Listening

Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. comfort
    • ex. The mother comforted her child who was hurt.
  2. alleviate
    • ex. He drank warm tea to alleviate his stomachache.
  3. inspirational
    • ex. The president gave an inspirational speech.
  4. an aide
    • ex. She works as a teacher’s aide. She helps the teacher prepare daily class activities.
  5. a relationship
    • ex. The team members have a good relationship with their manager. So, the team’s performance is excellent.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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Joyce Loaiza, a retired office worker, lives alone in an apartment. And she often talks with a kind female voice that asks about her day. The same voice comforted 83-year-old Deanna Dezern when her friend died. The voice is from the robot ElliQ. Its creators, Intuition Robotics, say that it is the only device that uses AI to alleviate the loneliness felt by many older Americans.

The device looks like a small table lamp. ElliQ remembers people’s interests and their conversations with the people using them. This helps improve its future conversations. The robot can do many other things, like tell jokes and give inspirational messages. It also plays games and music, gives tours, and reminds users to take medicine.

Intuition Robotics CEO Dor Skuler came up with the idea of a robot aide for his grandfather eight years ago. Finally, he created an aide that understood his grandfather’s interests. Skuler realized a robot could help solve the problem of loneliness by understanding each senior’s personality and hobbies. This is the kind of relationship between humans and robots that didn’t exist before.

This material was based on an article by The Associated Press.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Elderly People

  • According to the article, many older Americans feel lonely. Why do you think this is the case? Discuss.
  • In your opinion, how can elderly people alleviate loneliness? Discuss.
  • In your opinion, why is a good relationship with elderly relatives important? Discuss.

Relationship between Robots and Humans

  • In your opinion, can robots and humans develop a real friendship? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Skuler thinks that ElliQ could help alleviate loneliness. Would you like a robot to comfort you when you are sad? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Imagine that there are more robots like ElliQ. What do you think would happen to people’s relationships with each other? Discuss.