Historian Warns AI Could Threaten Democracy
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Jill Lepore is a famous historian from the United States. She writes about the past. She won a big prize called the Pulitzer prize. Now she has a new book. The book is about artificial intelligence, or AI. AI is computer technology that can think like a person.
In her book, Lepore says AI is dangerous for democracy. Democracy means people can vote and choose their leaders. Lepore says big tech companies have too much power. Power means the ability to control things. She says these companies are run by men. Their goals may not help ordinary people.
Lepore calls this dangerous future a dystopia. A dystopia is a bad, scary future world. She says this bad future is not just coming. She says it is already happening a little bit now. Her book gives an ominous warning. Ominous means something bad might happen soon.
The book explains how tech companies grew so strong. It looks at the past and the present. Lepore wants people to understand this danger. She hopes readers will think about how to protect democracy from powerful technology.
Vocabulary7 words
- historian
- a person who studies the past
- Pulitzer prize
- a very important prize for writing
- artificial intelligence
- computer systems that can think like people
- democracy
- a system where people vote for their leaders
- power
- the ability to control people or things
- dystopia
- a very bad, scary future world
- ominous warning
- a message that something bad may happen
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Quiz
Answer key
1. She is a historian 2. Artificial intelligence and democracy 3. True
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Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
Jill Lepore is a famous _____ from the United States. She writes about the past. She won a big prize called the _____. Now she has a new book. The book is about _____, or AI.
In her book, Lepore says AI is dangerous for _____. She says big tech companies have too much _____. She says these companies are run by men. Their goals may not help ordinary people.
Lepore calls this dangerous future a _____. She says this bad future is already happening a little bit now. Her book gives an _____ warning.
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