Reading: Artificial Intelligence Friend or Foe
Artificial intelligence friend or foe is a B2 reading text on the most-discussed contemporary technology topic. The text balances AI’s potential benefits (medical diagnosis, scientific discovery, productivity gains, accessibility) against risks (job displacement, bias, surveillance, weapon autonomy, existential concern). Specific examples (ChatGPT, image generation, recommendation systems, autonomous vehicles, predictive policing) anchor abstract claims. Learners read for balanced argument, risk-benefit weighing, and qualified judgment.
This worksheet builds B2 reading comprehension through a balanced AI-debate text.
Worksheet preview
What’s inside:
- A B2 reading text (~550 words) on AI’s benefits and risks
- Pre-reading vocabulary box with AI and ethics terms
- Comprehension items: benefit-risk identification, example-finding, judgment recognition
- Vocabulary-in-context: AI-and-ethics vocabulary
- Writing follow-up: write a balanced opinion on whether AI is more friend or foe
- Full Answer Key plus Teacher Notes
Common challenges: Balanced argumentation at B2 requires recognising both sides without bias — the text models this explicitly. AI vocabulary mixes technical (algorithm, machine learning, neural network, training data) with ethical (bias, accountability, transparency, autonomy, alignment). Hedged predictions: could potentially, may eventually, has the capacity to, raises concerns about.
For: Adult and teenage learners (14+) at CEFR B2, in upper-intermediate classes, 1:1 lessons, or self-study. Maps onto Cambridge B2 First (FCE) and C1 Advanced (CAE) Reading. Part of the Technology & Society Readings collection — the natural next step is Online Privacy: Who Owns Your Data, which extends AI reading into the privacy-and-data dimension.
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