Subjects and Strategies

Essay Prompt: In many movies and novels set in the future, robots develop the ability to think and feel, something the artificial intelligence (AI) industry has not yet been able to achieve. However, some experts say the world of so-called "sentient" robots is not that far off. This excites the futurist Ray Kurzweil, who sees AI as the "pivotal technology" that will solve humanity's biggest problems. But the late astrophysicist Stephen Hawking was worried. "The development of full AI," he warned, "could spell the end of the human race. AI would take off on its own and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate. Humans couldn't compete and would be superseded."

Will robots ever learn to think and feel like we see in science fiction stories? If they do, will this be a good or a bad thing? In other words, whose vision of the future, Kurzweil's or Hawking's, do you think will come true? Explain.

Essay prompt: Are you interested in any political or humanitarian causes? If so, which one or ones? Would you consider someday volunteering to work at or contributing in some other way to this cause