B1 – Intermediate
Scottish National Poet Peter Mackay expressed his concerns over the effects artificial intelligence (AI) on the publishing industry. He proposes that all books should be labeled whether they are written by a human or AI.
Read the article about putting a mark or symbol on all books written by AI and be ready to answer the questions that follow.
https://breakingnewsenglish.com/2502/250213-ai-book-warnings.html
Vocabulary Questions:
- What does “to make a living” mean? “It’s very hard to make a living as a writer anyway, and [now] you are having to compete with [all the] knowledge of every book written.” Give two (2) synonyms or similar expressions and use ’make a living’ in your own sentence.
- What does “input” mean in this sentence, “He believes the public needs to know about the level of AI input in a book.”? Give two (2) synonyms or similar expressions and use ’input’ in your own sentence.
- What does “call” mean in this context, “Mr. Mackay’s call comes just before the USA and UK refused to sign an international agreement on AI to keep it “clean” and “ethical”.”? Use this word in a sentence and give 2 synonyms.
Discussion Questions:
- Should we really be worried about AI in terms of the creation of new literature? Share your opinion.
- Do you agree or disagree with this, “The public needs to know about the level of AI input in a book.”? Share your insights.
- How important is it to keep AI “clean” and “ethical”?
- What is your opinion on this, “Pro-growth AI policies” were more important than safety.”?
- Which would you prefer – a 100% human-written, 100% AI-made or AI-human hybrid books? Explain your choice.
6 replies on “Warning on AI Books”
1. “To make a living”
Meaning: To earn money to live.
Synonyms:
Earn money
Support yourself
It’s hard to make a living as an artist, so many do other jobs too.
2. “Input”
Meaning: The work or help that someone gives. In this case, the help AI gives when writing a book.
Synonyms:
Help
Contribution
Her input was important to finish the group project on time.
3. “Call”
Meaning: A request or demand for something to happen.
Synonyms:
Request
Appeal
The teacher made a call for students to respect each other more.
Discussion Questions
1. Should we really be worried about AI in terms of the creation of new literature?
Yes, a little. AI can help writers, but it should not replace them. Human stories are special because they have feelings and real experiences.
2. Do you agree or disagree with this: “The public needs to know about the level of AI input in a book”?
I agree. People should know if a book was written by a person, by AI, or both. It’s more honest and helps readers choose.
3. How important is it to keep AI “clean” and “ethical”?
It’s very important. If AI is not used in a good way, it can be dangerous. We need rules to use it safely and fairly.
4. What is your opinion on this: “Pro-growth AI policies” were more important than safety?
I disagree. It is better to grow slowly and safely. If we don’t care about safety, we can have big problems in the future.
5. Which would you prefer – a 100% human-written, 100% AI-made or AI-human hybrid book? Explain your choice.
I prefer a human + AI hybrid book. AI can help with ideas, but a human can give the story heart and emotion. Together, they can make something better.
Well done starting with your writing exercise here at the Phoneenglish blog!
Take a look at how to slightly improve these sentences:
May you be able to stay consistent with your practice.
*they can use the AI for other more importants works,write a book spends a lot of time and the writers write the books with felings,and AI cant do this .
*i agree with Peter Macway ,that the books witing by IA must be have a sign for diference from the othwr books .
*is true that sometimes the thinks in websites are fake ,and maybe the AI can write somehing wrong.
*The AI are very useful,we can use them for importants jobs
*For answer this question i should read an AI book,for have an opinion about that topic .
Good job sharing your thoughts on this topic.
Here is how you can enhance your responses:
* Always capitalize the first word of the sentence.
* Be mindful of the word spelling.
Keep practicing to improve your skills further.
Vocabulary Questions:
1. What does “to make a living” mean? “It’s very hard to make a living as a writer anyway, and [now] you are having to compete with [all the] knowledge of every book written.” Give two (2) synonyms or similar expressions and use ’make a living’ in your own sentence.
“To make a living” means earning enough money to mantein basic needs covered.
Synonyms: earn a living, support oneself.
He went to another city to make a living.
2. What does “input” mean in this sentence, “He believes the public needs to know about the level of AI input in a book.”? Give two (2) synonyms or similar expressions and use ’input’ in your own sentence.
In this sentence, “input” referes to the quantity of AI-generated content has a publication.
Synonyms: contribution, influence.
The user’s input to the system was incorrect.
1. What does “call” mean in this context, “Mr. Mackay’s call comes just before the USA and UK refused to sign an international agreement on AI to keep it “clean” and “ethical”.”? Use this word in a sentence and give 2 synonyms.
In this sentence, “call” means making a request to people in general or public organisms.
Synonyms: request, petition.
The congresist´s call was denied/rejected by most of the population.
Discussion Questions:
1. Should we really be worried about AI in terms of the creation of new literature? Share your opinion.
Yes, I think is important don´t replace our thinking by artificial intelligence. We can´t base all our knowledge in what AI tell us.
2. Do you agree or disagree with this, “The public needs to know about the level of AI input in a book.”? Share your insights.
I agree more or less. It is easy to say, but I think is too difficult setting this type of distinction. Governments must work hard finding a solution.
3. How important is it to keep AI “clean” and “ethical”?
I think is very important to keep AI “clean” and “ethical”. AI shouldn´t be used for malicious purposes.
4. What is your opinion on this, “Pro-growth AI policies” were more important than safety.”?
I think it should be something balanced/equitative.
5. Which would you prefer – a 100% human-written, 100% AI-made or AI-human hybrid books? Explain your choice.
I prefer 100% human-written books because our creativity could be affected at long time.
Good going practicing your writing skills.
Here is how this sentence can be revised:
Until your next post!