Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 37 to 43.
As a language student, you have probably used artificial intelligence in numerous ways. However, you have probably felt the limitations of relying solely on technology for feedback on your progress, particularly when it comes to the productive skills of speaking and writing. How far can a computer help you with those?
If you are studying English in a class with a teacher, the chances are you have been asked to give a presentation to the rest of the class. It is also likely that the presentations you have given have been followed by feedback. Perhaps your classmates did not want you to feel bad, so they said you were amazing. However, you may have felt that the feedback was either inaccurate or too subjective. What if there were a computer programme that could give you a completely objective reaction to your presentation?
Extensive research has helped us understand the ways in which speakers can influence an audience's reaction to them. These include the content of our talk, our body language and how we use our words and voices. Machines can now be trained to measure these factors and give us objective feedback to help us improve our communication skills.
Some exam boards have already started to use artificial intelligence to mark students' written work. Some studies have shown this to be more accurate than human marking because it eliminates human failings such as tiredness and personal preferences.
Although performing tasks with the use of artificial intelligence is faster, more cost effective and in many ways more accurate, there are some limitations of artificial intelligence which seem impossible to overcome. Artificial intelligence can definitely help teachers, but they can rest assured that their jobs are safe for a few more years.
(Adapted from Open World)
