Speaking Boost · B2 · Lesson 20 of 50
Speaking Boost B2 · Block 4: Technology and AI

Can a machine make you believe it is human?

In 1950 Alan Turing proposed a simple test of machine intelligence. Learn to talk about the future of AI with a range of future forms, and give the final talk of Block 4.

1

Warm-up

5 min
1.1

Intelligence and AI

Answer each question with 2–3 sentences.

  1. Have you ever talked to a chatbot? What was it like?
  2. Could you tell a machine from a person in a text chat?
  3. What do you think AI will do better than people?
  4. What worries you about AI?
  5. How do you think your job or studies will change?
  6. How do you use AI now?
2

Words and phrases

12 min
2.1

New words

Read each word and the example. Then say a sentence about AI.

2.2

Which word?

Choose the word that fits.

  1. Turing wanted to test whether a machine shows .
  2. A is a program that talks with people.
  3. The machine tried to the judges that it was human.
  4. The program can emotions, but it does not feel them.
  5. A in medicine could save millions of lives.
  6. Some questions about AI are , not technical.
  7. One of chatbots is that they can give wrong answers.
  8. The judge could not tell who was human, so the machine might the test.
2.3

Opposites and pairs

Choose the right answer, then press Check answers.

  1. intelligence is the ability to
  2. to convince = to make someone
  3. consciousness is awareness of
  4. a breakthrough is an important
  5. ethical = connected with what is
  6. trustworthy =
2.4

Useful phrases

Use these phrases to make predictions about the future.

  • I think it will...Думаю, це буде...I think it will become common.
  • It's going to...Це збирається...It's going to change how we work.
  • I'm attending... next weekЯ відвідуватиму... наступного тижняI'm attending a lecture on AI next week.
  • This time next year, I'll be...Цього часу наступного року я буду...This time next year, I'll be using AI every day.
  • By 2030,... will have...До 2030 року...By 2030, AI will have changed many jobs.
  • It might...Можливо, це...It might be able to pass the test.
  • There's a chance that...Є шанс, що...There's a chance that machines will understand us.
  • I doubt that...Сумніваюся, що...I doubt that machines will ever feel emotions.
3

Read and react

8 min
3.1

The Turing test

Read the text. Hover over the dotted words for help.

Can a machine make you believe it is human?

In 1950, the British mathematician Alan Turing published a paper called "Computing Machinery and Intelligence". Instead of asking "Can machines think?", which is hard to define, he proposed a game. A human judge talks, in writing, with two hidden partners, a person and a machine. If the judge cannot tell which is the machine, the machine has passed the test.

Over the years, several programs have convinced some people. In 1966 a simple program called ELIZA, which imitated a psychotherapist, made some users feel that it understood them. In 2014 a chatbot pretending to be a Ukrainian teenager, Eugene Goostman, was reported to have passed the test, but many experts criticised the result.

Recent systems are much more advanced. One study in 2025 reported that, in short text conversations, people sometimes judged a large language model to be human more often than they judged the real human. Such results are interesting, but researchers say that they are limited to a particular situation.

Many scientists argue that passing the test shows an ability to imitate people, not necessarily to understand. Others say that the question is not important and that we should focus on how AI is used.

In the coming years, these systems will probably be more common in education, medicine and customer service, and societies will have to decide which uses are ethical.

Could you tell a machine from a person in a chat?

3.2

True or false?

  1. Turing published his paper in 1950.
  2. In the test, the judge speaks to two hidden partners.
  3. ELIZA was created in 2014.
  4. All experts accepted the 2014 result.
  5. The text says that passing the test proves understanding.
3.3

What do you think?

  1. Is the Turing test a good test of intelligence?
  2. Would it matter to you if you talked to a machine without knowing it?
  3. What rules should chatbots follow?
  4. What will be different in your life in ten years because of AI?
4

Grammar for speaking

10 min
4.1

Grammar for speaking

Future forms

will: predictions and decisions made now. Going to: plans and evidence. Present Continuous: arrangements. Might or may: possibility.

I think it will be common. Look at those clouds! It's going to rain. I'm attending a lecture on Friday. It might pass the test.

Future Continuous and Future Perfect

will be + -ing: in progress at a future time. Will have + past participle: finished before a future time.

This time next year, I'll be using AI every day. By 2030, AI will have changed many jobs.

Block 4 review

Use the grammar from this block.

reported statements (L16) · the passive for processes (L17) · future in the past, reported questions (L18) · reporting verbs (L19)

Common mistakes: will have + past participle by a time, and might + base verb. ✗ By 2030 AI will change → By 2030 AI will have changed. ✗ It might to pass → It might pass.

4.2

Choose the right form

  1. I think AI
    more common.
  2. Look at those clouds! It
    rain.
  3. I
    an engineer on Friday; it's arranged.
  4. This time next year, I
    AI every day.
  5. By 2030, AI
    many jobs.
  6. It
    pass the test.
  7. "I'm cold." — "I
    the window."
  8. By the end of this course, I
    a lot.
4.3

Fix the mistake

Each sentence has one mistake. Type the correct words.

  1. By 2030, AI will change many jobs already. →
  2. This time next year I use AI daily. →
  3. I meet an engineer on Friday; it's arranged. →
  4. It might to pass the test. →
  5. Look at the clouds! It will rain. →
  6. I'll be finish it by Friday. →
4.4

Talk about it

Answer in detail. Use will, going to, might, the Future Continuous and the Future Perfect.

  1. What do you think AI will be able to do in ten years?
  2. What are you doing this weekend, and what are you going to do next year?
  3. What will you be doing this time next year?
  4. What will you have achieved by the end of this year?
  5. Might AI ever become conscious? Why or why not?
  6. What advice would you give to people who are afraid of AI?
5

Three views on AI and a final talk

8 min
5.1

Three views on the future of AI

Three people give their views on the future of AI. Compare them. Who is the most optimistic? Who is the most careful? Whose view is closest to yours?

Person 1

Dr Lin, 40

  • Is an AI researcher
  • Says AI will keep improving
  • Warns that the test measures imitation
  • Is meeting colleagues next week
Person 2

Marco, 52

  • Is a teacher
  • Worries about cheating
  • Thinks students will be using chatbots daily
  • Hopes AI will help weaker students
Person 3

Hanna, 29

  • Is a writer
  • Doubts machines will ever be creative
  • Uses a chatbot for ideas
  • Believes human stories will always matter
5.2

Final talk of Block 4: technology and AI

This is the final speaking task of Block 4. Your teacher will time you.

  1. Plan for one minute, then speak for one or two minutes.
  2. Part 1: an invention that changed the world, and what historians say about it (reported speech).
  3. Part 2: how a technology you use works (the passive and sequencing words).
  4. Part 3: AI and the future: what will, might and is going to happen.
2:00
6

Personal questions

10 min
6.1

Part I: Me

  1. Would you trust a machine to make decisions for you?
  2. What are you going to do this weekend?
  3. What will you be doing this time next year?
  4. What do you think you will have achieved by the end of the year?
  5. Do you use a voice assistant?
  6. Have you ever talked to a chatbot without knowing it?
  7. What technology are you looking forward to?
  8. What would you ask a machine to test if it is human?
6.2

Part II: Other people

  1. Who in your family will use AI most?
  2. Who might learn to code?
  3. Who is going to buy a new phone?
  4. Who will be working in ten years' time?
  5. Who do you know that is afraid of robots?
  6. Who will you be travelling with next year?
6.3

Part III: A bit deeper

  1. Will machines ever think?
  2. Should chatbots say that they are not human?
  3. Will AI take many jobs by 2030?
  4. Is it ethical to make machines that pretend to be human?
  5. Should governments control AI?
7

Roleplay

12 min
7.1

Debating the future of machines

You

Speaker

You discuss with a colleague (your teacher): will machines ever think?
  • give your view
  • give a prediction using future forms
  • respond to a doubt
  • end with a conclusion
Speak for at least 2 minutes in total. Use will, going to, might and the Future Perfect.
Your teacher

Colleague

Says things like:
  1. Will machines ever think?
  2. Are chatbots dangerous?
  3. What will change first?
  4. So what is your conclusion?
7.2

Talking about the future of work

You

Employee

A manager (your teacher) asks about AI at work. Answer:
  • say what is happening now
  • say what will change
  • say what you are going to learn
  • say what you might do
You do most of the talking. Use: this time next year · by 2030 · I'm going to... · I might...
Your teacher

Manager

Says things like:
  1. How do you use AI now?
  2. What will change in five years?
  3. What skills do you need?
  4. What's your plan?
8

Homework

at home

Your homework score

Do all four exercises, then press Check all homework. Correct answers will appear next to your mistakes.

– / 30
H1

Complete with a word

intelligencechatbotconvincesimulatebreakthroughethicallimitationpass
  1. Turing wanted to test whether a machine shows .
  2. A is a program that talks with people.
  3. The machine tried to the judges that it was human.
  4. The program can emotions, but it does not feel them.
  5. A in medicine could save millions of lives.
  6. Some questions about AI are , not technical.
  7. One of chatbots is that they can give wrong answers.
  8. The judge could not tell who was human, so the machine might the test.
H2

Block 4 review: choose the correct form

  1. He said he tired.
  2. They asked whether the shop open.
  3. The data on a server.
  4. She suggested the app.
  5. By next year, I this course.
  6. He help.
  7. I think it useful.
  8. She asked where I .
H3

Correct or incorrect? (Block 4 review)

Decide if each sentence is grammatically correct.

  1. By 2030, AI will have changed many jobs.
  2. By 2030, AI will change many jobs already.
  3. This time next year, I'll be using AI every day.
  4. It might to pass the test.
  5. They asked whether the planes would fly.
  6. The signal transmits by the satellite.
  7. He refused to call it art.
H4

Match the two halves

  1. I think it will
  2. It's going to
  3. This time next year,
  4. By 2030, AI will have
  5. It might
  6. There's a chance that
  7. I doubt that

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© Yevheniia Kolesnykova, Academy of Languages. All rights reserved. No copying or reuse without written permission.