The next big breakthrough in artificial intelligence could come from giving machines not just more logical capacity, but emotional capacity as well.

Feelings aren’t usually associated with inanimate (无生命的) machines, but Rosalind Picard, a professor of computer technology at MIT, believes emotion may be just the thing computers need to word effectively. Computers need artificial emotion both to understand their human users better and to achieve self-analysis and self-improvement, says Picard.

“If we want computers to be genuinely intelligent, to adapt to us, and to interact naturally with us, then they will need the ability to recognize and express emotions, to have emotions, and to have what has come to be called ‘emotional intelligence,’” Picard says.

One way that emotions can help computers, she suggests, is by helping keep them from crashing. Today’s computers produce error messages, but they do not have a “gut feeling” of knowing when something is wrong or doesn’t make sense. A healthy fear of death could motivate a computer to stop trouble as soon as it starts. On the other hand, self-preservation would need to be subordinate to service to humans. It was fear of its own death that prompted HAL, the fictional computer in the film 2002: A Space Odyssey, to exterminate (消灭) most of its human associates.

Similarly, computers that could “read” their users would accumulate a store of highly personal information about us—not just what we said and did, but what we likely thought and felt.

“Emotions not only contribute to a richer quality of interaction, but they directly impact a person’s ability to interact in an intelligent way,” Picard says. “Emotional skills, especially the ability to recognize and express emotions, are essential for natural communication with humans.”

(1). (单选题) Why is emotional intelligence necessary to computers according to Picard?( )

A、Emotional intelligence can make computers analyze the information more efficiently.

B、Emotional intelligence can help to eliminate the computers’ innate problems.

C、Emotional intelligence can improve the mechanic capacity of computers.

D、Emotional intelligence can make computers achieve a better understanding of human users.

(2). (单选题) What is an emotionally intelligent computer likely to do according to the passage?( )

A、It is likely to have a successful interaction with human beings by adapting to their needs.

B、It enables human beings to enhance their ability to express emotions in daily life.

C、It can automatically avoid trouble with the recognition of error messages.

D、It will be free from producing meaningless messages in its operation.

(3). (单选题) What does “gut feeling” (Para.4) mean?( )

A、Intuitive feelings.

B、Guilty feelings.

C、Confusing feeling.

D、Unpleasant feelings.

(4). (单选题) The film 2002: A Space Odyssey (Para 4) is mentioned to illustrate __________. ( )

A、a typical case of a fictional computer with emotions

B、the necessity of bringing computers with emotions under control

C、the possibility that computers with emotions might kill human associates

D、the troubles that might be caused by computers with emotions

(5). (单选题) What does the author think about the computers with emotions?( )

A、He has high expectation for its potential in the future.

B、He worries that it will threaten the security of human beings.

C、He doubts it capacity to interact with human beings.

D、He believes that it will take the place of human beings in many aspects.