GT Writing Task 2 / Essay Sample # 189
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
Some people think that robots are very important to humans’ future development, but others think that they are dangerous and have negative effects on society.
Discuss both views and give your opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
Model Answer:
Once found in science fiction, robots are being used in a growing array of ways in society nowadays. However, many people seem robots as a crucial tool for mankind’s future progress while others express their grave concern that robots are disastrous and have adverse impacts on society. This essay will expound both perspectives, but in my opinion, robots will be proved to be dangerous for society and the humankind.
To commence with, robots will reap considerable benefits in the near future. First and foremost, it will augment industrial productivity. In simple words, robots can be programmed to operate at a steady optimal speed without pause, and thus producing more products within a shorter time compared to human workers. In addition to this, robotic machines will significantly improve medical care. In the immediate future, for example, robotic surgery will provide pinpoint accuracy during, which in turn, will reduce recovery time for patients. Most importantly, agricultural robots, in the coming days, will handle almost every task like planting, harvesting or spraying from weeds to pests more efficiently than human workers, and thereby yielding more crops.
On the other hand, many experts begin to sternly warn of the potential dangers of robots. First of all, individuals will face real challenges to retain full control of their lives. Human life will be more digitalized and be essentially ceded to code-driven. The effect will be intense as automated processes become more intricate and prevalent. Second, there might be a torrent of data abuse. Put simply, most sophisticated robots are and will be in the hands of governments and corporations, thus striving for power and profit respectively. Last but not least, people’s increasing dependence on machine-driven ambience will erode their capacities to ponder, initiate action independent of automated processes, and communicate effectively with each other. Thus, robots will reduce individuals’ social, cognitive, and survival competencies.
In conclusion, robots will bring many adverse effects on human society in the sense that individuals will become more dependent on human-like robotic machines in complex digital systems. It is expected that we will control those machines and never become so dependant on them that they start controlling us.