ProfessorAshokGoelofGeorgiaTechdevelopedanartificiallyintelligentteachingassistanttohelphandletheenormousnumberofstudentquestionsintheonlineclass,Knowledge-BasedArtificialIntelligence.ThisonlinecourseisacorerequirementofGeorgiaTech’sonlineMasterofScienceinComputerScienceprogram.ProfessorGoelalreadyhadeightteachingassistants,butthatwasn’tenoughtodealwiththeoverwhelmingnumberofdailyquestionsfromstudents.Manystudentsdropoutofonlinecoursesbecauseofthelackofteachingsupport.Whenstudentsfeelisolatedorconfusedandreachoutwithquestionsthatgounanswered,theirmotivationtocontinuebeginstofade.ProfessorGoeldecidedtodosomethingtoremedythissituationandhissolutionwastocreateavirtualassistantnamedJillWatson,whichisbasedontheIBMWatsonplatform.GoelandhisteamdevelopedseveralversionsofJillWatsonbeforereleasinghertotheonlineforums.Atfirst,thevirtualassistantwasn’ttoogreat.ButGoelandhisteamsourcedtheonlinediscussionforumtofindallthe40,000questionsthathadeverbeenaskedsincetheclasswaslaunched.ThentheybegantofeedJillwiththequestionsandanswers.Aftersomeadjustmentsandsufficienttime,Jillwasabletoanswerthestudents’questionscorrectly97%ofthetime.Thevirtualassistantbecamesoadvancedandrealisticthatthestudentsdidn’tknowshewasacomputer.Thestudents,whowerestudyingartificialintelligence,wereinteractingwiththevirtualassistantandcouldn’ttellitapartfromarealhumanbeing.Goeldidn’tinformthemaboutJill’strueidentityuntilApril26.Thestudentswereactuallyverypositiveabouttheexperience.ThegoalofProfessorGoel’svirtualassistantnextyearistotakeoveranswering40%ofallthequestionsposedbystudentsontheonlineforum.ThenameJillWatsonwill,ofcourse,changetosomethingelsenextsemester.ProfessorGoelhasamuchrosieroutlookonthefutureofartificialintelligencethan,say,ElonMusk,StephenHawking,BillGatesorSteveWozniak.WhatdowelearnaboutJillWatson?
Althoughmanyofusmayfeelair-conditionersbringrelieffromhot,humidorpollutedoutsideair,theyposemanypotentialhealthhazards.Muchresearchhaslookedathowthemovementofairinsideaclosedenvironment---suchasanofficebuilding---canspreaddiseaseorexposepeopleinthebuildingtoharmfulchemicals.OneofthemorewidelypublicizeddangersisthatofLegionnaire’sdisease,whichwasfirstrecognizedinthe1970s.Thiswasfoundtohaveaffectedpeopleinbuildingswithair-conditioningsystemsinwhichwarmairpumpedoutofthesystem’coolingtowerswassomehowsuckedbackintotheairintake(通风口),inmostcasesduetopoordesign.Thewarmair,filledwithbacteria,wascombinedwithcooled,conditionedairandwasthencirculatedaroundvariouspartsofthebuilding.Studiesshowedthatevenpeopleoutsidesuchbuildingswereatriskiftheywalkedpastairexhaustpipes.Largeair-conditioningsystemsaddwatertotheairtheycirculatebymeansofhumidifiers(湿度调节器).Inoldersystems,thewaterusedforthisprocessiskeptinspecialreservoirs,thebottomsofwhichprovidebreedinggroundsforbacteriawhichcanfindtheirwayintotheventilation(通风)system.Therisktohumanhealthfromthissituationhasbeenhighlightedbythefactthattheimmunesystems(免疫系统)ofapproximatelyhalfofworkersinair-conditionedofficebuildingshavedevelopedtheabilitytofightofftheorganismsfoundatthebottomofsystemreservoirs.Butchemicalscalled“biocides”areaddedtoreservoirstomakethemgerm-free,andtheyaredangerousintheirownrightinsufficientquantities,astheyoftencontaincompoundsstronglylinkedtocancers.Finally,itshouldbepointedoutthattheartificialclimaticenvironmentcreatedbyair-conditionerscanalsoaffectus.Inanaturalenvironment,whetherindoororoutdoor,therearesmallvariationsintemperatureandhumidity.Indeed,thehumanbodyhaslongbeenaccustomedtothesenormalchanges.Inanair-conditionedlivingorworkingenvironment,however,bodytemperaturesremainwellunder37℃,ournormaltemperature.Thisleadstoaweakenedimmunesystemandthusgreaterexposuretodiseasessuchascoldsandflu.Theauthormostprobablywantsthereaderstotreatbiocideswithanattitudeof_.