March 27, 2019
Lesson 2/ 45min
March 20, 2019
Lesson 1/ 45min
Hi Margarita,
Today our lesson focuses on an article about Bitcoin.
Bitcoin: after ten wild years, what next for cryptocurrencies?
And here's an old Breaking News English article about Bitcoin:
Hi Margarita,
This lesson our topic concerns DNA and its connection to our taste preferences when it comes to coffee or tea.
A Breaking News English article tells us the same thing:
https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1811/181125-coffee-or-tea.html
March 12, 2019
Lesson 2/2 45min
Hello Margarita,
Today we'll discuss the Guardian article you have chosen.
March 5, 2019
Lesson 1/ 45min
First, a very short ted talk by a Chinese enterpreneur who promotes pure and whole food,
https://www.ted.com/talks/matilda_ho_the_future_of_good_food_in_china?language=en
Hi Margarita,
Our topic is Chinese food!
Then, a news report from Al Jazeera about food in China.
This video warns us with many examples of Chinese fake food.
Feb 13, 2019
Lesson 1/1 45min
China's Social Credit System, Wikipedia
Hi Margarita,
This lesson we'll discuss China's social credit system
which gives each person a trustworthiness score.
In addition to the online data about each person's behavior it is possible to supplement by "information collectors" (spies).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dkw15LkZ_Kw&t=6s
and perhaps data can be gleaned from each person's face!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaW3bvsqLjA&t=259s
Jan 30, 2019
Lesson 1/1 45min
Hello Margarita,
Today we'll read the really excellent TED talk by Kai-Fu Lee, "How AI can save our humanity."
As a Christian, I really liked what Lee had to say about love!
https://www.ted.com/talks/kai_fu_lee_how_ai_can_save_our_humanity?language=en#t-586412
A Profile of Lee
https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/kai-fu-lee-5840.php
1. I see more robots as profit for companies. I give car manufacturing plants and AmazonGo
stores as an example. They need very few people to operate so they have maximized their profit
but consumers don’t even share in this savings. Cars are still the same price. How can this
situation be changed?
2. Who will pay for all of the social workers that Dr. Lee envisions? Governments? They don’t have enough money for this.
3. It will be interesting to see how AI develops in the US and China which Dr. Lee calls a duopoly. Do you think it will be the same?
4. With AI do you think people will become lazy? See what happened with cars. Some people don’t like to walk anymore and are not able to walk very far…
5. Did you read any of the Comments on this tedtalk? I think it’s great that Dr. Lee has answered so many of them!
6. Have you seen Dr. Lee’s website? www.aisuperpowers.com? He said he has a follow-up video to this ted talk there in which he goes into more detail about his plan. Your comment?
7. I think it’s wonderful that Dr Lee is so optimistic but there are many reasons to be pessimistic about AI. What do you think?
8. What question would you like to ask Dr. Lee?
9. The world will be divded into have and have nots. Only big companies and rich individuals will have robots, and the poor will lose their jobs to robots. AI will increase wealth inequality. What do you think?
1
0. I wonder what China’s economic plan is to help people keep some kind of job and ensure a liveable income.
11. Some think UBI is the answer.
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612640/universal-basic-income-had-a-rough-2018/
12. In summary, can we say that a huge power shift will occur with automization and robots?
Factory owners with robots no longer need very many workers. The game has changed, and workers no longer have the collective power they once had.
Jan 9, 2019
Lesson 1/
Hi Margarita,
Today we have the strange story of a
person who thinks the contents of our
minds can be put into a robot.
This is a video of Rothblatt's wife speaking with
the robot which is trying to become her!!
1. What do you know about orphan diseases?
2. Why don't pharmaceutical companies develop drugs to treat rare and orphan diseases?
3. What hope do people suffering from rare and orphan diseases have?
4. Why didn't Glaxo Wellcome want to sell the drug to Rothblatt?
5. How did Rothblatt go about developing a drug from the chemical formula he received?
6. Why did scientists with great expertise tell him that developing an effective drug was impossible?
7. Could Rothblatt's approach be a model for developing other drugs?
8. The interviewer, Chris Andrews, says that Rothblatt "put this drug on the market by charging what it would take to make the economics work". What does this mean?
9. In most cases, only lung transplants are a cure for pulmonary hypertension, but there are not enough lungs available.
What solution does he propose?
10. What do you think about Rothblatt's solution or cure for the disease?
11. What do you think about Rothblatt's statements about human consciousness duplicated in a mind file?
12. What is your reaction to his ideas about human mind clones existing in robots?
13. What do you think of Bina48 the robot modeled after his wife who tries to look, speak and think like her?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYshJRYCArE
14. Why are the Rothblatts cryonicists if they believe they can live on in the future as robots?
15. The Rothblatts have started their own religious movement called Terasem which has four tenets—“life is purposeful, death is optional, God is technological and love is essential”. Terasem is a “transreligion,” meaning that you don’t have to give up your own religion to join, and its followers are called transhumanists. Have you ever heard of Terasem?
16. Of course, other super rich people are also trying to achieve "immortality". What do you think about this?
http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/esmagazine/survival-of-the-richest-how-londons-superrich-are-trying-to-buy-immortality-a3118071.html
Dec 19, 2018
Lesson 1/1
Hello Margarita,
Our topic is the tedtalk podcast with Ray Kurzweil.
https://www.ted.com/talks/the_ted_interview_ray_kurzweil_on_what_the_future_holds_next
Breaking News on AI
https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1402/140226-artificial-intelligence.html
Dec 11, 2018
Lesson 1/1
The fear of heights is one of the top phobias!
https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1403/140328-phobias.html
Hello Margarita,
Did you know that virtual reality helps people who have a fear of heights?
Dec 5, 2018
Lesson 1/1
Hello Margarita,
Today we'll continue our discussion of dolls/robots with the Kate Darling ted talk.
https://www.ted.com/talks/kate_darling_why_we_have_an_emotional_connection_to_robots
In addition to some discussion questions, we can talk about the video of the robot-manned hotel in Japan.
7. Why was Kate Darling feeling sorry for her robot dinosaur?
8. Bomb disposal units have funerals. Did you know that?
9. What is the biological response we have to autonomous moving objects?
10. How are people treating robots today, and what do we understand about ourselves by observing this behavior?
Nov 28, 2018
Lesson 1/1
Hello Margarita,
Two ted talks today: one about a child's doll which can be controlled from outside your house by anyone with a smart
phone putting your child in danger!
The second asks why we have an emotional connection to robots.
https://www.ted.com/talks/kate_darling_why_we_have_an_emotional_connection_to_robots
1. What do you know about terms and conditions which can change at any time? Do you have this in Russia?
2. How much personal data do you feel comfortable sharing with a company?
3. How do you feel knowing there is no limit to the amount of data a company can collect about you?
4. Were you surprised that the terms and conditions were 900 pages when printed? What is the purpose of that?
5. Shouldn't this be illegal? Why do governments allow companies to behave this way?
6. How shocked are you by the dating service's terms and conditions?
Nov 7, 2018
Lesson 1/1
Hello Margarita!
Today our tedtalk concerns Wikipedia.
https://www.ted.com/talks/jimmy_wales_on_the_birth_of_wikipedia/transcript
https://www.wikipedia.org/
https://www.wikimedia.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wikis
A Quizlet for some vocabulary:
https://quizlet.com/334416788/jimmy-wales-the-birth-of-wikipedia-flash-cards/
Breaking News English on Wikipedia:
https://breakingnewsenglish.com/0509/050908-wikipedia-e.html