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BUSINESS ENGLISH · BUSINESS ISSUES · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

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Expemo code:
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1 Warm up

In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1. What are your opinions on the use of artificial intelligence?

2. What challenges do you think there will be for businesses with the use of artificial intelligence?
3. What benefits do you think there will be for businesses with the use of artificial intelligence?

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2 Vocabulary focus

Part A: Match the vocabulary to the definitions.

1. dismay (n) a. completely control a situation, often in an aggressive way

2. transcript (n) b. a person who is responsible for making something for the first
time
3. dominate (v) c. completely destroy something so that there is nothing left of it

4. cite (v) d. increase the speed or amount of something to a great degree

5. reasoning (n) e. a feeling of concern and surprise after an unexpected and

unpleasant event
6. multiply (v) f. give something as a reason or an example for a particular event or
action
7. creator (n) g. a written copy of a a conversation that has taken place

8. eradicate (v) h. the ability to think about a situation using logic

Part B: Complete the following sentences with a part of speech from the same word family as the
Part A word in brackets.

1. Mark Zuckerberg is the most famous name, but it must be remembered that he wasn’t solely
responsible for the of Facebook. (creator)

2. Our team has been working hard to all the relevant documents so that we are
fully prepared for the court case. (transcript)

3. I’d like to start the debate with a from Professor Geoffrey Hinton as to why we
should treat AI with a great deal of caution. (cite)

4. Following the invention of the iPhone, Apple was largely responsible for the of
the smartphone market. (dominate)

5. I was to hear that over 100 jobs are being lost due to their new AI programme. I
honestly think it’s a big mistake. (dismay)

6. There’s a of different factors we have to consider before creating our own AI

software. (multiply)

7. Thanks to vaccines we were able to see the of deadly diseases such as smallpox.
(eradicate)

8. They can’t be expected to start new careers at their age. (reasoning)

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3 Reading - Part 3

Read the article below about AI development. For each question (1 - 6) mark one letter (A, B, C or D).

The chicken or the egg?

Making progress with AI

A. As advances in AI have entered into the world in the last few years, the reaction from the business community has
been one of both fascination and dismay. On one hand, there is a clear threat to white collar jobs from technology
for the first time in human history. On the other, business leaders are searching for ways to turn this relatively
new advance into an increase in their profit margins.

B. For example, the transcript of a customer complaint call was entered into AI software and asked to reply according
to a given set of rules in a recent test. The answer given was around 85% accurate which, although that is lower
than a human would give, is certainly considerably cheaper. One view is that you could have AI deal with the
majority of complaints allowing humans to focus on the difficult ones that needed more advanced communication
skills. However, you can see the financial argument for reducing the number of customer service employees and
allowing cheaper AI to dominate.

C. Professor Geoffrey Hinton, the man generally seen as the godfather of AI, left his position at Google earlier this
year citing fears that we are fast entering into developments that we don’t truly understand. He pointed out that
the technology is already able to hold more knowledge than the average person, only its level of reasoning is still
not up to a human standard, but it is learning fast. As AI is a set of digital systems, it is able to multiply what it
learns at speed. Where the spread of knowledge between humans can be slow, learning between AI systems is
instantaneous. Speaking to the BBC, Professor Hinton warned, ‘Right now, they’re not more intelligent than us,
as far as I can tell. But I think soon they may be.’

D. A key global concern is that irresponsible creators acting on selfish interests could give rise to robots using AI
systems that are allowed to create their own goals. From here, it wouldn’t be difficult for a system to decide that
what it wanted to achieve was more power and freedom. At this stage, we may have created something that
is now at the top of the food chain replacing us. If you take into account that humans have eradicated certain
animals and plants, not because we were trying to, but because we valued them for what they could give us. An
AI system that is looking to advance itself and exceeds the intelligence of even the most advanced of us could
easily have entirely different uses for us than we can currently comprehend, uses that don’t take into account our
future survival.

E. Aside from concerns over the speed of development, there are also worries that AI could increase the circulation
of misinformation and cause issues with privacy. AI software takes its information from the internet which, as we
all know, is not always a reliable source. It could also access unprotected information that is not intended to be
shared.

F. At present, Google and Microsoft are the key players in AI development and UK and US government authorities
are taking steps to make sure that businesses and consumers are able to access the technology while also being
protected from the many issues that could arise. Of course, an important ingredient in the development of any
new technology is money, which both Google and Microsoft have ready access to. The challenge is to move
forward in a managed way. Going too quickly may create problems for humankind that we can’t yet imagine, but
creating too many restrictions will slow down progress.

Sources: BBC News

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1. The reaction to AI has been mixed because

a. it could create employment problems for factory workers, but also help them to work faster.

b. it could lead to greater gaps in wealth between developed and developing nations.

c. while some may be able to use the advances to their financial advantage, others may lose
their employment.
d. it will help people to change their jobs and stop them having to do uninteresting tasks.

2. The test of AI showed that

a. It’s already more accurate with certain tasks that the majority of humans are.

b. It offers the chance to streamline tasks a workforce has to do, but also to cut back on the
number of employees.
c. It’s able to coordinate more difficult tasks than humans are currently capable of.

d. It can complete tasks much faster than a human being is capable of doing.

3. The dangers posed by AI are due to its ability to

a. apply logical processes to the way it operates.

b. appear to be a human and confuse other humans.

c. learn from a variety of sources, including films, books and the internet.

d. reproduce knowledge and learning at speed.

4. An unintended consequence of AI could be that

a. humans will become extinct as AI may need us for purposes that do not serve our best
interests.
b. our access to food and drink will be limited as it will not be a priority for machines.

c. we will increase our levels of intelligence by having access to a wider range of information.

d. we’ll be able to spend more time doing leisure activities and less time working.

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5. Some of the current challenges with AI software are due to

a. it being widely available online and so companies may have difficulty profiting from it.

b. it requiring a lot of information to fully understand and work with, meaning many people
won’t be able to use it.
c. the source of the information that it uses not always being appropriate or trustworthy.

d. it taking a long time to gather all of the information and so people lose interest.

6. The future will require a balance of

a. governments and private companies working together.

b. technological advancement and protection.

c. finance and investment.

d. speed and progress.

4 Reading - Part 4

Read the article below about the dangers of AI. Choose the best word to fill each gap from A, B, C or
D. For each question (1 - 16), mark one letter (A, B, C or D). There is an example at the beginning (1).

There may be trouble ahead

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The dangers of AI

While Artificial Intelligence (AI) can potentially 1 provide great benefits, there are a number of negative
impacts that it can have for businesses.
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One of the key concerns is widespread job displacement as many repetitive and tasks,
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and increasingly even some creative ones, can be by AI at a of the cost
of employing a person to do them. The customer service and manufacturing industries as well as those
tasked with secretarial and legal administration are examples of these. This could cause disruption to
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a large number of people them to find new careers while creating stress and anxiety
over their professional futures.
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As anyone who routinely uses a SATNAV while driving will know, on technology
can remove the need to engage the intellect. Just as people use instructions from Google Maps or
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a device to find their way regularly without ever learning the for
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themselves, so people in businesses can fail to make the human required to successfully
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run a business. AI can only use models of what has previously and therefore is not
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naturally to deal with unusual or events which need human
intervention.

Finally, AI can only be as good as the data it is using. If there are any issues with this data that causes
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it to be , prejudiced or just wrong, this can have extremely serious
consequences for a business that may result in them being on the receiving end of legal action and
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badly their reputation. It must be remembered that someone will still need to be
responsible for any decisions that are made, even if they are largely informed by AI. So accountability
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and ethics should be at the of any AI system employed by a company.

1. a. occasionally b. casually c. positively d. potentially

2. a. sequence b. routine c. pattern d. habit
3. a. displayed b. staged c. presented d. performed
4. a. multiplication b. fraction c. division d. scrap
5. a. breaking b. forcing c. making d. bullying
6. a. needing b. supporting c. relying d. helping
7. a. matching b. similar c. near d. close
8. a. lesson b. route c. destination d. road
9. a. reasons b. actions c. punishments d. judgements
10. a. done b. happened c. gone d. finished
11. a. equipped b. furnished c. provided d. dressed
12. a. unprecedented b. unnoticed c. unsafe d. unwise
13. a. incomplete b. interested c. infected d. inaccurate
14. a. basic b. plain c. simple d. normal
15. a. affect b. effect c. infect d. deflect
16. a. middle b. brain c. heart d. stomach

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5 Speaking - Part 2

In Part 2 of the Speaking exam, you will be given a choice of topics to discuss. You will have one
minute to prepare yourself and then you will have to talk for one minute about your chosen topic.
You will be in a pair with someone else who will have to ask you a question after you have finished
speaking. You will have to do the same for them.

Work in pairs. Choose one of the following topic cards. When you have finished, your partner should
ask you a question about what you have said. Then, swap roles and allow your partner to give a
presentation and then answer a question that you ask.

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