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Experts warn that “the substitution of machinery for human labour” may “render the population redundant”. They worry that “the discovery of this mighty power” has come “before we knew how to employ it rightly”. Such fears are expressed today by those who worry that advances in artificial intelligence (Al) could destroy millions of jobs and pose a “Terminator”-style threat to humanity. But these are in fact the words of commentators discussing mechanisation and steam power two centuries ago. Back then the controversy over the dangers posed by machines was known as the “machinery question”. Now a very similar debate is under way.

    After many false dawns, Al has made extraordinary progress in the past few years, thanks to a versatile technique called “deep learning”. Given enough data, large (or “deep”) neural networks, modelled on the brain's architecture, can be trained to do all kinds of things. They power Google's search engine, Facebook's automatic photo tagging, Apple's voice assistant, Amazon's shopping recommendations and Tesla's self-driving cars. But this rapid progress has also led to concerns about safety and job losses. Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk and others wonder whether AI could get out of control, precipitating a sci-fi conflict between people and machines. Others worry that Al will cause widespread unemployment, by automating cognitive tasks that could previously be done only by people. After 200 years, the machinery question is back. It needs to be answered.

Fonte: https://www.economist.com/leaders/2016/06/25/march-of-the-machines. Adaptado. Acesso em agosto de 2019.

Leia o trecho da notícia “Amazon fires: what is happening and is there anything we can do?” publicada no jornal The Guardian e responda às questões.

What is happening in the Amazon? Thousands of fires are burning in Brazil, many of them in the world’s biggest rainforest, which is sending clouds of smoke across the region and pumping alarming quantities of carbon into the world’s atmosphere.

Does this happen every year? Yes, but some areas have suffered far more than usual. In the worst-affected Brazilian state of Amazonas, the peak day this month was 700% higher than the average for the same date over the past 15 years. In other states, the amount of ash and other particulates in August has hit the highest level since 2010.

What is the cause? Most of the fires are agricultural, either smallholders burning stubble after harvest, or farmers clearing forest for cropland. Illegal land-grabbers also destroy trees so they can raise the value of the property they seize. But they are manmade and mostly deliberate. Unlike the huge recent blazes in Siberia and Alaska, the Amazon fires are very unlikely to have been caused by lightning.

Fonte: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/23/ amazon-fires-what-is-happening-anything-we-can-do. Acesso em: 24 set. de 2019.​​​​​​​

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Humans exploiting and destroying nature on unprecedented scale

    Wildlife populations are in freefall around the world, driven by human overconsumption, population growth and intensive agriculture, according to a major new assessment of the abundance of life on Earth.

    On average, global populations of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles fell by 68% between 1970 and 2016, according to the WWF and Zoological Society of London (ZSL)’s biennial Living Planet Report 2020. Two years ago, the figure stood at 60%.

    The research is one of the most comprehensive assessments of global biodiversity available and was compiled by 134 experts from around the world. It found that from the rainforests of central America to the Pacific Ocean, nature is being exploited and destroyed by humans on a scale never previously recorded. Deforestation and the conversion of wild spaces for human food production have largely been blamed for the destruction of Earth’s web of life.

    The report highlights that 75% of the Earth’s ice-free land has been significantly altered by human activity, and almost 90% of global wetlands have been lost since 1700. Using satellite analysis, the report also finds that wilderness areas – defined as having no human imprint – only account for 25% of the Earth’s terrestrial area and are largely restricted to Russia, Canada, Brazil and Australia.

    Tanya Steele, chief executive at WWF, said: “We are wiping wildlife from the face of the planet, burning our forests, polluting and over-fishing our seas and destroying wild areas. We are wrecking our world – the one place we call home – risking our health, security and survival here on Earth.”

(Patrick Greenfield. www.theguardian.com,10.09.2020. Adaptado.)

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Man who stood up for six hours on flight so wife could sleep goes vira

1- A man who stood on a plane for six hours so his wife could sleep across three seats has divided opinion online, with some describing the gesture as "romantic" and others as "selfish" on the wife's part.

2- Courtney Lee Johnson shared a picture on social media of the man standing in the aisle of the cabin and leaning on the tops of two seats as a woman lay across an entire row with her feet up. "This guy stood up the whole 6 hours so his wife could sleep. Now that is love," she claimed in the caption.

3- While some commenters expressed disbelief that cabin crew had allowed the man to stand for six hours, others said they thought the wife was wrong to expect or allow him to do so.

4- "That's not love. That's selfishness on the woman's part," one commenter said. "Can't she just place her head on his shoulders and sleep? Love doesn't work like that."

5- "Unless she's sick and this is the only rest position in the circumstance that will make her stay alive. If not, it does not make sense", said another.

6- "If that is love then I rather be lonely," said a third.

7- Another said: "I won't judge their marriage. My hubs is the kind of man who would do this for me, but I am not the kind of wife to ask this of him!"

8- It's not the first time plane etiquette sparked debate online.

9- In March, a US man's $220 compensation demand from an obese passenger for taking up part of his seat proved controversial. Reddit user Big Bawluh had been booked on a five-hour flight, which he said he endured uncomfortably "pressed up against" the other man and wanted to be "compensated".

10- "The problem here was that this large dude stuck you with being uncomfortable on your flight, right? Well, the [US]$150 didn't make you any less squished in your seat, so it really feels like you just blackmailed this guy for being fat," one said.

11- Others were supportive.

12- "You had every right to ask the flight attendant for a solution, and between the man and you, a solution was agreed upon. Everyone else can relax, because it wasn't their seat being overtaken on a flight."

13- However, another said the real problem was with the airlines themselves.

14- "But until consumers organize and demand that airlines stop cramming more and more people into smaller and smaller spaces, most of us have decided to just grit our teeth and deal with how uncomfortable air travel is."

Lorna Thornber

In: https://www.traveller.com.au/man-who-stood-up-forsix-hours-on-flight-so-wife-could-sleep-goes-viral-h1hw2q

Responda a questão de acordo com o texto abaixo.

Man who stood up for six hours on flight so wife could sleep goes vira

1- A man who stood on a plane for six hours so his wife could sleep across three seats has divided opinion online, with some describing the gesture as "romantic" and others as "selfish" on the wife's part.

2- Courtney Lee Johnson shared a picture on social media of the man standing in the aisle of the cabin and leaning on the tops of two seats as a woman lay across an entire row with her feet up. "This guy stood up the whole 6 hours so his wife could sleep. Now that is love," she claimed in the caption.

3- While some commenters expressed disbelief that cabin crew had allowed the man to stand for six hours, others said they thought the wife was wrong to expect or allow him to do so.

4- "That's not love. That's selfishness on the woman's part," one commenter said. "Can't she just place her head on his shoulders and sleep? Love doesn't work like that."

5- "Unless she's sick and this is the only rest position in the circumstance that will make her stay alive. If not, it does not make sense", said another.

6- "If that is love then I rather be lonely," said a third.

7- Another said: "I won't judge their marriage. My hubs is the kind of man who would do this for me, but I am not the kind of wife to ask this of him!"

8- It's not the first time plane etiquette sparked debate online.

9- In March, a US man's $220 compensation demand from an obese passenger for taking up part of his seat proved controversial. Reddit user Big Bawluh had been booked on a five-hour flight, which he said he endured uncomfortably "pressed up against" the other man and wanted to be "compensated".

10- "The problem here was that this large dude stuck you with being uncomfortable on your flight, right? Well, the [US]$150 didn't make you any less squished in your seat, so it really feels like you just blackmailed this guy for being fat," one said.

11- Others were supportive.

12- "You had every right to ask the flight attendant for a solution, and between the man and you, a solution was agreed upon. Everyone else can relax, because it wasn't their seat being overtaken on a flight."

13- However, another said the real problem was with the airlines themselves.

14- "But until consumers organize and demand that airlines stop cramming more and more people into smaller and smaller spaces, most of us have decided to just grit our teeth and deal with how uncomfortable air travel is."

Lorna Thornber

In: https://www.traveller.com.au/man-who-stood-up-forsix-hours-on-flight-so-wife-could-sleep-goes-viral-h1hw2q

Responda a questão de acordo com o texto abaixo.

Man who stood up for six hours on flight so wife could sleep goes vira

1- A man who stood on a plane for six hours so his wife could sleep across three seats has divided opinion online, with some describing the gesture as "romantic" and others as "selfish" on the wife's part.

2- Courtney Lee Johnson shared a picture on social media of the man standing in the aisle of the cabin and leaning on the tops of two seats as a woman lay across an entire row with her feet up. "This guy stood up the whole 6 hours so his wife could sleep. Now that is love," she claimed in the caption.

3- While some commenters expressed disbelief that cabin crew had allowed the man to stand for six hours, others said they thought the wife was wrong to expect or allow him to do so.

4- "That's not love. That's selfishness on the woman's part," one commenter said. "Can't she just place her head on his shoulders and sleep? Love doesn't work like that."

5- "Unless she's sick and this is the only rest position in the circumstance that will make her stay alive. If not, it does not make sense", said another.

6- "If that is love then I rather be lonely," said a third.

7- Another said: "I won't judge their marriage. My hubs is the kind of man who would do this for me, but I am not the kind of wife to ask this of him!"

8- It's not the first time plane etiquette sparked debate online.

9- In March, a US man's $220 compensation demand from an obese passenger for taking up part of his seat proved controversial. Reddit user Big Bawluh had been booked on a five-hour flight, which he said he endured uncomfortably "pressed up against" the other man and wanted to be "compensated".

10- "The problem here was that this large dude stuck you with being uncomfortable on your flight, right? Well, the [US]$150 didn't make you any less squished in your seat, so it really feels like you just blackmailed this guy for being fat," one said.

11- Others were supportive.

12- "You had every right to ask the flight attendant for a solution, and between the man and you, a solution was agreed upon. Everyone else can relax, because it wasn't their seat being overtaken on a flight."

13- However, another said the real problem was with the airlines themselves.

14- "But until consumers organize and demand that airlines stop cramming more and more people into smaller and smaller spaces, most of us have decided to just grit our teeth and deal with how uncomfortable air travel is."

Lorna Thornber

In: https://www.traveller.com.au/man-who-stood-up-forsix-hours-on-flight-so-wife-could-sleep-goes-viral-h1hw2q