Human Distrust of Robots that Look like us Reading Answers

Jun 7, 2024

Human distrust of robots that look like us Reading Answers is an academic reading answers topic. Human distrust of robots that look like us Reading Answers have a total of 13 IELTS questions in total. In the questions you have to choose which section mentions the correct information from the passage by selecting True, False and not Given.

Candidates should read the IELTS Reading passage thoroughly to recognize synonyms, identify keywords, and answer the questions below. IELTS Reading practice papers, which feature topics such as Human distrust of robots that look like us Reading Answers. Candidates can use IELTS reading practice questions and answers to enhance their performance in the reading section.

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Section 1

Read the Text Below and Answer Questions

Human Distrust of Robots That Look Like Us

We humans have evolved to relate emotionally to non-living objects, which is strange when you think about it. Children play with dolls and toy soldiers as if they were people. Adults talk to their cars. As long as they are robotlike and 'mechanical', we are comfortable around them, and can display affection (as for an old car). But when it comes to human-like robots, something different happens. As they become more human- like, our affection disappears and we begin to feel less comfortable. Our liking turns to revulsion. Androids that look too human freak us out.
This odd phenomenon is called the 'uncanny valley', a term coined by robotics professor Masahiro Mori. But the effect has particularly confused and puzzled engineers and scientists who design robots and interactive software. The term comes from the dip in a graph with two parameters: affection and human likeness. As human likeness increases, so does our affection. As soon as the resemblance becomes too great, though, affection drops below zero - hence the 'valley'. The effect was highlighted by studies of machines such as the Geminoid F robot, created by Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro of Kyoto University. His robots have human-like bodies but their movements, although impressively humanlike, show something of the mechanism beneath their 'skin' and people didn't respond well to them. Making robots look human is a major goal of robotic engineers and scientific writers have long dreamt of androids, so the 'uncanny valley' could potentially spell the end to their dream.
Researchers have tried to find the cause of the 'uncanny valley'. One of the most interesting insights has come from an international team led by Ayse Pinar Saygin of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Saygin and her team conducted an experiment scanning the brains of twenty subjects aged 20-36 while they were looking at three different things: a human, a mechanical-looking robot, and a human-like robot. Interpreting the results from the fMRI scans, the researchers suggested that the cause for the valley is a conflict in perception between two processes in the brain: that of recognising a human-like face and that of recognising different kinds of movement.
These processes, or pathways, meet in an area of the brain called the parietal cortex. There, information from the visual cortex relating to bodily movement is integrated with information from the motor cortex that contains mirror neurons, the brain cells that register that what we are seeing is 'one of us'. Alarm bells go off in the brain when there is a conflict between the human-like features of the robot and its inhuman movement. This mismatch creates a feeling of revulsion similar to what we feel when looking at a movie zombie. We instinctively expect human- like creatures to have human-like movements. As Saygin says: 'The brain ... looks) for its expectations to be met - for appearance and motion to (match):'
The discomfort we feel is not logical and has its roots in our evolutionary past. Researchers believe that the modern mind came into being between 60,000 and 40,000 years ago when pathways in the brain became connected, probably thanks to the Evolution of language. The way we understand our world then emerged from these new connections. Robotic evolution challenges this mental 'software' of ours. The 'uncanny valley' seems to represent the point at which logic stops and our instincts start to react.
Despite such studies, many (e.g. MacDorman et al) believe that cultural factors also contribute to the effect, and researchers have pointed to the fact that young people who are used to technology that seems less affected by the effect. Furthermore, the 'uncanny valley' effect has been observed in our response to still photographs of humans that have been altered slightly with Photoshop software. Even as far back as the 19th century, the great naturalist Charles Darwin noticed that we react most adversely to species with eyes, nose and mouth arranged like our own. The phenomenon may therefore be more complex than Saying's research suggests.
So is this the end of robots as we have dreamt of them? Are our brains unable to cope with mechanical doubles? Perhaps not. It may just be a temporary phenomenon. The positive response to recent androids shows that once the design and movements of robots become even more human-like, the affection graph rises again from the 'uncanny valley'; acceptability returns steeply to normal. We seem to be at ease with androids that have human bodies and human movements, even if we know they are not human. As we cross the 'uncanny valley' another basic instinct comes into play: empathy. It is possible to mix human and mechanical characteristics without getting trapped in 'uncanny valley'. Eventually, human-like robots will make us love them, too.

Section 2

Solution and Explantion

Questions 27-30

Reading Passage 3 has seven paragraphs, A-G.

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 27-30 on your answer sheet.

a belief that we may have strong, positive feelings for robots in the future

Answer:G
Supporting statement:“.......The positive response to recent androids shows that once the design and movements of robots become even more human-like, the affection graph rises again from the 'uncanny valley'; acceptability returns steeply to normal.........”
Keywords: movements, 'uncanny
Keyword Location: para G, lines 3-4
Explanation: Para G explores the potential for future positive emotional responses toward robots. It explains that as robot designs and movements become more human-like, people's initial discomfort (uncanny valley) diminishes, and acceptance and affection for these robots increase, indicating an inclination for future human-robot interactions.

a description of how the human brain developed over time

Answer:E
Supporting statement:“......Researchers believe that the modern mind came into being between 60,000 and 40,000 years ago when pathways in the brain became connected, probably thanks to the evolution of language..........”
Keywords: pathways, thanks
Keyword Location: para E, lines 2-3
Explanation: Para E focuses on the historical development of the human brain, suggesting that significant cognitive advancements occurred 60,000 to 40,000 years ago. This development is connected to the evolution of language, which facilitated new neural connections and thus advanced human understanding and interaction.

a contrast between our reaction to various objects and our reaction to robots

Answer:A
Supporting statement:“.......As long as they are robotlike and 'mechanical', we are comfortable around them... But when it comes to human-like robots, something different happens.........”
Keywords: long, human
Keyword Location: para A, lines 1-3
Explanation: Para A contrasts how people generally feel comfortable with mechanical objects, such as dolls and toy soldiers, but experience discomfort and even revulsion when faced with robots that look too human.

an example of robots which people have a very negative reaction to

Answer:B
Supporting statement:“......The effect was highlighted by studies of machines such as the Geminoid F robot... people didn't respond well to them..........”
Keywords: effect, respond
Keyword Location: para B, lines 6-7
Explanation: Para B provides the example of the Geminoid F robot, designed by Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, which people reacted negatively to despite its human-like appearance. This illustrates the 'uncanny valley' effect, where robots that closely resemble humans provoke discomfort or aversion due to subtle imperfections in their appearance or movements.

Questions 31-33

Look at the following statements and the list of scientists below. Match each statement to the correct scientist, A-E. Write the correct letter, A-E, in boxes 31-33 on your answer sheet.

List of scientists

MacDorman
Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro
Charles Darwin
Ayse Pinar Saygin
Masahiro Mori

We feel disgusted when things don't move as we think they will.

Answer:D
Supporting statement:“.........Alarm bells go off in the brain when there is a conflict between the human-like features of the robot and its inhuman movement.......”
Keywords: human, robot
Keyword Location: para D, lines 4-5
Explanation: Para D explains Saygin's research, which found that the brain reacts negatively when there is a mismatch between the human-like appearance of a robot and its non-human movements.

We feel visual disgust when animal faces appear similar to human faces

Answer:C
Supporting statement:“.......Even as far back as the 19th century, the great naturalist Charles Darwin noticed that we react most adversely to species with eyes, nose and mouth arranged like our own..........”
Keywords: noticed, arranged
Keyword Location: para F, lines 5-6
Explanation: Para F references Charles Darwin's observations, noting that humans feel a sense of visual disgust when animal faces have human-like features. This reaction highlights a discomfort with certain visual similarities, which aligns with the concept of the 'uncanny valley' effect.

The causes of the 'Uncanny Valley' effect are not just biological.

Answer:A
Supporting statement:“.......Many (e.g., MacDorman et al) believe that cultural factors also contribute to the effect.........”
Keywords: contribute, believe
Keyword Location: para F, line 1
Explanation: Para F includes MacDorman's perspective, suggesting that cultural factors, in addition to biological ones, play a role in the 'uncanny valley' effect. This indicates that our reactions to human like robots are influenced by cultural conditioning and societal norms.

Questions 34-36

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each

The 'uncanny valley' concerns the relationship between how much a robot looks like a human and the amount of ...... people feel.

Answer: AFFECTION
Supporting statement:“.......The term comes from the dip in a graph with two parameters: affection and human likeness.........”
Keywords: affection, human
Keyword Location: para B, line 3
Explanation: Para B explains that the 'uncanny valley' describes the relationship between a robot's human likeness and the affection it receives from people. As human likeness increases, so does affection, until a point where the resemblance becomes too close.It causes affection to drop sharply.

Scientists think that the development of development of the modern mind. ... played an important part in the

Answer: LANGUAGE
Supporting statement:“........Researchers believe that the modern mind came into being... probably thanks to the evolution of language.........”
Keywords: probably, Researchers
Keyword Location: para E, lines 2-3
Explanation: Para E attributes the development of the modern human mind to the evolution of language. This advancement in communication likely facilitated new neural connections, enhancing cognitive abilities and shaping our understanding and interaction with the world, including responses to robots.

The 'uncanny valley' reaction is also seen when people look at been changed a little. which have

Answer: PHOTOGRAPHS
Supporting statement:“........Furthermore, the 'uncanny valley' effect has been observed in our response to still photographs of humans that have been altered slightly with Photoshop software........”
Keywords: photographs, 'uncanny
Keyword Location: para F, lines 3-4
Explanation: Para F notes that the 'uncanny valley' effect can be observed in people's reactions to photographs of humans that have been slightly altered. This shows that the effect is not limited to physical robots but also extends to images that exhibit subtle but noticeable human like imperfections.

Questions 37-40

Do the following statements agree with the views of the author in Reading Passage 3?

In boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet, write

YES if the statement agrees with the views of the author
NO if the statement contradicts the views of the author
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the author thinks about this

It is surprising that people can have strong emotional feelings for objects.

Answer: YES
Supporting statement:“......We humans have evolved to relate emotionally to non-living objects, which is strange when you think about it..........”
Keywords: objects, think
Keyword Location: para A, line 1
Explanation: Para A begins with the observation that humans have developed emotional attachments to non-living objects, which is presented as surprising and somewhat irrational. This suggests that the author finds it notable that people can form strong emotional bonds with inanimate objects.

The term 'uncanny valley' is very difficult for many people to understand.

Answer: NOT GIVEN
Explanation: The passage does not discuss whether people find the term 'uncanny valley' difficult to understand.

The research in California adequately explains the 'uncanny valley' effect.

Answer: NO
Supporting statement:“.......The phenomenon may therefore be more complex than Saygin's research suggests.........”
Keywords: Say gin's , suggests
Keyword Location: para F, line 6
Explanation: Para F suggests that the 'uncanny valley' phenomenon might be more intricate than what Saygin's research from California proposes. This implies that while the research provides some information, it does not fully capture the complexity of the effect.

Researchers will probably learn to overcome the 'uncanny valley' effect.

Answer: YES
Supporting statement:“........It is possible to mix human and mechanical characteristics without getting trapped in the 'uncanny valley'. Eventually, human-like robots will make us love them, too.........”
Keywords: possible, characteristics
Keyword Location: para G, lines 6-7
Explanation: Para G expresses positivity that researchers can design robots that avoid the 'uncanny valley' by successfully combining human and mechanical features. It suggests that as technology advances, human-like robots will become more acceptable and even loved.