2008 m. gegužės 12 d., pirmadienis

Artificial intelligence

Not long ago Japaneese scientist were able to construct a robot that can play violin so well that only an experts ear could distinguish the sound from the one that is created by extremely precise finger movements of a professional musician. That proves that there is a posibility to create machines that can perform such complex actions as playing a music instrument or performing a medical operation. People started to think: "If we can do that than maybe we can create a problem so complex that it will be able to create it's own programs and evolve all by itself." Well that is artificial intelligence. Even now the charter of robot rights is being created to insure that by the time we have intelligent robots there will be a package of law to insure that they would not be used for evil nor that they would be abused. I believe that we will have artificial intelligence and that it can make our lives easier if it will be used properly and with responsobility.

Self-Assessment of ESP learning

I think that my writing skills are average at the moment. There is much to improve in ESP vocabulary and summaries. I should learn new words and concentrate more when I write summaries. Self-designed tests and dictations are easier because I do not make as many mistakes as I do in summaries. Contributions to the weblogs are the easiest because we have the ability to check spelling and grammar and the topics are usually those that we learned in ESP classes.

My speaking skills on the other hand are good I believe. I do not face any problems formulating a sentence and getting my message across when participating in class discussions. I also do well while speaking in pairs though the quality of the dialogue also depends on the partner I am speaking with. There are no problems in presentations too because it's easier to speak when I'm prepaired than on the spot.

Listening skills are also good. I usually manage to answer most of the questions during the first time we listen to the records. There are usualy none or minor mistakes. This is both for listening activities in class and for listening to podcasts. Because I'm a students debate club member I also get to listen outside of class. It is even easier because the vocabulary used there is more familiar than ESP vocabulary.

Reading is easy. I understand the meaning without needing to refer to a dictionary when I read at home. Class reading is the same, I do understand the meaning of everything I read. When we do reading comprehension excersises I usually do them without any mistakes so I believe that I am good at tasks that involve understanding the text. The same goes for computer tasks. I believe this is because the articles that we read are usually writen in popular style that a simple person would understand. I think I would face more problems if the text would be strictly scientific.

To summarize I can clearly see that writing is the biggest problem at the moment. I do believe that I can improve if I work harder.