Future Tense: Chapters 13–16

by Martha Brockenbrough
This work of nonfiction discusses the past and future of artificial intelligence, from its earliest precursors to the ways it might impact society as it develops.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–8, Chapters 9–12, Chapters 13–16, Chapters 17–20, Chapters 21–23
15 words 5 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. surveil
    keep under close watch or observation
    It’s been used to surveil the southern border of the US, too.
  2. disinformation
    lies told and spread deliberately to influence others
    In addition, accurate identifications could help debunk bogus social media posts from Russia, which embraces disinformation.
  3. benign
    pleasant and beneficial in nature or influence
    Here, it’s worth remembering that Meta isn’t a benign company.
  4. exploit
    use or manipulate to one's advantage
    People could get ads that are hurtful, timed to exploit vulnerabilities, or embarrassing.
  5. vulnerability
    the state of being exposed to harm
    People could get ads that are hurtful, timed to exploit vulnerabilities, or embarrassing.
  6. authoritarian
    expecting unquestioning obedience
    While lack of privacy is commonplace in authoritarian countries, the United States considers itself a paragon of liberty.
  7. paragon
    model of excellence or perfection of a kind
    While lack of privacy is commonplace in authoritarian countries, the United States considers itself a paragon of liberty.
  8. rudimentary
    being or involving basic facts or principles
    As rudimentary as this was, people who knew ELIZA was a machine still treated it as though it actually understood them.
  9. unscrupulous
    without principles
    What happens if an unscrupulous developer makes a chatbot that cultivates attachments and then manipulates the users into harmful behaviors?
  10. manipulate
    control or influence skillfully, usually to one's advantage
    What happens if an unscrupulous developer makes a chatbot that cultivates attachments and then manipulates the users into harmful behaviors?
  11. thwart
    hinder or prevent, as an effort, plan, or desire
    This means that something of an arms race will develop between the people creating malicious bots and researchers finding ways to develop machine learning techniques to thwart bad actors who are polluting social media with fraudulent accounts.
  12. insidious
    working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way
    A more insidious version of this happened in 2015 when a British consulting company called Cambridge Analytica harvested an enormous crop of data from Facebook—50 million raw profiles—without the users’ permission or knowledge.
  13. subvert
    undermine or hinder normal operations
    If these voters have been influenced without their knowledge by billionaires with radical agendas, entire systems of governments—including those of countries where the billionaires don’t live—have been subverted by bad actors with money to burn on bots and other tools.
  14. transgressive
    in violation of rules, laws, or conventions
    Microsoft has long had a reputation of being stodgy and boring, and that sort of thing makes an attractive target for people who want to be transgressive.
  15. reprehensible
    bringing or deserving severe rebuke or censure
    Microsoft swiftly apologized, calling the posts “wildly inappropriate and reprehensible.”
Created on Thu Jun 25 07:59:27 EDT 2026 (updated Tue Jul 28 11:42:18 EDT 2026)

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