Amazon has just launched its own chatbot called Q. This chatbot uses artificial intelligence to help businesses with different tasks like summarizing long documents or group chats. Its goal is to make businesses more productive. Other tech companies have also started using similar technology, like OpenAI’s bot ChatGPT. Amazon wants to assure businesses that it will protect them from any copyright issues that might come up from using its chatbot.
Q will be gradually added to Amazon’s main business applications. The hope is that more companies will start using Amazon’s cloud computing services because of this chatbot. Q can do things like answer customer questions, make charts, analyze data, and help with coding. The competition between big tech companies to make advancements in AI is getting more intense. Right now, Microsoft is leading the way because of its investment in ChatGPT.
In September, Amazon said it would invest up to $4 billion in Anthropic, an AI company started by people who used to work at OpenAI. Amazon also owns Mechanical Turk, a service that helps train AI models using crowdsourcing. As Amazon introduces Q, it promises to protect businesses from copyright claims. This comes after comedian Sarah Silverman sued OpenAI and Meta (which used to be called Facebook) in July. While Silverman’s lawsuit was mostly dismissed, other authors like Margaret Atwood and Philip Pullman have also asked for compensation from AI companies for using their work.
In summary, Amazon has made its own chatbot called Q as part of the race among big tech companies to improve AI technology. Amazon wants to attract more businesses to use its cloud computing services by offering lots of features and making sure to protect copyrights. But there are still concerns about copyright infringement in the AI industry, with authors asking for fair compensation for their work.
Original news source: Amazon latest tech giant to announce AI chatbot (BBC)
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Group or Classroom Activities
Warm-up Activities:
– News Summary
Instructions:
1. Divide the class into pairs or small groups.
2. Ask each group to read the article.
3. Instruct them to write a summary of the article in 3-4 sentences.
4. After they have finished, have each group share their summary with the class.
5. Encourage discussion and ask follow-up questions based on the summaries.
– Speed Summarizing
Instructions:
1. Divide the class into pairs.
2. Give each pair a copy of the article.
3. Set a timer for 2 minutes.
4. Instruct one student in each pair to read the article silently while the other student listens.
5. When the timer starts, the student who read the article has 2 minutes to summarize it to their partner.
6. After 2 minutes, have the students switch roles.
7. Encourage accuracy and fluency in their summaries.
– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions:
1. Choose 10-15 key vocabulary words from the article.
2. Write each word on a separate index card or piece of paper.
3. Divide the class into two teams.
4. One student from each team comes to the front of the class.
5. Show the chosen word to the students at the front, but not to their team.
6. The students at the front must draw a picture to represent the word while their team tries to guess the word.
7. The team that guesses the word first gets a point.
8. Repeat the process with different students and words until all the vocabulary words have been used.
9. The team with the most points at the end wins.
– Pros and Cons
Instructions:
1. Divide the class into small groups.
2. Assign each group a topic related to the article, such as “Advantages and Disadvantages of Using AI in Business.”
3. Instruct each group to brainstorm and write down as many pros and cons as they can think of within a given time limit (e.g., 5 minutes).
4. After the time limit, have each group share their list of pros and cons with the class.
5. Encourage discussion and ask follow-up questions to explore different perspectives on the topic.
– Future Predictions
Instructions:
1. Instruct each student to individually think about and write down three predictions related to the future of AI in business.
2. After a few minutes, divide the class into pairs or small groups.
3. Have the students share their predictions with their partner/group.
4. Encourage discussion and ask follow-up questions to explore the reasons behind their predictions.
5. After the discussion, ask a few students to share their most interesting predictions with the whole class.
Comprehension Questions:
1. What is the purpose of Amazon’s chatbot Q?
2. How does Q use artificial intelligence to help businesses?
3. What are some tasks that Q can do for businesses?
4. What is the competition among big tech companies in regards to AI technology?
5. How much money did Amazon invest in Anthropic, an AI company?
6. What is Mechanical Turk and how does it relate to AI models?
7. Why does Amazon promise to protect businesses from copyright claims?
8. What concerns do authors have in the AI industry regarding copyright infringement?
Go to answers ⇩
Listen and Fill in the Gaps:
Amazon has just launched its own chatbot called Q. This chatbot uses artificial intelligence to help businesses with different tasks like summarizing long documents or group (1)______. Its goal is to make businesses more productive. Other tech companies have also (2)______ using similar technology, like OpenAI’s bot ChatGPT. Amazon (3)______ to (4)______ businesses that it will protect them from any copyright issues that might come up from using its chatbot.
Q will be gradually added to Amazon’s main business (5)______. The hope is that more companies will start using Amazon’s cloud computing services because of this chatbot. Q can do things like (6)______ customer questions, make charts, analyze data, and help with coding. The competition between big tech companies to make advancements in AI is getting more intense. Right now, Microsoft is leading the way because of its (7)______ in (8)______.
In September, Amazon said it would invest up to $4 billion in Anthropic, an AI company started by people who used to work at OpenAI. Amazon also owns (9)______ Turk, a service that helps train AI models using crowdsourcing. As Amazon introduces Q, it promises to protect businesses from copyright claims. This comes after comedian Sarah Silverman sued OpenAI and Meta (which used to be called Facebook) in July. While Silverman’s lawsuit was mostly (10)______, (11)______ authors like Margaret Atwood and (12)______ Pullman have also asked for compensation from AI companies for using their work.
In summary, (13)______ has made its own chatbot (14)______ Q as part of the race among big tech companies to improve AI (15)______. Amazon wants to attract more businesses to use its cloud computing services by offering lots of features and making sure to protect copyrights. But there are still concerns about copyright infringement in the AI industry, with (16)______ asking for fair compensation for their work.
Go to answers ⇩
Discussion Questions:
Students can ask a partner these questions, or discuss them as a group.
1. What is a chatbot and how does it use artificial intelligence?
2. How do you think businesses can benefit from using chatbots like Amazon’s Q?
3. Have you ever used a chatbot before? If so, what was your experience like?
4. How would you feel if a chatbot like Q was able to summarize long documents for you? Why?
5. Do you think chatbots like Q can replace human customer service representatives? Why or why not?
6. What tasks do you think chatbots are good at and what tasks do you think humans are better at?
7. Do you like the idea of companies using AI technology to improve their services? Why or why not?
8. How do you think AI technology can help businesses become more productive?
9. Have you ever had any copyright issues or concerns related to your own work? If so, what happened?
10. Do you think it’s important for AI companies to protect copyrights? Why or why not?
11. How would you feel if your work was used by an AI company without your permission? Why?
12. Do you think authors should be compensated for their work being used by AI companies? Why or why not?
13. What advancements in AI technology do you think will happen in the future?
14. How do you think AI technology will impact different industries in the future?
15. Would you be interested in using a chatbot like Q for your own personal or professional use? Why or why not?
Individual Activities
Vocabulary Meanings:
Match each word to its meaning.
Words:
1. chatbot
2. artificial intelligence
3. copyright
4. cloud computing
5. features
6. infringement
7. compensation
8. technology
Meanings:
(a) The ability of a machine to think and learn
(b) The use of scientific knowledge to create tools and solve problems
(c) Storing and accessing data and programs over the internet
(d) Characteristics or functions of a product or service
(e) The legal protection of someone’s creative work
(f) Violation of someone’s rights or property
(g) Payment or reward for something that was taken or used
(h) A computer program that can have conversations
Go to answers ⇩
Multiple Choice Questions:
1. What is the purpose of Amazon’s chatbot Q?
(a) To compete with Microsoft’s ChatGPT
(b) To protect businesses from copyright claims
(c) To help businesses with tasks and make them more productive
(d) To attract more customers to Amazon’s main business applications
2. What technology does Q use?
(a) Cloud computing
(b) Artificial intelligence
(c) Crowdsourcing
(d) Summarizing long documents
3. What other tech company has a similar chatbot called ChatGPT?
(a) Microsoft
(b) Meta
(c) OpenAI
(d) Facebook
4. How does Amazon plan to attract more businesses to use its cloud computing services?
(a) By investing in Anthropic
(b) By offering Q with lots of features
(c) By training AI models using Mechanical Turk
(d) By protecting businesses from copyright claims
5. Who sued OpenAI and Meta for copyright claims?
(a) Sarah Silverman
(b) Margaret Atwood
(c) Philip Pullman
(d) All of the above
6. What did Amazon promise to do regarding copyright claims?
(a) Protect businesses from copyright claims
(b) Invest in Anthropic
(c) Train AI models using Mechanical Turk
(d) Dismiss copyright claims from authors
7. What is the main goal of big tech companies in the AI industry?
(a) To compete with each other
(b) To attract more customers
(c) To protect copyrights
(d) To improve AI technology
8. What are some of the tasks that Q can do?
(a) Summarize long documents and group chats
(b) Protect businesses from copyright claims
(c) Train AI models using crowdsourcing
(d) Answer customer questions, make charts, analyze data, and help with coding
Go to answers ⇩
True or False Questions:
1. Amazon assures businesses that it will protect them from any copyright issues that may arise from using its chatbot.
2. Other tech companies, like OpenAI, have also created similar chatbot technology.
3. Amazon has not developed a chatbot called Q that uses artificial intelligence to help businesses with various tasks.
4. Amazon hopes that more companies will use its cloud computing services because of the introduction of Q.
5. There is intense competition among big tech companies, such as Microsoft, to advance AI technology.
6. Q will not be gradually integrated into Amazon’s main business applications.
7. The goal of Amazon’s chatbot is not to increase productivity for businesses.
8. Q cannot perform a range of tasks, including answering customer questions, creating charts, analyzing data, and assisting with coding.
Go to answers ⇩
Write a Summary:
Write a summary of this news article in two sentences.
Writing Questions:
Answer the following questions. Write as much as you can for each answer.
1. What is Amazon’s new chatbot called and what is its purpose?
2. How does Amazon plan to attract more businesses to use its cloud computing services?
3. What other tech company is leading the way in AI advancements and why?
4. Why did comedian Sarah Silverman sue OpenAI and Meta?
5. What concerns do authors have regarding copyright infringement in the AI industry?
Answers
Comprehension Question Answers:
1. What is the purpose of Amazon’s chatbot Q?
The purpose of Amazon’s chatbot Q is to help businesses with various tasks and make them more productive.
2. How does Q use artificial intelligence to help businesses?
Q uses artificial intelligence to perform tasks like summarizing long documents or group chats, answering customer questions, making charts, analyzing data, and assisting with coding.
3. What are some tasks that Q can do for businesses?
Some tasks that Q can do for businesses include answering customer questions, summarizing long documents, making charts, analyzing data, and helping with coding.
4. What is the competition among big tech companies in regards to AI technology?
The competition among big tech companies in regards to AI technology is about making advancements and innovations in artificial intelligence.
5. How much money did Amazon invest in Anthropic, an AI company?
Amazon announced that it would invest up to $4 billion in Anthropic, an AI company.
6. What is Mechanical Turk and how does it relate to AI models?
Mechanical Turk is a service owned by Amazon that helps train AI models using crowdsourcing. It allows people to complete tasks that computers cannot easily do, which helps improve AI models.
7. Why does Amazon promise to protect businesses from copyright claims?
Amazon promises to protect businesses from copyright claims to assure them that they can use the chatbot Q without facing any legal issues related to copyright infringement.
8. What concerns do authors have in the AI industry regarding copyright infringement?
Authors in the AI industry have concerns about copyright infringement because their work may be used without proper permission or compensation by AI companies. They want fair compensation for their work when it is used by AI models or chatbots.
Go back to questions ⇧
Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:
(1) chats
(2) started
(3) wants
(4) assure
(5) applications
(6) answer
(7) investment
(8) ChatGPT
(9) Mechanical
(10) dismissed
(11) other
(12) Philip
(13) Amazon
(14) called
(15) technology
(16) authors
Go back to questions ⇧
Vocabulary Meanings Answers:
1. chatbot
Answer: (h) A computer program that can have conversations
2. artificial intelligence
Answer: (a) The ability of a machine to think and learn
3. copyright
Answer: (e) The legal protection of someone’s creative work
4. cloud computing
Answer: (c) Storing and accessing data and programs over the internet
5. features
Answer: (d) Characteristics or functions of a product or service
6. infringement
Answer: (f) Violation of someone’s rights or property
7. compensation
Answer: (g) Payment or reward for something that was taken or used
8. technology
Answer: (b) The use of scientific knowledge to create tools and solve problems
Go back to questions ⇧
Multiple Choice Answers:
1. What is the purpose of Amazon’s chatbot Q?
Answer: (c) To help businesses with tasks and make them more productive
2. What technology does Q use?
Answer: (b) Artificial intelligence
3. What other tech company has a similar chatbot called ChatGPT?
Answer: (c) OpenAI
4. How does Amazon plan to attract more businesses to use its cloud computing services?
Answer: (b) By offering Q with lots of features
5. Who sued OpenAI and Meta for copyright claims?
Answer: (a) Sarah Silverman
6. What did Amazon promise to do regarding copyright claims?
Answer: (a) Protect businesses from copyright claims
7. What is the main goal of big tech companies in the AI industry?
Answer: (d) To improve AI technology
8. What are some of the tasks that Q can do?
Answer: (d) Answer customer questions, make charts, analyze data, and help with coding
Go back to questions ⇧
True or False Answers:
1. Amazon assures businesses that it will protect them from any copyright issues that may arise from using its chatbot. (Answer: True)
2. Other tech companies, like OpenAI, have also created similar chatbot technology. (Answer: True)
3. Amazon has not developed a chatbot called Q that uses artificial intelligence to help businesses with various tasks. (Answer: False)
4. Amazon hopes that more companies will use its cloud computing services because of the introduction of Q. (Answer: True)
5. There is intense competition among big tech companies, such as Microsoft, to advance AI technology. (Answer: True)
6. Q will not be gradually integrated into Amazon’s main business applications. (Answer: False)
7. The goal of Amazon’s chatbot is not to increase productivity for businesses. (Answer: False)
8. Q cannot perform a range of tasks, including answering customer questions, creating charts, analyzing data, and assisting with coding. (Answer: False)
Go back to questions ⇧
