According to the text, it is correct to say:
Ancient dreams of intelligent machines: 3,000 years of robots
The French philosopher René Descartes was reputedly fond of automata: they inspired his view that living things were biological
machines that function like clockwork. Less known is a strange story that began to circulate after the philosopher’s death in 1650.
This centred on Descartes’s daughter Francine, who died of scarlet fever at the age of five.
According to the tale, a distraught Descartes had a clockwork Francine made: a walking, talking simulacrum. When Queen
Christina invited the philosopher to Sweden in 1649, he sailed with the automaton concealed in a casket. Suspicious sailors forced
the trunk open; when the mechanical child sat up to greet them, the horrified crew threw it overboard.
The story is probably apocryphal. But it sums up the hopes and fears that have been associated with human-like machines for
nearly three millennia. Those who build such devices do so in the hope that they will overcome natural limits – in Descartes’s case,
death itself. But this very unnaturalness terrifies and repulses others. In our era of advanced robotics and artificial intelligence (AI),
those polarized responses persist, with pundits and the public applauding or warning against each advance. Digging into the deep
history of intelligent machines, both real and imagined, we see how these attitudes evolved: from fantasies of trusty mechanical
helpers to fears that runaway advances in technology might lead to creatures that supersede humanity itself.
(Disponível em: <https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05773-y)
Ancient dreams of intelligent machines: 3,000 years of robots
The French philosopher René Descartes was reputedly fond of automata: they inspired his view that living things were biological machines that function like clockwork. Less known is a strange story that began to circulate after the philosopher’s death in 1650. This centred on Descartes’s daughter Francine, who died of scarlet fever at the age of five.
According to the tale, a distraught Descartes had a clockwork Francine made: a walking, talking simulacrum. When Queen Christina invited the philosopher to Sweden in 1649, he sailed with the automaton concealed in a casket. Suspicious sailors forced the trunk open; when the mechanical child sat up to greet them, the horrified crew threw it overboard.
The story is probably apocryphal. But it sums up the hopes and fears that have been associated with human-like machines for nearly three millennia. Those who build such devices do so in the hope that they will overcome natural limits – in Descartes’s case, death itself. But this very unnaturalness terrifies and repulses others. In our era of advanced robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), those polarized responses persist, with pundits and the public applauding or warning against each advance. Digging into the deep history of intelligent machines, both real and imagined, we see how these attitudes evolved: from fantasies of trusty mechanical helpers to fears that runaway advances in technology might lead to creatures that supersede humanity itself.
(Disponível em: <https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05773-y)
Gabarito comentado
Comentário da questão – Interpretação de Texto em Inglês
Tema central: O texto aborda a diversidade de opiniões sobre máquinas inteligentes ao longo da história, com destaque para esperanças e temores que acompanham a criação de autômatos e a evolução da inteligência artificial.
Análise da alternativa correta:
C) There are groups with different positions about intelligent machines.
O fundamento desta resposta está no trecho: “those polarized responses persist, with pundits and the public applauding or warning against each advance”. A expressão “polarized responses” indica existência de grupos que reagem de formas opostas aos avanços tecnológicos. Essa leitura identifica corretamente uma ideia central do texto, que ressalta que tanto especialistas como o público dividem-se entre otimismo e receio em relação às máquinas inteligentes.
Estratégia de Resolução: Ao interpretar textos para concursos, use as técnicas de skimming (leitura rápida para captar a ideia geral) e scanning (busca por informações específicas). Neste caso, localizar palavras como “polarized”, “applauding” e “warning” foi essencial para identificar a alternativa correta.
Análise das alternativas incorretas:
A) Afirma que as pessoas estarão melhor preparadas para lidar com a morte no futuro. O texto não toca nesse tema.
B) Diz que a humanidade desaparecerá se a tecnologia sair do controle. O texto fala de temores, mas não afirma a extinção da humanidade.
D) Relaciona os primeiros autômatos aos contemporâneos de Descartes. O texto diz que sonhos de máquinas existem há quase três milênios, portanto, bem antes de Descartes.
E) Afirma que as pessoas sonham com máquinas humanas há mais de três mil anos. O texto menciona “nearly three millennia” (quase três milênios), impedindo a validação da palavra “mais”.
Dica para concursos: Atente a palavras como “all”, “never”, “first”, “over”, “more than”, que muitas vezes aparecem em pegadinhas e generalizações.
Referência de estudo: Livros como Como Ler um Livro, de Mortimer Adler, auxiliam na compreensão de argumentos e na análise crítica de textos, competências fundamentais para provas de interpretação.
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