University of Ontario Institute of Technology

COMM 1050U

uNIT 5: TO CREATE OR NOT TO CREATE

Q1: According to Freeman Dyson, the development of this type of technology will be a very important aspect of the coming biotechnical era.

a    Grey technologies b    Gray technologies c Blue technologies

a    Green technologies

a    None of these answers

 

Q2: According to Martin Rees' Ted Talk, Bill Joy's conception of relinquishment is naïve for two reasons, one of which is the following.

a      i) some scientific discoveries only have good or positive outcomes ii) most scientists seek to do good by society-to make better life for people

a      i) Any scientific discovery has benign as well as dangerous consequences. ii) when a scientist makes a discovery, often s/he has no idea what the applications are going to be

1. i) some scientists are motivated by a desire to hurt others. ii) correct technological training should allow most scientist to be able to predict what the consequences of their discoveries will be
2. i)any scientific discovery will definitely have dangerous consequences ii) most scientists seek to do good by society-to make life better for all people.

 

Q3: For Ray Kurzwell, this is one of the reasons why Bill Joy's concept of relinquishment is dangerous

a      We have nothing to worry about from technological developments b        Careful investment of capital will overcome all obstacles

c      Careful engineering will overcome all obstacles d        Relinquishment may be a good thing after all

a      None of these answers.

 

Q4: According to Gary Marcus, this is one of the key reasons why we should be worried about artificial intelligence

a      An artificial intelligence might not share human values

1. We have nothing to worry about: artificial intelligence is centuries away
2. Already, supercomputers can beat chess masters, such as when Deep Blue beat Kasparov c        None of these answers

d     The development of artificial intelligence will severely diminish our own (human ability) to think carefully through difficult problems.

 

Q5: According to Bill Joy, we need to practice relinquishment in relation to these types of technologies.

a      Robotics, nanotechnology, and computech b        Nanotechnology and computech

c      Genetics, computech and robotics

a      Nanotechnologies, genetics and robotics

a      None of these answers

 

Q6: According to Ray Kurzweil, the following is one of the key reasons not to put Bill Joy's idea of relinquishment into practice

a      Being able to stay at the forefront of research, to develop defense against bad uses of new technological developments

1. Making sure that everyone has access to a personal computer
2. Ensuring that we develop future technologies to their fullest potential so that we can marvel at our own ingenuity
3. All of these answers
4. None of these answers

 

 

 

 

Q7: According to Freeman Dyson, this type of technology will develop along similar lines as computer technology, becoming smaller and more diffused; it is even more important that either computer technology or physics

a      Distributed Computech b        Robotics

a      Biotechnology

a      None of these answers b        All of these answers

 

Q8: According to this view, modern technology has a negative impact on human life.