or TV show recommendations from Spotify and Netflix

Self-driving cars

Neural networks

9. Read and translate the text:

TEXT 5. Quantum computers

Quantum computers are incredibly powerful machines that take a new approach to processing information. Built on the principles of quantum mechanics, they exploit complex and fascinating laws of nature that are always there, but usually remain hidden from view. By harnessing such natural behavior, quantum computing can run new types of algorithms to process information more holistically. They may one day lead to revolutionary breakthroughs in materials and drug discovery, the optimization of complex manmade systems, and artificial intelligence. Quantum computers are expected to open doors that we once thought would remain locked indefinitely.

Classical computers encode information in bits. Each bit can take the value of 1 or 0. These 1s and 0s act as on/off switches that ultimately drive computer functions. Quantum computers are based on qubits, which operate according to two key principles of quantum physics: superposition and entanglement. Superposition means that each qubit can represent both a 1 and a 0 at the same time. Entanglement means that qubits in a superposition can be correlated with each other; that is, the state of one (whether it is a 1 or a 0) can depend on the state of another. Using these two principles, qubits can act as more sophisticated switches, enabling quantum computers to function in ways that allow them to solve difficult problems that are intractable using today’s computers.

Quantum systems may untangle the complexity of molecular and chemical interactions leading to the discovery of new medicines and materials. They may enable ultra-efficient logistics and supply chains, such as optimizing fleet operations for deliveries during the holiday season. They may help us find new ways to model financial data and isolate key global risk factors to make better investments. And they may make facets of artificial intelligence such as machine learning much more powerful.

Areas that may be revolutionized by quantum computing:

Medicine & Materials

Untangling the complexity of molecular and chemical interactions leading to the discovery of new medicines and materials.

Supply Chain & Logistics

Finding the best solutions for ultra-efficient logistics and global supply chains, such as optimizing fleet operations for deliveries during the holiday season.

Financial Services

Finding new ways to model financial data and isolating key global risk factors to make better investments.

Artificial Intelligence

Making facets of artificial intelligence such as machine learning much more powerful when data sets are very large, such as in searching images or video.

 

10. Prepare short summaries of two from the texts above. (See Appendix II for annotation details).

11. Use the texts above to prepare oral presentations about new developments in IT& Telecoms. (See Appendix III).

Appendix I

Appendix II

MAKING A TEXT SUMMARY

Основная схема устного пересказа любого текста/статьи

1. The title of the text/article	The text/article is headlined… The headline/title of the text/article I have read is…
2. The main idea of the text/article	The main idea of the text/article is… The text/article is about…/The text/article is devoted to… The text/article deals (is concerned) with… The text/article touches upon the issue of…   The purpose of the text/article is to give the reader some information on… The aim of the text/article is to provide the reader with some material on…
3. The contents of the text/article. Some facts, names, figures	The text is divided into… logical parts. The first/ second/ third logical part deals with the problems/statements/points of/ contains information about/ gives the definition of…. The author starts by telling (the reader) that…            The author (of the text/article) writes (reports, states, stresses, thinks, notes, considers, believes, analyses, points out, says, describes) that… / draws reader’s attention to... Much attention is given to… According to the text/article … The text/article goes on to say that… It is reported (shown, stressed) that … It is spoken in detail about… From what the author says it becomes clear that… The fact that … is stressed. The text/article gives a detailed analysis of… Further the author reports (writes, states, stresses, thinks, notes, considers, believes, analyses, points out, says, describes) that… / draws reader’s attention to... In conclusion the author writes (reports, states, stresses, thinks, notes, considers, believes, analyses, points out, says, describes) that… / draws reader’s attention to... The author comes to the conclusion that… The following conclusions are drawn: …
4. Your opinion	I found the text/article (rather) interesting (important, useful) as / because … I think / In my opinion/ To my mind the text/article is (rather) interesting (important, informative, instructive, useful, relevant) as / because … I found the text/article too hard to understand / rather boring as / because … What I found most interesting/ boring/ shocking/ amusing/ irritating/ baffling/ incredible, etc. about this text/article is...

Appendix III

MAKING an ORAL REPORT

Основная схема устного рассказа по теме

1. The beginning (приветствие, представление себя, темы)	I would like to talk about….
2. Ordering the main points (план рассказа)	Firstly...secondly...thirdly...lastly... First of all...then... next...after that...finally...
3. Introducing the subject	I'd like to start by... Let's begin by... ∙ First of all, I'll... Starting with... ∙ I'll begin by...
4. Starting another subject	Now we'll move on to... Let me turn now to... Next... Turning to... I'd like now to discuss... Let's look now at...
5. Summarizing and concluding	In conclusion,... Right, let's sum up …∙ I'd like now to recap... Let's summarize briefly what we've looked at...
6. Express pros and cons / your own point of view on the problem discussed	To my mind, ………………… In my opinion, ………………… From my point of view………

Tips for oral presentation

Introduction

• Give background (relevant and surprising facts).
• State purpose of presentation:    

                               In my presentation I’ll be proposing…

                              In my presentation today I’m going to explain…

                              This morning I would like to review…

                              The subject (topic) of this presentation is…

• Outline development:

I’ll be developing three main points. First, I’ll give you… Second,… Lastly,…

My presentation will be in two main parts. In the first part I’ll… And then I’ll…

Firstly, I’d like to… Secondly, we can… And I’ll finish with…

Development

• Develop the 1 point:

                               I’d like to start with an overview of the …

Let’s start with an overview of…

I’ll begin by analyzing the…

Let me start with some facts about…

• Develop the 2 point:

                               So that’s the general picture for… and now let’s look at…

                                   That completes my overview of…so now I’d like to move on to…

If I could now turn to…

My next point is…

Now, turning to…

Now, what about…?

Let me now move on to…

Conclusion

• Summarize the key points:

                                          So, to summarize (sum up)…

                                          At this stage I’d like to go over (run through)…

                                          So, as we’ve seen in this presentation today…

                                          As I’ve explained…

• Conclude:             We suggest, propose, recommend…
• Invite questions and thank the audience:

                                      I’d happy to answer any questions.

                                          If you have any questions, I’d be pleased to answer them.

                                     I would welcome any comments (suggestions).

                                     Thank you for your attention.

Handling questions

• Clarify the question:

                     So, what you’re asking is…

                   If I understand the question correctly, you would like to know…

                   When you say… do you mean…?

                   I’m sorry I didn’t hear. Which slide was it?

                   Sorry, could you repeat that?

• Evade difficult or hostile questions:

   Yes, I quite see your point… However, I know you’ll appreciate…

  Yes, it’s something we’ve thought about a lot. But …

  I know it’s difficult to accept the decision, but the evidence is there…

  I’m afraid I’m not the right person to answer that.

  Х is a much better person to answer that.

  Could we leave that till later?

Appendix IV

List of Abbreviations

AI                   Artificial Intelligence

ASDL             Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line

ATM               Automatic Teller Machine

BAN               Body Area Network

CAN               Campus Area Network

CCTV             Closed-Circuit TV

CD                  Compact Disk

CPU                Central Processing Unit

DAB               Digital Audio Broadcasting

DAW              Digital Audio Workstation

DNA                        Delivery Network Accelerator

DSL                Digital Subscriber Line

DTP                Desktop Publishing

DV                  Digital Video (camera)

DVD                        Digital Video Disk

E-commerce    Electronic Commerce

FTP                File Transfer Protocol

GPRS                       General Packet Radio Service

GPU               Graphics Processing Unit

GPS                Global Positioning System

GSM                        Global System for Mobile communication

HAN                        Home Area Network

HD                  High Definition

HMD              Head-Mounted Display

HTML            Hyper Text Markup Language

ICT                 Information Communication Technology

ID                   Identification

IRC                 Internet Relay Chat

ISP                  Internet Service Provider

IT                    Information Technology

Jpeg                Joint Photographic Experts Group

LAN               Local Area Network

LBS                Location-Based Services

LCD                Liquid Crystal Display

LED                Light Emitting Diode (TV)

LMS               Learning Management System

LTE                Long Term Evolution

MAN              Metropolitan Area Network

MP3                Media Player 3 (player)

MPEG            Moving Picture Experts Group

MPLS             Multi-Protocol Label Switching

MSP               Managed Service Provider

OS                  Operating System

OSI                 Open System Interconnection model

OSS                Open Source Software

PA                  Personal Assistant

PABX             Private Branch Exchange

PAN               Personal Area Network

PBX                Private Branch Exchange

PC                  Personal Computer

PDA               Personal Digital Assistant

PIN                 Personal Identification Number

Ping                Packet Internet Groper (test)

POP                Points of Presence

PSTN              Public Switched Telephone Network

PTT                Public Telephone and Telegraph

RAM                        Random Access Memory

ROM                        Read only Memory

RW                 Read-Write

RFID                        Radio Frequency Identification

SaaS               Software as s Service

SAN               Storage area Network

SIM-card        Subscriber Identification Module

SME               Small & Medium Size Enterprises

SMS               Short Message Service

TCP/IP            Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol

TFT                Thin Film Transistor (screen)

TV                  Television

VLE                Virtual Leaning Environment

VoIP               Voice over IP

VPN               Virtual Private Network

VR                  Virtual Reality

VRML            Virtual Reality Modeling Language

UMTS            Universal Mobile Telecom System

UPS                Uninterruptable Power Supply

URL                Uniform Resource Locator

USB                Universal Serial Bus

WAN              Wide Area Network

WAP                        Wireless Application Protocol

Wi-Fi              Wireless Fidelity

Wi-Max          Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access

WLAN            Wireless Local Area Network

WWW            World Wide Web

 

Список литературы

 

1. Английский язык в области компьютерной техники и технологий. Professional English for Computing: учеб. пособие / Л.В. Квасова [и др.]. 3 –е изд., стер.- М., КНОРУС, 2014. – 176 с.

2. Радовель В.А. Английский язык в сфере информационных технологий. English in the field of Information Technology: учеб – практическое пособие / В.А. Радовель.- М.: КНОРУС, 2017.- 232 с.

3. Компьютерная техника. Computer Engineering: учеб. пособие /М.Г. Бондарев [и др.]; под общей редакцией Г.А. Краснощековой. – 4-е изд., стер. – М.: ФЛИНТА: НАУКА, 2016.- 288 с.

4. Евдокимова Н.В. Английский язык для IT- cпециалистов: продвинутый уровень. / Н.В. Евдокимова. – Ростов н/Д.: ФЕНИКС, 2014. – 334 с.

5. Микроэлектроника: настоящее и будущее: учеб. пособие по английскому языку для технических вузов. Microelectronics: present and future. / М.А. Бух, Л.П. Зайцева. 3 –е изд., испр. и доп. – М.: Высшая школа, 2008.- 262 с.

6. Слепович В.С. Деловой английский. Business communication: Учеб. Пособие / В.С. Слепович. - Мн.: "ТетраСиситемс", 2002. - 256 с.

7. Murphy R. Essential Grammar in Use. Book for elementary students of English. / R. Murhy. 4^th edition. – Cambridge.: Cambridge University Press, 2015. – 320 c.

8. Murphy R. English Grammar in Use. Book for intermediate students of English. / R. Murhy. 4^th edition. – Cambridge.: Cambridge University Press, 2012. – 380 c.

9. Gourlay L. English for IT and the Internet. / L. Gourlay, P. Hullock. - Thomson, 2006. - 128 с.

10. Esteras S.R. Professional English in Use: For Computers and the Internet / S.R. Esteras, E.M. Fabre. - Cambridge.: Cambridge University Press, 2007. – 118 с.

11. McCarthy T. R. English for Telecoms and Information Technology/T.R. McCarthy, M. Duckworth. – Oxford University Press, 2007. – 95 с.

 

Сыроватская Елена Фёдоровна

Желтова Елена Петровна